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The Track of Fear riding a roller coaster
“ARGHHHHH!” my sister and I screamed

Chug! Chug! Chug! the rollercoaster roared as I rose higher and higher into the air. High above the bustle of Paris, my sister and I rose and plunged on the snakelike coaster. My stomach started sinking like the Titanic when I dared look down for a split second.

Why did I do this to myself? I silently screamed, not really wanting to answer my own question.

In a blink of an eye, we were almost at the top, and I felt my stomach clench as I stared wide-eyed at the gargantuan drop!

If I could have one wish, it would be to freeze this moment. I could not mentally move past this point. One second later, reality belly-flopped me into a black hole.

Chug! Chug! Chug! the rollercoaster taunted me. All I could think about was how high I had climbed, how soon the death-defying drop would plummet me into an abyss, and why I had agreed to do this.

“Aren’t you excited for the big drop, Izzy?” Hannah asked, gazing at me as joy shot through her voice like a sunbeam.

“Yeah,” I muttered, not looking at her.

I was lying both to her and myself.

Think happy thoughts, I told myself, but how could I think that way when the once bright sapphire sky was now dark and gloomy and the grass under me no longer seemed green but shadow black? I shut my eyes, not ready for what lay ahead. I would face the drop in five, four, three, two…

“ARGHHHHH!” my sister and I screamed. I hurled my hands in the air and let the wind run against my arms, and to my surprise, it didn’t turn out to be as scary as I had thought it would be.

After the ride was over, I realized I enjoyed conquering my fears and trying new challenges.

“See, wasn’t that fun, Izzy?” my older sister asked, turning to me with her golden smile.

“Yeah, do you want to go again?” I asked, my voice singing with confidence as I gazed up at the giant roller coaster with pride.

“Sure.”

With that, Hannah and I clasped hands conspiratorially, and we joined the line.

Track of Fear Isabelle Dastgheib
Isabelle Dastgheib, 11
Newport Coast, California

Track of Fear Mia Fang
Mia Fang, 12
West Lafayette, Indiana