Around and Around, We Go!

I wonder if I fall from this height, it’ll be enough to kill me.

Our two-seater open capsule did nothing to hide the bright candy-colored lights twinkling in an off-beat rhythm; I think I’m about to go blind. Cruel that the lights could still flicker but the Ferris wheel itself was at a standstill. At least the view compensated for that.

“50 bucks if I can hit that guy’s nachos down with my shoe,” Annie, my younger sister, said.

Nothing would be able to compensate her company, though. “Sure, then afterward you can use that money to pay for that poor guy’s dinner,” I replied.

She rolled her eyes and then said, “Why do you always have to ruin my fun?”

“Because your idea of fun is when the people around you are miserable.”

“Oh, stop being dramatic! You’re the only one who seems to be miserable around me,” Annie said.

Was that a smidge of sadness in her voice? Before I could dwell on it, a quick sensation of free-falling hit my stomach. The world’s smallest plummet apparently, since we only budged a couple of inches downward. The motion made our capsule rock softly mimicking the movement of a mother trying to soothe her fussy child.

“If you think that’s true, why are we here together?” I ask. “I wanted to spend my last weekend in town with you and you're acting like you can’t wait to see me leave already!”

“Yeah, good riddance. I can finally have the bigger room,” Annie gave me her signature smug smirk that she knew irked me.

“See that’s what I’m talking about! The whole time we’ve been here all you can talk about are the benefits of seeing me go. I didn’t realize I was holding you back so much,” I say, trying to get a good look at her face, but her entire body is facing away.

Her gaze is down and cold as stone. The people below her were nothing but mere ants and she was the unforgivable boot that willingly wanted to stomp them out of existence.

I try again. “You could’ve said no if you didn’t want to be here with me.”

“You could’ve said no to that scholarship, but you took that opportunity without a doubt!” She exclaimed.

The Ferris wheel reacted before I could and lowered further than before. At this height, the piercing sounds of carnival clatter and children’s laughter cut through the air more sharply.

“What’s that supposed to mean, was I supposed to pass it up?” I ask.

“No, it’s fine. Just add it to the list of things I need to live up to,” as she said that another downward jolt rocked our cabin. Though she won’t admit it, the motion made her inch closer to me.

Now shoulders pressed against each other, I can see the creep of crimson on her cheeks as well as a slight tear trying to peek its way out of the corner of her eye.

I sighed. “What do you mean?”

“Find a more original question,” she mumbled.

“Annie,” I insisted.

“Everyone looks at you so highly, you are smart, kind, and always there for me…” her voice faded in the end, I almost didn't hear that last part.

I contemplated what my next words should be. “Wow. I didn’t know I was your whole world,” I joked.

My little sister and I shared a laugh for the first time tonight. It was radiant enough to drown out all the other jubilant noises around. We were so lost in our rare moment of peace that we failed to realize our capsule was one stop from reaching the exit.

We finally made it off the ‘Wheel of Torture’ and were both glad when our feet felt the pressure of gravity pressing against the ground.

“So where to next?” I asked. “How about the Carousel?”

“Aren’t you tired of going in circles?”

It’s what we do best, I thought. “C’mon, for old time’s sake.”