David Levy

And I hear Tyson yell, yeah, to some question I hadn't heard asked.

And the next thing I know, we're being dragged backward and up into the air by the crane.

So I close my eyes for a moment, but then I'm like, no, you know what?

Live or die, I am only riding this ride once.

So my eyes are open when I get to the top, and I'm inspecting the ground for any sign of an imprint in the shape of a body.

And I hear, hey, and it's the attendant, and I'm like, what do you want?

And he's giving me the thumbs up.

So I look at Tyson to see if he's ready, and who am I kidding, he's been ready for two years.

So it's up to me.

I pull the ripcord.

And I forget that the ride starts with us free-falling, so I'm thinking, we're dead.

And then it occurs to me that my mantra, that this ride has been operated thousands of times safely before now, has a serious flaw in it, because of course things work until they break.

That's what breaking is.

So I am at the peak of terror when our cables go taut and we drop into that swing, speeding downward, and if you believe Wikipedia, hitting 67 miles an hour and coming within six feet of the ground as we pass through the arch and fly.

And Tyson's screaming with excitement, and I'm screaming with terror, and I'll admit, maybe a little bit of excitement.

And then we swing back and forth again, but not quite as high, and back and forth again, and still not quite as high, and I'm finding myself a little disappointment that we're not getting the lift that we did on that first swing.

So when the ride is over and Tyson yells, that was awesome, I'm like, that was awesome.

I mean, I'm shaking all over, but that was awesome.

And then he points at the next ride.

Drop zone.