Daily Journal-- 2/24/11

I never understood why my mom and dad took our family here every year. They were fully aware of my distaste in heights, the speed of the slides, and the claustrophobia I experiences waiting in the lengthy lines. Yet, here we were again in the "beautiful" Wisconsin Dells. My Mom had finally convinced me to go down one slide, assuring me that it was the smallest, least frightening slide in the place. I should have known better as we climbed the seemingly endless wooden stairs. Maybe I was too scared to even notice how high we were climbing, but we just kept going and going. I was in third grade at the time, and about 50 inches tall, barely tall enough to even be eligable to ride most slides. As we got to the top, I looked down. "Oh my God." I thought right away about finding an exit, but there was no exit.. except the slide. My mom set down the two-person tube, and told me to get in the front seat. She noticed how anxious I was, and told me "Don't worry, Jack.. You can always shut your eyes if you get too scared." I took one last giant gulp of air, shut my eyes, and we were off. The first drop was the worst, because I wasn't expecting it. I'm sure the people at the top of the slide could hear me screaming like a little girl. They were probably all whispering insults to each other about me, such as "amateur" or "what a cry baby." Halfway through the ride, when I had finally become accustomed to the feeling of dropping, and the water splashing in my face, I opened my eyes. It was crazy how much of a shift occured in such little time. I even began smiling; partly due to the fact that I was having fun, but mainly to the realization that I had conquered my fear. We got to the bottom of the slide, were pushed out by a giant surge of water, and fell off of the tube into the pool where two lifeguards were standing. "How was that, little guy?" asked one of the life guards. My smile must have answered the question, because he smiled back and said "good." I pulled my mom's hand and ran back into the line to go again.