Charlotte was invited to an amusement park hangout with her friends from school. She didn’t really want to go because she knew that this park contained the largest roller coaster in all of the United States and that her chaotic friends would force her to get on it with them. However after many minutes, many hours, and many days later, her friends were successful in their mission. In return, Charlotte told them that this was going to be the last time that she would get on a roller coaster with them. 

So one luminous Sunday, her and her friends met up at the amusement park which held the monstrosity. Charlotte was walking with her friends throughout the park and she noticed that this cage didn’t just hold the most vicious animal, but other terrifying creatures as well. She heard the whooshing screams of people as she walked and the constant chatter of ride debriefing which petrified the life out of her gut. She suddenly felt numb. 

“Oh my gosh, let’s get on the Skyscraper Shzank” her pumped up friend Addison excitedly stated. 

“What’s that?” Charlotte nervously stammered.

The other girls looked at each other with beaming faces sprinkled with mischievousness, and in an instant Charlotte regretted asking that question realizing what it was.

“Oh guys, maybe we can wait until we eat..” Charlotte offered, trying to steer her friends away from the ride.

“Oh, come on we’ll get food afterwards, besides if we don’t go on now the line is going to be getting longer and longer, let’s go!” another friend, Sadie said while pulling her towards her doom. 

They got into the lengthy line and got a glimpse of the ride taking off. Her friends were giggling and jumping up and down with excitement while Charlotte stood at the back of the group looking away from the terror. She looked at the rides operating around her, next to them she witnessed the kinetic car running towards the 360 loop. Her eyes moved away right before the car looped up, however her attentive ears caught the terrifying screams of the people. In that exact moment she felt a cauldron begin to boil in her stomach and heard the distant cackling of someone. Forty minutes of silent anticipation goes by as they near the gate. The chatter from her friends starts to get even louder along with the cackling she heard before. Another fifteen minutes go by and they have unfortunately reached the gate.

“How many?” one of the staff members asked Charlotte’s group. 

“6” Addison replied excitedly, which was the complete polar emotion Charlotte felt at the moment. 

“Sweet! Take up rows 1, 2, and 3 in pairs, thank you!” The staff member directed. 

“Omg we're in the front, it's exactly what I wanted!” I heard Amber say in front of me. 

I couldn't really hear them, but it sounded like they were choosing seats. I didn't care what they were doing or saying. My brain already traveled away from this terrifying world filled with beastly creatures. I pictured myself in a panoramic meadow with Baby's Breath permeating every patch of green and the mysterious wind dancing with the rays of the sun. I snapped out of my wonderland when another friend of the group, Eleanor turned to me and suggested that I sit in the front since it's my first and last time riding a roller coaster. 

“WHAT?! NO WAY!” I angrily stated and continued, “That doesn't even make sense, I don't like roller coasters because I’m afraid of heights. Why would I want to sit in the very front where I can not only see the bottom of the drop, but imagine how high I am based on the approximate height of my seat??” I practically yelled at them. 

“Awww please?? We promise we won't bug you about any more roller coaster stuff” Georgina claimed. 

“Yea and even after this, we'll pay for all your food and everything while you're here” Emeline added. 

“Ugh, fine, I'll ride in the front, but ONLY because you guys promised to stop bugging me and I can pay for my own stuff” I grudgingly responded. 

Charlotte began to question the true intentions of her friends, but agreed to ride in the front anyway because her friends made a valid point. She just perceived it to be dumb and the reasoning quite flawed. As she stood on the platform of the ride she felt the cauldron in her stomach explode. The churning in her stomach felt like a witch who just added in the final ingredient to her evil potion and the reaction of all the ingredients created the big explosion. A few seconds later, the cars came running into the platform and came to a halt. She scanned her eyes at the survivors; a speechless woman, a group of guys giving each other a high five, a crying kid who was somehow let on the ride, and the hair of all the women were flying in all directions. The one thing that was securing them, the lap bar, sprung up from their position and the riders excitedly chattered  away about the ride, leaving most of the people on the platform ecstatic and some, like Charlotte, terrified.

 Everyone on the platform made their way into the ride and eagering pulled down the lap bar. Addison, the friend Charlotte was riding with, noticed how tense she was and tried to calm her down, 

“Hey, Char you good? I promise it’s not even going to feel that long. The ride’s going to go zoom and over!” she tried reassuring her with a smile. Then she looked back at their other friends and started talking to them about how excited she was. They were laughing and smiling at each other, their world was filled with butterflies and rainbows.

It’s not going to be that long? How is it not going to be that long? The way onto the drop is probably going to take like a full minute and you’re practically laying down, so that when you actually go down…ooo I can’t think about it. It’s okay Char just like she said one zwoom and it’s done, Charlotte thought trying to reassure herself. The staff of the ride went up and down the aisles checking to make sure that all the lap bars were secured and with a press of a button the cars started moving. There’s no going back now. 

Charlotte felt terrified, so much so that she felt numb. She heard all her friends screaming behind her in excitement, she wanted to scream too, but not for the same reasons. The cars came out from the platform and into the beautiful light that would witness Charlotte fall to her doom. The click clack of the track clicked Charlotte out of her numbness and sent her into a straight panic. She tried to look around her, but the heavy gravity strapped her to the seat as she lay completely horizontally with hair losing to the gravity as well. She imagined herself jumping out into the air and flying away like a free dove escaping from the cackling, the cauldron, and the click clack. Away from the screams of riders and giggling of her friends. Away from it all, but the crescendo of the click clack dragged her back into reality. Suddenly the car stopped sending a lightning bolt like jolt from her seat to the back of the car. Charlotte wiped her face searching for sweat beads, however none were formed on her face. She continued to wipe her face to distract her from the fact that the car would eventually tip. 

A couple seconds later, the car started to tip and at that same moment her friends started to scream in excitement. 

“AHHH, HERE IT COMES!!” she heard someone say, “OMG, HANDS UP!” She heard another say, the terror in her overwhelmed her and took control of her senses, focusing them on the one thing that horrified her, disabling her from identifying the voices. 

Charlotte didn’t want to look, but again like the previous moment, gravity won and her head tilted forward with the car. She saw that the track curved far inward and inferred that it measured less than 90 degrees, this freaked her out even more because she knew this would feel worse. She waited and waited for the car to rush down, but the weight of the car hadn’t reached its tipping point, which built the tension and anticipation in Charlotte even more. She grasped the lap bar as tight as the lid on a jar, teeth clenched as if she was at the worst dentist in the world and didn’t want to open her mouth and eyes tightly closed. Finally after a hundred years the car tilted and rushed down to pick up the next group of riders. The violent rocking back and forth in her seat caused Charlotte to slide into a kind of trance and her eyes fluttered open like Aurora's except there was no kiss, but a floating Prince Philip. They looked at each other, Charlotte filled with so much confusion, but relieved to find her body at peace. He reached his slim, sculpted hand towards her. She stretched her hand with a huge smile on her face, but the jerk of the car turned them away from each other, which snapped her back to the terrorizing reality. She heard the high pitched screams of her friends all around her and from the corner of her eye could see Addison with her hands in the air. 

The car went up and as it came down Charlotte screamed. In the distance she saw a 360 loop making its way towards them as the car continued to speed forward. 

“STOOOP! NOO! I DON’T WANT TO!” Charlotte screamed and cried loudly.

But it was too late the car started up the path of the loop. It ascended up following the curve of the circle and the moment they were upside down the tears on her face started to stream downward nonstop, which meshed with her messy brunette hair. The weight of the car descended and gave it a final thrust of speed as it jolted sideways a few more times, until it shot back into the platform. 

The car having no self control jolted, pulling the riders forward and then jammed their heads into the seats of the car. Charlotte was relieved it was over, but felt so overwhelmed and started sobbing even harder than before. How come my friends made me do this? They knew I was going to suffer… How come Prince Philip was in the air? How come he didn’t save me like he did with Aurora? These were the numerous thoughts running, like the roller coaster, in her brain. 

“Come on, you crybaby. The ride’s over, you're being a nuisance to the other people who would actually enjoy it more than you” she heard Sadie say.

Charlotte looked up with tears wet on her face with a look of disbelief. 

“What?...” she muttered.

“Yea, you heard her. Get off already! You’re also blocking Addison’s way!” Emeline added sternly. 

She couldn’t believe how rude her friends were acting towards her, especially after seeing her in the condition she was in. She tried to stand up, but her legs were so wobbly from fear that she needed to support herself with the car. As soon as she got off Eleaneor pushed her and helped Addison, who was perfectly fine, off the car. Charlotte collapsed to the hard ground barely catching herself with her jelly-like arms. She picked up her arms to reveal a red blush colored blood smearing the parts near her elbows. Her vision started to blur as more tears erupted from her eyes. Why were people she called friends treating her like trash that has been sitting in a dumpster for at least a month. 

In the distance she heard the faint sound of “Once Upon A Dream” playing. She immediately picked herself up and ran past her “friends” and into the bustling crowd of people. 

“Philip? Is that you? Where are you? Philip?” Charlotte worryingly started desperately looking for her Prince. 

Just then, the amusement park seemed to distance itself from her and Charlotte felt pulled away from that world. The song kept getting louder and more defined with every second that passed. She tried reaching for something that wasn’t even there, but she tried anyway, knowing that her Prince was there to save her. Her eyelids felt heavy and although she fought hard to keep them open, they shut down on her.

Charlotte fluttered her eyes open once more and her ears captured the glistening sounds of “Once Upon A Dream”. She realized it was her alarm and turned it off and looked around the room engulfing every single detail of it. 

“Omg it was just a dream. Oh thank goodness!” Charlotte sighed in relief with her hands  on her eyes. 

“Oh wait.” she said as she jumped out of bed and hovered over desk looking at her calendar.

“There is no way this is a coincidence, I have a hangout with my friends later tonight!” She laughs happily and continues, “At least it’s not at an amusement park. I can’t wait to tell them about my dream.” she giggles thinking about her friends reacting to the story. 

After confirming that everything was just a dream and grounding herself in her room, she got ready to meet up with her friends.