Twenty Something

Currently on a type of ride called the “I don’t know why I’m here, but here I am”.

Don’t get me wrong, I love rollercoasters. Honestly, they’re probably the only reason I would go to any park in the first place. I love how unpredictable they feel, the whole thing is a mood swing with seatbelts. And you know that somewhere down on the ground, there’s a person with a panel of buttons who can either drop you from the highest point or pull some tiny little reverse trick and send you down and up out of nowhere.

But we often forget it is not the drop that makes our heart feel like it is trying to climb out of our chest. It is those few seconds when we are suspended in the sky, held there, waiting for the controller to decide whether to let us fall, pull us back, or keep us there a moment longer.

So we choose to close our eyes, thinking that if we cannot see, maybe our heart will beat a little slower. And yet, ironically, the best part of the ride is actually opening your eyes while you are still hanging there, and letting yourself breathe. And we often all forget to do that.

You will realize you are closer to the sky than you have ever been. The city is spread out in front of you from an angle you never get to see, as if the world has quietly turned itself toward you for once. And the best part is that, most of the time, you look to your side and you will, find the one you love sitting right next to you, strapped in and suspended with you, riding the same pause.

Do not forget to tap them gently and tell them to open their eyes too.

If you feel like you’re currently on the top of the ride, anxiously anticipating the next move, I am right here with you. Open your eyes, and look around. You will realized no matter how nervous the unknown is making you, you’re still surrounded with so much beauty in life. And again, the best part of it all, someone is gotta be there riding it with you.

And suddenly your seat started moving. You feel like gravity leaving your body; in a blink of an eye you’re no longer in the sky but on the ground. “Guess we’re going down!” You scream, you hold on the seat even tighter, and you look at the person next to you and start laughing together. So then here comes a few more waves, but it doesn’t feel as intense as earlier anymore, because you’ve passed the biggest wave of it all.

Slowly, and shortly, the ride stops at where you started. You quietly get off your seat and start walking out of the ride.

A deep breathe.

“Lowkey, do you wanna go again?”

“I thought I was going to die up there, but let’s do it! That was so much more fun than I thought.”

“Thanks for going again with me.”

“Anytime.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, SOOO much.”