Replaying Yesterday (H original)

The Warm summer breeze falls cool at night, Last night for shorts, but first of many for hoodies. All Summer you’ve waited, Saved up all your change, done odd jobs. It’s finally time, as the sun set you get there. Everybody is there. The friends you came with, people you haven’t seen all summer, that couple who has been together for years. They are all here. Everybody. Line after line you wait. Getting in, getting tickets, buying food, Experiencing it all, line by line. You are singing, laughing, screaming, eating, Fun you have every summer,  fun that never gets dull.

The sun set earlier, it’s cooling down. *Buzz* an email. School is starting and you haven’t begun packing. Courses have been picked for months. Classes start Wednesday. You can’t wait to see you newest friends. Desk? … Check. Dish soap? … Check. Rent for this month? … Check. All of a sudden you are an Adult. Leaving home behind you. “Are you coming tonight?” Tonight? What’s tonight? The magic has faded, but you agree to go. Excitement you once felt has left. Nothing new, You’ve been a million times.

There it stands, the mother of fun and terror, towering right in front of you. Terrified of the old steal, rusted, monster you stand in line. The fear of falling off is what dares you on board. *CLANK!* The cage door is slammed and locked. You grip the bars in front of you, hands already sweating. *Click. Click. Click.* Your cage moves up slowly, as the victims below are restocked. The cart begins swaying, back and forth, back and forth. *Click. Click. Click.* Sitting, Waiting, You are at the top. Looking down, what was just so big, now just specs. *Chug. Chug.* The cage moves slightly back. It’s beginning, Soon you are flying up and down the arms of the monster. Flipping, starring at the ground as you plunge towards it. Screaming, Laughing, Holding your breathe. It stops. You’re alive. *Chug. Chug* Backwards. You feel weightless as you are flung into what you can’t see. The cage continues to jerk you around. Flipping, seeing glimpses of what’s coming. Screaming, Laughing, Holding your breathe. It stops. You’re alive. *Click. Click. Click.* The monster has been defeated. It carries you back to solid ground. You’re out. And right back in line. It’s the fair. The Zipper. The whole point of having a childhood, A summer, A hometown, Friends. Forever young.