On this episode, Off The Rails, our story revolves around a woman who takes a sudden risk for sheer joy. This leads us into this week’s discussion: why do we risk our lives for entertainment?
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Want to read Aaron’s story “Off The Rails” in full? Think you can identify the moral or theme for this episode? Read it below, and then take a listen to the podcast.
Off The Rails
Sally stared at the metal barrier in front of her. This was it, her moment of truth.
As she awaited her destiny, a life wasted flashed in front of her eyes. The time she should have taken Gary in the office up on his dinner invitation. That promotion she passed up in Seattle to be closer to family. A myriad of choices and twists in her life flew by as she prepared for the end.
The voice on the intercom erupted as though the announcer was screaming directly into her soul, “PLEASE STEP FORWARD INTO THE CAR”
Sally took a deep breath. She turned around to retreat, but several hundred people were already lined up and staring her down. She knew they would not allow her to flee. She must face her fate.
Sally moved past the barrier and into the car, where she sat down with ferocity. She had no idea how she got to this moment, but she instantly regretted every choice that led her to it.
The strange announcer walked over and pulled the bar down, locking Sally in her seat. There was no turning back now. She had to see this through.
“Here we go!” She heard an eerie glee in the announcer’s voice as the cars departed.
Slowly, the semi-connected cars began their trek up the old, wooden tracks. Rickety rack. Rickety rack. The sounds emulating from beneath the car was more terrifying than the ascent itself.
As they crested the top, Sally finally began to see over the top of mountain…well, what seemed like a mountain, anyway. What she saw, was a vast emptiness. These cars were about to plummet, and Sally knew these would be her final thoughts.
The cars completed their climb and slowly began falling down the other side. Sally watched as each car dropped completely out of sight, and listened as each time was followed by heightened cries. Finally, it was her turn. This was it.
Over the mountain she went, plummeting to her assured death. Faster, FASTER, FASTER!!!! Sally was screaming at the top of her lungs. The cars veered right, then snapped back left again, then right, now upside down. The intense speed propelling them forward was nothing short of astonishing. She had never experienced anything like it.
As Sally began their second loop, she noticed her screams had stopped. They were now replaced with a wide gaze, a sublime realization that she was now having the time of her life. What an astonishing revelation. Why had she been so terrified before??
So amazing, so thrilling, and so exhilarating an experience that Sally never even noticed that somehow, after that last mountain peak, the cars had left the tracks.