by Matthew Huang (P5 2022)

              “Wow, I have not seen this journal in a long while!” I exclaimed in awe of my discovery while cleaning my bookshelves. I opened my journal and saw a picture of me on a roller coaster ride during my tenth birthday celebration. I had been looking for a journal to write my thoughts for the day and I encountered a pleasant surprise. I remembered that day like it was just yesterday. As I looked fondly at the picture, the events of that day played vividly in my mind.

              I was walking gracefully with my family to Universal Studios Theme Park. I was bubbling with excitement as I marvelled at the rides that I was going to take with my family. I was also going to celebrate my tenth birthday there. I smelled the mist coming out of the big replica of the globe but with the big letters “UNIVERSAL STUDIOS”. After making her way through the crowds, my mother got the tickets and we all went into the theme park. I ran with my older sister, Bella, to the most thrilling roller coaster ride in the park because I was finally tall enough to try it with my sister. With out hearts beating wildly against our chests, we walked into the air-conditioned waiting area. The snaking queue took almost ten minutes for us to reach the middle of the queue. Feeling impatient, I ran forward and cut the queue. Once it was my turn, I walked onto the roller coaster and sat down. After the metal bar came down, it started moving forward and upwards until we were at the top. In a reverie, I loved the view at the top of the roller coaster as we overlooked the whole theme park.

              All of a sudden, I felt a sudden jerk. I jolted back to reality after looking down at the theme park. I looked back at the start of the roller ride. My mind began to fill with worrying thoughts. “Oh, no! Are we going to be stuck here forever? Will anybody save us?” Bella realised that I was scared. She tried calming down by telling me that in no time, we were going to be saved by a group of skilled technicians. I thought of better ideas of what we could do in the meantime. An idea hit me like a 20-pound sledgehammer. We began to play “I spy” to calm our nerves. To my relied, we were soon rescued. The seat belts moved up and I stood up and walked down the emergency white-colored staircase leading up to the top with the technicians’ help. Bella and I helped the other people on the ride get to the stairs too. Together, we walked down to start the ride and walked down the stairs. Bella complimented me for being brave. We found our parents soon after. My mother was so thankful that I was safe that she hugged me tightly. My birthday party carried on and I enjoyed myself on all the other rides. At the end of the day, I was beaming from ear to ear.

              After this incident, I learnt that I can be brave no matter the situation. The events during the celebration would be stuck in my head forever.

              “Hey, what are you looking at?” my sister asked, tapping on my shoulder. I snapped out of my reverie and was brought back to the present day. A smile spread across her face when she saw the picture. Once I set the picture down, I began writing in my journal: “I was walking gracefully with my family to Universal Studios Theme Park…”

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