A Parable About Fear

There once was a boy who lived in a theme park.
He was afraid of roller coasters.
Deathly afraid.
He thought he would fly out.
He thought he would hit his head.
He thought the harness would break.
He thought he would get puked on or hit by another rider.
He thought he might lose his shoes or the change from his pocket.
The speed and the steel scared him.
The largeness and the power scared him.
He was content with funnel cakes and tea cups and log flumes.
He spent years of his life avoiding the biggest things in the theme park.
Until his fifteenth birthday.
He had a summer birthday and there were lots of tourists in the summer.
On the day of his birth the boy went to see the jugglers.
And the costumed actors.
And the magicians.
And went to eat his favorite thing. Nachos.
Standing in the nacho line he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned around "Hello" said a dark haired girl.
"Um, hi." He said lost in her deep dark brown eyes.
"You're getting nachos this early?" she said
"Um, ye-ye-yeah"
"You shouldn't eat before you ride roller coasters."
"I don't...actually."
"Never?"
"No."
"Want to try?"
Lost in her eyes and her hair and her beautiful smile he said "Today...maybe."
She grinned. She clutched his hand and ran to the nearest coaster.
The Guillotine.
Waiting in line his heart pounded.
He sweat profusely.
The girl noticing this said nothing simply smiled and squeezed his hand.
They were finally sat and harnesses in the roller coaster.
The ride started on a climb as they all do.
The boy's panic grew to a fever pitch.
At the top of the first climb the boy thought about death.
About dying.
About ending his own life to forgo what would come next.
But those thoughts were fleeting.
And seconds after the car took the plunge...
The boys smile was big.
Joy and Thrill filled his heart.