Wise

李思晨

“Scratch， scratch， scratch.”

Now， regularly， you would think that waking up to the Napa morning would be like waking up to a wonderland. Full of birds and flowers. I woke up to a very extremely itchy mosquito bite. Reluctantly， I got up and crawled out of bed. The smell of my moms Chinese food made me quite nauseous. I mean， didnt we come here to get away from China？Today， our plan was to take a drive up the mountain at the back of the winery. At around 3 we got into this very adorable little truck. The ride went a little bit like this：

“Rickety， rackety， rickety， rackety.”

But hey！ We made it！ The view was honestly the most breathtaking mountain view I have ever seen， I can almost imagine a nice picnic on the mountaintop， with some really nice breadsticks.

Shooting times arrived， how time pasts when youre nervous. Which I was. Grace and I was lined up at the little corner of shade a couple feet away from the shooting court. Uncle Richie was the one who brought us up here， but the real gun shooting tutorial came from Uncle Blake. He was a professional shooting champion. I know， like you， Im in awe. Lets cue the dramatic intro music. Me and Grace used the small hand guns， since the big hunting guns were too big for us and the power it gives off is too hard for our shoulder muscles to handle. Shooting a handgun is actually pretty simple. Left foot forward， holding out both hands. Your right hand should be wrapped around the gun and make sure your pointer finger is not actually on the trigger， but relaxed in front of it. Remember， only have your finger on the trigger just before you pull it. Your other hand should grab the bottom of the gun handle to hold it tight. Does it sound confusing？Well its extra confusing when youre heart is racing at 80 miles per hour. The gun was surprisingly heavy， made of metal. At first I was pretty scared to pull the trigger. Afraid the force would be too strong. Scared Im not strong enough. But I felt pretty badass after the first shoot. It was like I was suddenly the Atomic Brunette （Movie references， eh？） Ten shots later， I was pretty darn proud of myself. This could be a common hobby， I was fascinated by it. Really fascinated by it.

That night I slept like a chipmunk in hibernation， dreaming of my 007 afterlife.

Two days later…

“Six Flags！” Grace screamed before I could object.

I was definitely not an amusement park kind of person. But a vacation is all about trying new things， so I was told. The drive to 6 Flags was long and dreadful. Especially if you， like me， is extremely sensitive to car sickness. But alas， we arrived， and I survived. The park was DC themed， which made Grace even more excited. On the bus ride from the lot to the park， this happened：endprint

Uncle Richie：-Hands me orange peel-

Me：Thanks… What do I do with this exactly？

Uncle Richie：You know， if you leave it out for like 8 years， you can make really good tea.

Me：Why dont you just buy the tea？

Uncle Richie：That works too.

We arrived.

The first ride we went on a this swing ride. I felt like we were almost flying through the universe， I felt as if I was wonder woman， flying through the sky， saving mankind. For about 2 minutes. But what I didnt know was it gets better.

Then， there were the roller coasters. Im terrified of them. I just cant stand the feeling of being strapped down to a chair and the sensation of your soul flying out of your body. If you get what I mean. Grace on the other hand was having the time of her life. So was uncle richie， surprisingly. I went on 6 rides in total， the swing， the Sky Screamer， bumper cars， White Water Safari， Log ride and The Cobra. Lets start with the log ride， like most log rides， it was fast and thrilling at the same time， we also got drench. Really drenched. As I got into the cart， my heart thumped， this is definitely against my will， the cart slowly climbed up， as we got to the edge I closed my eyes… The falling sensation was too real， I screamed， but heard nothing， everything was muffled and then， it just all stopped. The Sky screamer was a bigger， no， not bigger， ginormous， version of the swing. It was super tall and we went up and down， slowly and peacefully. The view breathtaking and the wind sent chills down your spine. I felt like a bald eagle， floating through the universe， a feeling of freedom washed over me， like everything else didnt matter anymore. The freedom did come to an end though， as we walked through the gates back to reality.endprint