Her name was Amelia. Her soft blond hair covered her eyebrows and extended as long as her shoulders. She was petite. Even though she was soft spoken, there was never a dull moment between us; she was my best friend.

Like most days, after school Amelia took the bus to my house. Together, we decided to build something everlasting: a rollercoaster. This rollercoaster was not going to be a one-time thing. We planned on building many and someday opening up a business where we could charge our customers for rides. Amelia and I dreamed of the profits from such a unique profession. Our naïve minds drifted off into our future of success.

“Where are we going to start?” Amelia questioned. Our relationship always involved her asking the questions and me knowing the answers. I thought for a second before replying.

“Okay, first of all we need wheels, a seat, and a seatbelt. That’s how it looks in the real world.” I walked over to the huge blue wooden box in my garage that housed all of my outdoor toys. My brother and I painted it with my dad years ago. The blue was chipping off the sides, leaving the true tree trunk color of the wood. The box may have well had a sign on it that said, “Get Your Splinters Here!” I carefully circumvented the dangerous wood; however, I knew I would need to get closer if I wanted to get the supplies necessary. Even while extending my arms as far as I could, I had trouble rummaging through the box due to its vast depth.

“I can go on your back and find what we need!” Amelia exclaimed. It was apparent that she was pleased to finally contribute her ideas.

“Good idea.”

As Amelia climbed on, I directed her where to locate what we needed. She dug out my brother’s old skateboard, a pogo stick, and a bright red sled. I went inside to get duct tape and string. We sat on my driveway as we taped the sled to the skateboard securely. Next we attached the string to the handlebars of the pogo stick, so that the string could go around the rider and he or she could hold the handlebars. Our rollercoaster was complete.

“I want to go first!” I squealed with excitement.

“Okay, then me” Amelia responded through her heavy smile. We were both over the moon about the fact that we were going to ride a rollercoaster without having to go to an amusement park. We pushed it up to the beginning of my driveway. First slowly then gradually faster we began running. We approached the curb within seconds.

“My driveway is so flat; the rollercoaster won’t work well,” I said. We both looked at the pavement with sorrow. “We can go onto my neighbor’s driveway! They have older kids and they never mind” I proceeded.

“Let’s go!”

We walked over and sat down on the sled, feeling to some extent nervous about whether or not our invention was truly safe. My miniature hands firmly gripped the handlebars and I extended my feet in front of me down the red sled. Amelia ran me down the big hill, holding on to the own rollercoaster the whole time, ensuring that I would not crash. The wind whacked me in the face, and my heart stopped as I accelerated down the massive driveway. The rollercoaster was in fact a success! We spent the next few hours taking turns riding. Eventually, it became dark and Amelia went home.

As my limbs grew longer, and my mind grew wiser, time marched on and I matured. Every time I passed the blue box, which was now easily accessible to me, I spotted the rollercoaster resting in the back. Although no longer in perfect condition, no one had bothered to take it apart. Dust built up upon its surface.

As I looked outside my window, I saw my mother talking to the new neighbors who had moved in to the white house with the large driveway that Amelia and I had ridden on so many summers ago. There was a little girl, a little boy, and parents who looked much younger than mine. I saw the boy reach as high as he could into my blue box, which was no longer blue at all. He was just able to reach the pogo stick by jumping up a bit. I watched him try and then succeed to grasp how to use the toy. His small body mastered it faster than one would expect. As the family began to walk home, I saw my mother say something to the boy. He smiled widely as he dragged the pogo stick up the driveway. I saw the string dangling from the handlebars and once again felt that gush of wind strike me in the face. What ever happened to Amelia I wondered?