“I want to go zip lining,” my sister had said.
She could only go if I went too. She and I both knew our grandparents wouldn’t zip line with her, which left me and only me to go with her. We were in the gorgeous Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The sky was clear, the weather was amazing and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I may never get to do this again.
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Why shouldn’t I go zip lining?! I could have written a book titled "A Million Reasons Not to go Zip-Lining."
But I went anyway.
We spent the whole day at Dollywood, walking around and riding roller coasters that were 10 times better than the ones at Valleyfair. I got to pose next to John Schneider’s name on the water fountain of fame, eat fast “homemade” food, and I had so much fun already. It was hot, which of course made tan lines come easily. Good old fashioned country music was playing out of the speakers, including Dolly Parton’s own music. I think if we thought about it at the time, we were all singing along in our heads. This kiss, this kiss, it’s incredible. Everyone was sweating; the Tennessee sun was not the same sun as Minnesota’s or Kansas’s sun. The sounds of roller coasters running could be heard everywhere you went in the park. You could also hear and smell monkeys, because Dollywood did indeed have monkeys. They were climbing through the trees and up into the mountains, like it was no big deal to be up so high.
We were looking at the colorful Dollywood map, checking to see what roller coasters we had yet to ride. Allie pointed to the zip line with a hopeful smile on her face, and Grandma and Grandpa said we could go check it out. Not too much money, lots of fun, totally safe, awesome. They asked if I wanted go too, and I was lost for an answer. No, no, no, no. I looked over at Al’s excited face, and I knew what I had to do. I was a big sister for a reason, and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her too. After all the times we’ve fought and I won, I probably owed it to her. So I nodded my head and started in on the paperwork. There was a lot of paperwork. Dollywood was “not responsible for any injuries or deaths that may occur.” The paperwork stated this repeatedly. It sent shivers up my spine as I signed and passed it over to my grandma to sign too.
When I stepped on the scale, there was a feeling spreading over my body, like I was going to pass out. I am actually doing this.
We had to wait for about a half an hour for everyone to show up in the zip lining party. I sat on the unfinished wooden bench thinking I should call my parents and tell them I love them one last time. I twisted my thumbs and thought about backing out. Allie would be so mad, and my grandpa had already put his money down. I can do this. I will do this.
We waited for what seemed like a long time, and finally a guy not much older than me said for all the 1:45s to follow him. It’s almost two o’clock. Why are they starting late?! Maybe there was an accident. I reluctantly followed, leaving my grandparents at the bench. My mind was in a haze, and my body was just going through the motions. There were a lot of couples in our group, as well as a dad and a daughter, and then there was my sister and I.
Two boys and one girl were giving instructions, and judging by looks, the girl was the oldest, but no older than 22. The oldest the boys could possibly be was 19. Was I going to live to be 19? The girl gave instructions to step into the harnesses that were set laying out on the ground, so we did just that. I just kept staring down at the cement and the pile of black straps and silver metal clips. This was my harness? I heard them say, “Lift up two of the straps and put them over our shoulders and snap it.” I did as they said. They came around to tighten and check our harnesses, and lucky me, I got the cutest of the boys; dirty blonde, not too tall, broad shoulders and muscles. I was still looking at the cement when he came around to me. He tightened my harness, which unfortunately was really awkward. The harness hugged my crotch, thighs, butt, hips and shoulders. My face was turning red, and it was not because of the sun. He looked up after he was done and asked if this was my first time with a deep Tennessee accent. So cute. I slowly nodded, feeling like I was going to fall to the floor right then. My body was numb. Tell me it’s awful, that it’s unsafe so I will have a reason to take my precious baby sister and go back … He put his hand on my shoulder and said it would be fun, smiled and went on to the next person.
When they had finished with the harnesses, we were handed extremely unattractive yellow helmets. Allie and I looked at each other, made a weird face, shrugged our shoulders and joined the single file line up the trail. Every step I took, I felt like I was hiking towards a torture chamber.
Someone asked if anyone had ever died on this zip lining trip. The girl replied, “No, not at Dollywood, but probably in lots of other places.” Thanks for telling us that, lady.
When we got up to what resembled a tree house, one of the guides showed us how to actually get across the thin cable leading to another tree house. My lunch was coming up. I let everyone go in front of Allie and I, and my sister chose to go before me. She got across perfectly OK, laughing the entire way across, clearly enjoying it. When it finally got to be my turn, I was extremely hesitant. I stepped up onto the block and refused to look down. This will be good for me. If my 14-year-old sister can do it, I can do it. The lady guide hooked me up to the cord which seemed extremely small for getting me across to the other tree house. She showed me how to “steer” and how to hold on to the handle. She basically had to push me off the ramp. No, no, no, no, no. When my feet lifted off the ramp, my harness got tighter around my hind end, acting like a seat. I learned fast that it was really uncomfortable to be tensed up, so I relaxed the muscles in my legs.
I finally got enough guts to look down. I was so high up, right above tall trees. It was hard to not keep twisting around. The harness was connected to the cable by a circle clip, leaving a lot of room for turning when I shifted my weight. This is where steering came in handy; when I turned my hand left, my body went right and when I turned my hand right, my body went left.
When I looked down, it was like I was looking down on a giant map. My heart dropped and I couldn’t breathe. There was a little blue river in the middle, a lot of gray and brown rocks, and a lot of squirrels. In my mind I was picturing my body splattered onto the rocks, praying I would make it to the other side. If I die young, bury me in satin, lay me down in a bed of roses, send me away with the words of a love song.
I took deep and long breaths, deathly afraid that each one would be my last. Landing was an entirely different situation. I landed running. I suppose it was because I had been going so fast across the line and there was no way to slow down. And then I hit the stopper. This threw me off balance and one of the guides had to catch me and pull me up the steep ramp. Inertia at its finest. I could finally breathe. I did it.
The rest of the zip lining trip is a haze. I think I was half unconscious, half blocking out what was happening. I know I did five zip lines, and I know my sister chattered on the whole time. We are pretty lucky to be doing this.
On the last line, the cable went across the entire Dollywood amusement park. Before I started walking down the ramp, the cute guy teased me and told me to make sure and lift my legs above the white roofed building, or my legs might get torn off from the force. He then said he was just messing with me and that I would be fine. I’m doing this for my sister. Out of love for my sister. God, don’t take me home now. One last one. So I jumped and lifted my legs up high anyways when zipping over the building, just to be sure. I did that when I went over roller coasters, as well.
When I got to the last one, I could not get unhooked fast enough. I could not get off the last tree house fast enough. I could not get back to my grandparents fast enough and hug them. Allie tells the story of zip lining, about how much she loved it and how much fun it was. When people ask if I liked it, I say yes, careful not to ruin my sister’s joyful stories.
