One of my most cherished memories of Aurora involved the annual St. Cecilia's School Picnic, which took place toward the end of the school year. Aurora and I spent most of the day together, riding the rides, or just walking around and talking.
At one point, we rode the Ferris Wheel, which was one of the most terrifying Ferris Wheels I've ever ridden. It was rusty and rickety, and the seat that we took made a strange clanking/grinding sound as it moved, which could be strongly felt through the visibly cracking seats. Aurora could see that I was worried, and dutifully fulfilled her obligation to scare the living crap out of me by rocking the seat so much, it felt like it would flip over. "Stop it!" I yelled, fear overtaking my embarrassment as others looked at me. "For the love of God, sit still!"
With that, she leaned back in her seat, smiled and said, "Oh, don't be such a fraidy cat!"
"I'm not," I replied. "But I don't want to fall out either." She just smiled and laughed at me.
Later, we decided on a ride that was a bit closer to the ground. It was called the "Berry Go Round," which involved four cars made up to look like strawberries that spun around in a circle. Think "Tilt 'a' Whirl" without the tilt. Inside each car was an arched platform for a seat, and a table-like structure in the middle, which could be used to spin the car around. As this was a new ride to that particular year, Aurora and I decided to try it out. A bunch of younger kids got into the car with us, and we began making the car spin. During the ride, the kids taunted the operator with "go faster!" and "this is a wussie ride!" Still a little embarrassed from my scene at the ferris wheel, I decided to join in. "You know," I said to Aurora, "This is kind of fun!" She had her head bent down, and she nodded slightly.
At the end of the ride, the kids and I continued to taunt the operator, "Get us out of here!" we cried. "We're scared to death!" He decided to make us suffer a bit longer by opening the other cars first.
"I'm going to throw up," Aurora said. At first, I figured she was finally getting into the spirit.
"Yeah, me too," I said. "I'm so scared I could puke!"
"No, seriously," she replied in a very ill voice.
"Let us out! Let us out!" the kids screamed frantically. The operator just continued to smile and shake his head. I could only watch in horror as a slimy, chunky brown liquid spewed from her mouth. It covered the table like a drapery, and proceeded to spill on the laps of everyone on board. The operator finally let us out, and the kids ran out screaming. In retrospect, I wish I'd stayed to make sure she was okay, but at the time, I felt like I was going to puke myself. I ran up the hill to the pavillion/restroom area. After changing pants, I returned to the park, but could not find Aurora. After a while, I assumed that her parents had taken her home.
I did not see her again until class next Monday, when she sighed and said in a humorously blunt tone, "Sorry I threw up on you." The poor girl was probably embarrassed as hell. I guess that's the way life is, some times are good, some are not, but the best are when you have a friend to be embarrassed and scared with.