A Roller Coaster Ride that Ends Abruptly

Anooja. A

18/UZLA/034

The thrill that the riders of this rollercoaster experience gives them a fantastic high before they plunge to death. Unless, of course, they hit the brakes. There weren’t enough workers to complete the rails before the greedy big-bellied riders bought premium tickets to taste that high. Meanwhile, the owners of the rides capitalized on the high too, apathetic about the completion of the construction as long as the ride attracted enough riders. Nonetheless, you must be wondering why everyone ignores the incomplete rails.

Let’s go back to the time when the roller coaster was being built. Before its advent, future-riders would walk on the ground in boring, unaltered patterns. Then they saw the opportunity to create fun and satiate their thirst for excitement.

As the community size increased, they realised the untapped potential of green sticks. Those green sticks later went on to be shared between communities, and industries formed to produce more of it. One could argue that cultivating a variety of green sticks helped save the lives of large future-rider communities. What no one realised was that the green sticks came with a cost. The elephant in the room was also slowly dying because of the industries. But the future-riders were highly focussed on developing goods and services for the globe and increasing their reach for the benefit of other future-riders. That’s when the rollercoasters started getting built.

First, a few rides were completed but with increasing time and temper, bigger rides were built with more green sticks for the extra euphoria the world demanded. The rails required materials tailored to newer luxuries. The riders were always discontent and realised that faster rides could be formed with industries that belched out grey clouds. During this time, the rider population increased exponentially and so did their needs and wants. Were there enough green sticks for them? Yes. They started building an unimaginably strikingly beautiful roller-coaster that millions aspired to get on. Riders’ goal was to accumulate enough validation to get on that first-class roller coaster. They thought that that roller coaster made their life much happier and supplied enough exhilaration to satisfy an otherwise cookie-cutter life.

Are there enough green sticks for the future riders? That question remains undecided for now. If the present riders stop riding at all and start walking on the ground then the green sticks can be conserved but they don’t care. Another option is completing the grand roller coaster ride that is halfway-done. It is incomplete owing to the exponentially-getting-costlier green sticks. Higher the ride, costlier the making, since many workers fall from that height building it.

The grand ride remains the tallest in the world and the highest anyone can reach. It is completely upon the present riders, if they want, to continue taking the ride higher and eventually cost them their own lives. They have the option of controlling the multiplication of the riders to reduce the number of riders dying, decreasing the number of tickets to the grave or arrest the grey clouds billowing from industries. Or they must allow the workers to fix the rail with innovations and bring the ride down with utter care to not hurt the elephant in the room and conserve the green sticks. If it keeps running, surely, one day, the brakes will fail. Then what will they do?