Have you ever been to the Wisconsin Dells? I went last summer. I was so excited when my family and I got into the car to go there! I knew it was going to be great. “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” I kept asking. It was about, let’s see, aaaaaaaabout a three-hour drive, and I was getting restless from being in the car which was too small for me. I was getting cramps in my legs. Finally, we got to the hotel! It was Wilderness Resort, the largest water park resort in the Dells. We walked into the lobby and I looked out the window. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

    Outside, there were tons of pools of all sorts: wave pools and normal pools, plus water sprayers of all kinds. There were also lots of water slides, some as tall as three stories high. There was one particular body slide that I will never forget.

    The next day, I was going on my first closed body slide in the Wild West Water Park. All of the big water slides there were located at the back. They were numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. I decided to go on number 3 which I heard was the least harsh. I wanted to go on a slide that was not too scary for my first time. I sat down at the top of the slide and went down.

   It was pitch black inside the water slide. As my body rushed through the tube, I had to push myself over on turns or curves so I wouldn’t hit them. Then WHAM!!! I banged my head against the side of the tube on a turn! The next thing I knew, I was at the bottom. My mom was going to follow me down the slide and meet me at the bottom, but when I got off, I rubbed my head and looked up the stairs where my mom had been and said softly, “No mom, don’t go down.” I couldn’t see her and I was worried about mom getting hurt the same way I did. Shortly after, she came down the slide, and she had a smile on her face! I realized she hadn’t hit her head! When she saw that I was crying a little, her smile faded. She walked over to me quickly and asked what was wrong. I explained I was going down the slide sitting up and hit my head. She said that I wasn’t supposed to sit up; I was supposed to lie back, because the tube was so narrow.

    We had to go to the first aid station to get some ice or something to help my aching head. The man working at the first aid station wasn’t worried at all, just because my head wasn’t bleeding! My mom said that I was hurt very badly from hitting my head on the water slide, and I needed some ice. The man said, “Yes,” very slowly, and so my mom said again, “We need something for my son!’ He started to look around for ice, but he was taking his time, and it was almost like he didn’t care that I was hurt! Finally, he gave me an ice pack, and I sat down with the ice and put it on my head. The man brought over some more first aid people to check how I was feeling.

   When we got back to the hotel room, we sat back and relaxed. I never wanted to go on that kind of water slide again.

    By the next day, I was in the water again, playing volleyball, basketball, and going in wave pools. My head was getting a little better, but I was still very scared of the body slides. Each day, my head kept getting better and better, and I was still doing other things besides the body slides. At the same time, I was also curious, thinking, “What would happen if I tried a body slide again? Should I do it? My head feels better.”

    Finally, I decided to go on another body slide. I told my mom and dad, and this time I went down the slide lying back. It was awesome! I got off at the bottom very happy, because I didn’t hit my head! I kept going down the slides over and over again. My mom had to almost pull me away from the slides just so I would do something else!

    I’ll never forget hitting my head inside the water slide, but I’ll also never forget how much fun it was once I learned how to go down the slide the right way. So remember, if you ever get a chance to go on a closed body slide, don’t forget to lie back!