I've been with my girlfriend (22f) for 2 and a half years now.
I posted a few days ago about an incident, and was judged harshly, but I listened and apologized. (In summary, I took longer talking to my friend a few nights ago, and it intruded on plans I had with her). It got me thinking how immature I was and how much I was hurting her, so I told her I needed time for me to improve and I would help find her a new apartment. She was all over the place, confused, crying, and said this was an extreme reaction to her just wanting me to acknowledge why she was hurt over what I did.
After leaving for a day we talked things out and decided I could work on growing while still together. She hasn't really been herself, I know it will take time, but she admits she feels insecure and paranoid since what I did.
My friend was graduating college. The ceremony is a 4 hour drive from our town. I told him I would go and due to the long drive I would likely stay into Sunday at his place. My girlfriend seemed upset. She told me she knew I should go, it was just tough after everything that has happened. I told her she was still a main priority to me. I could tell she wanted to say something but didn't. It resulted in an argument and us not sharing much of a goodbye this morning.
Now I'm having a good time with my friend and was proud to see him walk across the stage. I kept my girlfriend updated on everything. Her messages have been shorter.
To be honest, I don't know what to do. My friend means the world to me, but I also love my girlfriend. I think it's possible to love and prioritize them equally, I just feel she makes it harder.
AITB?

Im 17, and I’ve been struggling with loneliness all my life so far. Not loneliness as in no partner, but I have no one. I’ve never been loved, I haven’t been told ‘I love you’ by someone that’s not my mom. I haven’t had anyone say to me irl that they love being around me. As a result, it affected me. Imagine no friends since elementary up until almost the end of highschool. I haven’t had made a single memory with anyone and I’m graduating in a month. I look decent, I shower, Im in sports(XC last sem and track this sem), my height is ok (5’11) but I still haven’t made any friends. I’ve been so desperate for friends, or just care from someone else that I’ve become rather desperate(I don’t show it though). My loneliness has become absolutely painful to deal with, and it’s a factor as to why I hate myself because I feel like no one wants me
However, this one girl saw me somewhere and she showed me interest. Also, this is online. But someone was still interested in me. Then she made it clear she wanted to start dating. However, I then found out that she’s been commenting on porn subs, and now I feel like I shouldn’t be in this relationship since it could just lead to sin potentially. Me as a christian shouldn’t be with someone like that
I feel like the right thing is to stand in my faith and not get with this person. But this is one of the first time someone talked to me romantically. She even complimented me on my looks and called me cute. And it’s really hard to let go because this is something I don’t really experience. I get attached easily and the fact that someone actually cares about me makes it feel impossible to pull away since I’ll just go back to getting 0 messages. What should I do?

This post is a bit long, but I would appreciate your opinion because this situation is making me lose my mind.
Last year, I (27M) reconnected with my ex-girlfriend (26F). We had broken up the previous year because I caught her walking with a guy who had feelings for her, as she had told me. I ended the relationship because I thought it was unethical and especially because she wasn't responding to my calls while she was with him, claiming she didn’t hear her phone.
After breaking up with her, I moved abroad for a career opportunity. The first few months were incredibly difficult because I felt so alone and isolated, and I missed intimacy and sex, to be honest. I checked her LinkedIn for updates because I missed her so much. She sent me an Instagram invitation and uploaded a story of her new cat, who was named after me (weird, but I liked it). We started talking again, and eventually met last month and had a great time together.
Since she was confused about where this was going, and because I am madly in love with her, we discussed the possibility of getting married and her moving here with me. I didn't want her to feel that we were just "wasting time."
However, she has been acting weird lately. She disappears every day for a whole week from 9 p.m. until morning, saying she was sleeping and very tired. Sometimes she disappears for four hours without me knowing where she is. As I write this post, she told me today that she was going out to eat with a friend, and she came back at 11 p.m. after disappearing for two hours. She told me she was home and asked if I felt like she had disappeared, to which I said no. She then proceeded to disappear for the whole night, sending me an awkward "babe?" message in the middle of her disappearance. I tried to call her via WhatsApp to make sure she was okay, but the phone was ringing and she didn’t pick up.
This situation is driving me crazy. She often jokes about wanting to be a MILF, not wanting to have kids, and that she would like me to cheat on my future wife with her, but she always makes these comments as a joke.
I don’t know if I should trust my gut. I am a very anxious person, so most of the things I fear (in this case, that she is doing something suspicious) don’t usually happen. So I don’t know if I am misjudging the situation.
What do you think, guys?

Good... night, morning, afternoon, or whatever! :3 I'm Fae, a 25 year old woman in the EST time zone. I don't mind if you're in a different time zone myself, as I don't demand constant replies or anything. Speaking of writing, my usual style is semi lit to literate, and third person. I don't want any one liners, but messages can be a few sentences to a few paragraphs depending on what the situation calls for; some scenes invite longer or shorter messages after all. I also strictly roleplay on Discord, but am happy to chat here on reddit first to see if we click.
As the title probably indicates, I'm looking for fantasy! I absolutely adore the genre, and I'm open to a lot of ways this can go. Modern fantasy where it's a common part of the world, or a hidden away thing most people don't know about. Medieval fantasy with commonplace magic and fantastical creatures, or it being a rarer thing most people rarely get to see. I'm happy to discuss with you what we could do together! I know I'm leaving this rather open ended, but that's because I'm down to create something together. I do have some ideas for a plot if you want to hear something specific, however. You can also suggest a fandom if you'd like, and if I'm familiar with it maybe we can do something with that! I do know quite a lot of games, anime, and some books as well. I also would be down for some things that are kind of fantastical but not strictly "fantasy," such as superhero type plots. As long as it's not regular, plain slice of life and there's something to spice it up, I'm happy! Feel free to message, I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Everyday i get closer to not being scared of killing myself. I just found out my only six friends hang out one on on with each other but never with me. They will go out in twos to get food, hang out, go shopping or other shit but never with me. My friend told me she went out to dinner with our friend that lives states away and her college friends who were in the area, yet this girl never invites me to go eat. The only time i’m included in shit is if i make the plans and i have to beg to get together. Two of them are graduating tomorrow and our friends are invited but i’m not. I have been begging to get together with my best friend of 17 years to watch a show we were watching together cause the new season just came out. I am begging my friends to get together cause i had a horrible semester and i just want to joke and goof around with my friends and forget about how much of a failure i am but they “don’t know when they can”. I don’t know what i’m doing wrong. I’m tired. No one likes me. No one will care if i die. No one will care if i kill myself. All i have to get over the fear of the pain of dying and i’ll finally be free. I’m done.

I lost my cap after graduation. It’s has a half n half design. Half biology and half Spanish.
Plz message me if you guys know who I can contact about this or if you have it or know someone that does.

Hi. My bf went with his group of friends to celebrate their birthdays in a cottage outside the city, most of them turn years in May. He told me that he was going to go with the boys and I thought it was going to be like that but I was looking through Instagram stories and I noticed that he invited girls too. I felt sad not because there were girls, but because I thought it was a boy's outing so it was ok if he didn't invite me but in the end, there were all his friends. :(
When his friends had previously invited me to go to a cottage for the weekend I couldn't because of financial reasons. But now he didn't even ask me :(. Take into consideration that I'm currently in my last year of university and he and his friends have already graduated so I don't know if he considered that and didn't invite me???
Our relationship now it's a little rocky because we don't spend time like before. His working hours are from 8 to 12 pm because he accepted a lot of projects and I'm doing my thesis so we don't see each other often just on weekends. We talked it out and we're going to try and see if we can still have a relationship together. I don't know if it's better to ask him about it now that he's partying there and be calm but on the other hand, I don't know if that could spark another fight so is better to wait until he comes back. Even still if I message him right now probably he isn't going to answer me so what should I do? And I don't know if this is just overreacting and just my insecurities flouring.
Thanks in advance

(Please ask me what it is)
Hey so I’m a 26 year old dude from the UK staying up past my bedtime looking for a reason not to sleep
Here’s some (not so) interesting facts about me:
I’ve competed in a sport called powerlifting at an international level and all I have to show for it is my mum asking me to move furniture and saying “tHeRes YoUR wOrkoUt For ThE dAy”
I’ve graduated university with a maths degree (don’t ask me for help though I’m still not confident)
I play guitar and piano which has been critically acclaimed as “average”
I’ve devoted my whole life to be terrible at gaming
There’s probably even some other stuff, if you can believe that.
Feel free to message me, drop a smoke signal, shine the Batman light, whatever you feel comfortable with

(Please ask me what it is)
Hey so I’m a 26 year old dude from the UK staying up past my bedtime looking for a reason not to sleep
Here’s some (not so) interesting facts about me:
I’ve competed in a sport called powerlifting at an international level and all I have to show for it is my mum asking me to move furniture and saying “tHeRes YoUR wOrkoUt For ThE dAy”
I’ve graduated university with a maths degree (don’t ask me for help though I’m still not confident)
I play guitar and piano which has been critically acclaimed as “average”
I’ve devoted my whole life to be terrible at gaming
There’s probably even some other stuff, if you can believe that.
Feel free to message me, drop a smoke signal, shine the Batman light, whatever you feel comfortable with

I (19F)met my ex ( 19M) 2 years ago and had a rocky relationship with him.I had been dealing with a very hard time in my life and he was everything I have wanted in life at that point.I was 17 who never had a proper relationship at that point,so I was intrigued.
When happy phase ended after 5 months,I started to saw the red flags.He was childhish.He would just coldly broke up with me,saying that he didn’t love me anymore and next day,he would come back crawling,saying sorry,crying.At that point,I did not know any better,so I tolareted this behaviour.
We dated for a year after this After the uni acceptance exam I was screwed up.İt meant I had to take again next year. He basically told me that he was going to university and didnt want to deal with a high school graduate while he was off to another city,saying he wanted to live a “uni life” and dumped me in cold blood again.I found out he met someone that day and gave his Instagram and that was why he dumped me.He even described this girl as “drop dead gorg,made me forget my gf lmao”in his groupchat
I was heartbroken.Crushed all over and did not want to leave my room for a whole week and crying all day. This is when my best friend(19M)comes to story.Let’s call him Edgar. He was there for me.
Edgar and I have dated back in middle school when both 14.We were kind of that silly childhood sweethearts who randomly name their imaginary child.We broke up but wanted to stay in touch,so we decided on staying friends.We quickly got comfortable and even called each other “best friend”.We never lost touch and were always close.My boyfriend knew aboout us and claimed he had no issues,said he respected our friendship and even met him on my birthday.
Edgar was there for me when my boyfriend dumped me and basically dragged me outside when I did not want to leave my room.We spent time together which helped me heal a lot but I can’t deny that he was getting more touchy than ever (without being sexual and unappropriate) and always said phrases like “if we were 14 right now”or “if we were back to middle school,what would you do?”
That being there,my ex reached out to me and quickly started trying to reconcile.He was trying nonstop and bombarding with me with all the apologies.I am an idiot for this but I once again took him back. But it only got worse from there.
He was getting better and I was starting to notice that he was more serious about our relationship,was more warm and but I had trust issues now.
We had a fight when his family didn’t want to meet me.Appearantly,his mother hadnt even met his sister’s boyfriend (40F)because she did not think marriage.I found this off since we were fresh 18 back then and barely adults and had a huge fight about it.So,I invited Edgar to my place to talk and rant to him.
Drinks were involved and we ended up sleeping together that night which was my first time.I would never try to justify my cheating but I felt like he brought me back to life that night and felt an immense connection to him.Maybe,it had been there all the time?
I couldn’t keep it and came clean about everything to my boyfriend.He was furious but decided to forgive me.
Me and Edgar never talked about that night and had a fight over some trivial matter and hadnt speak for 9 months.Meanwhile I continued to date my boyfriend but I just felt so empty and really missed Edgar.My boyfriend always knew. 9 months later;everything started to clear up.We broke up with my ex after dating almost 2 years and we even made up with Edgar
Well,we are trying to make it work.We have our problems after 5 years of being friends and suddenly getting into a relationship but it is great.I love him and he has became my everything. I quess it was just meant to be.Me and him.
We had date and I decided to post it but my ex’s bff saw and sade it to him
He was angry and started to roast me on his WP status,calling me names,posting edgy/angry musics and making his friends comment mean things to my post.
I reached out to him and told him to get over it and he got even more angry,told me I am a cheating bed toy who deserves all the bad things in life.
I just dont understand this reaction when he LİTERALLY did cheat on me too and forgave me after mine too?And even knew he knew I had never gotten over that night with Edgar
Comments are getting mean but he refuses to get over it. So yeah,this is my story.

I live and work in a foreign country but return at home for vacation, weddings, and other occasions. I am planning to return permanently back home in few months (roughly in 3 months) to start a new job in my home town.
I have known a girl on social media for a long time but never exchanged a message (except liking some of her photos). In my home country she lives in a different city not far away from where I am originally (45 min drive). She is originally from my home town and her cousin is a close friend.
I was recently at a party where she was too and I took the chance to talk to her. We discussed about the city she lives in, my job and her job. I am not sure if I am good at picking up vibes, but I felt she may have liked that I talked to her (but not sure if she was just kind).
I am leaving in 5 days back to where I am currently at before I return permanently in 3 months. I wonder if I should send her a message and invite her to go out of drinks to initiate (or get rejected) a closer relationship. I feel sending a cold message like that would be weird and needy. On the other hand, if I show no interest now I may lose the chance to initiate a date later.

Hello, just want to provide some backstory as to how I ended up in this predicament. I moved to the U.S when I was 14. I came from British territory so the whole grade system is different over there. When i enrolled in school in the U.S they asked what “grade” I wanted to be put in. My mom puts me in tenth grade since i already did ninth grade back home, so I start and finish my sophomore year no problem, then half way through my junior year the school realized that i had nothing for ninth grade in the system. Big error on the schools part for realizing this a year and a half later. So I have to redo ninth grade in the middle of my junior year. That was the pinnacle for me I stopped caring for school even more than I already did, I completed ninth grade failing all the classes, they move me back up to junior year, I’m failing all my classes in junior year, I get kicked out of school and put in a school for kids who struggle academically. I attended that school for almost 3 years and still hadn’t graduated. I just couldn’t do it anymore and dropped out. I couldn’t do it anymore and I had never been good in school I had never passed a test, I was one of the only Spanish speakers in my class and was the only kid to not pass Spanish class?? , I made the choice that school isn’t for me and in the moment I thought I was okay working working for the rest of my life, but now after a year of dropping out I realized I actually want to be something :(
I’m now 19 and wake up every morning knowing that this choice will affect me in the long run I’m not doing bad right now, I live in an apartment with my girlfriend, my mom pays rent, I drive her car, I have a good paying job, I work for a generator maintenance company, I don’t have bills to pay. I know this won’t last very long and I no longer want to be my mom’s baggage.
What do I do?? Please help. Sorry for the long post if some parts dont make sense just ask.

Hello, just want to provide some backstory as to how I ended up in this predicament. I moved to the U.S when I was 14. I came from British territory so the whole grade system is different over there. When i enrolled in school in the U.S they asked what “grade” I wanted to be put in. My mom puts me in tenth grade since i already did ninth grade back home, so I start and finish my sophomore year no problem, then half way through my junior year the school realized that i had nothing for ninth grade in the system. Big error on the schools part for realizing this a year and a half later. So I have to redo ninth grade in the middle of my junior year. That was the pinnacle for me I stopped caring for school even more than I already did, I completed ninth grade failing all the classes, they move me back up to junior year, I’m failing all my classes in junior year, I get kicked out of school and put in a school for kids who struggle academically. I attended that school for almost 3 years and still hadn’t graduated. I just couldn’t do it anymore and dropped out. I couldn’t do it anymore and I had never been good in school I had never passed a test, I was one of the only Spanish speakers in my class and was the only kid to not pass Spanish class?? , I made the choice that school isn’t for me and in the moment I thought I was okay working working for the rest of my life, but now after a year of dropping out I realized I actually want to be something :(
I’m now 19 and wake up every morning knowing that this choice will affect me in the long run I’m not doing bad right now, I live in an apartment with my girlfriend, my mom pays rent, I drive her car, I have a good paying job, I work for a generator maintenance company, I don’t have bills to pay. I know this won’t last very long and I no longer want to be my mom’s baggage.
What do I do?? Please help. Sorry if some parts don’t make sense, just ask and I’ll try my best to explain.

Greetings Adventurers!

Welcome to the Official Guild Advertising/Searching Megathread of AFKArena!
All Guild Advertising/Searching posts need to be contained inside this Megathread!

What is this Thread for?

If you are looking for a guild or recruiting a guild member, this is the right place!
Please don't link your discord server here, as per rule 4 (external links need to be approved). If your guild has a discord server, you can simply invite your new member through private message.
This thread will be reposted every week. Check the date and look for the newest Guild Megathread by filtering the subreddit via the Megathread flair (search "flair:megathread"), via the sidebar, or the pinned all-in-one post on our sub at any given time.

How I do use this Thread for my Guild's Recruitment?

1. Post a Comment, you can follow this format if you're not sure what to type.

• Name of Guild.
• Level of Guild.
• Joining requirements.
• What New Members can expect from your Guild (purpose and goals)..

2. Do not post more than 1 comment per Guild.
Recruitment Example :
"xX Best Guild 420 Xx"

• 25hrs/7days a week Active guild
• Have a discord (No posting links)
• Guild level 690
• Recruiting members with 1 trillion+ Arena power only.
• Aiming to be the Numba 1 Guild in the Universe.
• Killed Gouldos in the FIRST DAY of Abyssal Expedition

Link to previous Guild Recruitment Megathreads
Have fun, be nice, and be good people!

I was in a long drawn out relationship in the past. I would constantly get let down on hanging out or meeting up with my gf at the time. I would get ready to go and get let down over and over. Well we are no longer together. For awhile now. So I finally felt the courage to date again. I went on a date with a really beautiful girl(girl a). She has her own place. Lived closish. We had a few dates. And i definitely caught some red flags. But we really hit it off, and I think we liked each other. Few weeks in, She texted me inviting me out to for some drinks later that night and I agreed. So I got ready to go and was mentally preparing to go out. I was going to stay in and watch a sports event I wanted to see. I’m about ready, I send a text saying “what time will you be ready” and boom no response. It immediately reminded me of my ex that constantly would do that kind of stuff. So I stayed home. Watched my event and decided to not Text her at all anymore. The next morning I get a text from her saying “what are you doing today?” I was pretty surprised I didn’t get like a hey my bad, phone died. Or I fell asleep. Something acknowledging that I was invited somewhere and was ghosted essentially. So I ghosted her. I didn’t reply. I’m learning to be able to walk away. So I did. A few weeks later I started seeing someone else.(girl b) She is beautiful in her own way. Also treats me like a high value man so far. We’re “dating” but also she lives far. Work opposite shifts. And really can only see each other every so often. But we’re hitting it off pretty good. Recently (girl a ) added me on fb. So I added back. I think she was wanting me to text her or message her because of that. But I didn’t. She would watch my stories. So boom I get a text from (girl a) saying hi. I have not responded but I do kinda feel bad for not responding I guess. Or explaining. But although she is really pretty .. am I just being petty about the scenario?
Also for a kicker. A girl(z) I was pursuing before (girl a) just snapped me a vid of her and another guy at the beach or whatever. I really don’t care and laughed honestly. But was that to make me jealous or something? I’m not big into games or the chase because of prior relationships.

I am an international student graduating from a university in Toronto. In February, I submitted a visitor visa application for my parents to attend my graduation ceremony in June 2024. I included all necessary supporting documents to demonstrate their financial solvency, such as recent bank statements showing ample funds (more than CAD $33,000) for the trip, and a property and fixed asset valuation report from a Chartered Accountant. Additionally, my parents have a strong international travel history including recent visits to the UK, the US and many other countries. I clearly stated in the invitation letter and the purpose of the travel document that their visit was to attend my graduation and that they would return home by the end of June 2024 due to business and property responsibilities.
These were the supporting documents for the application:

• I provided 3 bank statements that accumulate funds equivalent to $33,000 CAD and a fixed asset valuation report of my father’s property from a Chartered Accountant, reflecting its current fair market value of more than 5 Million CAD
  
• ⁠The purpose of travel is to attend my graduation mentioned in the invitation letter and the purpose of the travel document with the proof of solid family ties back home that shows they must come back by the end of June. Both my parents have a good international history with a record of recent visits to the UK, the USA and other countries.
  
• ⁠Documents proving their family ties to Home country are:
  
  • Asset valuation report that reflects property ownership
  • Recent bank statements that accumulates funds of $33,000 CAD
  • The business licence for my enterprise in Home Country
  • Rent receipts from all the tenants of my solely-owned business property with the rental agreement
  • Tax return since 2021
  • National Identity Documents

However, I received a refusal letter from IRCC last night including the following reasons:

I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay as required by paragraph 179(b) of the IRPR (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/section-179.html). I am refusing your application because you have not established that you will leave Canada, based on the following factors: Your assets and financial situation are insufficient to support the stated purpose of travel for yourself (and any accompanying family member(s), if applicable). The purpose of your visit to Canada is not consistent with a temporary stay given the details you have provided in your application. 

I have 3 options in hand now: 1. Re-apply (Processing Time: 80+ days) 2. Reconsideration (as quickly as 5 business days) 3. Judicial Review (the most expensive and time consuming option)
I decided to submit a reconsideration letter. However, I am not sure how much of a difference it would make. I would appreciate any support on how to prepare an ideal reconsideration letter. Also, I would like to know if this reconsideration request actually makes any difference.
Thank you!

Дарова, друзья! Как поживаете вы?
I'm Keith, 27M, and I'm a graduate student studying biochemistry. I'm looking for some friends who'd want to casually speak Russian)). Честно говоря, моя уровень осмысления не очень высокая но пытаюсь улучшить моё понимание русского языка. In exchange, I'd be happy to offer English or Spanish for any level.
Люблю старые фильмы (особенно тарковские) и музыку из эпохи советской. Мне легче читать чем говорить так что я предпочел бы разговор. Ненавижу использовать переводчиком но это полезно дла меня учить новые слова.
I'd ideally like to chat with someone leftist, 21+ y/o, anti-invasion, and interested in languages as a whole. If that sounds like you, come chat!
До встречи!

You guys know what an alpine coaster is? They are like a small roller coaster you find in the mountains. They are also called summer toboggans or mountain coasters and I think there’s some long German compound word they are called in parts of Europe. They are like a roller coaster, but with much smaller one or two person sleds you just sit on instead of multi-person cars you ride in, and instead of being built with like a scaffolding or a framework the tracks are just on the ground, using the elevation of the mountain. Basically it’s a coaster track on the side of a mountain where you ride a sled down.
They are pretty fun. Or at least I used to think so. They are more “personal” than roller coasters and although you get nowhere near the speed on them that you do on a good traditional roller coaster and they can’t do corkscrews or loops or anything like that the openness and simplicity of the ride gives an impression of a much greater speed. You’re just sitting there with nothing but a little plastic sled and the track between you and the ground as it goes zooming by. It’s like the difference between how fast a go-cart feels compared to how fast a sports car feels. You know the sports car goes faster but the open, simpleness of a go-cart feels a different kind of fast. There’s plenty of POV Youtube videos if you want to get the basic idea of what they are.
I used to love alpine coasters. Used to.
My family used to go to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and up and down the Smokey Mountains for vacations when I was a kid and they are common in that area and I’d always rode them every chance I got.
But as with so many things after I grew up and went to college they just became part of my childhood that slipped away. They aren’t exactly common once you get away from the mountains.
Until one cool spring afternoon in 2004. I was in my final year at college and I was driving back to campus in Tennessee after a short visit to my folks in North Carolina. It was only like a 4 or 5 hour drive via the most efficient route and I had no need to be back at campus early so instead of taking the freeway all the way I got off and took part of my trip through the mountains. The scenery was nicer and I admit I liked pushing my Camaro just a little faster than I should through the twisty mountain roads.
Just after lunchtime happened upon one of those little by-the-highway tourist towns deep somewhere in the Smoky Mountains near the Carolina/Tennessee border. Nothing fancy, a gas station/truck stop, a diner, a couple of places selling tourist merch nestled deep in the mountains. I pulled into the gas station. My tank was getting low and I needed to stretch my legs, maybe grab something to eat. It was still early and I only had another couple of hours. I could kill an hour or so and still make it back to campus at a decent hour.
I pulled into the gas station and was filling my tank when I happened to glance across the road and… well I’ll be damned. There it was. “The Blue Ridge Alpine Coaster.” Nestled on the side of the mountain was a building, a mockup of a red barn, where a single railed track that led up into the mountains, where it soon got lost in the greenery. Wooden hand painted standees of cartoon character bears dressed in stereotypical “Hillbilly” getup stood around, some of them holding signs showing the ride hours and ticket costs and other info. I had to admit, as silly as it was, it made me smile.I finished pumping my gas and, well, nostalgia is a helluva thing. I decided then and there I could waste a little time riding an Alpine Coaster again after all these years before getting back on the road.
I parked my car in a corner of the truck stop's parking lot, put my phone in the center console, this being the days before smart phones when people didn’t keep their phones with them 24/7 and I didn’t want my old Nokia brick phone to fall out during the ride, locked my car and walked across the mountain highway to the Alpine Coaster building.
Getting closer, the place was less inviting. The half hearted attempt at a whimsical faux-Americana kitsch was far less effective when it brushed up against the actual decaying, run down wooden building. Hell calling it a building was generous. It was a wood frame holding up a long roof that covered the area where you got on the sleds. The wood boards creaked under my footsteps.
The only real enclosed structure was a shack that held, what I assumed, was a ticket booth. A door on the side had both a single occupancy bathroom with an out of order sign on it. An old Pepsi machine buzzed and glowed next to it.
Still the place looked alive. Ahead of me a bored looking attendant was helping a mother and her young son into one of the sleds while in a bored monotone repeating the safety brief. A few people were waiting in line at the ticket booth. Up in the mountains the playful shouts of people on the ride echoed down. Fond memories of my own childhood rides flooded my mind.10 minutes and 15 dollars later I was settling into the hard plastic seat of a bright red sled sat atop a simple aluminum rail.
I couldn’t help but grin as the sled slowly climbed the track up the mountains, making click-clack ratcheting sounds that hit my nostalgia centers hard. I felt good. The air was cool and crisp and smelled of pine.Higher and higher in the mountains we went. I don’t know if this is my mind trying to make sense of it after the fact but when I remember these moments, the last good moments, I sometimes think I remember a very slight, very subtle pit of fear in my stomach. I honestly don’t know if I felt it at the time or not or it’s just how my mind tries to make sense of it looking back at.
But either way mostly I was enjoying myself. I smiled. I was a kid again. I could hear riders in front of me let out that initial yell of terrified glee you get at the first drop of any good ride.
It peaked. I glanced around. I could see for miles, rolling hills and mountains. I the sled tipped over and zoomed down the mountain and I let out the same happy yell I heard from the other passengers.The ride zoomed down the mountain, catching speed. The mountain forest floor zoomed past, only a few feet under me. Trees zoomed past. I gave out a happy whoop as the ride banked hard around a curve and then looped back under itself.Another dip, another curve. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the G-forces pulling me every which way.
There was no one exact single moment where things started to go “wrong.” The ride kept going. And going. At this point the first creeping thought entered my head.
The ride… was still going.
It just started to hit me… this ride was going on for a really long time. I had taken a dozen rides on various coasters of this type before that day and they topped out at about 5 minutes or so, and that was the long ones. Longer than a traditional roller coaster but not that long. This one had been going on for what felt like 10, maybe even 15 minutes.
I looked back over my shoulder and could only see trees, moving too fast to really get a bearing on where I was at in relation to anything.
I wasn't exactly really worried yet. Okay so I had found a particularly long alpine coaster. At the time I wasn’t 100% wasn't sure they didn’t exist or anything like that. I was a little… unnerved but nothing was happening that was impossible. Yet.
I was trying to talk myself back into just enjoying the ride and stop overthinking it, and halfway succeeded, when out of nowhere I suddenly banked hard, the track jutting out almost over a sheer cliffside. I gripped the sled more tightly as I was whipped around. The ride then dipped hard and picked up speed, barreling down the side of the mountain.
I was pushed back against the seat by the force of the drop. Jesus I didn’t remember them being this rough. I was feeling slightly nauseous. And where had this elevation drop come from I wondered? I was still in the foothills and I didn’t remember seeing anything but gentle rolling hills and light drops from looking at the ride’s route earlier. How the ride had managed such a long, steep drop in this area I didn’t know. . For the first time I hoped that the ride would be over soon. I had no idea then how much I would want that same hope to be true so much more as time went on.
With a whiplash motion I was whipped forward and then back as the ride leveled out on flat ground again, but by this point I was going fast, too fast. My neck hurt from the mild whiplash and I felt sour in my throat and for a moment the contents of my stomach threatened to come back up. For the first, but hardly the last time the ride felt unsafe. Alpine Coasters are tame affairs, much slower and gentler than full on roller coasters but this thing was throwing me around like no thrill ride I had ever been on.
I looked around. I mean I wasn’t that deep into the woods. I should have been able to see a glimpse of something; the highway, the gas station, the tourist shops, the Alpine Coaster office, something, anything. But nothing. Just trees.
I forced back some panic for the first time. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. The ride zoomed along. I counted to 60. I counted to 60 again. And again. Okay this was getting uncomfortably harder and harder to explain.
Suddenly I noticed that up ahead the track seemed to just end, for one brief, terrible moment I thought the track just ended but I was wrong. Almost without warning the track dipped in an almost vertical drop. I almost screamed as I plummeted for 20, maybe 30 seconds before flattening out again.
By this point the voice in my head that was telling me something was wrong was louder and I could no longer tell myself it was wrong. This ride could not have been this long. I tried to make sense of it, wondering if somehow I had gotten diverted onto some kind of maintenance track or, hell for one brief irrational moment even entertaining the idea that I had wound up on an actual train track somehow. But that was absurd. The rail below me was not a train track, it was still just the simple, aluminum rail of an alpine coaster and there had been no diversions or junctions in the track. I was still on the ride, as insane as that was starting to feel. Had the ride somehow looped? Again after having the thought I immediately dismissed it as crazy. There’s no way I could have missed the ride building where I got on. And what kind of ride loops over and over?
The sled zoomed through the forest, oddly never seeming to lose speed despite the relatively flat grade of the track. I cursed myself for leaving my phone in the car and not wearing a watch. I don’t know exactly how long I had been on the ride at that point but it felt like I had been on the ride for a half hour, maybe more. But time is a funny thing when you’re in a situation you’ve never been in. Could have been more, could have been less, at that point.
My pride finally failed me. I started to scream for help. I screamed out that the ride was broken, to stop it, that I needed help. I did that for about ten minutes or so I think. The ride kept going. Mostly flat, level track with occasional mild dips and turns. But the simple length of the ride grew more and more unnerving and unexplainable.
I thought about just bailing out. But the ride, impossibly, was still not slowing down and chunks of mountain rock and thick tree trunks were all around me. Bailing out without risking smashing into a rock or a tree seemed impossible.
The ride kept going.
Up ahead the forest was clearing out some, I could see the forest brightening, more sunlight making it through the canopy.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.
The trees stopped and I had just enough time to take in a flat, open area of rock maybe 40, 50 yards at most before another sheer cliff. The tracks twisted and turned and then shot straight down. But that wasn’t the worst of it. For a moment, a very short moment, I had a clear view for miles and the landscape was, to be blunt, totally impossible. Any possibility that I had just stumbled on some incredibly long ride was blasted out of my head. Barren, volcanic looking rock stretched for miles. Jagged, black rocky outcroppings as far as the eye could see. I was in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. They don’t look like that.
I had a few moments for the terror of that view to settle in before the cart plunged into another horrifying drop. I gripped the handles of the cheap plastic sled until my knuckles turned white. The drop felt completely vertical, like I was falling at terminal velocity. I screamed. My stomach dropped and turned. I imagined the sled coming away from the track and me just plummeting screaming to my death on the rocks below. But somehow the ride still functioned. I closed my eyes tightly and just waited for whatever was going to happen. Eventually after several what felt like a full minute of steep plunging the track again leveled out, and I opened my eyes to see myself moving at breakneck speed over that black, rocky landscape.
Now that I was moving on a more or less flat horizontal track again I took a few deep breaths. I looked over the edge of the track. Nothing but that black, jagged rock, almost looking like obsidian, zooming past. I had no idea how fast the sled was moving now. Fast. Faster than a gravity powered sled should be moving. And the track was higher off the ground now. Alpine slides usually stick pretty close to the ground, but I was 20 feet or so in the air, the track suspended in the air, a simple metal tube tower like a power pylon every few yards.
Without any immediate threat and the sled moving fast but steadily and level I was able to think about my situation again, for all the good that did me. Ahead of me the track just continued to the horizon, nothing but the same rocky landscape as far as I could see. I craned my neck to look back over my shoulder and looked back behind me and it looked the same. Even the mountains were but distant specs on the horizon behind me.
This was insane. There’s not a giant seemingly endless field of black jagged rock in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. There’s no cliff faces tall and steep enough for a multi-minute vertical drop. And alpine coasters were small affairs, not major engineering projects that span miles with pylons and vertical tracks. It made no sense.
Sadly it wasn’t going to start making any more sense anytime soon.
The ride kept going.
I was on this rocky landscape for several hours. I feel comfortable saying this because I could actually notice the sun getting lower in the sky. And the sled wasn’t slowing down despite the grade of the track being flat. I was getting cramped from sitting and stretched my legs and twisted my back as best I could. Didn’t do much help. My eyes were starting to get irritated from the constant wind in them. Worst of all it was starting to get chilly. I only had on a light jacket, a windbreaker, just something to keep the breeze off me, no real insulation. I was cold, my joints were stiff, I was hungry and thirsty. My eyes watered and my throat was so dry it was sore.
But none of that was as bad as just how little sense this all made. There’s nothing like this place anywhere near the Smoky Mountains. This was like some volcanic rock landscape. The more I thought about it the less sense it made.
The ride kept going.
My mind didn’t even try to process this. Whatever I was experiencing simply couldn’t be possible. I was crazy. I was dreaming. The CIA had kidnapped me and dosed me with some new version of LSD and I was in a straightjacket in a padded room at Area 51.
The sled kept zooming along as the sky turned to dusk. Soon the bridge disappeared from my view and I continued on along the endless, rocky, featureless landscape.
I sat back against the sled, mentally and physically numb. I was exhausted. I was thirsty. I was cramping up. I was hungry. I had to pee. I held it for as long as I could, then had no choice but just wet myself. I cried until I had no more tears left. Then I just sat there.
The ride kept going.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon my throat felt like sandpaper. I dug around in my jacket pockets hoping to find a stick of gum or piece of candy. Nothing. I checked again, having nothing else to do. Under a crumpled store receipt in the inner pocket of my jacket was a single old, forgotten cough drop. I unwrapped it from the paper and popped it in my mouth. Saliva flooded back into my mouth and I was overwhelmed by the methanol and medicine taste. It was something at least, although I knew it would be a brief and temporary fix at best.
I felt my eyes get heavy. It was getting colder. That mountain cold. That deep cold the mountains have even into the early spring when the sun goes down. That kind that just pulls the heat right out of you. I shivered. A terrible, horrible certainty came to me. I would ride until I passed out from exhaustion or the hypothermia set in. My body would tumble off the sled to fall and skip across the rocky ground like a stone skipping across a lake, my bones breaking as I tumbled until my body finally came to a stop. If I was lucky I would be killed and not have to lie for days, broken and bruised, on the ground until death took me.
The ride kept going. The ride kept going. The fucking ride kept going.
“Fuck you” I said to the ride, my voice a horse whisper. I pulled my jacket closer around me, for all the good it did. The cold wind was slowly but surely pulling my body heat away. My shivering got worse, crossing the line from a simple normal shiver into those deep, almost violent full body ones.. I wasn’t anything you could call an experienced outdoorsman, but I knew enough to know that wasn’t a good sign.
It was getting dark. There was a full moon at least so I wasn’t totally in the dark.
About then I noticed something. The landscape, what little I could see in the fading light, was changing. It was smoothing out, becoming less rocky and craggy. Up ahead an odd, shimmering light was starting to appear on the ground.
I was over it before I even realized what it was. The tracks were going over a smooth surface.
Water. It was a lake. The odd lights I had seen were the moon, reflected in ripples on the lake.
Within minutes I was out of the view of the land. After the nearly endless rocky landscape and everything else I had seen, it scared me how little I was shocked. I didn’t like how mentally numb I was getting. I leaned over. There was enough moonlight to see the water, 15 or 20 feet below the track. The pylons holding up the track went into the water, the light wasn’t good enough to even make a guess at how far they went down or how deep the water was.I leaned back in the sled. My eyes were red and bloodshot from the constant wind. I closed them. This was a mistake.I jerked awake. I don’t know if I dozed off for a split second or an hour. My weight had shifted and I caught myself as my center of gravity was in danger of sending me off the sled and into the water.
I screamed in anger. A deep primal scream. I hurt so bad. My joints felt like they were full of glass. My limbs were full of pins and needles. I glanced over at the water. For the first time on the very edges of my brain a tiny voice started to speak up, telling me that I could be all over if I just jumped. I shut the voice up, but it scared me still.
I sat there as the ride went on. It felt like hours. Eventually the lake ended in a rocky shore line. The damned ride. There was no safe place to bail out. If the ride slowed down, it was high in the air, if it moved toward the ground it sped up. Sharp rocks, big trees, nothing you could safely bail out into.
I kept having to force myself awake. I kept dozing off. Once I felt myself falling asleep and drove a vicious uppercut into my own nose to stave it off.
I seriously started to think about how much longer I could hang on. The voice came back again. This time I didn’t shut it up. I wasn’t admitting it to myself yet, but I was starting to think about the best way to land that would end it quickly if I needed to.
Something was ahead. The track seemed to dip into the ground. I was too tired, too beaten to even get scared. I was just resigned to whatever happened at this point.
With little warning the track took my sled into a tunnel in the ground. Everything went completely pitch black. After several moments even the dim moonlight was gone.
This was the worst part. The creepy forest, the immense rocky landscape, the eerie lake… those were bad. But this was just nothing. Nothing to look at, nothing to hear, nothing for reference or sense of where I was going. The walls of the tunnel felt like they were inches from me in every direction. The air felt thick, like there wasn’t enough oxygen.
With every moment I was in that tunnel I lost a little more hope. After a long, long time I made a decision. When I got out of this tunnel, I would jump. I didn’t care anymore. Hopefully there would be a spot where I could be certain the fall would instantly kill me. I was done. The ride had beaten me. I sat there, waiting for a chance to end this on my terms. That was all I had left.
Eventually up ahead, a tiny speck of light appeared. I gathered my strength, ready to end it. I sat up, getting my legs under me so I could jump as soon as we were clear. The sled burst out of the tunnel. The dim light of the full moon was enough to be momentarily blinding after the pitch black of the tunnel.. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust.
I was back in a normal looking Appalachian forest. Rolling hills, green trees. The air smelled of pine again. I heard an owl hoot off somewhere.
Slowly I lowered myself back into a setting position, in shock. At first I refused to believe it but the ride was slowing down. I held still, making sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but no, the cheap plastic sled that had been my world for what felt like an eternity was slowing down.
Up ahead, a structure was visible, peeking out from among the trees in the dim lighting as the sled moved down the track.
It was the Alpine Slide building. The crappy fake red barn where I had boarded this cursed ride so long ago. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, sure it was either my mind or the cursed ride playing tricks with me. But the building stayed there.
It grew closer and closer. The track leveled completely out. The sled slowed down more. Before I had the time to really come to terms with it I arrived back at the building.
The sled slowed to a stop, gently pumping against another sled parked on the track. I sat there for a few moments, gasping in great big gulping fear breaths, trying to assure myself the ride didn’t have one last trick of its sleeve.
I looked around. The place was empty, deserted. The overhead lights were still on and the old Pepsi machine still glowed and buzzed, but the ticket booth was dark and empty, a metal gate pulled down over the ticket window.
Suddenly it hit me that I was free and I practically leapt out of the sled and onto the platform. I immediately collapsed. My legs were jelly and my head was spinning. I tried to stand up again and doubled over, dry heaving. Have you ever been out on a boat for a day and have that weird reverse motion sickness when you’re back on solid land? It was like that times a hundred. My inner ear was literally pounding, all the motion had really done a number on it.
I laid there for a few moments and eventually forced myself to stand up on my two wobbling legs. I looked around, a horrible certainty creeping into my mind that there would be no exit, no way off the platform but to my relief an exit turnstyle, one of those full height ones, was set into the fence that surrounded the ride property.
I went through it and found myself back on the main road. The truckstop was still there, still open but far less busy. My car sat in the same corner of the parking lot I had left it.
I allowed myself one look back, just one quick one. The metal skeleton of the Alpine Slide track sat there, dark and quiet but otherwise normal.
I stumbled-ran back to my car, dug the keys out of my pocket, and collapsed inside. When the door shut I let out a primal scream, the tons of fear and confusion and anger all fusing into a single, raw emotion. I screamed again and again.
After a few moments I felt like I was emotionally at least back to a place where I could act, although I wasn’t sure yet what to do next. Not really knowing what to do I cranked the car. The A/C had been on low when I shut off the car and it came roaring back to life and cold air blowing on me almost sent me back into a full on panic attack. I fumbled with the climate controls until the air stopped blowing directly on me, then calmed down enough to turn the heat on, helping to get the chill out of my bones. There was a half full bottle of water in the center console cup holder and I grabbed it and chugged it. Nothing ever tasted as good before or sense as that few ounces of water.
That was when I noticed the clock on the radio head unit. It was 4:17 in the morning. It had been about one, one thirty or so in the afternoon when I got on the accursed ride.
Over 15 hours. I had been on the goddamn ride for over 15 hours. Over half a day.
I just sat there. Warming up. Calming down. I was exhausted. I was dehydrated. I can’t even describe how my head felt. I probably had at least a minor case of hypothermia. I thought about going into the gas station and asking for help but what would I even say, and more than anything I just wanted to get away from this place. And I just wanted to get away. I wanted to be nowhere near that damn ride.
I put the Camaro in gear and pulled into the street and in panic I immediately slammed on the brakes. I was lucky there was no traffic on the road at that moment. The feeling of accelerating to just normal surface street speeds made me sick to my stomach. I gathered myself and very slowly accelerated the car I usually treated with a very heavy foot up to 30 miles an hour. Every time I tried to accelerate at a pace faster than “Old Lady Going to Church, Uphill” I would have a panic attack. I was okay once I was up to speed, but accelerating freaked me out after being on that ride.
I drove about 30 minutes, putting some arbitrary amount of distance between myself and the coaster. Eventually I made it back to where the twisty mountain road met back up with a major road that would eventually meet back up with the highway. After a few more minutes of driving I saw the onramp for the highway. There was one of those big truckstop travel plazas and pulled in, parking right up at the door. I smelled like pee and I can only imagine how I looked, but I didn’t care.
I kept a couple of emergency 20s in the back of my wallet and spent it on the biggest bottle of water the store had, an overpriced bottle of eye drops, and a huge travel mug of coffee. The clerk looked at me as if he was expecting me to either drop dead or rob him the entire time.
Back in my car I downed the coffee. I put a few eye drops in each of my eyes and sat there as the caffeine took effect until I felt like I could make it back to my apartment. The sun was just coming up when I finally pulled out of the truck stop and got on the freeway. I slowly, very slowly, accelerated up to highway speed, put the Camaro in cruise control, and let the miles start to drift away. I turned on the radio, I needed to hear human voices. Every time my mind went back to what had just happened I turned the radio up louder, eventually drowning it out with painful levels of rock music. I wasn’t ready to think about it yet. Yes looking back I know I was just in denial. I finally made it back to the crappy little apartment I had off campus, a little two story walk up studio. I let myself in and collapsed on the cheap couch. I was asleep before I even had the time to decide whether or not to do anything else. I woke up later that afternoon. I took a shower and ate a meal and didn’t think about the ride. I washed the pee stained filthy clothes I had been wearing and didn’t think about the ride. I went back to class and didn’t think about the ride. Every time I thought about the ride I forced it out of my head. I’m sure this wasn’t the most mentally healthy thing to do but what can you say?
I didn’t forget about it, don’t be silly. This isn’t the kind of thing you forget. One day while looking up something else in the university’s library my curiosity got the better of me and I looked up the Alpine Slide. No website but a few Google Map and Yelp mentions. None of them mentioned anything weird, certainly nothing even remotely like what I experienced. Near as I can tell it closed sometimes in the winter of 2012.
Life went on. I mean, that’s what it does. The next day was a little better. And the day after that a little better. And the day after that a little better still. I met a nice girl. Graduated. Got married. Got a nice house in the suburbs. Got a dog. Had a daughter. Spent a lot of time happy and not thinking about being trapped on an endless alpine coaster.And that was my life for many, many years after that.
Until a few weeks back when as a very different person I found myself driving a boring and safe mid sized family SUV through those same mountains. My wife Carol, 5 months pregnant, sat in the passenger seat, our 6 year old daughter Emily in a booster seat in the back, and Max our mixed breed mutt next to her. It had been a nice pleasant trip, driving back from visiting her folks.
I hadn’t thought about that fucking ride in so long I barely registered that I was in the same general area until it was too late. Suddenly I realized that little mountain tourist trap town was only a few minutes down the road. I swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel hard. Carol was looking out the window at the scenery and Emily was deep into some kid’s Youtube video on an iPad. I forced myself to keep my breath steady as we rounded the corner.The town was still there, sorta. Time had not been kind to it. The gas station was still there, at some point it had been bought out by Shell. The tourist trap shops were still there. One of them was now a vape shop. The diner was closed, the building looking like it sat unused for a long time.
But of course that’s not what I cared about. A looked over at the site where the Alpine Coaster once stood. It was gone. The kitschy fake barn was gone. The site was just a bare concrete slab with a chainlink fence around it. Faded “no trespassing” and “for sale” signs hung off the fence. A pile of old, decaying lumber that might have once long ago been part of the structure covered part of the old lot. No sign of the track remained outside of some old concrete support posts dotting the side of the mountain.
I exhaled out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding in. Soon the little town disappeared in my rear view mirror.
About a half hour later we stopped for gas. I pulled up to a gas pump across from a massive motorhome. Max stuck his head out the window and started barking at a little white dog, a toy breed of some kind, in the window of the motorhome. Carol and Emily immediately headed into the store to restock on snacks while I fueled up.
I stood there, a half smile on my lips as Max barked and wagged his tail in an attempt to attract the attention of the other dog while I filled up the tank, said dog doing an admirable job of ignoring him.
Right about the time I finished fueling up and cleaning the bugs off the windshield Carol returned from inside the store, Emily in tow, arms filled with two full sized bags of Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips and what looked to be a half dozen individually wrapped pickles.
I raised an eyebrow at the collection of food but knew better than to question a pregnant woman's snack choices.
“Should we take Max for a quick walk?” Carol asked. The travel plaza had a nice little gated dog walking area off to the side.
“Yeah probably not a bad idea, he’s been cooped up in the car for a few hours.” I said. Max, upon hearing his name and the word “walk” , forgot about the other dog and upgraded from wagging his tail to wagging his entire body while making whining sounds and staring right at me.
About this time I became half aware that the big motor home next to us was pulling away. I didn’t think much of it, outside of doing a quick automatic mental check to make sure Emily was well clear of the moving vehicle, but she was safely between me and our SUV, well out of the way.
But that was when Emily looked behind me and cheerfully yelled “Daddy look a roller coaster! Can I ride the coaster?”
It’s cliche as fuck I know but my blood went cold.
I turned around slowly, certain in my knowledge that terrible old decrepit Alpine Coaster would be there, having just popped into existence to trap me again.
That.. is not what I saw. Sure enough there was a coaster there, one I hadn’t noticed earlier because it had mostly been blocked by the motor home, but there it was. It was even an Alpine Coaster.
But it was not the same coaster I had encountered those years ago. That was immediately obvious. It was a small but modern and newish looking setup with neon lights and a bunch of people. There was an actual building where you bought tickets and a little snack stand.
“Daddy! Can we go on the coaster!” Emily asked again.
My mouth made motions but no words came out. I glanced over at Carol, hoping she’d say we didn’t have time but to my horror she smiled and said “You know what? That does sound like fun. Daddy will take you while I take Max for a walk.”
My mind raced, trying to think of a way to get out of it. But Emily was already dragging me across the parking lot to the entrance.
I patted my pocket, making sure my phone was in it. Every fiber of my being was screaming to run away. I slept walked through the line and the ticket booth while Emily bounced happily.
We got into a two seat plastic sled. This one was actually a lot nicer than the one my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about. It had two nice cushioned seats, big grab handles, even a nice rollbar.
The sled started up the track. I fought back the panic. I swerved my head around, keeping the building in my view. I was terrified of losing sight of it. We made it to the top and Emily did a happy squeal as we started down the side of the mountain.
My heart raced. Any second, any second my mind told me we’d lose sight of the building and then the ride would never end. The ride sped down the mountain. My mind tortured me with thoughts of not only going through it again, but seeing Emily go through it. The ride went around a big, banking turn. Emily kept shouting happily. How long before Carol reported us missing I wondered? Could I keep Emily calm? What if it lasted even longer this time? What if this time it never ended?
And then we were back at the start of the ride. The same attendant who had helped us into the sled was helping Emily out. I stepped out. The attendant gave me a brief look but said nothing. I guess I looked a little wild eyed.
I was fine. Emily was fine. It had been a perfectly normal, fun ride.
“That was fun Daddy! Thank you!” Emily said. I forced a smile back. “It was fun.” I responded, hoping like I sounded like I meant it.
I took Emily’s hand and we walked back to the car. Max saw us coming and barked happily. Carol looked up from the pint of Ben and Jerry’s she had somehow acquired and added to her snack collection while we were gone and smiled at us.
“Did you have fun?” she asked.
“It was so fun Mommy!” Emily said.
Carol smiled down at her, but then looked at me and frowned. “Are you okay?” Carol could read my face a lot better than the attendant could. “You’re pale.”
I smiled and this time the smile felt real. “Ya know what. Yeah, I think I am okay.”
Carol looked a little puzzled, but didn’t press it. We loaded Emily back in her booster seat, stopped Max from trying desperately to eat half a discarded gas station hot dog off the ground and got him back in the car. Carol and her small collection of snack food took her place in the passenger seat and I got in the driver's seat.I smiled. I cranked the car. I put it in gear. I pulled out of the gas station and back on the road, this time accelerating just a little faster than I had in years.

I am an international student graduating from a university in Toronto. In February, I submitted a visitor visa application for my parents to attend my graduation ceremony in June 2024. I included all necessary supporting documents to demonstrate their financial solvency, such as recent bank statements showing ample funds (more than CAD $33,000) for the trip, and a property and fixed asset valuation report from a Chartered Accountant. Additionally, my parents have a strong international travel history including recent visits to the UK, the US and many other countries. I clearly stated in the invitation letter and the purpose of the travel document that their visit was to attend my graduation and that they would return home by the end of June 2024 due to business and property responsibilities.
These were the supporting documents for the application:

• I provided 3 bank statements that accumulate funds equivalent to $33,000 CAD and a fixed asset valuation report of my father’s property from a Chartered Accountant, reflecting its current fair market value of more than 5 Million CAD
  
• ⁠The purpose of travel is to attend my graduation mentioned in the invitation letter and the purpose of the travel document with the proof of solid family ties back home that shows they must come back by the end of June. Both my parents have a good international history with a record of recent visits to the UK, the USA and other countries.
  
• ⁠Documents proving their family ties to Home country are:
  
  • Asset valuation report that reflects property ownership
  • Recent bank statements that accumulates funds of $33,000 CAD
  • The business licence for my enterprise in Home Country
  • Rent receipts from all the tenants of my solely-owned business property with the rental agreement
  • Tax return since 2021
  • National Identity Documents

However, I received a refusal letter from IRCC last night including the following reasons:

I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay as required by paragraph 179(b) of the IRPR (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/section-179.html). I am refusing your application because you have not established that you will leave Canada, based on the following factors: Your assets and financial situation are insufficient to support the stated purpose of travel for yourself (and any accompanying family member(s), if applicable). The purpose of your visit to Canada is not consistent with a temporary stay given the details you have provided in your application. 

I have 3 options in hand now: 1. Re-apply (Processing Time: 80+ days) 2. Reconsideration (as quickly as 5 business days) 3. Judicial Review (the most expensive and time consuming option)
I decided to submit a reconsideration letter. However, I am not sure how much of a difference it would make. I would appreciate any support on how to prepare an ideal reconsideration letter. Also, I would like to know if this reconsideration request actually makes any difference.
Thank you!

GoldSpikes is gearing up for a return to the top 25 in the coming season. We offer steady income, no swapping in/out, and no holding jobs between weekly comps.
We slow for nothing, and avoid the drama.
If you’re tired of the revolving door, and maybe not quite strong enough for SellStar yet (love you guys), GoldSpikes has a history of developing newer players, winning trains (in each of the first three seasons), and we have a plan to get back to that.
If you’re not a 500 SP/day kind of player, we also have a reserve & development union where newer players can learn a few things while building up their scoring power. Some of our veteran players have moved to this union and not come back, which is fine. Getting a train is hard work, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
We also have a fun group on the Book of Faces. Daily union players are invited to come by for a chat, or message me directly to inquire.

Why shouldn’t you trust trees? They seem shady, but you can trust me!
I am a college graduate and work full-time, so at times, my responses may be slow. I will always try to respond as quickly as possible. My job does require long hours but one of my current goals is to achieve a better work-life balance. I usually watch a movie/show/YouTube video every night and if we hit it off after chatting for a bit (Chats preferred over Messages), watching something together sounds really fun. I don't have many forms of social media, so to move the conversation away from Reddit my only other options are WhatsApp and Telegram, or we could just text like the good ole’ days. P.S. I don’t use Snapchat and will not download it.
My hobbies include:

• Sleeping, seriously, I greatly enjoy a good night's sleep. I hope my username checks out :) I try to average about 6-8 hours every night during the work week but I am not always successful. Fun fact, I can basically fall asleep on command.
• I enjoy mostly pop, country, and rock music. If I had to have one favorite band, it would probably be Linkin Park. I usually have music or a movie/show playing throughout the day so it is not too quiet. I enjoy having background noise.
• I enjoy watching tv shows and movies in my free time (I usually try to find something to watch every night to wind down)
  • As far as tv shows go, I usually enjoy drama or romance-related shows. I am currently on the hunt for a new tv show to watch, but unfortunately, nothing has really caught my attention.
  • As for movies, I enjoy horror and romance movies. My favorite is the Conjuring series.
• I enjoy baking and cooking new recipes. I don't have a favorite food or dish to cook but rather it depends on what I am craving at that exact moment. I’m not a picky eater and a firm believer in trying everything at least once.
• Lastly, I also read about a book a week, mostly romance books. Oftentimes, I will read for a bit before bed or when I have a few minutes of downtime.
• Most importantly, I don’t drink or use any drugs and would prefer a night in over a night out.

Now, this part splits into two, the infamous what I am looking for (DISCLAIMER: I believe that relationships start from a great friendship):
Friendship:
I am looking for someone older (preferably between 30-40) as I tend to be able to communicate more effectively with those who are older. I reside in the U.S. and would like to chat with others in the U.S. as well to not have to work around too many different time zones. I would like to have a conversation flowing throughout the day as opposed to one message a day. Also, wouldn't it be great to be able to send and receive funny TikToks throughout the day? (Extra Bonus Points for iPhone users. iMessage and FaceTime are both fantastic) Someone with similar core values as myself. I value honesty and would much rather have a brutally blunt answer than sugarcoat something. I don't believe in lying even if it is just what most consider "a little white lie". I am an extremely motivated and goal-oriented person and would hope that my friends are passionate about whatever it is that they want to pursue. With that being said, to put it bluntly, I am not looking for someone who plays video games and watches anime for hours on end.
Relationship (take everything above + some extra fluff):

• Deal Breakers:
  • Kids (so no single parents please)
  • Open Relationships/Polygamy
  • Tattoos or Piercings
  • Substance Addictions

If you are interested, please send me an introduction about yourself as opposed to “hey” or “hi”. I will not respond to a lacking introduction. A great conversation is a two-way street.
Note 1: Due to the number of creeps on here, please send a picture of yourself, fully clothed, I may add, so I can ensure you’re not an 80-year-old man looking for some adult time. I will also send one in return.
Note 2: Some unpopular Reddit opinions; I am not into video games or anime (old-school Nintendo games and board games can be fun though). Politically, I lean right. I do not believe a person’s political views should be a deal-breaker in friendship but then again, this is Reddit.