The delicious and terrible climb

It's been awhile since I was on an *actual* rollercoaster, but ...

You're strapped in to the little cart. You can't turn back, because the thing's in motion. You made the decision to get on. No one forced you to do it. This was your choice and yours alone, and you stepped into the metal and vinyl contraption and lowered that bar over your head. Click ... it's locked in place.

Now you're moving. It's easy at first, just a few ups and downs, nothing you can't handle. But you've been on rollercoasters before, so you know what's coming. Every one you've been on has had the same basic design: after the first few swerves and dips, you reach the inevitable build. The slow climb that gives you a collection of seconds to think about what you've committed to. You can see the peak up there, and in a few moments, that's where you'll be.

It's anticipation in its purest form. Nothing else is going on--you are imprisoned in this cart, and the only way "out" is through. But you can't get to the peak faster, either. You can't rush through it and skip the waiting part. Because you're not in control.

Your body is still. Your mind is not. You know that when the rollercoaster hits the peak, you're going to see what awaits you, and then you're going to feel it. And it doesn't matter if it scares the s%!t out of you or not, because it's happening. As soon as it does, you're going to be subjected to forces you can't yet imagine even though you know it's coming. You could scream or smile or hold your breath or claw at your restraints or cry. You could close your eyes or keep them wide open. But the machine is on autopilot.

And you signed up for this ride.

If you're interested in winning an ARC of SANCTUM, go here! If you want to read one of the very first book blogger reviews of SANCTUM, go here!

If you would like to stay right where you are and contemplate what parts of life are like a rollercoaster's delicious and terrible climb, that's okay, too. So tell me--what are we talking about here? What life situations have felt like this? Do you enjoy that kind of anticipation or suffer through every nanosecond? What makes it enjoyable or so not or both?