"Hey! You! Jackass!"

Geoff was trying to make eye contact -- or, failing that, ear contact -- with the ferris wheel operator below. Geoff and Jo had been stuck at the top of the ride for more than five minutes now. And the effort might not have been so much in vain were they not surrounded by a cage.

No response. Of course.

"Will you knock it off?" asked Jo. "He'll get to it when he gets to it."

"It's just. Gah!" Geoff started rocking the ride. Back and forth, back and forth, the range of motion increasing each time.

"Are you trying to piss him off or me off?" asked Jo.

"Actually I was hoping for one of your soprano screams."

"Why? Why would I scream?"

"Because you'd look over and say, 'Oh, look, just a little clip of metal! That looks like a bobby pin! Is all that's holding us up!!'"

"And you'd say?"

"'Oh, steel is strong! It has a tensile strength of...' Um..."

"Of what?"

"Of ... several megapascals?"

"Which would be relevant if it were?"

"Yeah. If it were not ... cross-sectional weight."

"Which you were ignoring because..."

"Because it set me up for a line about..."

"Look, if you make a joke about 'necking', you will LEGITIMATELY get a soprano scream. Directly into your left ear."

Geoff looked solemn. "Would you look me straight in the eye and say that it's over now?"

"What? Us? This ride? I hope not 'this ride'. I want to walk away at some point."

"No, I was just channeling..."

"Jerry Cantrell?"

"Right. Him."

"Well, I can tell you one thing: 'We pay...'"

Geoff joined her: "'Our debts some time.'"

"Damn right!" said Jo. "For instance, next stop? Pay me back for the love boat with a Slush Puppy and a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl. If..."

"If what?"

"If we..." She leaned over. "If we ever get off this ride, jackass!" she screamed down.