Tommy's Day at the County Fair

            by Megan Stimpson

 

            Tommy opened his eyes and his Superman alarm clock looked back at him. It was 6:03 AM. He threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. Today was the day his parents had promised to take him to the County Fair! Last year, only Tommy's older sister Becky had been allowed to go with their across-the-street neighbor, Suzie.

            "You're not old enough, Tommy," his dad had said, patting him on the back. "But you'll go next year."

            Well, next year was here and Tommy couldn’t wait to see all the cool stuff Becky and Suzie had told him about: there was a magician, a Ferris wheel, and even a fire breathing dragon! Tommy opened up his dresser and found a blue shirt and green shorts. Blue and green were his favorite colors.

 

 

            After Tommy was all dressed, he tip-toed downstairs and found his sneakers and socks. He sat on the floor and waited. He yawned. Well, maybe I'll rest for just one more minute, Tommy thought sleepily.

            "Tommy? What are you doing?"

            Tommy opened his eyes and his dad's fuzzy slippers looked back at him. Aw man! He had fallen asleep on the floor! His dad was standing above him, wearing his pajamas.  His mom stumbled past them, mumbling, "Need. Coffee."

            Oh no! What if they were late for the Fair! Tommy jumped up and began running around. Panicked, he asked, "Dad! What time is it? We gotta go!"

            "Whoa there, settle down buddy. Let's eat some breakfast first," his dad said with a laugh.

 

 

 

            Twenty seven minutes later, the family and Suzie were in the car and off to the Fair. The whole way there, Becky and Suzie chatted about the games they had played last year. The whole way there, Tommy thought to himself, Hurry up Dad!

            When his dad finally parked, Tommy unbuckled his seat belt and bolted out of the car. "C'mon guys!" he shouted, running away from the cars onto the grass. He saw lots of balloons and people in the distance. "Let's go!"

            Since Becky and Suzie were the experts, they led the way. Tommy followed behind with his mom, too excited to pick what to try first.

            "Look at this one! You can win a lollipop!" Suzie cried. She grabbed a dart, aimed it at the target, and threw. It landed right near the middle. "Yessss! I won!" she cried as she pumped her fists in the air.

            "Ooh let me try!" Becky said.  She grabbed a dart, aimed it at the target, and threw. It landed right near the middle, next to Suzie's. "Yay! Me too!"

            "I want to try too!" Tommy said. He held his arm how Becky and Suzie had. He grabbed a dart, aimed it at the target, and threw. But it didn't land right near the middle. It didn't even hit the board. He looked at his mom.

            "Try again!" she encouraged.

            "Mommy?" Tommy asked his mom. “I don’t want to play right now.”

But his mom was running after Becky and Suzie, who were onto the next game.

            "Okay, sure honey. I'll be right back," his mom answered.

            Tommy walked over to a tree stump. This fair is stupid, he thought sadly. Tommy kicked his shoes against the tree.

            "Well hey there little fella," said voice above him. "You look sad."

 

 

 

            Tommy looked at the funny looking girl in front of him. She had two different shoes on and something pointy in her hair. "I'm not having fun," Tommy said, still looking at her hair. "What's that in your hair?"

            "If I give it to you, you have to promise to be happy," the clown said, handing him a sparkly wand. "Sometimes you have to look around for fun things," she said before walking away.

            Tommy sighed and slowly swung the wand around. It made a loud zing! sound every time it moved.

            "Whoa!" said Tommy, standing up. He kept swinging. The harder he swung, the louder the zing! was.

            By mistake, Tommy swung the wand into some cotton candy that a lady with a purple feathered hat was carrying. "Sorry!" he said. He pulled his wand back, but the cotton candy followed.

 

 

            "Well goodness gracious, keep pulling," the lady with the purple feathered hat said. "I certainly don’t want to eat your wand!"

            Tommy kept walking backwards and the cotton candy kept unraveling. A train of sugary pink fluff kept coming with him.

            "Hey watch out, boy!" A man carrying three big boxes jumped out of the way of Tommy and the never-ending cotton candy rope.

 

 

            Tommy spun in the opposite direction of the man carrying three big boxes. Accidentally, he knocked into the latch that kept the animals inside of the petting zoo. The gate swung open. Since he wrestled a lot with his dad, Tommy was pretty strong. But he wasn’t strong enough to push the gate closed before the animals escaped.           

            "Uh oh," Tommy said, as a pig marched into the string of cotton candy. The sticky goo covered the goat's eyes! A duck and a baby lamb walked past too.

 

 

            The man carrying the three big boxes reached for the pig. "Here let me help," he said. But when the blind pig felt the man’s hands, it scooted away, right into the popcorn stand. The popcorn machine started making popcorn at double speed. Three seconds later, the whole popcorn machine was completely filled with popped popcorn, and the whole stand started to shake.

            “It’s going to explode!” cried the popcorn making man. “Everybody duck!”

            With one final POP!, the top flew off and popcorn filled the air. Lots of pieces stuck to the gloppy cotton candy that was still stretching from Tommy's wand to the lady with the purple feathered hat.

 

 

            The man carrying the three big boxes reached for a section of the cotton candy coated popcorn. "Yum!" he said, licking his fingers.

            Next to him, the pig kept walking, trying to get the cotton candy out of his eyes. The strand of puffy cotton candy was now following him.

            "Catch that goat!" shouted the lady with the purple feathered hat, hiking up her skirt and kicking off her high heels. "He's headed towards the swimming area!"

 

 

            Tommy looked at the pig’s big teeth and the huge inflatable pool and yelled, "Oh no!" Since he was on a soccer team, Tommy was pretty fast. But he wasn't fast enough to get to the pig before it ran into the pool and opened its mouth. A blast of air swooshed out and a tidal wave of water knocked Tommy, the lady with the purple feathered hat, the man carrying the three big boxes, the pig, and the popcorn making man off their feet.

            "Heavens to Betsy!" cried the lady with the purple feathered hat as a girl floating in an inner tube crashed into her.

            "Ahhh!" bellowed the man carrying the three big boxes as the waves turned him on his stomach.

            "Wooo!" screamed some girls who had been playing in the pool. It was Tommy's older sister Becky and her friend Suzie!

            "Hey guys! Over here!" yelled Tommy as he used a fence post to surf through the water.

 

 

            Tommy, Becky, and Suzie rode out the wave until they washed up onto the grass at the feet of their parents. A chicken landed next to them, squawking.

            "Tommy! Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you," his mom said, giving him a hug.

            Later, when all the water had spilled out of the pool and the animals were put back in the cages and the popcorn machine stopped popping, Tommy's parents decided it was time to head home.

            On the way out, they passed the game that Tommy had first tried. Tommy's mom stopped. "Are you sure you don’t want to try one last time? Sometime you have to try things a couple of times to get them right."

            Tommy looked at the row of shiny lollipops and slowly stepped up to the booth. He grabbed a dart, aimed it at the target, and threw. Tommy closed his eyes. "Did I win?" he asked.

            "See for yourself, kiddo," said Tommy's dad.

            Tommy peeked one eye open. It had landed right near the middle!

            The lollipop man handed Tommy a big, red lollipop. "Congratulations kid! A nice way to end the day, huh?"

 

 

            Tommy licked the lollipop and smiled. “I can’t wait until next year’s County Fair!”