Billy and his younger sister, Tabby, had waited for this day for weeks. It was the first day of the county fair.

They joyfully stepped off the porch of their house to begin the trek a half mile down the boulevard.

Already at 10:00 in the morning it was scorching hot – and humid – the heavy, wash-cloth kind of humidity that clings to the skin the moment you step into it.

Billy and Tabby scurried down the sidewalk eager for a first glimpse of activity until finally, they saw the glimmering movements of the Ferris wheel through the trees that towered over them.

“Hurry up Tabby,” Billy said, nearly running now. “Get your money out,” he instructed, digging deep into his shorts to get his own.

They paid at the ticket counter and entered the fairgrounds, already bustling with fanfare, and made a mad dash toward the cotton candy man who sat in a trailer collecting the sugary confection in swirls of pink and sky blue from a windy cauldron.

Billy and Tabby spent their day like this – gobbling down sweets and racing to the rides:

The Zipper,

      Snowball,

          Tilt-A-Whirl

… to name a few, always trying to gauge which had the shortest line. Then they had sweets again, washing them down with syrupy sodas and lemon shake-ups, completely unfazed by the sweltering sun.

Sadly, the day flew by. The sun started to set and Billy and Tabby knew they’d soon have to head for home, but not without one more ride.

They had the Round-Up in their sights and only had to wait in line a few minutes before it was their turn. A perfect ending to a perfect day, they thought as the whirling steel bowl slowly started to spin, then quicker until it lurched skyward. The evening breeze was tinged with smells of hot dogs and popcorn as it blew their hair in their grimy, salty faces.

The gravitational pull of the ride had them sucked in their places, but the ride eventually came to an end. Slowly the bowl inched downward, spewing hisses and screeching at its joints.

Once the ride leveled with the ground, Billy and Tabby looked for the exit. The disappearance of the sun over the horizon reminded them that they’d better get started for home.

Billy eyed the exit as the ride crept to a crawl. He grabbed onto the exit step railing as he drifted by, thinking he could stop it once and for all. But instead of stopping it, he was yanked from his spot and flung through the air. Before he even had time to realize what happened, he was face down on the ground, sore and stunned with blades of grass stuffed in his mouth.

Fairgoers swarmed to his side. He wasn’t hurt, it seemed; at least he wasn’t killed, though the way his body violently sailed through the air he very likely could have been.

“Are you crazy? What happened?” wailed Tabby, forcing her way through the gawkers to get to him. Billy looked at her and started crying, bawling in disbelief. He stood up and looked himself over, took hold of Tabby’s hand and led her away from there and out of the fairgrounds to head home.

It was a fantastic day, they decided on the walk home, except for bellyaches, icky skin, and Billy’s few scratches. It was a day they’d definitely never forget.