Carnival Stories

Lavi stood in the cool dew-covered field. She loved the feel of the dampness on her toes. In this moment of meditation with the bird’s screams bouncing off her ears, she felt connected with the earth.  Soon the field would be stamped down; run over by the tires of rubes coming to enjoy the sights and sounds. By children running here and there, stuffing their faces with cotton candy or candy apples. The bright red sticky t...

‘What a view.’ Felix never imagined that thought would ever cross his mind while looking down from a Ferris Wheel, probably because he had always kept his eyes shut. Earlier, the yin and yang of excitement and trepidation had pulled at him when he and his dad arrived at the summer carnival. Like any boy, he loved the atmosphere, essentially a kid’s version of Nirvana: the lights, the sideshows, the games, the rides, the j...

The annual Saint Joseph Church carnival was winding down. It had been three and nine-tenths days of fun, but on Sunday evening, eleven-year-old Thomas Leary was running out of time. In between boarding a slew of nausea-inducing rides and devouring funnel cake the size of Frisbees, it was time to win something other than another stuffed animal. Thomas wanted to win a goldfish, but not just any goldfish. There was one in pa...