The colorful lights of the carnival make it appear as though I just walked into some sort of dreamland. I look around at everything in front of me, but it’s hard to focus on just one thing.

There are games everywhere.

To my right, there is a row of people sitting down, pointing guns that shoot water into the mouths of fake shark heads. As the one shark’s head rises above the others quicker, people start cheering, and a few seconds later a bell is rung. Everyone gets up to leave, and a woman gives the winning kid a piece of candy. I like this place already.

To my left, people are standing around watching two people holding onto a bar above their heads, their feet not touching the ground. I don’t understand the game, but people seem to be having a good time watching.

There are some small buildings that I see people walking into. People walk around holding some of the things Devin and I saw on the TV. They have stuffed animals, candy, and unique-looking foods.

There are stuffed animals so big that some of the kids holding them need their parents’ help since they are practically the size of the kids. Some game booths have stuffed animals hanging on the walls or ceilings. Each animal is a different color. No stuffed animal is the standard color they’re supposed to be. There are some dogs that are bright purple and snakes that are neon pink.

I have to take a moment to pinch myself to make sure that this is real. When my pinch doesn’t wake me up, I know this is reality. I take another look around the place, and then I look at my Dad and Devin, both of their faces are full of amazement, just like mine. When Mom hears about this, she is going to regret not coming.

I try to figure out what we should do first when I finish soaking everything in and getting my thoughts back together. There is so much to do here that I don’t know where to start. We only have one night, so we have to make it count. The advertisement made it clear that the carnival would only be here for one day.

As if reading my mind, Devin says, “Why don’t we start on the right side and make our way around the place.” I agree, and the three of us make our way to the stand with the shark heads.

After a round of people are done and move to their next game, the three of us take the first three seats, and a few other people join us. I am sitting on the end, and when I look over to everyone else sitting down the line, I can see they are just as thrilled to be here as I am. This is our first game tonight, and I am having trouble containing my excitement. I hope it is as fun as it looks.

“Welcome to Shoot the Shark! The rules are simple, aim your water gun at the shark’s mouth and shoot. The first person to get the shark’s head to the top wins! Please begin by inserting your card in the slot by your seat.” The woman standing in the game booth says with a big smile on her face. I notice that she is wearing the same uniform as the man at the entrance.

I look down at my seat and insert my card into the machine. Devin and my Dad do the same.

“Great! Now that everyone has inserted their cards, the game will begin in ten seconds! When you hear the music start, that means the game has begun, so make sure you are ready!”

Both Devin and I look at each other and get our guns ready to aim at the shark’s mouth. After ten seconds, a bell is heard, music starts playing, and the lights start to shine different colors really fast around the stand. I shoot the gun at the shark, and the head slowly begins to rise. It is sometimes hard to hit it directly in the mouth, but I focus and try to move my gun up at the same slow speed as the head rising.

Everyone’s shark is doing about the same, but when someone misses the mouth, they fall behind everyone else’s. Devin and I are almost neck and neck, so I focus on keeping the gun straight and hope he messes up. My heart races with anticipation. I want to win, but I can tell that Devin is doing about the same as me, and I will have to do better to beat him.

To my left, I see my Dad’s shark head start to get a lead above ours before it slows, and my shark head passes his. As we get closer to the top, I notice my shark slowly moving past Devins and the others. My shark’s head reaches the top first, and a loud bell is rung. The fast music starts to play for a second before stopping. I can still hear the music from the games around us, but it is quiet enough to hear the woman speak.

“Congratulations to this young woman over here! Now, everyone may remove their card from the machine.”

I can’t help but jump up in excitement, knowing that I won the first game. Although there are still a lot more games to be played, this win will help give me confidence for the next game.

Our cards pop out of the machine, and we grab them. The smiling woman at the stand hands me a small chocolate bar for winning, and I take it with excitement. Candy is hard to get in our town and is typically reserved for special occasions, so I share it with Devin before we move on to the next stand.

At this stand, we find a small pool of water with floating jars on top. The people at the stand look to be throwing little balls at the jar, but only a few are making it into them. When someone makes a ball into the jar, the rim lights up a bright green. When they are done throwing and their turn is done, all the jars return to normal, and the woman collects the balls out of them.

“Looks like you’re going to lose this one, Sam,” Devin says smugly. He’s always been better at games that involve throwing.

“Don’t listen to him, Sam. Just focus on where you want the ball to go, and you will do fine.” My Dad says, but I know I’m not going to win this one.

We watch a few more people go before it becomes our turn. “Who’s first?” the woman at the stand asks.

“Sam.”

“Devin.”

I glare at Devin, and he just gives me a smile. “You won the last game. That means you should go first.”

“You just want to see me fail so you can make fun of me,” I state as I walk up and insert my card into the small machine on the side.

“You get ten balls to try and throw into any of the floating jars.” The woman says as she hands me a few of the balls. Each one is a different color, and they are pretty small, so I am able to hold three of them in my hand at once. I take a deep breath and throw my first one at the closest jar. It misses.

I can hear Devin chuckle behind me, and I just roll my eyes. I throw the next one, and it does the same. I would like to make one in and shut Devin up, but that doesn’t seem very likely at the moment.

“Try aiming at the jar and making it in,” Devin says. Such a helpful little brother. I can’t believe I never thought of that, I think to myself sarcastically. I want to throw one of the balls at his head, but I would probably accidentally hit an innocent bystander with my bad aim.

I look directly at the closest glass jar and throw another ball, and another, and another. They all miss the jar. I let out a sigh and throw another in frustration. Tink, it hits off of the side of one of the jars.

“Now she’s getting somewhere,” my Dad says with a small smile.

I am not getting anywhere since I have no idea how I did that. I try doing the same thing as before by using my frustration, and this time, it actually makes it in.

The rim of the jar turns green, and I jump up in excitement, “See, I’m not completely bad at this game!” I say while turning around fast to Devin. He just puts his hands up in surrender while rolling his eyes. I quickly turn around and throw another, and it hits off the side of the jar. I have two balls left.

I throw the one again at the closest jar, and it barely misses. I am down to my last one. I take another deep breath, concentrate, and throw.

Chapter 2

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