Carnival: Children's Toys

Charlie was a small boy, no more than 5. Charlie’s favorite thing was cookies and stuffed animals. In that order.

One day, Charlie was playing in his dad’s backyard. He had come to like being there with all his toys. He didn’t mind all the yelling anymore. If it got bad, he would close his eyes and imagine playing with the toys. He knew he could always be happy in his imagination with his toys. Something always interrupted though. Like when his father pulled him from the backyard, through his mom’s house, past his mom holding her fancy clear cup, past his dad, into the car, and headed to his father’s house. This is how Charlie understood weekends.

Charlie’s father got him a kid’s meal on the drive over. Once at his father’s apartment, Charlie was taken straight to his room. Charlie normally stays in his room. However, this time his father forgot to close the door all the way. So Charlie got to hear something he never heard before. His father crying.

Charlie peeked out his room and followed the sound. Walking to his sobbing father, Charlie became sad. He smelled the same ‘mean people’ juice that his mom drinks from her fancy clear cup, Charlie went from sad to uncomfortable. His father was always nice. Especially when they weren’t around his mom. He approached his father slowly and carefully before hugging his leg.

“No more mean juice… pease.”

Realizing what was said and the example he was setting for his son, Charlie’s father thought bad thoughts but put the bottle down. He thanked Charlie. They fell asleep that night to Charlie’s cartoons.

The next morning, Charlie’s father cooked breakfast and promised him that they would go to the boardwalk before the playdate. Charlie was excited to hear that he’d be able to go play games and play with other kids right after. Charlie’s father gave a sigh of relief seeing the joyous expressions. He even began to think that he could actually move on. While in the car, he even turned off the radio so he could hear and sing along to Charlie’s “Gonna Be A Good Day” song.

They played almost every game they saw. Fishing, Duck Dodging, shooting games, ball games, you name it. Win or lose, they celebrated. After a break for pretzels and slushies, a lone game caught Charlie’s eye. A small dark blue and purple, night-themed booth. It almost appeared to have an oversized umbrella for a roof. There was a young man inside it on his phone, looking very uninterested. What really drew Charlie over was one of the prizes. A black teddy bear with stitches across his limbs and an eyepatch over his right eye. The sign on the booth read, “Three guesses.”

Charlie begged his father to play. Getting a strange feeling, his father tried to convince Charlie that they could win a ‘better’ prize.

“But papa…” Charlie whined.

“I’m sorry Charlie. It’s just that… Well.”

“But I don’t have any stuffies at home. If I get this, I won’t ask for nothing else. Pease.” Charlie begged.

Charlie’s father sighed, rubbing his own head. “Okay. Okay. Sir, how do we play?”

The Gamemaster explained that Three Guesses work two ways:

Three questions with only one chance to answer each.

One question with three chances to answer.

Either way, the game was five dollars. Either way, only one answer is needed to win.They decided on option two. The question was: “What is my name?”

Charlie’s father took two guesses, both being wrong. Charlie, putting his hands on the counter, barely looking over. Appearing to be squinting at the young man, Charlie said something that his father could not make out but got the young man to look up from his phone and make eye contact with Charlie. The young man’s curious look met with Charlie’s determined stare. The young man sighed and told Charlie to take his pick. Charlie of course picked the bear. Charlie’s father asked what Charlie said. Charlie simply cuddled the bear, the young man went back into his phone.

Monday came and Charlie was taken to school. Where he snuck his bear in his bag to show off to his classmates.

Charlie’s mom was called to come get Charlie just before lunch. She sent her husband to get Charlie. In the car, Charlie’s dad asked about what happened. Charlie explained that an older student stole his teddy and he tried to get him back. The student ended up falling down the steps. The adults accused Charlie of pushing the student. Charlie told the adults and his dad that it wasn’t him. At his mom’s house, Charlie wanted to go straight to his room to introduce his teddy to the rest of his toys. But his mom called him to the kitchen.

He told her the same. She sent him to his room. He knew she wouldn’t believe him. He knew they would blame his father. He knew his mom would find a way to take it out on his father. Knowing a big fight was coming, Charlie cried himself to sleep. In the middle of the night, Charlie woke up to the sound of his door creaking. He didn’t remember leaving it open.

Rubbing eyes, Charlie went into the hallway. Hearing something hopping down the steps, Charlie made his way to the railing. Only seeing a shadow, he slowly made his way downstairs. At the bottom of the steps, Charlie saw the teddy opening the front door. The teddy waved and gestured for Charlie to follow. Charlie grabbed the teddy’s paw and they walked out into the dark of the night. As the door closed, Charlie asked, “Hey Teddy, did you spill something sticky on the carpet?”