Surprise Inside

Life had been knocking Zinnia down. All of her friends had moved away, and weren’t around to lift her up anymore, so it was a nice distraction when the fair unexpectedly rolled into her small town. She forced herself to go, even though she’d never gone alone before. Maybe seeing other people enjoy themselves will cheer me up, she thought.

When she arrived, the sun had just dipped below the horizon, and the rides began to flicker on one by one. The smell of corn dogs and fresh funnel cakes carried nostalgia that transported her back to her childhood. She’d always come with her mom and little brother, but this time she was alone, surrounded by families and couples running to the next attraction. A grin took over her face as she caught a glimpse of a wide-eyed toddler stuffing huge handfuls of blue cotton candy in and around its mouth.

That’s what I need! she thought, and headed to the nearest food stand.

“What color?” the seller asked, reaching towards the small bags.

“Blue please, and I’ll take the big one!” Zinnia responded with a surprised smile.

“All right, just don’t be scared tomorrow when your poop is green!” the seller laughed, and handed her the change and her giant bag of cotton candy.

Zinnia delicately placed bite-sized bits into her mouth as she walked towards her favorite childhood ride, The Zipper. It was spinning and whirring when she approached the railing, and she stood there, zoned out, thinking about the last time she’d ridden it. It was the last time she’d gone to the fair, with her mom, before she died. Her brother who didn’t like rides was waiting where she now stood, as she and her mom got on together.

“Mom, there are so many screws missing. Do you see that?” Zinnia pointed to several places in the cage that looked unsecured. “But I’m sure it’s fine, right?”

“Sure,” mom laughed nervously, “we can trust the guys who put it together,” she said with an unconvincing wave of her hand.

Zinnia’s face questioned whether or not she could believe her. The ride started, and the cage began flipping, spinning, and shaking way more than usual. The two usually fearless women both screamed in terror. Zinnia remembered hoping for it to be over as quickly as possible, but now she wished she could go back and share even this scary moment with her mom. She could feel her warm hug that said I’m so happy we’re alive.

“Ticket, Miss?” the conductor asked her.

“Oh, uh, no. I’m just watching. Thanks.”

As much as she remembered loving it as a kid, she wasn’t quite ready to join her mom yet. Maybe I should go try my luck at some games instead of standing here like a weirdo. She walked away and passed by the fun house, wishing she had someone to go in with.

“Try your luck it’s only a buck,” a voice shouted.

Only a buck? When’s a game at the fair ever that cheap? With her interest peaked, she turned around to see the water shooting game where you have to hit the target with better aim than your opponents. There were only a couple rowdy kids and a teenager waiting for the game to start. That would be fun! A little competition that I can easily beat.

She sat down and handed over her dollar [to the man running the game.] The buzzer sounded and she aimed with cotton candy fueled concentration. Before she knew it the bell dinged and she was announced the winner.

“What’ll ya have Miss?” the weathered carny running the game asked.

She was so happy with just playing the game, it took a moment for her to notice that she’d won. After glancing at the options he was pointing to, she landed on a medium sized orange elephant. It looked a little lumpy, but it was her mom’s favorite color.

“Thank you!” she said, as the carny grabbed the elephant.

“No need to thank me. You won it yourself,” the carny smiled warmly, the sparkling lights glinted off his gold canine tooth. “And remember, it’s what’s inside that counts,” he winked as he handed it over.

Getting advice from a carny. That’s a first! She laughed to herself.

Her arms sank slightly with the weight of the elephant. “What are they filling these things with these days?” she said, barely audible. She looked up in confusion at the carny, whose raised eyebrow made it seem like he was hiding something. She didn’t have a bad feeling about it, so she walked away carrying her loot on her hip like a baby.

Short as her visit was, the fair had cheered her up, so with cotton candy in one hand and her lumpy, orange elephant in the other, she decided it was time to head home.

When she crawled into bed that night, she took her new stuffed animal with her. She thought it would be nice to sleep with something that reminded her of her mom, the only problem was, it wasn’t comfortable to cuddle with. As she laid in bed, wide awake from the substantial amount of sugar she’d eaten, she couldn’t help but wonder, what in the world is in this thing?! Then she remembered the advice the carny had given her, it’s what’s inside that counts … that’s it! I’m opening this thing up!

She switched on the light and grabbed the seam ripper from her sewing kit, after all, she didn’t have to completely destroy the thing. It just needed a little surgery. Once the hole was big enough to get her hand through, she reached in.

“Oh my God. Is this really happening?” she said to herself as she pulled out a handful of five dollar bills rubber-banded together. “Am I dreaming?” She looked at the time. 11:22PM. She was awake. She opened the seam further and pulled out the entire contents, spreading them onto the carpet. There was a little bit of fluff, a bunch of bands of money, and a little black notebook. Several of the bands were hundreds, a lot were twenties, and some were mixed with tens and fives. She sat staring at it all wondering how much was there. It was definitely the most money she’d ever seen. Where did this come from, and why do I have it?

She got up to check if the doors were locked. When she sat back down on the floor to start counting, she instinctively grabbed the notebook first. In it was written, if this money has found you, it’s yours now.

After counting it out three times, she knew it was exactly $20,000. What she didn’t know was what she was going to do with it … yet.