Phone Call at the Fair

You could say that it all began with a phone call. But it really began much earlier. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to win that teddy bear. Not the small or medium size ones, mind you. Those furry, giant pandas that you strut around the fair with. And if you’re lucky, a ginger-haired girl smiling at your side.

Well, I didn’t have no panda and I didn’t have no girl, but I did have two tickets to the fair. So I took my sister. Now don’t get me wrong. My sister is cute as a button and lots of fun to be with. Sometimes, too much fun, I’m afraid. We were having a ball, eating popcorn, cotton candy, riding the vintage wooden roller coaster and all. And then it happened. I saw the stand with the pandas.

“Come on over folks and try your luck. Two wins gets a giant panda. All you need to do is throw the baseballs into the basket.” He demonstrated. It sure did look easy. But after blowing fifty bucks, I was no way near winning a plastic dinosaur, let alone the giant panda.

“Tim, I gotta go pee,” my sister said suddenly. And off she went. When she returned I was standing there, carrying a gigantic purple panda, with a smile across my face from here to Kentucky. “Wow,” she said, “What a talented brother I have!”

We were strolling proudly through the park when my sister’s cell phone rang. It was the guy from the ball throw. Would she care to share a beer with him after the fair closed at eleven? My sister gave me her disastrous “What have you done, moron?” look, but then said yes. I went home with my panda but without my sister. I never heard from her again until last night.

And that was the phone call I want to tell you about.