Carnival with The Boys

“Vixen? Does that count?” Coco asked. Instead of her usual bun and overalls, she wore denim shorts and a ponytail. I could tell that she had lipstick and mascara on today.

“Yup,” Ravi said from the passenger seat. “It’s another name for female fox. Do you guys think it counts?”

Prius and I nodded.

“Wolves,” I said.

“What’s next? X? Uhhh... let me think...” Prius appeared to be at a loss—at least, that’s what I imagined. He was in the driver’s seat, and I was sitting behind him.

Sweat trickled down my face as the sun’s merciless glare shone on our truck. Needless to say, we were being baked alive. In exchange for the size and luggage capacity of Prius’s vehicle, we gave up the luxury of an efficient air conditioner. This was a mistake, as we embarked on a three-hour road trip in the middle of July.

Could we go any faster? I glanced at the speedometer over Prius’s shoulder.

120km/h.

It was fast compared to the speed limit, yet slow compared to the cars zipping by on the left. Prius signalled his left turn light and switched lanes, accelerating the truck. I’m sure we all wanted to arrive faster.

There were no trees to provide shade. No clouds to mediate the sun’s vendetta. Not even the wind could enter, since everyone was aware of the damage to our ears if we opened the windows at one-hundred kilometers per hour.

Now who were these young adults playing their alphabet game, riding through the vast plains on this populated highway?

No need to ask—it was me and the boys.

“I’m surprised Coco was able to come on this overnight trip,” Prius said. He obviously wanted to change the topic before admitting defeat in our alphabet game.

“Well, it was on the condition that I sleep in a different room,” Coco said. “It’s a little pricier, but that’s okay.”

“That means the three of us have two beds,” Ravi commented. “Since I’m the biggest, I should get my own.”

“No way!” Prius exclaimed. “Via’s going to snore in my ear again. I only slept for three hours on our camping trip.”

“Everyone has a bad night on their first trip.”

“...”

“It’d be more problematic if the two of us shared a bed. We’re both the bigger guys.”

“I’d rather decide by rock paper scissors,” Prius replied. He wasn’t going down.

“Fine. Once we get there.”

“Ahhh... Summer Stampede...” Coco murmured. “Hey, when’s the last time you guys went?”

“Probably with my parents back in grade school,” Ravi replied.

“Right... you were sick when we went in ninth grade.”

“Yeah. Man, I was really bummed out.”

“I remember,” Coco laughed. “We tried to cheer you up with cake but ordered an ice cream cake by accident.”

“Was it really a mistake? How did all of you forget I was lactose intolerant?”

“It’s not like it killed you!”

“Tell that to the toilet.”

Fanning myself with one of our carnival brochures, I stared out the window.

The Summer Stampede.

It was an annual carnival hosted by a nearby city. Of course, “nearby city” according to our standards was approximately a three-hour drive along the highway—four hours, if you include the traffic jams we were bound to face inside the city.

The Stampede was the most popular event in our province, seeing almost a million visitors over ten event days. That meant one-hundred-thousand people would be there today, many of them visiting from our city as well.

“Let’s go over the schedule one more time,” Prius said. “So we’ll eat lunch in the city, check into the hotel at two, and head straight to the festival. Tomorrow we check out before eleven, eat brunch at Blue Star, then back to the Stampede until five?”

“Might as well stay a little later and eat dinner here,” Coco suggested. “We paid for the two-day tickets anyways.”

“...I guess so.”

Prius turned up the fan, which blasted lukewarm air through the vents. Although I preferred air conditioning, it cooled the moisture on my skin as the highway scenery blurred past us.

o

“What are these face masks for?” Coco asked, examining a colourful piece of cloth that was branded with “Stampede” in bright lettering.

We were waiting in the entrance line for the Summer Stampede. Cotton candy and roasted meats faintly masked the smell of the sweaty crowd. It seemed like most people also arrived at noon.

Prior to arriving, Ravi and Prius had checked into the hotel and thrown all the luggage into our rooms. MgRonald’s saw us rushing through for a cheap lunch, before making a beeline for the Summer Stampede.

“There’s been a flu starting to spread in the city,” the employee answered. “Apparently it’s asymptomatic, so we wanted all visitors to wear these just in case. There also happens to be a recent face mask trend, so we thought it’d be great marketing.”

I don’t know if she was supposed to reveal their marketing secrets.

“Man, these are hard to breathe in,” Prius complained.

“You can remove them when eating, or when you’re far away from any crowds,” the employee said. “Honestly, it should be okay as long as you don’t cough on anyone.”

She continued to hand masks down the line. It had grown considerably since we arrived.

“Man. What would we do if it was worse than a flu?” Ravi asked. “If something totally dystopian happened, like a dangerous global pandemic...”

“Like the black plague?” I asked.

“If it gets super bad and people are dying, then we wouldn’t need to attend school or work anymore,” Prius said.

“Mmm... I don’t think so,” Ravi replied. “We definitely wouldn’t be attending a carnival like this... but with modern technology, we could remodel schools and workplaces to function online.”

“Oh, like online courses? I might take some of those for my mechanics program.”

“Shouldn’t something like mechanics be more hands-on?”

“Not all of it. There’s all the boring theory classes I still need to take... I thought it’d be easier to take them online.”

“Ah...”

“Well,” Coco said. “If something that drastic like a pandemic really happens then we could just stay in and play games together like usual.”

“Yeah. I guess nothing would really change,” I commented. “Other than the fact that we wouldn’t go on roadtrips anymore...”

We stood in a moment of silence.

“...”

“That would suck.”

“Yeah.” “Yeah...” “Definitely.”

Our line finally approached the main entrance, where the Stampede staff ripped our tickets in exchange for tight-fitting cherry red wristbands. My wrist was already sweating underneath mine as we made our way through the entrance, into the world of brightly coloured carnival things.

Dazzling golds and reds decorated gleaming signboards. However, as experienced carnival goers, we knew that underneath the enthusiastic exhibition of large stuffed animals and other fancy prizes were con artists and slyly rigged carnival games. They targeted naïve, unsuspecting children who would burn all of mommy’s money before winning the cheapest prize on the board.

Of course, my boys and I were cultured men who had our eyes on another prize—the thrilling memories offered by roller coasters and carnival rides.

“Where should we go first?” Ravi asked.

“Polar express!” “Fireball!” “Mach Four!”

“...Let’s start with the smallest one. Polar Express, it is.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Coco clicked her tongue. “Starting small? That’s a rookie mistake. There’s a much better method for us to follow—we need to start with the largest ride! That way, none of the other rides will scare us. Plus, everyone else goes from small to big, so the lines for all the big rides will be super long at the end.”

Ravi bit his lip. “...Let’s at least warm up with the polar express.”

“Fine. But we’re going on the Mach Four next!”

“...”

We lined up for the Polar Express. The ride produced a deafening whirring noise, rivalled only by the blaring music that played over the speakers.

While conventional roller coasters induced adrenaline through loops and drops, the Polar Express provided thrills through other means. There was no head or tail to this ride, and it simply spun around in a circle at neck-breaking speeds. However, the amusement from this ride came from whoever was riding next to you.

Since it was a ride that spun around in circles, the centrifugal forces would propel you outwards, which squishes the riders together in a hilarious manner.

“How should we split up?” I asked. “There’s four of us.”

“We could do two people per ride,” Ravi suggested. “That way, no one has to ride alone.”

“Sure. Coco and I should sit on the insides. We’d probably die from getting crushed by you or Prius.”

“How about the smaller ones sit together?” Prius asked.

“Makes sense to me,” Coco said.

“I don’t think tha-”

“NEEEXT!” the employee shouted.

Before I could complain, half of the massive line was herded into the ride. We set our bags on the side, entered our carts, and pulled down the safety rails.

Coco and I were sitting directly behind the other two, as the ride began to move. Everyone held on tight—not out of fear, but out of consideration for the other rider. The metallic whirring grew higher in pitch until it became an annoying whistle in my ear.

Speed picked up, and the rest of the carnival became a blur. The only sounds I heard were screaming and laughter from riders squishing into each other, drowning out even the speaker’s blaring pop music. It’s like the world didn’t exist outside of our Polar Express.

Thwap!

Coco slammed into my right shoulder. Despite her valiant efforts in holding onto the rails, it wasn’t enough. Maybe her hands were too sweaty. Ahead of us, I could see Prius still barely hanging on. He was nearly horizontal—although his arms were still gripping his side of the rails, the rest of his body had been propelled towards poor Ravi.

Everyone was laughing. Everyone except me. Coco’s ponytail was whipping against my face, and I feared opening my mouth, lest I were to ingest a mouthful of her hair. It obscured my vision and smelt of peaches.

“ARE YOU READY TO GO FASTER!!??” the employee enthusiastically asked.

“YEAHH!!!” the riders yelled in unison.

The boys were shouting, and I couldn’t tell if Coco was screaming or laughing.

And what about me, you might ask?

Although I was having fun, I had trouble breathing.

o

Despite Coco’s earlier claims that the Mach 4 line would be ridiculously long at the end of the day, the line we were in was already of preposterous proportions. While the Polar Express took under ten minutes, we had waited thirty for this one. It was likely due to the fact that while the Polar Express could occupy nearly a hundred riders at once, the Mach Four could only hold eight.

“We’re almost there!” Prius exclaimed excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to do this one.”

“My hands are shaking...” Coco said.

“No chickening out now!”

I looked over at Ravi, who appeared to be nervously sweating. The man who was usually calm and collected was fidgeting restlessly in front of me. There was no telling whether he looked pale, but I sensed that something was wrong.

“Are you okay, Ravi?”

“I... have a confession to make.”

We all turned towards him.

“I wasn’t actually sick in ninth grade...” he continued. “I just didn’t want to come because I was afraid of heights.”

“...”

“I’m sorry for telling you guys now.”

“Yeah, it’s almost our turn dude...” Prius said.

“I’ll... try to ride at least one ride today. That’s why I came. I just didn’t think we’d go on the Mach Four first.”

“Sorry about that... I didn’t know...” Coco slowly apologized.

“Next four!” the employee exclaimed, gesturing for us to climb the platform.

“Well... good luck guys...” I said.

Coco and Ravi sat next to each other, while I went with Prius. We were seated back to back, separated by a metal wall that was attached to the ride.

Similarly to the Polar Express, that Mach Four was also not a conventional roller coaster. It was essentially a double-bladed windmill with four seats attached to either end. The seats were designed in such a way that they would be subject to gravity—this meant that at the mercy of physics, riders would be ruthlessly rocked back, forth, and turned upside down.

The platform beneath us was lowered, and the ride started moving. As we were lifted off the ground in a circular motion, my toes grew sour and I felt a tinge of fear.

As the momentum picked up, I wasn’t too sure what was above my head anymore. Our seats had started spinning as the Mach Four’s blades rapidly flung us through the air in circles.

Sometimes, we were plunging face down into the ground, and my heart skipped multiple beats as fight or flight kicked in. My body’s physiological processes expected impending doom, only for me to be lifted moments later into the air again, facing the sky.

It eventually came to a moment where I had become one with the universe. My feelings numbed. There was no more fear, no more regret, no more excitement or longing. Just the feeling of air resistance against my skin, and the warmth of the sun. I was speechless and expressionless.

“SSHHhhiiIII...!!!”

Despite sitting right next to me, Prius’s screaming carried the doppler effect. His volume and pitch lowered when we were being raised, and reached record-breaking levels when we were swung to the ground. However, I don’t remember him stopping once to catch his breath. What amazing lung capacity.

The Mach Four slowed, and we were lifted thirty-five meters in the air as the employees released riders on the other end of the blade. My heart took a breather from its furious beating, and I was presented with a beautiful view of the city’s skyline.

Nearby buildings shrunk from towering beasts into miniature structures. The entire city would’ve looked like a toy model, if it wasn’t for the lucid blue sky above our heads. Wind and heavy breathing were the only things I heard, as the carnival’s clamour faded into the background. Our feet dangled, as we tried to avoid the realization that we were suspended high above the ground.

“...You okay, Prius?”

“Yeah...”

We were lowered onto the ground, and our shoes finally touched the platform. I was relieved. The seat’s safety mechanism was released, and we were finally free.

Prius and I hastily exited the ride to make way for the next participants. As we turned around, we saw Ravi stumbling down the stairs from the platform, supported by a distraught Coco.

“Get him to a garbage can!”

He started throwing up before we reached the trash. Some vomit already spilled from his mouth as he desperately tried to hold it in, before it was all dumped into the garbage. I felt nauseous just by listening to him gag.

“You better now?” Coco asked, handing him a bottle of water.

“Urg.... yeah....” Ravi gasped. He swished some water around his mouth before spitting it out again.

“We should take a break from these tough rides...” Coco said.

“No... it’s okay,” Ravi insisted. “That was the largest ride right? That means none of the other rides will scare me as much... probably...”

“...”

“Bro...” Prius said, with newfound admiration plastered over his face.

I glanced at the Mach Four’s line. It was twice as long as when we first lined up.

o

“Ah wai, I foga wha I wa-”

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth, Coco.”

The four of us were wolfing down brunch at Blue Star Brunch Bar, having nearly starved the day before. After Ravi survived a surprising number of carnival rides, we decided to eat—unfortunately, the Summer Stampede was infamous for drastically marking up food prices.

To avoid heartbreak from the death of our wallets, we opted to share a large bucket of mini donuts for the rest of the night. Thankfully, the first thing on our schedules for today was this trendy new restaurant we were currently eating in.

Pale grey paintings and faded wooden shelves lined the walls, while the colour scheme consisted of neutral creams and stone-cold blues. It was as much a therapy for my eyes as it was for my stomach.

“We should’ve eaten dinner yesterday...” Prius sighed. “I feel so hungry, but I can only eat so little at a time.”

“It’s not our fault the food was overpriced,” I replied.

“But we stayed for nothing! It rained right before the fireworks were supposed to start.”

“That wasn’t our fault either.”

Coco cleared her throat. “I was going to say something.”

“What were you going to say?” I asked.

“I forgot to tell you guys something last night.”

“Is it important?”

“Yes.”

“You fell asleep in the car and went straight to your room afterwards...”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said. “What matters is...”

Coco gestured for us to lean in. Huddling over our plates of bacon and eggs, we turned our ears to her bright red lips.

“I won the lottery.”

“YOU WH-“

“Ssshh!”

We apologized to thr surrounding diners, and proceeded to interrogate her.

“Which prize did you win? Ten thousand? One-hundred thousand? A million?” Prius questioned.

“You’re saying we didn’t have to starve yesterday?” Ravi whined.

She waved for us to quiet down.

“You guys started to get suspicious, after I paid for everything last week. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Answer Ravi’s question!” I urged. Curiosity welled within me. “How much did you win?”

“Look guys, it wasn’t the biggest prize, and most of it went to my parents. But...”

Her eyes gleamed.

“We can buy plane tickets for a nice grad trip.”