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Their very First Fair
Their Very First Fair
(Flash Fiction Story)
Thomas and Michael have lived in California their entire life; they have been best friends since middle school, so they spent most of their weekends and summer vacations together. This Tuesday wasn’t going to be the exception, but instead of spending their time playing videogames or fishing, they decided to go to the famous Alameda County Fair. They’ve been waiting for this day to come for many weeks and until the last minute, Michael’s mother asked if his cousin Maria could join them, since she was going to be in town that month. Michael and Maria were very close and spent every Christmas together at her hometown, Rochester, because Michael’s mother loved to spend holidays with their family; but the idea of Maria joining them made Michael uncomfortable because he knows his cousin isvery pretty and men are easily attracted to her, so he didn’t want his friend to fall under her spell.
They were waiting for Maria to arrive from the airport so they could all go to the fair in Thomas’ car. Just when the boys were finishing lunch, Maria opened the front door, turned around and exchanged glances with Thomas; in that precise moment Michael knew his friend’s attention will be focused on his cousin all day long. It is important to mention that every time the guys hung out, Michael was Thomas’ copilot, so it shocked him when his friend suggested Maria should sit at the front, leaving Michael sitting by himself at the back seat.
At the fair Maria and Thomas talk nonstop and Michael started to feel left out until he bumped his friend Dee Dee, whom he hasn’t seen for months. The four of them spent the whole evening together; they ate cotton candy, corn dogs, popcorn and went to a puppet show. After they got out of the Hall of Mirrors they noticed that in front of it was a pie eating contest and the prize was a big, stuffed panda bear. Both, Dee Dee and Maria, were excited about the big prize, so Thomas and Michael signed in for the contest. The first two pies went down easily, Thomas didn’t like the pineapple flavor very much but he wanted to impress Maria so he eyed the third one and decided to keep going. Michael used to go to all-you-can-eat-buffets when he was younger so he was feeling very confident about himself. Thomas caught up on the fourth and both of them finished their pies in less than 2 minutes, but they knew one more bite would be catastrophic so they stopped there. Four pies and it was a tie! The judges made a final verdict and decided to give each boy a stuffed panda, without even knowing that they had earned a bigger prize. (476)
