I WOULD HAVE HAD MORE FUN BUT SOMETHING CAME UP
by Nancy Ntchols
Do you know whaLIast year’s theme
for the North Carolina State Fair was?
Food. I love food. 1 am a connoisseur of
any and all types of food. I said to
myself, "This must be my year, first
college and now this."
So, a friend of mine and 1 drove to
Raleigh to go to the State Fair.
Incidentally, my sister lives In Raleigh
so she went with us.
By the time we got to the fair It
was lunchtime and I was hungry, very
hungry In fact. I wasn't worried though.
After all, with food as the theme of the
fair how hard would It be to find
something palatable to eat?
We walked past the usual cotton
candy/carmal apple stands and the hot
dog stands, which, by the way, were
numerous. They were not really what I
was looking for. Finally, I spied
something different: Egg Rolls and
Terryakl--$1.25 each. "Hey, there’s
something different. Let’s get that.
What do you think?" "Ok, sure." We
proceeded to the Egg Roll Stand. I, being
the closest to famished, ordered and
received my food first.
Well, to be truthful,. It was a little
less than what 1 had expected. The
little cartoon cloud above my head
featuring a steaming golden brown
wrapper filled with tiny shrimp and
crisp vegetables gave a loud pop as 1
received a, weird-shaped, shoe leather
brown egg roll. 1 looked at It. 1 bit Into
It. It really wasn’t that bad. And
besides, what the heck; If I have to eat
greasy food It might as well be
something different that’s greasy than
something familiar that’s greasy. (This
Is called rationalization.) Well, after
wolfing down the food, 1 was ready for
the rides.
Rides, rides, rides? Which one first?
Well, 1 rode a r1d.e that wasn’t too
complicated. It Just went around In a
circle, something like the Himalaya If
you know what that Is. No big deal. The
next ride we came upon was called “The
Loop." Two people wedge themselves In
a cage together and swing. First
forward, then backward, then all the
way around, then around and upside
down. 1 didn’t ride that one. I watched
my sister and my friend do that. Next
came "The Spider." This Is one of my
favorite rides . . . usually. I've never
ridden It with three people in one car
though. Well, none of the three of us
were all that big, but together the
three of us were totally squashed. 1
couldn’t move a muscle. Unfortunately, 1
didn’t have to worry about It because
the ride moved my muscles for me. The
first muscle It decided to move was the
big one that connects my head to the
rest of my body. My head snapped back
and the back of my head hit the back of
the car. I had no arms to speak of-they
were lost somewhere In the depths, so
the next part of my body that was
damaged was the muscle In my shoulder
which was trying to aid my head In
retrelvlng Its natural position. While
my face was distorted In pain and
agony, my friends were laughing and
happy for me because they thought l
was having a better time than anyone.
(I’ll blame their behavior on the ride
also because I’d hate to think that my
facial expressions while In pain look
the same as when I’m laughing.)
Anyway, the ride finally came to an end.
We all staggered out of the gate and I
said "I have to sit down. 1 think I'm
gonna’ be sick," My sister ran to get me
a coke, hoping that would help me, I
thought at first that It was but then I
felt every sip swooshing around In my
stomach. I asked my friends to please
go on to the next ride. 1 really Just
wanted to be left alone for a few
minutes. Within three minutes after
they left 1 knew 1 was Just buying time.
The shoe leather egg roll was haunting
my Inner being. 1 was afraid to leave my
spot though for fear we would never be
able to find each other again. So I
waited, and waited. Finally they were
coming towards me. They stopped In
front of me. "Your sister Just threw up."
Well, Just those two little words were
all the encouragement I needed. Without
getting graphic It will suffice to say
that I ran across the midway to a
secluded spot and relived my $1.25
lunch.
After comparing notes we figured
we should sue the egg roll stand and the
fair and the State of North Carolina, but
we were Just too darn tired. We also
decided that no more rides would be
graced by our presence.
We walked down the midway,
looking for the exit and when I stopped
to have my age guessed 1 found out that
this year’s North Carolina State Fair
had put at least two years on me in a
matter of two hours.
by John Smith
He walked Inside from where the
bright sun had caused droplets of sweat
to form In beads on his forehead and
upper lip, and was promptly greeted by
a breeze of the cool alr-condtioned
climate therin. The environment was
familiar enough; the couch and the
chairs were In the same place, the
dusty table, the crowded bookcase, the
large-screened television, the family
pictures. But the pictures. Although the
same, there was something different
about them, as If a transparent,
fingerprinted film draped the beauty of
the memories which before had seemed
to shine so much brighter.
Curious, he walked closer, putting
his personal property on the couch (he
let his books drop quite suddenly and
unexpectedly), and discovered that the
non-existent transparency on the wall
before him was tarnished In one area
only, not all over as It had appeared a
couple feet back. He searched
dllllgently for this Invisible stain (for
he knew It was there) and finally
realized that It lay on the picture,
framed as all were, on the bottom row,
far right comer.
Upon closer examination, two males
In their late teens stood side by side
and before a white, twisting staircase
elaborately lined with flower pots, all
of which were nearly hidden by the
beautiful yellow tulips that seemed to
a college student reflects
on a high school friendship
crowd the soil In which they were
planted. Each had his hands clasped
tightly In front of him, and both had
beaming smiles that conveyed the
excitement and happiness they
experienced on that special night. The
taller one was wearing an attractive
black tuxedo with a red bow tie and
cumberbun; the tuxedo, also black, of
the shorter was accentuated with Its
blue accessories. The long blonde hair
of the latter and the short brown hair
of the former blended together to
create a striking feature of the pair, as
striking as the Impenetrable friendship
which brought them together for the
very picture Into which he was
presently staring.
And then the wondrous magic of
something quite Indescribable took
place: It was something which many
have experienced, something which
many will experience. As clear as If
kthey were standing directly before
him, the two friends turned to each
other and laughed, the taller saying, "My
grandchildren will see this picture
someday I" Then he saw their dates, who
suggested a return to the ballroom, and
the two couples suddenly disappeared
from the picture.
But another scene arose. Just as
quick, and he saw the two friends
again, clad In Jeans and t-shIrts; he
was not certain of their exact location
this time, but how they laughed and
carried on sol Then s ene after scene
appeared In the picture, as If he were
viewing a movie; In some places he
knwew exactly what was happening and
•Where they were. In others, he only had
a vague recollection of the action. In’
every setting, though, the two friends
were there, laughing. Joking talking,
and“look—there they are being called
down In class.
The scenes quickly flashed by.
There was the homecoming dance. The
Snowball, the Prom. The football
games, the basketball games. There
was the Jeep and the Infamous camping
trip. There were the awesome Inside
Jokes, the Immature Wendy’s
excursions, and the overabvundant
meetings and movies. There was Randy,
the expensive limousine driver (a two
year veteran), and Parmln. the
steward-chief. And the dates! Oh, the
dates! Jo, Kris, Mary, Karen, the midget
... the parents . . . Dale, Jan, Mike,
Elaine. The arguments. The
reconciliations. The plans and the
hopes and the dreams. And, of course,
the tyupical senior prophecy: ’These
are the best of times. But, just think.
Someday they’re gonna’ end." And
graduation—the joy, the excitement,
the tears, and the sincere, mutual
promise that It would never die.
Then he saw the friends in the
tuxedos agaih.. "Come on," hurriedly
spoke the shorter, "let’s get our
picture, just the two of us. We can
show It to our grandchildren someday!"
A light flashed, and so it was that he,
who, earlier, had unknowingly fallen
Into the chair In front of the picture,
was staring Into the eyes of two
friends who were In their late teens.
Each, standing next to the other, was
clasping his hands In front of him, and
both had beaming smiles which
conveyed not only the excitement and
happiness they experienced on that
special night, but also the apparent
beauty for which their special
friendship stood.
He slowly arose, as If the
difference he now felt was weighing
him down, and wished he could rub
away the misty stain that the unknown
vapor (which had Indeed somehow
penetrated the relationship of the
unaware friends) had left on the
picture, and on the memories. He took a
deep breath and wished In vain someone
would, If one could, explain what had
happened and why It was so different.
He tried to Ignore the eerie maturity of
nothing, but the feeling would not leave
him as he gazed through the window and
outside where the unforeseen rain fell
from the pallid sky and pitter-pattered
against the pavement.