The carnival’s in town
I’m taking my little brother
Meeting Cara there
Cotton candy
Hot roasted peanuts
The sugary heat of freshly fried funnel cakes
Shrieks and screams of pleasure resounding through the grounds
Littered with red tipped sticks
Sticky ice cream wrappers
Melting cubes spilled from waxed cups rimmed with the remnants of the multicolored lips that had tasted them
Whirling pastel colored tea cups
Brightly painted swings tossing you through space
Roller coasters racketing through differing heights of frightened ecstasy
And the pièce de résistance---the Ferris wheel
At night glowing with a promise
Stalls filled with piles of stuffed prizes daring you to take them away
Glittering prizes that dazzle no one but the youngest of minds
Maybe I’ll win one for Cara
One for my brother too
I see how he looks at her
He thinks she’s taken his place
Cara is dressed all in white
Her dark hair curled behind her ears
She wears the earrings I’d gotten her for her birthday earlier that month
We ride the roller coaster
Squeeze into the pastel tea cups
Get tossed through space on brightly colored swings
Are dizzied by the Tilt-A-Whirl
We munch on peanuts
Get sticky with pink wisps light as air, sugared funnel cakes, and cooling ice cream
We burn our fingers on fries we’re too impatient to let cool
And quench our thirst with multi-colored drinks
The lights from the Ferris wheel beckon us
“One last ride” I tell my brother
He nods his agreement
We sit together
My brother in the middle
There is space between me and my brother
None between him and Cara
I was wrong
It is she who has taken my place