Submission (#6260) Approved

Written Prompt:

Of all places Champagne had to take this kid.. It was a fair. The Play-Fair. The land of sticky food, screaming children, and the oh-so-dreaded carnival-style games. God those things sucked.. They were always rigged to the point where even looking at them was just a trap.. But if that was what the kid wanted, that was what the kid wanted. Champagne was simply a spectator in Junior’s world, and he was the controller. Champagne sighed and followed after the babbling child as he roamed the fairgrounds, oodling and gawking at the other Terras. Champagne didn’t know if he had never seen them before or what.. He just looked so amazed. That childlike sense of wonder, she guessed. It was cute, in a sense. But after some time of walking around the grounds, she was starting to realize why Lydia needed a break. This kid had way too much energy for his own good. Champagne had to practically chase after him at some points because he found some fluffy prize or saw a fun ride. And BY GOD this kid liked his fluffy prizes. They had already come across 5 of the rigged carnival-style games, and Junior had lost every single one. Champagne almost felt bad for him in a way. The poor little guy was looking more disheartened by the second. So.. Champagne did what she did best. Do something just a smidge.. ‘bad’. Champagne quickly caught up with Junior as he sulked around the game booth he wanted to play next. She crouched down beside him, and patted him on the sensor. “Hey bud.. You want to try this one?” Champagne asked with a nod to the stand. It was a simple game, just knock over the bottles and win a prize. Junior immediately perked up once he realized he could have one more go at the game. Champagne nodded at him, and stood up from the ground. She walked over to the Terralien manning the game booth. Champagne paid for the game, and set Junior up on the stool. She knew the last bottle was heavier and had something in it to keep it from falling. So as the game attendant turned to grab the baseball, she whistled quietly, low and deep. A large, rather intimidating horseshoe beetle flew on her paw, and she pointed over at the bottles. The girl made the motion to tip them over. The horseshoe beetle turned over on her paw, and zipped its way through the air, and landed beside the bottles, on the other side of the attendant’s line of sight. The attendant gave the baseball to Junior, and the kid took a deep breath. He wound it back, and threw the baseball at the bottles. As expected, two of them went flying.. And the last one toppled over a few seconds later. The game attendant looked genuinely impressed, almost shell-shocked by the outcome. “Well then kid.. I gotta hand it to ya, you got a good throwing arm. Now which prize would you like?” While those two were busy with the prize, Champagne whistled once more. This time, her little pet landed on her shoulder. “Good job.” She chuckled quietly and walked back over to help Junior with his prize. Maybe this day wasn’t turning out so bad after all..