:f[g:
Carntval
by Mtchael Fedo
d
I
L he charteredbus stoppcdat thecorncr
of Fourteenth and Squtrc. Jcrry smlled
nervously.turned and wavedto hls mothcr,
who stood wceplng a few fcet away. and
boarded tbe bus.
Hc returncd thc drlvcr's gllcnt nod and
scttled htmsclf in the only remalnlng scat -
ncar the fiont - ncxt to a poorly drcssed
mlddlc-agcdwoman.
Jerry tlngled rl'ith cxcttement.He glanccd
around. cager for convcrsatlon.but thc
othcr passengerswcre strangelysllent. Thls
puzzlcd Jcrry, for hc was looktng forward
wlth great antlclpatlon to thc carnlval.
lnde.d, hc felt fortunatc Inhavtngwon lhc
draMng at school whlch allowcdhtm to at-
tand thc carntval frce, as a spcclalguest of
thc govcrnment. ln an cffort to cncourage
patronagc among young pcoplc, the gov-
| €rnment agency- PopulaceControl- spon-
Soreddrawlngs and contcsts for students.
I Thc man and woman scatedbehlnd Jerry
bcgan talklng about carnlvalsof yearsgonc
by - how thcy us.d to be very popular with
klds. but weren't ncarly as cxcltlng as those
of today. From the way thef spoke. Jerry
guessedthcy had attendcd many camtva.ls.
Hc tumcd around and saw theJru'crc about
thc age of hls parcnts.
How much morc lntercstlng than hts par-
36
cnts they werc, Jerry thought. nf" p.r.rrts
wouldn't dream of taklng ln thc carntval,
and Jerry somctlmes wondcred what they
had to ltve for.
The couplenoltccd Jerry sta.lng at thcm,
and hc cougbcd and faced thc front. Hc
squlrmad In hls scat.
Thc woman next to Jcrry nudgcd hlrn.
"You don t look old cnough." she said. look.
lng stratght ahead.
"l m stxGen." Jcrry respondcdsharply.
Thc womaD turned toward hlm. "They
nevcr had these whcn I was slxtccn. I wish
thcy had."
"u/hy? '
Thc woman tgnorcd hlm. "l hopc today's
my day," she sighed. "Oh. let lt be roday,"
Shc blewhcr noselnto a crumplcdhandkcr-
chlef and stared out of thc mud-splattcred
wlndow.
The bus rolled past gray nelghborhoods.
Sllent pcople on thc atrccts, nr€aringdls-
tant. vacantfacca,dtd not look up as thcbus
wcnt by.
Thc bus Joggledalong wlth lrs silent pas-
scngcts until lt came to a stop ln a part of
tgwn unfamiliar to Jcrry.
Thc driver stood and faced thc pas-
scngers,"Allrtght, folks,"hc sald,"Thls ts lt.
Gct your l.D. cards rcady. Thc P.C. offtcer
wtll bc boardlng ln a mlnute, Thosc wlth
govcrnhent passesstep to the front "
Jcrry got up.
.You got a pass?" the \roman ncxt to hlm
askcd.
"Yes." Jerry sald. "l won lt at school."
The woman turned a{rayagaln, and Jc!ry
wcnt to thc front of the bus. whcrc the
PopulaccControl offtcer was standlng,
"Just a second.boy," hcsatd, asJerry hcld
out hls ldcnttflcatlon and pass. "l havc an
announcem.nt to makc.' The passchgcrs
llstlcssly ratsed thclr heads.
.As you know," he bcgan, "somc of you
 may not bc maklng the rcturn trlp on thls.
b u s.'
Jcrry wlshcd thc offlcer would hurry.
Dtdn't hc know thcrc was a carnlval out
there? Couldn't hc tell that nobody wantcd
to hear hlm dronc on and on? Wdl. hurry
up. J.rry wanted to ahout. Hurry uP!
Th c r n a n completid hls mcmorlzc d
presentatlon and lookcd at Jerry. who was
chewtng hts knucklca ln lmpatlcncc. "Takc
it easy.son." the officcrsald. -Thcre's plenty
of time - plent:/ of opportuntty for
everyon€.'
"Yes. str." Jerry sald.
He leapcd from the bus as soon as thc
offlcerhad punched hls pass, and ran tojoln ,
thc damorlng throng at thc carnlval's maln
gare.
Ir wasjust thc way hc had plcturcd lt. Thc
brtghl.llghts. thc scuffllng notses of thc
mass of movlngpeople. the laughtcr and thc
shrleks of those who had dar.d board thc
dcath.d.fytng rIdcs.
Jerry's heartbeat qulckcned as he walked
along the mldlvay.
''Ftrst ttme. sonny?" an anclent carny
calledto hlm.'lchance your ltfc on thts llttlc
spin. why don t you?"
Jerry gazcd at the whlrltng machlnc hlgh
above hls head. "l mlght latcr." hc sald.
'lf !,ou're Iucky." the carny repllcd.
Jerry found hlmsclf belng swcpt along
wlth the crowd. Ahead ofhlm a pollce offtce.
was lcading a young woman by the arm. Shc
was sobbing and tclltng thc offlc€r9hc dtdn't
want to leavcher husband.
Jerry hardly notlccd. He had more lmpor-
tant tblngs on hts mind. Hc was attcndlng
hls flrst camtval. and he had to mak. thc
most of tt. H. lnhalcd deeply, then reachcd
. lnto his pockct and clutched hls pasa.
Thc crush of the crowd took Jerry several
hundred yards south ofthe rndln gate. Hun-
daeds of attractlons awaltcd the cuatomeB.
Jerry sat down or! a bcnch to study a map of
the carnlval {rounds and dccldc ivhlch
38
amusemcntshe grantcdto chance.
No soond had hc removcAthc map froln
hts pocket than two burly mcn. struggllng
rdth somethtng tn a largc plastlc bag.
passedhlm. They half-draggcdthclr load to
a hugc ptt and tosscd lt ln.
Jcrry wander.d ovcr to the cdgeof the plt.
It wasenormous- a hundrcd yards square
and no lclllng how dceP.
"The odds arc onc In ctght youll make tt,
ktd,'one of thc mcn sald wlth a crookcd
smllc. "On. ln etght today." Boih mcn
laughcdand walk€d away.
Jcrry pccrcdInto lhcptt. Thereseemedto
bc a mountaln of black plasttc bags rlslnE -
from the tloor.ofthe aby$. Jcrry shuddcrcd
bricfly. thcn turned away.
Hc dldn't look back, but sought cheerlcr
slghtslnstcad - th. llashtng ncon llghts dll
abouthlm. Thcapcclaclcwasbrcathtaktng.
Jerry had nevcr ln hls llfc bccn so cxcltcd.
But then hc had neverknonn such causcfor
excltcmcnt.clthcr.
He felt in hts pockct for hls pags and
stoppcdfor a drlnk from a water fountaln.
thcn contlnucd along thc mtds'ay.
The sky was darkenlng sllghdy, but Jcrry
dldn t cxpcctraln. The forecasthad satd no
raln. and thc Wcather Control Ccntcr was
ncvcr wTong,
Jerry got Into thc llnc of pcople who
want.d to rldc on thc Thundcr Clappcr.ln
front ofhlm stoodayoung man wlth glas3.s.
Hc vas swcatlng profuscly, although thc
tcmPcraturewa3 on the cool sldc.
Thcyoung man glancedovcrhls shoulder.
lFtrst tlmc?" hc asked, nervouslyrubblng
hls hands togethcr,
"Yca,"Jerry answcrcd.
"Cood luck.' the man sald. "This onc s a
rcal ktller. '
Jery sawthe contraptlon resttngflfty fcet
ahead. You ever been on lt bcforc?"
Th. man clcarcd hls throat: "Nopc. But
l've gonc on a lot of the othcr ones."
"Thls ts my ftrst rlde." Jcrry sald.
 Thcyoung man laughcd."Yousureptcked
a good one for a starter."
"l hopc ao." Jcrry satd,
Thc rldcrs grcw funcreally sllent as th€y
camcup to thc boarding ramP. Jerry took a
decp brcath, He could fcel hts pulse ln hls
throat. Hc atcppcd on to thc ramp and
sdcctcda scat ncxt to thcyoung man he had
met ln the !lnc.
An attcndant came ovcr and strapped
thcmboth tn. Thcstraps covcrcdmost ofthc
qody and wcre faatcned v€ry ttghtly. Jerry
found brcathtng dtfftcult.
,"That'Uhold you, Shorty," thc attendant
sald.as heftnlshcd wtth Jerry. Jerrynottced
that the attcndant wore thlck-solcd boots
and carrled heavyglovesln bla back pocket,
An announccmcntwas madc,statlngthat
the rtde wor.rld!a9t only ntneq scconds,lt
was cveryonc fot hlmself. The announcer
thcn Mshcd thc rtdcrs good luck, and the
motor startcd.
It rumbled and coughcd. then galncd
momcntum as lt llfted thc apparatusand lta
occupants Into lhe atr. lt ptcked up spccd
now. and the low rumblc becamca vlolent
roaf.
Jcrry fclt bis gtomach knot b.ncath thc
straps holdtng hlm. H. hopcd he wasn't
gotng to be stck.
Thc roar was dcafcnlng, Jcrry scrcamed,
but no sound scemcdto comc from hls llps.
Llghtntng crackcdaUabout htm, comlng so
closc he thought he could fccl lts lntcnse
heat.
Thcn suddcnlythc roar substdcd.and the
hug. metal whecl was gcntly eascdonto lls
basc. The attcDdant unst.apped Jerry and
thcyoung man ncxt to hlm. Thcyoung man
dtdn't rnove.and two mcDcameoverto taka
htm from thc scat.
Jerry boundcd qutckly do$'n thc ramp "l
dtd ttl I rnadctt on my flBt tryl" hesh.tckcd.
ha.lf.stumbltngback onto thc mldway.
39
 A unlformed statlstictan smiled at Jerry's
exuberance,and contlnued wlth hls work.
In the 'Dcparture" columD on thc paper In
front of blm. he added another checx.
Jerry wanted to shout hls success: he
wanted to run. but there was noroom on th€
crowded mldway.
What's so lough about thts anyway? Jerry
thought. If you takc a postttve approach.
You ll ovcrcomc lt.
He had eastlymct thechallenge ofthts ftrst
ride - the one everybody had satd would be
thc roughest. Wcll, he had comc through.
almost wlthout nlnchlng.
The tasteofthls ktnd ofsuccesswas some-
thtng he had not known beforc. Hc felt so
exhllarated that he glggled in sptte of htm-
self.
He would try hls luck agaln aftcr he had
had some food. He walked ovcr to a rlfresh-
ment stand and boughi iwo hot dogs. "I'vc
Just been on thc Tbunder Clapper."he told
the conccsslonalrc.
"That's ltvtng prctty daDgerousty,"the
man sald.
"ls thcre any othcr way?" Jcrry asked
llghtly, paylng for thc food.
He ate rapldly. anxtous to get back into
actlon. A.lthoughhe reveledln hls achlev€-
ment. he kncw thai he could rcally prove hts
mettlc only by con nuing to acccpt chal-
lenge, As soon as he had swallowed thc last
bite. he Joincd a red-halrcd boy about his
onryrage In the llne for the Whl.l-Away.
Thc other boy smllcd and rold Jcrry that
thls was to bc hts flrst rtdc.
"Thts ls nothtng, 'Jcrry told hlm. "I'vejust
comc off the Thundcr Clappcr."
Thc rcd-hatred boy's eyes wtdeDcd with
40
admlratlon. 'l thlnk thts wlll bc just as
tough." hc sald. wlthout convtc on
"l doubt tt."Jerry scoffed. "But tdl proba.
bly belp bulld your conftdcnce."
Thc thrlll-scekers wcre lcd to thctr places
by Whlrl-Away attcndants, and strappcd
into thc spokes of the rr|achhc tn uprtght.
standlng posltlons.
Agaln thcrc was aD annouDcemcnt over
thc publlc addrcss system. lt nras thc usual
drtvel that Jerry hardly heard.
Jerry was rclaxed: acalm smtlcplaycdover
hls Ups. Hc settled back, ready to cnjoy thts
new cxpcrlcnce to thc fullcst.
Thc Whlrl-Away began to vibratc.'tts en.
glncs whooshlng ltkc a grcat wtnd storm.
Thc structure throbbed and gatncd spccd
untll the passcngers ncar thc rtm wcre mov.
ing at about two hundred mlles an hour.
Jerry was thlDklng of thc storles hc'd tcll
his classmates at school tomorrow. How hc
t o o k o n t h c T h u n d e r Cla p p c r a n d t hc
Whlrl'Away. stratght off. "You take thc
rncanest ones flrst." he would tcll them.
Thc Whlrl-Away. sptnnlng at an cvcr-
increaslngspecd, rose three hundred fcet off
the ground.
Jcrry bccame awarc of a dlzzy sensauon.
Thcn the sensc of motlon ccascd, and gud.
denly he was fr€c of movemcnt and sound.
Hc was ln the alr. hurtllng hcadlong down-
ward. "lt isn t falr!" he trted to shout. "Thcy
sald onc in etght - onc tn .lght!-
M€n from thc pit movcdInro posl on wlth
their black plastlc bags. But Jerry dld not
see them: nor was he congclous whcn hc
ceasedto be - approachtng the carth. mcct-
ing lt facc to face at almost thc spced of
sound.