THE SQUIRREL


When I was about twelve years old I had a paper route. I delivered newspapers early every morning and again in the afternoon. This took me three or four hours a day and I also had to go to school. One time I saved up my money until I had three dollars. That was a lot of money in those days (newspapers only cost a nickel). My mother said that I could go to the carnival with my Uncle Bob, who was twenty-two years old at the time. We arrived at the carnival, and we were dazzled by the sight of it. There was a big Ferris wheel. We rode it and loved the thrill of being so high above the carnival and seeing everything. After the ride we found ourselves in the midway. The midway was an area where there were shows and little games of chance to play. One of the shows was a freak show. There were pictures outside of the tent where the show was held. They had a lady with a beard; Siamese twins that were born joined together, a man who could swallow a flaming sword and lots of other strange and exotic things. The show only cost a quarter, so we went in. It was a grand show, and we saw things that we had never dreamed existed. Next, we were coaxed into a game of chance by a bearded man using a Public Address system. You could win prizes by throwing little wooden hoops over the prize that you wanted. There were beautiful watches, rings, bracelets, knives, and a lot of other nice things that you could win. You would get three hoops for a dime, and you won the prize that your hoop landed on. I paid a dime for three of the wooden hoops and tried for a nice watch. You only had to toss the hoop about four or five feet to encircle your prize and it looked so easy. My first two tosses bounced off of the prizes and onto the floor, but the third one landed on a prize. It wasn't much of a prize; it was a little blue statue of a squirrel made of chalk. But, I was thrilled to win it, and I rushed to try again for a watch. I was there for a long time and tried again and again, never winning another thing. I soon ran out of money and had to go home. When I arrived home I showed my mother the squirrel and told her what had happened. My mother said, "So that's a three-dollar squirrel." That made me realize what I had done with most of my three dollars. I had a chalk squirrel that wasn't worth a dime. My mother placed the squirrel on a shelf where I could see it and be reminded of my three-dollar squirrel often. That was the last time I ever gambled but I still have the three-dollar squirrel.

Pete Smith.

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