Fried

The fairgrounds where alive with rich fried smells and an almost sickly sweetness. Oliver felt the warm glow of teenage invincibility, the weight of a full wallet and the pangs of an empty stomach.

The nearest cart had ‘Cheeze-covered deep fried donuts’. He wasn’t sure the combination would work, but he tried one anyway. A cheddar-chocolate mashup was dunked again in the deep fryer for him after being coated with a fresh batter. Ignoring the warning about the temperature he took a large bite.

It wasn’t horrible, but it not something he’d buy again. The chocolate and the cheese seemed to be headed in different palate directions. Either of them individually seemed good though, so he scanned the grounds for something less experimental.

Another fryer enabled vendor had both deep fried chocolate bars and deep fried cheese. The line was long enough he didn’t want to wait twice, so he got both at the same time. The battered butter also tempted him so he got all three.

A photographer was cruising the area as well, looking for people who seemed to be into the fried delights. He waved Oliver down and asked if he could get a few shots. The photographer noticed Oliver was shy, so he promised the focus would be on the food. It felt like a bad decision, but then so were the last four purchases.

Making a comically huge bite of the battered chocolate Oliver paused mid chew for the picture. To his annoyance it was already taken when he first bit. It made him look like a food goblin, which wasn’t entirely untrue at the moment. He laughed and took a bite of the other foods for the camera. The photographer promised they’d be part of a larger montage, and that other people looked wilder. He flipped through the pictures to prove his point.

Of course, the food was only half the fun of the midway – Oliver listened for the screams to see which rides would be worth trying. The roller coaster seemed half-hearted compared to permanent ones, so he gave that a miss.

There was a teacup ride on the north edge of the park that seemed to have a lot of noise. Oliver saw that you could ride it passively or twist the center controls for more movement on the other axis. Fishing the requisite ticket out of his pocket, he once again joined a long line.

When he almost made it on his stomach gave the initial gurgle that suggested trouble. Oliver ignored it and jumped into the first empty teacup. Three other kids slightly younger than him joined him. They all agreed to crank the ride as hard as they could.

That was fine for the first two minutes. Then Oliver’s face turned a sickly green. The other three took one look at him and yelled. “Don’t hurl man!” and stopped twisting the center controls. The teacup turned upright and slowed to a barely noticeable spin. Oliver’s stomach settled enough so nothing happened.

The ride eventually stopped and he staggered off. The other three groaned that their turn was boring because Oliver’s condition made them coast for the last three minutes of the ride. Oliver felt bad and gave them enough tickets to ride again. He then shuffled home and promised himself to do the rides first next year.