The Great Snowflake Race

“Woo- hoo!”  yelled Daisy Snow. When she heard that she and her family were going to the carnival she got really excited. She had never been to a carnival before, but from the stories she heard that they’re lots of fun. From all the information she gathered up about them, she understood this: carnivals have games, food and rides of all sorts. And it didn’t cost a thing (Except for the food.) She couldn’t wait.

Daisy was a natural cowgirl that loved animals and school. She always wanted to try new things too. She was 12 years old and had chocolate colored hair. She also had an older brother, Mitchell, who Daisy adored. Daisy’s parents owned a farm that grew just about anything they could get ahold of. They also had a market where they sold what they grew. She was very happy. But there was one thing that held her back from being completely happy. Mitchell was in high school and wanted to graduate to college and become a lawyer. He had a lot of recommendations to go, but their parents didn’t have quite enough money to give him the education he wanted. He would have to go for the regular program.

“When are we goin’ to the carnival y’all?” Daisy asked her family.

“October 2^nd, Daisy sweetie,” replied her mom.

“Yay! That’s ma’ birthday! And it’s only three days away!” squealed Daisy. Eager and energized, she seized a brochure for the carnival and leapt to her bedroom to make a list of all the things she was going to do at the carnival.

 The next day, she showed her family her list. This is what it looked like:

My List of

Things I want to do at the Carnival

1.  Play some games – Win lots of prizes!

2.  Eat popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, and other delicious stuff

3.  Ride every ride that is cool + daring! (I’m up for a challenge!)

4.  Have lots of fun!!

5.  Anything else I could possibly do at all at the amazing carnival!

  Daisy’s family agreed that it was a good plan to use at the carnival, for Mitchell’s plan said “Go to the carnival, and then come back after having fun.” It was a very meager plan. For the next two days, Daisy read the brochure over and over again each day until she had them all memorized. She looked over her plan a gazillion times every day and begged her dad to go get her more brochures about the carnival. Daisy drew pictures of the carnival at school when the teacher was teaching math. She read the brochure during reading time and not her book. Her plan was crinkly from all the reading by the time the carnival came.

The night before the carnival, Daisy went crazy. She was running around with excitement like she was having 20 sugar rushes at once. Nothing blocked her way, and Mitchell was sure Daisy broke at least five vases that night. Daisy could hardly sleep until her dad gave her sleep medicine.

 The next day Daisy woke up before anyone else, despite the sleep medicine she had. She woke everyone up and after washing up, she made everyone their favorite breakfast and sandwiches for lunch that day.

At 9 o’clock they all strolled out the door into the breezy fall air. It was refreshing and cool. They walked to the bus stop and waited for their bus, but they only have to wait for five minutes. The bus dropped them off at the field where Daisy and her family had picnics often. It was usually vacant but today there were millions of tents and it was swarming with people and aromas. Daisy couldn’t wait to begin.

She started off with a darts game with her dad while her mom and Mitchell went to see a comedy play done by professionals. Daisy won the dart game, went off to play Ring Toss and won a giant, downy rainbow pillow. She also played lots of other games. Then she and her dad met up with the others and they all ate lunch while watching a dog show. Thankfully, none of the dogs came up to them to beg for food.

After lunch and the dog show, the Snows decided to skip the rides since it would upset their stomachs and took a walk around the carnival to see every game there was. There were games like Ring the Bull, Go Fishin’ and Wooden Nickel Toss. Mitchell thought that Go Fishin’ was a baby game because all you had to do was insert your “fishing pole” in to a hole and then remove it to receive your prize.

Suddenly, as they walked by what seemed like another regular game booth, they heard the person say that the prize was $5,000. If they won this, they could have enough money to give Mitchell the education he wanted! They rushed up to the counter and listened to the person for what he had to say.

“Ladies and gentlemen, in this game, you will be cutting out snowflakes as fast as you can for the mayor, because he wants his home decorated with them in time for Christmas Eve. He is willing to pay $5,000 to the one that creates the most snowflakes. You will be given the folded paper and scissors, but the rest is up to you. It is... The Great Snowflake Race!” The person exclaimed in his engaging voice.

Daisy knew she had to win this. She could make anything out of paper; even the most challenging paper crane was as easy as pie to make for her. The rest of her family tried to copy her, but they never succeeded. It was just Daisy’s talent. This would be real easy for her since they already folded the papers for the contestants.

She strode up to the counter and sat in one of the stools and picked up her pair of scissors. She wasn’t nervous until the person announced that they had ten minutes to make as many snowflakes as they could. Daisy became anxious, but there was no backing out now.

She took off her coat, suddenly feeling sweaty and hot. Daisy wasn’t used to being put under pressure; it was her only weakness that she had ever acquired. A stack of maybe 50 folded sheets were hastily put in front of Daisy’s eyes. Daisy prayed to God that she would win the competition, and then placed her hand on the top of the pile, ready to grab the first piece of paper when the race started.

“You can do this, sis,’’ Daisy looked behind her to see Mitchell looking at her with reassuring eyes. Mitchell could make anyone feel better with just his eyes, which was why Daisy loved him so much dearly. It was the main reason she wanted to help him.

“Wish me luck,” whispered Daisy and hugged him like he was going to war. She let go of him and listened to the person for the countdown to The Great Snowflake Race.