Elton Bailey’s alarm sounded at 4:30 AM. His eyes snapped open and he lay in bed, trying to remember the details of the dream that he’d just had. There had been popcorn and a Ferris wheel. He could almost still hear the sounds of the carousel’s music amidst the excited chatter of children. Rides, food, games, fun? What was the symbolism here? What did it all mean? His tired mind gradually began to sort itself into full consciousness, and that’s when it dawned on him: today was the Tiffin XC Carnival, always one of the highlight meets of the cross country season. He rolled out of bed and scampered to his piggy bank. He emptied it and counted the coins. More than ten dollars! He could play ski-ball all day long with that sort of money. He ran to his sister’s room to wake her up. “Prairie, wake up! It’s the day of the carnival! We’ve got to get to the school! We can’t be late!” Sensing the urgency in her brother’s voice, Prairie didn’t hesitate. “Do you think they’ll have bumper cars?” Prairie asked her older brother. “Are you kidding me?” Elton responded, exasperated. “Of course they’ll have bumper cars! And they’ll have clowns and acrobats and funnel cakes! Now, come on! We’ve got to go!” As she hurriedly threw her gear into a bag, young Prairie Bailey began considering what other spectacles she would see at the carnival. She wondered if there would be a freak show. She’d always wanted to see a real life freak show. She’d heard rumors about the Tiffin XC Carnival, and now she would get to find out if these rumors were based in fact. She thought about what the freaks would look like. Would they be in cages, or would they perform on stage? Would there be a geek, biting the heads off of live chickens? She shuddered at the idea, but a part of her was filled with morbid curiosity. Elton came running back into the house. “Let’s go! The car is warming up.”
Elton sped wildly down the country roads, praying that he wouldn’t encounter a deer, for he was barreling through the early morning darkness at more than 90 miles per hour. “Elton, slow down! You’re scaring me,” Prairie whispered. “Not now, Prairie. Relax, I’ve got this.” He tuned the radio dial until he found what he was looking for. Led Zeppelin. He cranked the volume and hammered down on the gas pedal.
Moments later, the Baileys arrived at FHS, where the other athletes were gathering in the lobby. Assistant Coach Jeff Powell was dragging the tents from his classroom, straining his back under the immense weight. “Need any help?” Elton asked. “No thanks,” said Powell, “I’ve got this. You just focus on the carnival. Which games are you going to play?” Elton considered the options: Balloon Pop, Water Gun, Ring Around the Bottle. But deep down he knew the truth…that he was a ski-ball man. “Ski-ball,” said Elton. “I’m gonna win a giant teddy bear!” Powell smiled, for he too was fond of ski-ball. “Atta boy.”
An hour and a half later, the bus rolled into Hedges-Boyer Park in Tiffin. The sky was partly cloudy and the temperature was cool, as the first inklings of autumn had arrived over night. But a look of confusion soon spread over the faces of Prairie and Elton. Where were the rides? They had thought they’d be able to the see the twisting spires of the roller coasters from miles away, but now that they were here, there were just a bunch of team tents and a couple hundred athletes jogging around in groups. It looked much like any other cross country meet. “Where’s the midway? Where’s the circus big top?” Prairie asked, looking at her brother for guidance. “I don’t know, Prairie, I don’t know,” Elton replied. “But I’m going to find out.”
Coach Van Winkle was deep in thought when Elton approached him. “Coach, I’ve got a question,” Elton said. “Hold on a second,” snapped Van Winkle, “My meditation is almost over.” Van Winkle furrowed his brow and concentrated. In his inner eye, he could see the composition sheets of music laid out before him. The notes played like individual delectable presences in his mind. It was Zeppelin. So pure. So true. The song finished, and Van Winkle opened his icy blue eyes. “Now, what is it?” Elton fidgeted shyly before responding. “It’s just that…I mean…I thought that there would be more of a carnival here. Is this just another meet?” Van Winkle chortled. “Don’t you get it, Bailey? I thought you were a bright boy. The carnival is here, all around us, in metaphor.” Elton paused, and then took a closer look at his surroundings. Suddenly, he began to see it. Happy hordes of people, always in a hurry, waiting for the events to begin, one after the other. He took a deep breath. Yes, he could smell it. The popcorn. The cotton-candy. The manure of the great beasts. “I think I’m beginning to understand,” said Elton. Van Winkle looked at him and grinned. “It’s about time. Now let’s get ready to face our destiny. The hour is nigh.”
The first race of the day was the Girls Division 1 5K. The Lady Panthers stood in a pack at the line. They were surrounded on all sides by much bigger schools, but that didn’t phase them. They were used to the pressure. In fact, they relished it. A gradual silence spread over the crowd as the referee raised his arm in the air, and POW! The race had begun. The athletes took off on a circuitous path around the circular park. Soon, they began to separate from each other, as the miles built up. The first girls began crossing the finish line, and before you could blink, the race was over, and the Lady Panthers had finished in 17th place in a field of much larger schools. Full results below:
50th place—Ava Lahmers—20:57
57th place—Sadie Miller—21:16
105th—Hannah Niehaus—22:40
109th—Hadley Premuda—22:47
132nd—Elizabeth Phillipo—23:26
162nd—Prairie Bailey—26:09
The next race was the Boys Division 1 5K, in which several Panther athletes would be competing. An army of athletes stood at the line, and, the gun sounded, POW! They moved en masse down the broad opening field. Past the baseball field, around the loop and back again, they came, each runner pushing themselves forward, knowing that near the end, a significant hill climb awaited them. Finally, the finish line approached, and here came the Panthers, led, as usual, by senior captain Zeke Gingerich. By the time all the athletes had crossed, it was clear that it another strong day full of fast times and PRs for the Panthers, who would finish 25th in the team standings. Full results below:
83rd—Zeke Gingerich—17:14
142nd—Bryce Nisly—18:32
156th—Brady Adams—18:42
165–Andrew Doll—18:56
166th—Daniel Thomas—18:55
199th—Wesley Goellner—19:49
Next up was the Girls Open 5K, where Fairbanks would be represented by two freshmen athletes, Corinna Seabourn and Lanay Sommers, who would finish in 159th (26:19) and 208th (28:47) place, respectively. After a brief moment of panic, when he realized that in his early morning rush he had forgotten his shorts at home, Elton Bailey was all set to go, along with Triton Rhodes, for the Boys Open 5K. It would be a challenging race against hundreds of athletes, but the Panthers showed well, finishing in 338th and 380th, with times of 22:42 and 24:04.
The high school races were over, and so the Panthers regrouped at the team camp for yet another post-race talk from Coach Van Winkle. “You arrived here with expectations, as did I. You performed above those expectations, as I knew you would. You are ready for your next lesson, as is right. Next week, we travel to Michigan. I hope you understand the implications of this journey.” As Van Winkle kept rambling off a list of observations and statistics, strangely intermingled with occult allusions, Elton Bailey reflected on the day. In some ways, the Tiffin XC Carnival had exceeded his expectations. He looked at the metaphorical giant teddy bear that was sitting beside him, and whispered to it, “Friends forever?” “Of course,” the teddy bear replied.