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by Triv
Rated: E · Fiction · Contest Entry · #2208223
A county fair during Christmas time
Putting together a county fair is not for the weak-hearted or the mild-mannered. In the past, I have displayed remarkable alacrity in evading such a responsibility. A rare lapse in judgment, probably due to an excess of the fluid, saw me volunteer to organize the aforementioned fair this year for Christmas.

As I am prone to do in such circumstances, I took pains to ensure the dotting of the ‘t’s and the crossing of the ‘I’s, or is it the other way around? Well, you know what I mean. I was checking and rechecking all the arrangements.

That night was a merry one, and I had a spring in my step as I embarked upon surveilling my meticulous handiwork. Numerous shops lined the brightly lit cricket ground. The Ferris wheel went about its job much to the joy of the little ones so inclined to be rotated in the air in a giant metal contraption.

‘Laborious Leptons,’ the band was about ready to unleash their favorite tunes. I waved at Jim, the lead singer, who returned my gesture with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. I smiled like a proud father would do on the achievement of his child’s first school medal.

Farah came up to me as she did on most occasions, noiselessly and without preamble. She had the invariable effect of jolting me out of my vagrancies.

“Yes?“ I enquired in as pleasant a voice as I could. I did not like this woman.

“We are consuming too much power,” she said by way of an opening remark.

I grunted, and she asked with concern if I had something stuck in my throat. I ignored the slight and responded, “it’s all been accounted. Over an hour now and everyone’s set up. I’ve done all the checks. No power issues so…”

The dashed power went out at that moment, like punctuation, to my last sentence. I detected a smirk on the woman’s face, or maybe It was a sympathetic grimace though I doubted the latter emotion.

‘Thank god for instant technology,’ I thought as I whipped out my cellphone to call Kingman in the power room.

“What happened, man?”

His tone was glum. “Darned power spike blew the fuses.”

“Backup generator?”

“Forgot to fill diesel, Keira.”

A man of few words.

The citizens of the lovely town, usually a moribund bunch of folks, began to show uncommon signs of liveliness they had displayed in their heydays.

The ‘Lopsided Lampoons’ or whatever they were called began grumbling. I sensed unrest in the ranks. I had to administer a healing touch, and rapidly, before a wholesome mutiny took place, and one Ms. Keira became the single focus of said mutiny.

Darkness enveloped my insides, matching the night without. My brain, however, on account of eating healthy greens was in peak performance condition. I prided myself on my quick thinking and was in the process of patting myself on the back, no mean task by itself.

Before I could voice my brilliant proposition, a murmur from the restive townsfolk impeded any plan of enlightening the audience.

To my relief, the murmur was not directed in my general direction. The angle was wrong for that as all heads turned upwards towards the starless sky.

One after another, streaks of light appeared on the horizon, illuminating the halted festivities.

These lights appeared in neat rows, like multiple cars preparing for a night race. Mind you, they were not disembodied lights but attached to humongous metal discs that spun in silent splendor, all the while brightening the gathering gloom below.

I counted at least ten of these spinning phenomena arranged in a large circle, providing maximum light to the entire field of dreams. Suspended a few hundred feet above us, they were indeed a sight to behold.

No one stirred. We were all frozen in fear and wonder. I half expected laser lights to shoot out and annihilate us.

Nothing of that sort happened. Instead, a metal door slid open on one of the disc furthest away from me.

A man walked out to a collective gasp from the hitherto mute audience.

Even from afar, the red cap and the large flowing white beard were unmistakable.

Sounds of bells filled the air as people rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

With a wink and a smile, the jolly gentleman uttered but three words.

“Ho, Ho, Ho!!”
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