Campground Powers: The Fart Carnival
Eli woke up early Saturday morning to the sounds of trucks and machinery. He pulled back his camper window curtain and saw a line of huge trucks creeping down the campground road.
"Hallie!" he whispered across to his sleeping sister. "Hallie, wake up! The carnival trucks are here!"
Every summer for one weekend, a small carnival set up shop in an empty parking lot there on the edge of the campground.
Hallie stirred in her bunk and mumbled, "Five more minutes."
"The carnival's setting up right now!" said Eli. "Come on, let's go watch!"
"Ugh, fine," said Hallie as she climbed down from her bunk. "But I'm not changing out of my pajamas."
The two sneaked out of their camper, careful not to wake their parents. They weren't the only ones interested in the carnival setup. Marty and Steven were already at their usual meeting spot near the playground.
"Check it out!" said Steven, pointing through the trees toward the parking lot. "They're putting up the Ferris wheel first!"
The kids watched as carnival workers set up pieces of the Ferris wheel into place. They scurried around like ants, connecting parts and running safety checks.
"We should use our powers to win all the prizes," said Marty with a grin. "I could turn into a sandwich and sit right on the counter, see exactly how the games work."
"No way," said Eli, shaking his head. "That's basically cheating. Plus, someone might notice a talking sandwich giving away game secrets."
"Yeah, and also some carnival worker would probably eat you," added Hallie.
"Boring," said Marty. "What's the point of having powers if we don't use them?"
"The point is not getting caught," said Steven, elbowing his brother. "Remember when that dog almost ate you?"
Marty shuddered. "Don't remind me. Fine, no powers at the carnival. But can we at least scope it out while they're setting up?"
The group made their way closer to the parking lot, staying behind some trees to watch. Workers were setting up game booths, food stands, and small rides. The morning air smelled like fresh popcorn as someone tested the popcorn machine.
"Oh man, look at all those prizes!" said Eli, pointing to a truck unloading stuffed animals and other carnival prizes.
"This is gonna be the best weekend ever," said Hallie. "Even without powers."
The kids walked back to their campsites for breakfast, talking about what games they'd try first. Afterward, they met up near the carnival entrance, which was now open and already getting busy.
"Okay, we need a game plan," said Eli. "I've got some money, but I need to know which game to play first."
"Yeah, Mom gave me some money too," said Hallie. "She told me not to waste it all on the ring toss."
"Let's try that basketball game first," suggested Steven. "Four shots for five dollars isn't too bad."
The group walked up to the basketball game. Several hoops were lined up in a row, and a teenage carnival worker was calling out to passing kids.
"Step right up! Win a prize! Make three shots, win a small prize. Make all four, win something from the top shelf!"
Eli stepped up to try first. "Okay, I got this."
He handed over his five dollars and the worker gave him four basketballs. Eli bounced one a couple times, took aim, and shot.
Swish! Nothing but net.
"Lucky shot," said the worker.
Swish! Another perfect shot.
"Whoa," said Marty.
Swish! Three in a row.
"No way," said Hallie.
Swish! Four perfect shots.
"We have a winner!" called out the worker, though he looked a bit surprised. "Pick any prize from the top shelf!"
Eli chose a giant stuffed penguin. "I don't know what happened," he said to his friends. "I'm not even on the basketball team, but something just clicked. I was in the zone!"
"Let me try the water gun game!" said Hallie, running over to another booth. The rest of the group followed, Eli struggling to carry his massive penguin.
The water gun game had six seats lined up in front of targets. Hallie sat down and waited as other kids filled in the remaining spots.
"Ready? First one to fill their balloon wins!" called the worker.
A bell rang and they all started shooting. Hallie's aim was perfect. Her stream of water hit the tiny target dead center. Her balloon inflated faster and faster until...
Pop!
"We have a winner! Pick your prize!"
Hallie chose a bright purple unicorn almost as big as she was. "That was awesome! I've never won this game before!"
"My turn!" said Steven, heading to the ring toss. He paid for five rings.
His first toss landed perfectly around a bottle neck. So did his second, and his third, and his fourth, and his fifth.
"Five for five!" yelled the worker. "That's our first perfect score today! Top shelf prize!"
Steven picked out a giant snake plush that wrapped around his shoulders.
Marty was already in line at the balloon dart throw. "Watch this," he said.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Every dart hit its mark.
"Another winner!" called the worker. "You kids are on fire today!"
"We should find a place to put all this stuff," said Eli, still wrestling with his penguin. "I can barely walk with this thing."
"Look over there," said Hallie. "There's an empty picnic table by the popcorn stand. We can make that our home base."
The four lugged their prizes to the table. Already they had quite a collection.
"Dude, we are crushing it right now," said Steven, adjusting his snake.
"Yeah," said Marty with a grin. "And we didn't even need to use our powers!"
The four kids spent the next few hours going back and forth between games and their picnic table. Each time they won something, they'd take it back to add to their growing collection.
"I'm gonna get some cotton candy," said Steven, dropping his latest prize—a small stuffed shark—on the table. He walked to the food stand and came back with a huge pink cloud of cotton candy.
"Save me some," said Marty, heading off to try the balloon darts again.
Steven set his cotton candy on the table and went to watch his brother throw darts. When he came back a few minutes later, his cotton candy was gone.
"Hey, who ate my cotton candy?" asked Steven.
"Not me," said Hallie.
"Maybe it blew away," suggested Eli.
"No way. There's no wind today."
Hallie stood up to get a better view of the carnival crowds. "That's weird. My jacket's gone too. I left it right here on the bench."
"Are you sure?" asked Eli. "Maybe you left it at the water gun game?"
"No, I definitely put it here when I got too hot," said Hallie.
The kids looked around their table, but the jacket was nowhere to be found. They went back to playing games, but kept a closer eye on their stuff.
An hour later, Marty noticed something else missing.
"Hey, where's that big teddy bear I won? The one wearing the bow tie?" he asked, scanning their pile of prizes.
"It was right here," said Eli. "I remember because I had to move it to set down my penguin."
The kids looked at each other, starting to realize this wasn't just forgetfulness or coincidence.
"Someone is stealing our stuff," said Steven.
"Yes, somebody's definitely taking our stuff," said Hallie, scanning the carnival. "But who would..."
Her voice trailed off as she noticed a group of kids at another picnic table across the carnival.
"Oh great," muttered Eli, following her gaze. "It's Jake and his friends from school."
Jake and his two friends were gathered around their own picnic table. A smaller kid—probably Jake's little brother Tommy—sat alone at the table while the other kids played games.
"Look!" whispered Marty, pointing at their table. "Isn't that your jacket, Hallie?"
Sure enough, draped over one of the benches was Hallie's blue jacket.
"And my teddy bear!" added Marty, spotting it partially hidden under the table.
Steven started to march toward their table. "Let's go get our stuff back."
"Wait," said Eli, grabbing Steven's arm. "Look at Tommy."
Tommy was typing on his phone every time someone walked near their table. A few minutes later, Jake or one of his friends would appear, check their own phones, and head back to their games.
"He's their lookout," said Hallie. "He texts them whenever we leave our table."
"Yeah, they've been watching us this whole time," said Eli.
Marty's face darkened. "Well, we've got powers. Let's use them and—"
"We can't just use our powers in front of everyone," interrupted Hallie. "But maybe we can use them secretly."
The four huddled close together as Hallie began to explain her plan.
They sat at their picnic table there at the carnival, planning their next move.
"Okay, here's what we do," said Hallie. "Marty turns into a sandwich near their picnic table to spy on them."
"No way," said Marty, shaking his head. "What if another dog comes by? Or worse, what if Jake tries to eat me? One of them already ate some of our cotton candy. I bet if they see a sandwich laying around, they'd eat it for sure."
"Fine. New plan," said Eli. "Hallie, can you convince some squirrels to watch our picnic table? Maybe have them throw some acorns when they see other people come to it?"
"Yeah, sure. They'd be able to do that, I think," said Hallie.
"Okay, so Marty, you go into sandwich form and sit under this picnic table. When the squirrels start throwing acorns, you transform back into yourself and make sure they don't actually take anything. Steven, once that happens, you go into intense fart projection mode, making Jake and his goons fart so hard they have to run to the bathroom or something. Then, while they're panicking about nearly pooping themselves in the bathroom, we go over to their table and take our stuff back."
"Oh yes! I can't wait to make those dudes fart so much!" said Steven.
"Right. Okay then. Hallie, you go talk to the squirrels and then meet us over at the games. Marty, you climb under the table and turn into a sandwich. Me and Steven are gonna go play some more games and act natural," finished Eli.
The plan went into motion. Hallie walked to the edge of the carnival where some oak trees provided shade. She quietly asked a group of squirrels to help watch their table and throw acorns if anyone suspicious approached. The squirrels chittered excitedly. They loved any excuse to throw things.
Meanwhile, Marty casually walked past their picnic table, ducked underneath when no one was looking, and transformed into a perfectly innocent-looking turkey sandwich.
Eli and Steven headed to the ring toss booth, making sure to stay in Jake's line of sight. They wanted Jake's group to think all four kids were occupied with games.
It didn't take long. Tommy texted his brother, and soon Jake and two of his friends crept toward the kids' picnic table. Once they got close, the squirrels began launching acorns as far as they could toward the table.
Acorns rained down from above. The squirrels had excellent aim, pelting the would-be thieves right on their heads.
"Ow! What the—" One of them looked up just as Marty transformed back from sandwich form, crawling out from under the table.
"Busted!" Marty yelled.
That was Steven's cue. He focused hard, and suddenly all three boys doubled over as an unprecedented wave of flatulence struck them.
These three boys ripped the loudest farts ever, and they couldn't control it. The farts just kept coming and coming and coming, over and over.
They ran away from the table, hands clasped to their rear ends, desperately seeking a bathroom before something truly awful happened.
Tommy, their lookout, sat alone at their table looking confused and scared as Eli and Hallie approached.
"We know you guys took our stuff," said Hallie. "We're taking it back."
Tommy just nodded, embarrassed, not saying a word as they collected Hallie's jacket and the other missing prizes.
When Jake and his friends finally emerged from the bathrooms, they found their table empty of stolen goods. They saw Eli, Hallie, and the Sandwich Brothers back at their original table, all their prizes accounted for.
Jake started walking toward them but stopped when another wave of super farts hit him. Steven smiled innocently and waved.
Jake and his goons spent the rest of the carnival day far away from the four friends and their picnic table.
"Sure am glad that worked," said Eli as they packed up their prizes at the end of the day.
"Yeah," said Hallie. "And we won all these prizes without our powers. Probably my best day at a carnival ever."
"Right. Do you think those guys suspect anything about our powers, I mean?" said Steven.
"I bet they think it was the carnival food," said Eli. "Something tells me they're never going to enjoy a carnival hot dog again."
The End