Dreams for Sale (3 for $4.25)

(Great photo borrowed from here.)
Yesterday I took the older kids to the county fair. Tantalized by the impressive prizes displayed so prominently at each of the gaming booths, my son asked if he could try to win something. I agreed, so we looked around to find The Game -- that is, the one that had good prizes, cost less than $5.00, and offered believable odds. We settled on the Ring Toss.

This ring toss offered a whole bucket of rings for $5, and the grand prize for ringing the center bottle was a brand new Wii! Each bucket had 60 rings -- that's right, folks, 60 chances to win a Wii! I knew the odds at ringing the center bottle were extremely poor, but I also decided we would try. I figured at the very least we could ring ONE bottle and walk home with the smallest prize.

The three of us lined up, grabbed a handful of rings, and starting tossing. Each of us dreamed of being the one to beat the odds and win the family a Wii!

The pile of rings got smaller and smaller...and not a single one had hit its mark. I'm not just talking about the magic center bottle -- I'm talking about ANY bottle.

Before we knew it, all the rings had been tossed. Even with a bucket full of chances, we didn't ring a single bottle. It was so anti-climactic. (Anti-climactic times three, actually!)

We kind of stood there, looking at each other.

Then the barker pointed out some rings on the ground that we had dropped! And just like that, the dream was restored, and we threw those final two stragglers at the bottle grid with a mighty fervor...

...and watched them ricochet down into the cracks.

So did we walk away? NOPE. We looked down at the ground again, hoping to spot just one more ring waiting to help us fulfill our destiny.

There weren't any more rings, but we saw three shiny quarters nestled in the grass!

And the crazy thing is, even though we didn't win that Wii -- or even a tiny pencil topper, for crying out loud!! -- we each still felt kind of lucky.

County Fair Receipt
Parking - Free
Drinks - $9.00
Ring Toss - $5.00
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Believing in Our Dreams - Priceless