“Pete, I have a suggestion for you,” Dr Steinberg said, “Why don’t you try playing some carnival games and win something for Quincy? I’m sure she’d like that.”
“Ooh! Ooh! Win Quincy a prize!” the girl jumped excitedly, “Please, Pete?”
“I guess I am feeling kinda lucky,” Pete supposed, massaging his right shoulder, “I think I could win you a choice stuffed animal, Quincy.”
Quincy joyfully hugged Pete, which caught him a bit by surprise, and took him by the hand to the first game she saw. A seemingly normal bottle toss game where players would attempt to knock over three stacks of milk bottles to win. The prizes rotated hourly and currently ranged from tiny stuffed fish, to conservatively sized teddy bears, all the way to a jumbo sized monkey. Quincy, of course, wanted Pete to go for the monkey.
“Ooh, going for the jumbo prize, eh kid?” the carnie smirked at Pete, “Well best of luck, pal-o!” He handed the boy three baseballs and winked. Pete grabbed the first ball, took aim, and threw it. It sailed right over the stack, not even close.
“You can do it, Pete!” Quincy cheered him on, “Quincy like teddy bears too!” Pete glanced back at Quincy, took a deep breath, and threw again. The ball hit the stack right in the middle, but it didn’t budge.
“Aww… tough luck, kid,” the carnie mock sympathized, “You didn’t knock it over. Real shame. Go on, one more shot. You don’t wanna disappoint the lady, do you?”
Pete went red in the face. He suddenly felt mortified at the idea of upsetting Quincy. He wasn’t sure why, but for some reason he wanted to win her the jumbo prize more than anything at the moment. His face was as hard as stone. He picked up the last ball and walked three paces backwards.
“Pete, are you okay?” Quincy asked, “We could always try another game. Quincy just wanted to spend time with you.”
“Would you still like the monkey, Quincy?” Pete asked, gazing at the girl with blazing blue eyes. Dr. Steinberg took notice of those eyes. Something was up with this kid.
“Yeah yeah! Quincy would like the monkey!” the young lady nodded excitedly.
“Then I will win you the money,” Pete promised. He reeled back his arm, eyes aiming squarely at the middle stack of bottles. Sparks of electricity jumped from his fingertips. He took a deep breath, and…
KA-POW!!!
The ball struck the stack, and the shockwave it sent knocked all three stacks of bottles over. The carnie was in absolute shock.
“Y-y-you… that’s impossible!” he quaked, “You… you did it! I guess you won!”
Quincy hollered with joy and hugged Pete tightly. She was jumping around excitedly and plastering his face with lavender scented kisses. That’s when she felt the boy’s body seem to get squishier… and furrier. She suddenly realized that Pete had transformed into a stuffed monkey version of himself.
“Oops! Quincy forgot that this booth does that! Quincy’s sorry, Pete!”
Pete looked himself over. The skin of his hands were now made of felt. His glowing blue eyes looked stitched onto his monkey face. His shoes were vanished, exposing his stuffed monkey feet. He looked at Quincy and said…
“I guess that makes me your prize.”