Student Publishing Program ::

Alex S.

It Changed Me

That sweet, gratifying smell of blue and pink fluffy clouds on a stick,

Mixed with the salty yet scrumptious taste of yellow corn,

Is how I know the carnival has come back home.

There have been more “firsts” at this carnival than the number of fingers on my left hand.

Here was the first time I tried the oily, fried, sugary pastry known as fried dough.

It was hot, and greasy, and tasted unbelievable, like nothing I had ever tried before.

It changed me.

The first time I was allowed to go out with my friends but without my parents was at this carnival.

I felt as free as an eagle soaring over the Grand Canyon that night.

No ropes to tie me down and no dad hovering over me like a mosquito buzzing in my ear.

It changed me.

At this carnival was the first time I won one of those massive stuffed bears.

I can clearly remember that dart, sharp and pointed, like the stinger of a bee,

Releasing from my right hand and hitting the target with a loud THUMP.

It changed me.

The first time I went on a roller coaster was at this carnival.

With the utmost fear trickling through my seven year old veins,

I stepped into the cart and zipped away faster than Speedy Gonzalez.

It changed me.

I entered a haunted house for the first time at this carnival.

Terror struck my face as blatantly as lightening strikes a tree.

With eyes as wide as an kid in a candy store, the cart started to drift inside.

It changed me.

My first kiss was at this carnival.

I was as nervous as a man ready to sky dive out of a plane,

It was horrifying, but still unforgettable, my first kiss on the monstrous Ferris wheel.

It changed me.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2013 EDITION]