Page 3 of Colton’s Inferno

Three rings: Small stuffed animal

Four rings: Medium stuffed animal

Five Rings: Large stuffed animal

So far, he’d thrown four rings and landed each one. His sister Matti’s newly adopted son, Sammy, stood at his side. Hoping for good luck, the kid had crossed his fingers, his arms, and his legs. “Please make the next ring. Please make the next ring,” Sammy whispered to himself.

“Have you picked out which stuffed animal you want?” Aiden asked, stepping up to a blue line.

“Uh-huh,” said Sammy.

“What do you decide?”

“I can’t tell you. Or else you won’t make the next toss.”

Oh, to be six years old again. When everything that happened in life was controlled by magic. Then again, he knew that Sammy had seen and been through a lot already. His birth parents died of an overdose from meth laced with fentanyl. After, Sammy was placed in the foster care system. Luckily, Matti, a social worker, was able to petition to be Sammy’s foster mother. It looked like an official adoption would be happening soon.

He ruffled the kid’s hair. “How’d you get to be so smart?”

He lifted his skinny shoulders, then let them drop. “I dunno.”

“Alright.” Aiden let his arm swing back. “Here goes.”

He tossed the ring. It sailed through the air. The rim hit the lip of a bottle, bounced once, and swirled around the neck of a bottle.

“Look here, folks,” the barker called out. He was a large man with a yellow T-shirt and a purple Bryant Bros. Carnival baseball cap. “We have a winner.” He bent down, holding his knees. “You want to pick out a large stuffed animal for your uncle?”

Sammy uncrossed his fingers, arms, and legs. Tapping his chin, he looked at all the toys. “Hmm,” he hummed. “I’m not sure.”

“Not sure?” Aiden echoed. “A minute ago, you said you had one picked out.”

“I just want to take one more look.” He tapped his chin once more. “I got it.”

“What do you want?” asked the carnival worker.

“That one.” Sammy pointed.

The man grabbed the foot of a large pink bear. “This one?”

“The one beside it,” said Sammy.

The guy moved to a cheetah in sunglasses. “This?”

“The other side,” said Sammy, still pointing.

With skinny green arms, a large head, and huge eyes, it was a Martian.

“Him?” the carnival worker asked, his tone dubious.

“Yeah,” said Sammy with a smile. “Him.”

“Here you go,” said the worker, handing over the toy.

Sammy hugged the Martian to his chest. The doll was almost as big as the kid. “I love him,” he said, giving the toy a hug. “I’m going to name him Aiden. Aiden the Space Alien.”

Aiden never thought he’d be flattered by having a green dude as his namesake. As he watched Sammy hug his prize tighter, his chest expanded with love and pride. “Let’s find my sister and show her what you got.”

“There she is.” Sammy pointed to a group of three people. His sister, her fiancée, Ryan Palmer, and Aiden’s mom, Emily, stood in line next to a soft serve ice cream truck.