It was one of those bow and arrow games. Tina shook her head. “Oh no.”

Bette nodded. “Oh yeah. So, what do you want?”

“What do you mean?” Tina asked as they hurried to the booth.

“Do you want an elephant, a tiger, a dog, or a bear?” Bette pointed to the rows of stuffed animals that lined the inside of the booth just beyond the target boards.

“What makes you so sure you can win?”

“Trust me.” Bette leaned in a whispered. Tina nodded, putting her index finger to her lips as she contemplated. Finally, she chose one. “That one there.” She pointed. Bette nodded.

“Step right up, step right up. Try your hand at the bulllllssseeeyyyee!” The man bellowed in that annoying carnival tone. “A dollar a shot; five dollars: five shots.” Both Bette and Tina shook their heads at the man’s attempt to make it sound like a bargain.

Bette stepped up, placing a dollar on the counter.

“One dollar: one shot.” The man exclaimed, taking the money and handing a bow and arrow to Bette. “Hit the bulls eye and you get to pick whatever you want.”

“Okay.” Bette nodded, looking back at Tina one last time before taking aim. It was over in a flash. Bette released the arrow, hitting the bull’s eye dead center and some observers clapped. The man nodded, impressed.

“Okay. Pick what you want.”

“That one.” Bette pointed and the man nodded, removing and giving Bette a large brown bear with a little red bow around its neck. Tina moved forward, laughing as Bette handed her the bear.

“Nice shot Porter.”

“Thanks. That was my favorite game when I was younger.”

“I can see that.” Tina stated, hugging the bear close.

“What do you think we should name her?”

“The bear?” Tina asked, her eyebrows raised.

Bette nodded taking the stuffed animal from Tina’s grasp, holding it out at arms length. “I don’t know. What does she look like to you?”

Tina bit her lip as she looked to the sky, seriously thinking about the whole thing. Suddenly, her face lit up as she looked at Bette. “I know the perfect name.”

“Yeah? What?”

Tina took a step back from Bette, making Bette’s stomach slowly turn. Everything seemed to slow down as a black cloud descened over the carnival. The fast, lively music slowed almost to a crawl, disturbing Bette. The people meshed to form one large, colorless blob behind Tina’s darkening form.

“Candace.” Tina whispered, her eyes glowing a blinding white.

Bette turned to the stuffed animal, which suddenly wasn’t a stuffed animal anymore. It was Candace, completely naked, a red bow tied around her neck.

“Give us a kiss.” Candace whispered, leaning in.

Bette shot up out of her bed, gasping for air, covered in sweat, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. It took a minute, but she finally realized that she was in her bedroom. She looked over to her left…Tina wasn’t there. She looked at the clock. 3:42 a.m.

Lying back down, Bette put a hand to her sweaty forehead, still trying to catch her breath.

“Fuck.”

It was a dream.

To be continued