The Girl at the Fair

It's nearing midnight and quitting time when Billy Demaris spots her on the midway, steadily approaching his game trailer. Another townie girl who doesn't know when to leave, or has lost her ride. But she stops before him and wants to shoot at his ducks, so he hands her a BB gun. She's pretty, with fine, blond hair, and somehow familiar, and he wonders if it's time to settle down - get off the road, raise a family. She shivers and he lends her his jacket, then pulls a joke on her, messing up her last round, and she smiles. They agree to meet at the horse corrals in a half hour - a typical, ordinary span of time, within which his life will change forever.