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greywake · 1 year

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I got all of the prompts this time! "The elephant in the room", "puppy", "lost", "the top", and "You didn't!"

It's still @gumnut-logic's fault 😆 AO3 link

Sheer Dumb Luck

Mom and Dad were going to kill him.

Gordon was gone!

He’d been right next to him as they left the Big Top. And he was still there when he’d stopped to say hi to Aisha, one of the girls in his class. He hadn’t taken more than a minute, maybe two tops, when he looked down and his little brother had vanished.

He should have been suspicious of the silence.

Scott muttered under his breath as he turned to start looking for the most annoying eight-year-old in the history of the world.

Gordon loved the acrobats, so he could have snuck back in to see them again. But he’d been facing the tent entrance while he chatted with Aisha and there’s no way he’d have missed him. So, logically, he must be somewhere else.

As it was an early May afternoon it was relatively quiet but it would get busier as it got later and if he didn’t find Gordon soon John wouldn’t be the only one who was in the dog house (he did tell John that climbing onto the barn roof would get him in trouble).

The sick feeling of desperation twisted its way through his guts as he looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of his brother’s messy blond head. Where the hell would he have gone?!?

Unable to come up with a better option, Scott picked the middle route. It led directly on from the Big Top exit to the fairground game stalls and food vendors and, knowing Gordon’s love of games and food, he hurried forwards. Firmly stomping on the rising panic at having lost him, he looked around wildly for the scrawny little kid with the almost permanent gap-toothed grin and the blindingly bright yellow t-shirt.

He was almost to the end of the row before he spotted him, the little menace staring at the prize display of the ring toss stall.

“Gordon!”

The kid turned to his big brother completely unaware of the panic he’d caused, “Scotty, can you win that for me?”

Scott, doing his best to contain the urge to yell at him, glanced up at the prizes and immediately saw what had attracted the eight-year-old’s attention.

A large grey plushy elephant seal. Fuzzy, over-stuffed, and almost the same size as his little brother. Considering how nuts Gordon normally went over any sea creature it really wasn’t surprising that he’d managed to find the one stall in the whole fairground that had any marine animal-related prizes. But even at the grand old age of thirteen Scott knew that this particular game was little more than a scam.

“I’m sorry, Gordon. I don’t think I can.”

“Please?” That hopeful wheedling tone that would usually persuade Grandma Taylor to let him get away with nearly everything was in full force.

“Gordon, these games are practically impossible to win.”

“Please, Scott!” Gordon would know he was about to say no so the boy deployed his most devastating weapon: The Puppy Dog Eyes™.

He should be immune. He’s had plenty of practice with four younger brothers who all do their best to get their way. But there’s something about Gordon’s big carnelian-brown eyes, filled with hope, that he finds impossible to say no to.

Scott groaned and pulled out what was left of his pocket money. After sodas and candy floss while watching the show, he was down to his last three dollars. The sign said ten rings for one.

Well, he could sacrifice what was left to keep his little brother happy.

"Do you wanna try too, Gordo?"

The excited jump and wiggle was all he needed as confirmation as the stall attendant came over to relieve him of his money in exchange for two boxes of rings.

"No leaning forward, and throw one ring at a time," the girl said as she wandered back over to the side of the stall with a slightly bored air.

Gordon started throwing rings straight away. He was normally a good shot but the hard plastic of the rings bounced off the glass soda bottles every time.

To be fair, Scott wasn't doing much better and soon they had both used all their rings with no success.

"Please, Scotty! One more try! Please?"

"You know we won't win anything, right?"

Gordon's head nodded but his eyes spoke of nothing but complete faith in his big brother. "Just try?"

With a resigned sigh, Scott handed over his last dollar and received ten more rings. "Do you wanna throw some?"

"Nope. You do it."

Well, might as well get this over with then he could call dad for a pickup.

He tossed the ten rings at the bottles in quick succession, not paying any attention to where he was aiming. After all, what was the point when the game was basically impossible to win?

"Okay, I lost. Let's call…"

"You didn't!"

"What?"

Completely nonplussed, Scott followed Gordon's bouncing gesture towards a bright orange ring nestled neatly over the neck of a bottle.

"Huh."

Smiling broadly with all trace of boredom gone, the girl straightened up from where she was leaning on the stall siding and came over to them. "So what prize do you want?"

With absolutely no hesitation, Gordon, practically vibrating in his excitement, shouted, "The elephant seal! The elephant seal!"

At Scott's bemused nod, she carefully unhooked the huge thing and handed it over with a wide grin.

He'd been right. The thing was almost as big as his little brother. Gordon couldn't even get his arms all the way around it and he definitely couldn't see over it.

"Want me to carry it?"

Gordon grinned brightly as he shook his head. "Nope!"

Scott chuckled. "You got a name for it?"

Gordon thought for a moment, trying to squint past all the fuzz to see its face. "Hercules."

Scott couldn’t help but grin in return as he grabbed his little brother's shoulder and began steering him back to the fairground entrance. "Hercules? I like it."

#fabfivefeb #fabfivefeb2023 #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #wee!tracys

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