By Charlie Allison

“…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” 

Luke 12:48

All alone. Just the way I liked it. In my own thoughts, at peace. No social requirements. No one making fun of me or laughing at me. I could stay in my own little world, thinking about whatever I chose – a song, strategy for playing sports or games, girls, or whatever. I could observe a landscape without interruption. Plus, when you’re alone, you don’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing or hurting someone else’s feelings.

 Although I perceived myself as alone, I was actually on a somewhat crowded yellow school bus with 30 or 40 other kids. As a freshman in high school and taking an agriculture class, I was eligible for this much-anticipated trip to the Texas State Fair in Dallas.

On this Saturday in October, in the dark, early morning hours, my mother had dropped me off at the high school. About ten big yellow school buses were lined up and almost loaded. As one of the last kids there, I was ushered onto the closest bus that wasn’t yet full, where I found an empty seat and settled in, dozing off as the trip began. 

I had no idea what was about to come at me that day. It was a day I would never forget. Whether or not it was miraculous, it certainly was a strange set of events that significantly affected my life.

From our small town in East Texas, it was about a three-hour bus ride to Dallas. As the sun came up, I awoke to find us cruising along the highway, a yellow caravan of school buses meandering through the pine trees. Noticing the others on the bus now, it was a relief to see that they were almost all sophomores, and not the more aggressive or mean-spirited ones. Trouble was less likely with this crowd. Junior or senior boys would be looking to make trouble with a freshman. Girls were another issue. They were baffling. Their social skills far exceeded ours. A fourteen-year-old girl can make a fourteen-year-old boy look silly without even half trying.

It did not bother me that none of my freshmen friends were on this bus. I wouldn’t have minded seeing my good friend Bruce Maines, though. I didn’t have many friends except the guys I played on sports teams with. That was the case with Bruce, as we played together on the freshman football team. 

Bruce was easy to be with. I can’t say that I knew Bruce really well, and vice versa. We didn’t talk much when we were together. On the other hand, I can say that Bruce and I would be good friends throughout high school, and he was the most dependable and honest person there is.

When we arrived at the Fair, our buses parked in the back, so we entered the back gate where the Midway games and rides were. That was ideal in my view, as that was where my interest lay. More specifically, the basketball shooting on the Midway.

We were admonished by our teachers to visit the agriculture buildings, that we would be quizzed on what we saw, and then we were turned loose for the day. I didn’t really look for any of my friends. But then I heard my name, and turned around to see Steve Wilkerson, another guy on the freshman football team. He was looking for someone to hang out with, so we agreed to strike out together.

It was a cloudy overcast morning as we entered the back side of the Fair, next to the roller coaster, the old wooden style. That might be fun for later. Steve wanted to play the random games that were numerous nearby, the ones where you put your money down on a number (like 1 to 100), or a team name or something. When the worker spun a wheel, the person or persons on the winning number would win a prize. It was long odds, and I didn’t like the idea. Steve was persistent, though, so we each sat down and picked something. Unexpectedly, my choice won. I had a large stuffed teddy bear, just like that. When they spun again, Steve won. All the other players, forty or fifty of them, seemed a little jealous, so we moved on. That was freaky, to both win right out of the box.

I suggested that we head on to find the basketball shooting, but Steve wanted to do more of the same. So, we did. And we won again – and again. It made no sense, almost as if someone or something decided this was our destiny.

“…by grace…and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God…so that no one can boast…” (Eph 2:8-9)

There are many graces, some unexpected and some unrecognized. At this young stage in my life, I was largely oblivious to so many unrecognized graces. The unusual and highly improbable winning that I had just experienced was hard to miss, however. The mathematical odds were so small as to be not only unlikely, but nearly impossible. I could see that. It was as if God was having some fun with me, saying, “Okay kid, you want to win some stuffed animals, here you go, now let’s see what you do with this.” It was clear that this success was not of my own doing.

My reaction was to redouble my efforts to press on to the basketball shooting, as if some success there could validate my strange winnings here early in the day. At that time, as at other times in my life, this unexpected grace made me uncomfortable, and I did not want to claim recognition. I wanted to win, to accomplish, to prove my abilities, not just be the recipient of some gift that strangely defied the laws of probability.

By the time we did find the basketball shooting area, we each had three or four large stuffed animals, and most of our money still intact. The day was still young.

My eagerness to show off my shooting skills was not matched with the same kind of success, however. I spent a great deal of time and over half of my money in the process of winning a couple more stuffed animals. Steve won some more prizes by tossing dimes and landing them on plates, which I had no success at.

We decided we had better make a token pass through one of the agriculture buildings, so we could at least say we had done that. There were a lot of animals, especially cattle and hogs. I frankly didn’t see the attraction – we could see all of those we wanted to back home.

There were numerous odd carnival games that we tried – baseball toss, water gun balloon race, etc. An interesting oddity was a ring toss onto coke bottles. It was more of a ring drop, as you tried to land it over the top of the bottle. The prizes for that one were unusually large, which told a person that it was extremely unlikely to win, and we noticed no one was winning there. It was worth a try, though. 

The carnival man was very friendly when we asked about how the game worked, but as I handed him my money to play, his demeanor changed. I looked into his cold eyes and it gave me a shiver. Not a man I would want to turn my back on. I dropped the ring from a few feet above the bottles, above the railing, as the rules stipulated. He was watching closely, seated just on the other side of the coke bottles from me. The ring fell neatly over the bottle, most unexpectedly. The carnival man seemed to give a start and quick shake of the head, his eyes flying open wide, but only for an instant. He quickly looked up at me for a split second with something like startled disbelief, then back down at the bottle, but then he caught himself.

His carnival demeanor returned just as quickly, as he rose and shouted, “Another winner!” Judging by the reaction of nearby carnival workers, this was not a frequent occurrence. Other people walking by stopped to give a glance, then continued on their way.

There were two and only two extremely large choices for my prize. One was a giant teddy bear, and the other was a multicolored stuffed turtle. It was an easy choice. I already had several large teddy bears and had no desire for a monstrously enormous version. The turtle’s head and tail were pink; its “shell” was black on the bottom, while the top had a green base with an artistic swirl of other colors mixed in. The turtle was different, added variety and immediately stuck out as quite a prize. It was about four feet long from head to tail.  

The cloud cover had continued until that time. When we turned to leave that booth, the sun had begun to break through. Suddenly the sun appeared out from under the clouds, and the sunlight struck me unexpectedly in the eyes. I was blinded for a second or two. About the same time, as if someone had flipped a switch, the crowds became louder and more boisterous, the sunshine evidently changing everyone’s mood almost instantly. It was a surreal moment for me – a bizarre chain of events and now this total change in atmosphere. Where did all the people come from? Had they been there all along, and I just hadn’t noticed? Was this a dream? I looked back at the ring toss booth, and it didn’t even look the same. The carnival man I had was not there – had he left on a break already or something?  Was this a time warp maybe?

I blinked a few times and looked over at Steve, thinking this odd moment could not be real. He was busy rearranging his prizes so that he could carry them and seemed unaware of the strangeness in the situation. We resumed our journey.

Steve and I continued to find extraordinary luck until it dawned on us by early afternoon that we didn’t need to win any more prizes. Furthermore, our money was running down – the budgeting had been okay, but what money we had left was needed for food and maybe a roller coaster ride. 

We had ten stuffed animals each. Just carrying them back down the Midway was a chore. The crowds were larger now, and our appearance created notice. It was hard to make sure none were dragging the ground, while leaving a sightline between others held up higher, to see where we were going. No doubt it was quite a sight to see a slowly moving pile of stuffed animals with two boys underneath. You couldn’t help noticing that most people had the advantage of not having to carry anything. 

We took turns guarding the stuffed animals for each other while one of us got food or rode the roller coaster. It would have been nice to ride the roller coaster together, but that was not an option. 

It came time to head back to the buses for the trip home. I was so unaware at this point. I did not want to address the clear challenge of what was coming next. Being left alone and avoiding attention were not in my immediate future.

What was my plan? Did I have a plan? Some of my parents’ admonitions rang in my head. I had been taught to save and “take care of what I have”, and to think ahead. I had also been taught kindness and compassion, and that when something needed to be done, to take action and not wait. My goal that I settled on was clear to me, even if misguided. I must get home with all 10 stuffed animals – they were my prizes. Who knew what purpose they might ultimately have? But first of all, I had to get home with all of them. The shortsightedness of this did not occur to me, yet it was my focus now. I think that I still wanted to claim achievement rather than humbly acknowledge grace.

Prize Tally
10 in possession

Carrying all the prizes was a bulky and tedious strain, and we were tired. As we came within sight of our buses, there was a group of freshmen who noticed us approaching. Among them was Bruce Maines, my good friend. They all gawked at our haul. Some offered to help carry them. We gratefully accepted. Across the dozen or two kids there, only one or two had a prize of any kind, and then only one. Our excess was glaring. They wanted an explanation for how we won them all. There was no satisfactory explanation. Blind luck seemed too preposterous, so Steve offered that I won with basketball shooting and he won flipping dimes. This was a half-truth that somewhat satisfied them, but Steve and I both knew we couldn’t really explain it.

One guy spoke up, suggesting that we let them each have one of the stuffed animals for helping to carry them. This was most uncomfortable, as it conflicted with my goal of getting home with all of them. Furthermore, there were too many kids to give each one, they had only carried them a short distance, and how would you go about it? We said sorry, but we needed to get on our bus to head home, so they gave them all back to us.

That’s when Vicki Pinkerton walked up. Now Vicki was somewhat pretty and somewhat smart, but not so much in either category as her extreme self-confidence would imply. She said, “Oh, can I have one? I can! oh thanks!” taking one out of my arms, turning and walking straight away without waiting for a reply and with no hesitation. It happened so quickly, and I was in no position to do anything about it. I couldn’t run after her, with all the other stuffed animals I was holding, and it was now a crowded area around the school buses. She was quickly through the crowd.

            Prize Tally
            1 stolen
            9 remaining

 Several kids looked at me to see what I would do. I noticed that Bruce Maines looked away at the ground, trying to diminish, or avoid, my embarrassment. Either way, I appreciated that. With conflicting emotions, I headed to my designated bus, and as I entered my bus the realization came to me that this bus ride was going to be awkward. I couldn’t get down the aisle with all those stuffed animals. Also, there was no room on a shared seat to put them. I would have to make my way to the middle of the bus where there was an empty seat. The sleepy crowd from the morning was now fully awake and starting to notice my unusual predicament – not a desirable situation for me. I noticed a meek girl, whom I did not know, sitting by herself on the very front seat on the left. I asked if I could sit next to her, allowing some space on the floor in front of us to put the stuffed animals.

It wasn’t right that Vicki took that one, but then maybe it wasn’t right that I didn’t give any away. My mind was churning. I had been thinking of an idea, and I had to act quickly. The bus doors would be closing soon. I turned to the girl, who seemed bewildered. I said, “If you will watch these and not let anyone take one, I’ll give you this one”, as I held up a teddy bear that I liked the least of the ones I had. She said “okay”. Then I quickly grabbed a spotted, stuffed dog among my pile, the closest thing to a masculine choice, and headed off the bus. I was looking for Bruce Maines. Not knowing which bus he was on, I ran from bus to bus until I saw him. Then I jumped on, handed him the spotted dog, and, trying to avoid embarrassment, told him, “Be sure and feed him Purina puppy chow”. Bruce laughed and accepted the stuffed dog good-naturedly. A lame joke is sometimes better than no joke at all.

            Prize Tally
            1 stolen
            1 given away
            8 remaining

I barely had time to get back to my bus. I sat down next to the girl and gave her the teddy bear as promised.

Prize Tally
            1 stolen
            2 given away
            7 remaining

Looking back on the bus, I saw an empty seat in the middle. Explaining to the girl that we really didn’t have room in that one seat, I took my seven remaining stuffed animals and made my way to that empty seat. 

Yes, I was the recipient of a lot of stares, and yes, I was besieged by many kids who thought it was only right that I should give them one. I was conflicted and still felt that getting home with as many of my prizes as possible was the appropriate goal. One or two kids offered to buy one. I resisted at first. Then as the long bus ride home settled in, I got into conversation with some of the sophomore boys. Most of us were not returning home with much money, as the Fair has a way of taking it, and after all, it was entertainment, and we only brought the money we intended to spend. Yet there were a few boys that had some money left. One boy offered five dollars for one of the teddy bears, and I decided to take it.

Prize Tally
1 stolen
2 given away
1 sold
6 remaining

 This led to two or three other boys making an offer. There was only one more that I was willing to sell. A good-natured kid named Everett with red hair and freckles made a strong pitch, saying that he had a little sister at home, and he sure wanted to bring her something, a story I had no reason to doubt. Everett only had three dollars left. Another boy offered five dollars for the same teddy bear, but he could not give me any good reason why he wanted it. I sold it to Everett for three dollars.

Prize Tally
1 stolen
2 given away
2 sold
5 remaining

That left me with five stuffed animals – the large turtle, one large, nice teddy bear, and three stuffed bulls – one red, one blue, and one purple, a matching set. 

As we exited the bus, back home, one of my stuffed bulls was missing, no doubt stolen by someone on the bus. A search did not find it. The ag teacher wanted to stop all the kids to find out who stole it, but I discouraged him and said it was okay, no big deal. At a distance, I could see the kid walking off in the dark who seemed to have it, but I sure didn’t want to make a scene.

Prize Tally
2 stolen
2 given away
2 sold
4 remaining

At the end of it all, in a way, I felt that I had failed to keep what was mine, though I did make it home with four stuffed animals.

The teddy bear was used as a gift to a younger cousin that Christmas. The two stuffed bulls laid around the house for a while until they fell apart and were thrown away, serving no real purpose. 

Prize Tally
2 stolen
3 given away
2 sold
2 wasted
1 remaining

I kept the turtle.

Yes, the large multicolored turtle was the prize I would keep for decades. Years later, I took my infant children for rides on its back, swooshing them around the room on “the flying turtle.” When I saw the flying turtle in the corner of the bedroom or when I took my kids for rides, I reflected on what that day at the Texas State Fair and the turtle had taught me.

Unmerited graces – a common theme in my life. The experience of “much will be demanded” goes along with the grace of “the one who has been entrusted with much”.  I think back on that day at the State Fair and that surreal moment when the sun suddenly came out and struck me in the eyes. I feel convicted in a way. It can be a struggle to avoid the pride of overstated achievement when graces and blessings go unrecognized.

I have come to realize that you had better decide how you are going to manage the blessings you have in advance, and how you are going to deal with people. If you do not take the necessary action, you may miss your chance to help someone or to make the most of a situation. If you do not act, then someone else will make that decision for you. As someone who doesn’t mind being alone, I have struggled to learn the importance of relationships in that process, because in the end – it is the relationships that matter.

Final Tally

3 – Given Away (1 to a friend, 1 to a relative, and 1 in an exchange with a stranger)  2 – Stolen (1 in broad daylight and 1 at night) 2 – Sold  2 – Wasted 1 – Flying Turtle