The Great Allentown Fair

The Great Allentown Fair didn’t seem all that great to me. If we’re being honest, it didn’t seem very fun at all. Maybe it was the way the sun chose that day to blind me or the fact that someone or the other seemed to be straying and going missing every few minutes. Maybe it was the pressure in my throat forcing me to cough and receive strange looks from people. Whatever it was, the fair did not elicit much of a positive response from me.

I know this to be true. I distinctly recall whining with my friends about how it was too loud, too sticky, too crowded. I remember regretting going when the sun was still up and the entirety of the city seemed to have decided to be there at the same time as us. I can still feel my heart drop when I realised that a single cup of lemonade is $7 which is Rs.588 which is ten times more than reasonable in India.

Why is it then that my most prominent memory is the wind blowing through my hair as I watch the setting sun? The first thought that pops up in my mind is feeling the wind and the gravity pull my face down as I catch a whirlwind glimpse of the Allentown skies from my upside-down place on a ride appropriately named ‘Khaos’.

The cold of the metal seat contrasting with the humid air created the most pleasant buzz just underneath my skin, leaving my cheeks flushed and my hair absolutely wild. I was told that good writing avoids cliches, so I hope you can forgive the next words, but being up in the air made me feel at peace, like all my worries were below me far far away. It meant everything to get those moments where I didn’t have to be anyone else; a student, a daughter, a friend, a performer, myself. I was just another person feeling the wind dry my sweat slick skin and admiring how vast yet approachable the night sky looked.

In that moment, there were no assignments to worry about, nor money (that I spent too much of just to be on these rides). It was me and my sore throat, from both coughing and screaming on multiple rides, something I regret but would repeat in a heartbeat.

The Great Allentown Fair didn’t seem all that great to me, although the past few paragraphs beg to differ. What did seem great to me however were the brief moments I stole in the midst of long lines and loud crowds. Moments of calm and peace. Moments of friendship as I walked back with my headphones humming low tunes and my clammy hands holding my friend’s. Moments of appreciation as I noticed someone ahead switch on the flashlight on his phone for us. Moments where I was no one yet felt more expansive than I had ever before.