Only she remembered what happened oh her wedding and that's probably what hurt the most....


He looks up at her adoringly "my aren't you beautiful, you look just like the sun in the....in the ....my aren't you beautiful...." Every time he looked at her she saw that sparkle in his eye that she first saw on the boardwalk.... something she once thought she'd never see again so wished that she'd never forget it....did she get her wish? They do say that wishes can be fickle don't they, look at Rumpelstiltskin, the witch from Rapunzel...the witch from....well loadsa witches...even satan herself..... there's always a price or a twist or something in the fine print isn't there....anyway...this isn't even about wishes so all that waffle was irrelevant mate, it was just a coinkidink.


She pulls his blanket up onto his lap and tucks it in tightly on the sides....he looks at her and stares for a bit...."I know you don't I?"....she looks at him as he continues...."down by the pier...the giant teddy...". She's staring at him willing him to go on as a single tear drops down her cheek and lands on his hand which she's grasping onto tighter and tighter.


He's transported back to the fairground... he's with the love of his life, tall and slender, golden blonde hair, eyes like priceless emeralds and a smile that does something warming to all who are lucky enough to behold it.....on a bright sunny day... there's a mime following them both to the point that it's getting annoying, first he's trapped in a box yaaay, then he's going down the stsirs whoopee dooo...oh no now someone is strangling him dun dun duuuun........so our fellow draws a silver coin out of his pocket and places it in his hand and leans in "now will you kindly fuck off" the mime does a shocked face, hands either side of his head, fingers splayed out as he makes the coin disappear....then does a weepy face and walks off slowly with his head held down....


A young red headed girl, "think pippy longstocking" pigtails n all comes skipping over with a large mallet...."here sir win a cuddly toy for the lovely lady....".... he's quick to reply "no thankyou...".... "You scared mister...". His girlfriend on his arm..."now you're not going to take that are you?" And laughs.....the girl "yeah c'mon mister..." And starts making chicken noises...


He snatches the oversized mallet off her and walks over to the tall column with flashing lights all around it, a giant bell at the top and a big pad at the bottom....you know the one...... surrounded by hundreds of teddy bears, all different colours and sizes, some wearing cowboy hats, some in dresses and tiaras etcetera etcetera


He hits it.....it goes not even halfway....both the girls giggle....he gets a bit angry and swings again....it's even worse than the first try......"have another go" says the girl reaching for his pockets....just as another guy a bit smaller than him comes over, hands over his money then with one swing "DING!!" he chooses the big pink teddy and his little sister is over the moon.....our guy looks on amazed then hands over more coin, just as he turns to get encouragement from his beauty he notices the little pigtailed girl knock a switch with her foot at the bottom of the attraction.....he takes his swing then same as before, not even halfway....he starts making a scene, shouting out curses loudly....taking off his waistcoat and folding it neatly before handing it to his girlfriend who looks embarrassed for him as a crowd gathers.....he swings again.... he's gonna hit it.......but no... he's real close tho..he walks over to the girl and shouts out looking around at the crowd "I tell you what I bet you all of your teddies on the top row that I get it this time"...."what's in it for me??" She replies......he pulls out a crisp note.... everyone gasps as this single note was like a months salary for most people in the crowd".....the girl smiles creepily...."you're on sir".....he swings the hammer around him slowly as he spins around, arms outstretched "stand back everybody... give me some space". He's doing lunges...stretches over his back, twisting his hips, squats, knees to his chest....I mean Jane Fonda eat your heart out.....like seriously....... Everyone steps back so it's just him and the machine in this massive empty circle.....he raises the hammer then as the crowd go silent he drops the hammer behind him from above his head causing everyone to burst out laughing....his girlfriend looking on horrified......he pulls a flask out of his trouser pocket, necks back the contents, wobbles a bit and then looks the girl dead in the eye pulling out at least seven more of those banknotes dropping them on the floor shouting out "ALL OF YOUR TEDDIES!!!". Everyone gasps and turns to the girl in unison, just heads...every single neck in one swift perfect performance...the girl laughs out loud "OKAY!!...you fool"....he looks at her intensely for a second or two...winks...and walks over to the machine, knocking the switch with his foot then swinging the hammer...."DING!!" swinging again...."DING!!" "DING!!" "DING!!" DING!! DING!! ..over and over.....the whole fairground erupts!! he stops, swipes up his money and grabs the eight gigantic human size teddies from the top, looking clumsy as hell as they're impossible to hold all at once...he's dropping two, picking up one, dropping three....etc etc....he gives up comically and asks his lovely date which one she wanted before giving the rest to the kids that were in the crowd, stood there throwing out teddy after teddy for ages whilst the red headed girl watched on angrily...he took pleasure in it to the point his date walked off a bit upset and put off by his actions in being such a sore winner....


He snaps out of it......"the teddy....." ...."yes the teddy..........go on." She urges him anxiously....."the teddy....the big teddy.....the hammer.....the hammer......the hammer.....the hammer......the hammer... The ham....the ham....DING!! DING!! DING!! DING!! DING!!" She gets up with tears streaming down her face and walks over to the window looking down over the boardwalk instantly spotting a woman rushing around frantically like she's lost her child.........a reflection barely visible in the glass in front of her..... it's her...five foot nothing, bright red pigtails, oversized white wedding dress with a claret splatter and a massive hammer with blood dripping from the fresh puddles on its head.....