From Sneers to Cheers: Anthea’s Ascent (Anthea )

After a vigorous hour-long hike, Annie and Sarah finally crested the hilltop.

They'd picked up some candles at a quaint little shop along the way and dropped a couple of coins into the donation box before heading into the chapel to offer a heartfelt prayer, their foreheads softly touching the ground in reverence. Once their spiritual moment was complete, they stepped back outside into the hustle and bustle of the fair.

The first of the month always saw the area around the Chapel come alive with vendors of all sorts.

Food and fun. Everything your heart could desire.

"Annie, check out the ring toss over there!" Sarah pointed excitedly towards a crowd a short distance away.

Annie nodded in agreement.

Ten bucks got you twenty rings, and whatever you hooked, you kept.

But with the prizes set at a challenging distance, many had dropped a pretty penny only to walk away empty-handed.

Undeterred, Sarah bought twenty rings and handed half to Annie.

Annie raised an eyebrow with a playful smirk, "With all these rings, if we hook everything, how on earth are we going to carry our loot back down?"

The booth owner, overhearing her, chuckled and said, "Now, that's some confidence! Tell you what, if you manage to hook every single prize, I'll personally help you carry them down the hill."

"Gentlemen's agreement?" Annie asked, her eyes sparkling with challenge.

"Can't back out of it now!" The owner exclaimed with a grin. His livelihood had been built on this ring toss game over the last twenty years, and the best he'd ever seen was someone hooking half the prizes with twenty rings. He was pretty sure this sprightly young thing, who looked to be no older than eighteen, didn't stand a chance.

Annie smiled, "With your word on it, I'm all in. Could you pass me another forty rings, please?"

After all, with the owner's offer to help carry the prizes down, she wasn't worried about the logistics.

"Sure thing," The owner replied, handing over another set of forty rings.

Sarah was flabbergasted, "Annie, you sure you're that good?"

"Watch me," Annie said confidently, without a hint of modesty.

Sarah decided to give it a go first. She threw a ring.

Unfortunately, it hooked nothing.

The owner smiled and picked up the ring, handing it back to her.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

By the third and fourth attempts, with the same result, Sarah let out a sigh of disappointment.

The distance didn't seem that far, so why was it so hard to hook a prize?

The owner looked at Annie, "Your turn, miss. Give it a shot?"

Annie glanced up, "Keep your eyes peeled, don't blink."

With that, she casually tossed a ring, and it landed perfectly around a toy.

"Holy smokes!" Sarah jumped up in excitement, "That was awesome!"

The owner was momentarily stunned.

A direct hit on the first try? Must be a fluke!

He moved to pick up the toy, but Annie stopped him, "Just wait a sec, sir. It'll be too much hassle to collect them one by one. Let me finish, and then you can pick them all up together."

The owner chuckled, "Alright then." He was curious to see if this young lady really had the skills she boasted about.

Annie turned to Sarah, "Which ones do you like?"

Sarah, still in shock, managed to point out, "That panda over there."

"Anything else?"

"Huh?" Sarah was momentarily lost for words. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Why don't I just hook ten in one go? Doing it one by one is too slow," Annie suggested.

Sarah swallowed hard.

The owner couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This girl was something else. In all his years, he had never met someone so full of themselves, let alone someone who aimed to hook ten prizes at once.

Kids these days sure know how to talk big!

Sarah pointed at a few more toys. Annie, not bothering to count the rings in her hand, grabbed a handful and threw them.

They spread out like petals thrown by a flower girl at a wedding.

As the rings settled, Sarah was dumbstruck.

No freaking way! They had all hooked prizes.

She looked up at Annie in amazement.

Annie was the picture of calm, as if the feat had been nothing out of the ordinary.

The owner and onlookers were gobsmacked.

No one had expected Annie to be so incredibly skilled.

Annie grabbed another handful of rings and tossed them into the air.

And, as expected, every single one hooked a prize.

"Applause erupted from the crowd, loud and enthusiastic. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who would believe that a teenager could be so extraordinary?