One morning while delivering papers, Tommy discovers a carnival on the outskirts of town. A carnival filled with animals walking with the side show freaks, games of skill and chance being set up, and music playing through the air. Returning home, he calls his friends and together they make afternoon plans to go. Later that day, the group rides their bikes to the carnival. Tommy and his friends head first to the midway, to play some games despite know they are rigged. There, amongst the annoying clowns, they settle on throwing some darts to explode the balloons. After popping the last one, winning a purple, overstuffed bear, Tommy notices Jacob, his little brother, is missing. Looking at his watch, realizing his mom will be here in an hour to grab Jacob, the race is on to find him. Otherwise, Tommy knows he won’t be allowed out of the house for a month.