Dooley and cousin Billy Clyde came home from the county fair filled with big plans.
It wasn't so much the fair itself that had them all excited, but rather the carnival that came along with the fair. Both of them had saved up all their money made from picking blackberries to spend at the fair.
Of course, a good part of their money had gone to ride the carnival rides.  But this year they had become greatly attracted to the side shows.
I suppose that is why they were called attractions. Both of them had paid their quarter to see the bearded lady, and agreed she was worth paying to see.
They had spent another quarter  to see the worlds strongest man. He was able to lift a weight weighing 1,000 pounds, although he seemed to strain a great deal to get it over his head.  
They knew it was the real deal because the weight had 1,000 lbs. clearly written on it on both ends. They did scratch their heads a little when his female assistant picked it up and tossed it out of the way at the end of the show.
After some discussion, they agreed that she was probably the worlds strongest woman, and had her own show somewhere. They were so enamored with this that they spent another quarter each to see it again.
They wanted very much to see the hoochie koochie show. There were some pretty girl's pictures painted on the side of their wagon.
The announcer said it was a once in a lifetime chance to see the beautiful women inside in all their glory. They had no idea what kind of show it was, but it sure did seem popular from the looks of all the men lined up to buy tickets.   
Both had bought their tickets and were about to step inside when the ticket taker noticed the sheriff  next in line behind Dooley.  He quickly grabbed both boys by the shirt collar and spun them around out of line.  
He pointed out the sign that said you must be eighteen to enter.“You boys come back when you get a little older,”  he said.   
But the highlight of it all came when they saw the amazing two-headed calf.  Since their money was all gone, they spent the rest of their time walking around looking at all the pigs, cows, and chickens that were entered in the fair.
The very next week they started making their plans for a show of their own.
Since Aunt Sadie Crabtree had a little bit of hair around under her nose they asked her if she would like to be the bearded lady in their new show.  For whatever reason, she showed no interest in that possibility, so Dooley asked her if she wanted to be the lady in the Hoochie Koochie show.   
Dooley  didn't know what that show was all about, and couldn't figure out why she got so upset about it, and even threatened to take a switch to him if he didn't go home right that very minute.
She said she was going to tell his mama on him, and evidently she did, because Ms. Josie got all upset about it, too. They determined then and there that they were going to see that show next year.    
Well the big day came at last, and they set their show up right in front of Pete’s store porch. Dooley was the announcer and in his best imitation of the barker at the carnival he invited the loafers on the porch to buy their  tickets.
No one bought a ticket so they decided to do the show free. They couldn't find a two-headed calf, so they brought a one-headed calf and put him back inside a big box.
They didn't have anyone to be the bearded lady either so they discarded that idea also. No one seemed interested in seeing the amazing Billy Clyde lift a fifty pound sack of potatoes, so they left that off as well.      
“Come see the amazing one headed calf do the hoochie koochie,” Dooley cried out in a sing song voice. Their show would have been a total flop had it not been for the world's largest rat.  
Hey, this story is getting a little long, so I will save that for next week....  grin.   
God watches every move we make, and always knows the story of our life from start to finish. How is your life working out?  It would be a better story with Jesus as Lord.