Unerring Aim

Mai peered around it. "How do you...turn it on?" she asked. I inserted some coins for her. "It's all set to go. Gonna give it a try?" I offered, curious to see how'd she'd do.

Mai stared at the crane a moment before looking along the sides, standing on her toes to peer down at the prizes from a slightly overhead view. Nodding, Mai grabbed the joystick and eased it slowly upward, then to the right. Luckily it wasn't one of the ones you can only move up, then right, then it drops on it's own. Mai had the ability to properly get her aim lined up.

Releasing the joystick, Mai pressed the red button on the tip of it, causing the claw to reach down and pick up...to my utter surprise...ball. Mai had managed to pick up a perfectly round object with the crane. It carried it over to the shute and dropped it.

With that, she picked it up and examined it. It was a rubber ball, roughly the size of a tennis ball. And in the ultimate ironic statement, it had a big smiley face on it. Tossing it up, Mai caught it as she turned her head to look at me. "Damn..." she muttered.

"What?" I asked, surprised. "What's wrong? You won!" Mai looked at the ball in her hand. "I know...but I thought it was made of a harder material." ...I wasn't sure if I wanted to know why.

Mai tried to tuck the ball into a pocket or her sleeve, but found it wouldn't fit in anything. She seemed distressed by this. "I thought you didn't want it..." I said, confused by her behavior. Shaking her head, Mai tried again to cram it into her left pocket. It finally slipped in...though it left an obvious bulge. "I never said that," Mai corrected. "This will serve as a reminder of what we did today." She smiled softly at me. "It was a rocky start...but I'm...having fun," Mai confessed.

That's what I wanted to hear. "I'm glad to hear it. Now...let me introduce you to the most delicious and unhealthy types of foods you'll ever find." Mai quirked an eyebrow, but let herself be led.