One day when I was a kid, my mom took me to a fair. The prize in the shooting gallery — a teddy bear — immediately caught my eye. My mom is a former biathlete, she’s a good shot, and I had no doubt that she would win it for me. But after a few rounds, she became frustrated. No matter how perfectly she aimed, the cans just wouldn’t fall. It didn’t make any sense. She adjusted her stance, tried different techniques, but the cans remained firmly in place.

Eventually, my mom began to suspect something was off. She took a closer look at the cans and realized they were glued onto the platform. At first, she couldn’t believe it. How could they get away with this? The shooting gallery was supposed to be a fair game, but this felt like a trick. She stood there for a moment, fuming with disbelief, and then an idea struck her.

Without saying a word, Mom swiftly removed her boot and, with surprising accuracy, threw it right at the cans. They didn’t budge. The man running the shooting gallery was watching, and his face turned pale. He began to stammer and deny everything, insisting that the cans were not fixed, but his nervousness was obvious. Mom stood her ground, arms crossed, not buying his excuses for a second.The man’s discomfort grew as the people around started to notice the commotion. He mumbled something about a “special promotion” and tried to distract us with more offers, but my mom was resolute. She wasn’t backing down without that teddy bear. After a tense moment, the man quickly threw in the prize I had been eyeing — the teddy bear — along with a few other toys, probably hoping we’d leave without causing any more trouble.

My mom collected the prizes with a small smirk on her face, and we walked away triumphantly. I couldn’t stop smiling, not just because I had the teddy bear, but because I had witnessed my mom’s determination in action. Her quick thinking and unflinching resolve had not only won me the toy, but also exposed the unfair game for what it really was.