Two For One

No, I'm not behind in my challenge. But today is a special day here in Kansas. It's Kansas Day! Both of my stories are pretty short this time around. Like, really short. :) But I hope you'll enjoy them. The first is our prompt for the week: solar eclipse. I remember seeing one as a kid and this captures some of the thoughts I had that day. The second story is my bonus state story. It's short and sweet this time around, unlike last year's. So, enjoy and Happy Kansas Day!

Solar Eclipse

It happened so rarely that many had forgotten that it happened at all. On a clear sunny day, suddenly the light began to dim. While there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun began to fade behind the moon.
Sarah knew it had been coming, but it didn’t stop the slight anxiety. What if the moon stayed there? What if all that was left of the sun was that burning ring? Would things go back to normal?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the teacher telling them to sit in the story corner. She got out a book about solar eclipses and began reading from it. As the students clung to her every word, Sarah thought about the strange sight they’d gone out to see. Before leaving the building, her teacher had warned them not to look up at the sky. “The light of the eclipse could hurt your eyes very badly. You might even be blinded.”
Terrified, Sarah had kept her head down until it was her turn to look through the special glasses. She had looked and seen a fiery ring around a blackened circle. “Pretty neat, huh?” the guy from the science museum had said.
“Yeah, neat.”
Now as her teacher’s voice went over her, she tried to think of how she would get home. How was she supposed to keep her little brother from looking up at the strange sight? “How long does an eclipse last?” one of the boys asked, breaking through her thoughts.
“Not very long, actually,” their teacher said. “Eclipses are fairly short lived. They don’t happen often. In fact, you may not see a full eclipse like this again in your lifetime.”
“Whoa!”
“Cool!”
“Bummer.”
“So, will it be done before we go home?” Sarah asked.
“Definitely before you go home.”
Relief flooded her, but she still wondered. What if this time things were different? What if this time the moon stayed where it was? She hardly paid attention to the rest of the lessons her teacher taught. Her mind strayed from her homework and when the bell rang, she barely noticed it. She followed her classmates to the cubbies and began putting her things in her backpack. Then she walked down the halls to her brother’s classroom.
“Sarah, did you see the eclipse?”
“Yeah, I saw it.”
“Wasn’t that the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“It was pretty neat,” she admitted.
“I’m going to go home and write a story all about it,” her brother declared as they walked toward the front door.
For a moment, Sarah hesitated. Then seeing that everyone else seemed to be fine, she strode out into the sunshine. The moon had moved out of the way. The sun was shining brightly once again with nothing to block its radiant beams. “Sounds like a good plan. What will you write?”
“Something about aliens,” her brother said. “They’re going to pull the moon in front of the sun and then use lasers or something. I don’t know all the details yet.”
Sarah laughed, “Sounds fun. Can I read it when you’re done?”
“Of course, I need a good critique.”
Laughing again that her little brother even knew that word, Sarah said, “Come on, let’s go home and write that story.”


Kansas Day

She’d heard all the jokes. She knew them by heart. But she laughed anyway, even when she wanted to groan. It amazed her that people still thought it was original to say, “Guess you’re not in Kansas anymore, huh?” Then they’d laugh and she’d pretend to laugh only to not offend them. She sometimes cursed her brown hair which had just enough curl to look like Dorothy’s when braided. She’d been asked where she kept her ruby slippers. She’d been asked how many witches her house had fallen on. Do you have flying monkeys? Has the scarecrow visited before? The more naïve asked if she had electricity. Do you live on a farm? Do you ever worry about Indians attacking?
As she looked out the plane window at the checkerboard of fields below, she smiled. It was good to be going home. The wide open skies and fields were as much a part of her as her flesh and blood.
“Ugh, a layover in Kansas,” the person next to her said. “How boring! Couldn’t they have picked a more interesting state for us to spend three hours?”
“I don’t think so.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “Where are you headed?”
“Kansas. This is my home.”
He had the decency to look embarrassed. “Sorry. I guess, well, you’ve probably heard all the jokes, haven’t you?”
“And then some,” she admitted. “I’ve gotten used to them.”
“Don’t know what you see in the state, personally. It’s so flat and there’s nothing to do.”
“That all depends on your perspective. I grew up in Kansas and parts of it are pretty flat, but there’s also some beautiful hill country. Not quite mountains, but they’ll give you a workout nonetheless. We have wonderful museums, art galleries, restaurants; the same kind of things you’d look for in other states. Really, I don’t think Kansas is missing anything that people really need.”
“Spoken like a true Kansan.”
She laughed. “I can’t help it. It’s in my blood.”
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy here.”
“No reason not to be. Maybe you should take a look around town during your layover, if you can.”
“What? And spoil my preconceptions?” he teased.
“You never know, you might find you like it here,” she retorted.
“Touché. I probably can’t make it into town during this trip. I’ve got work to catch up on and airports are almost like a second home to me anymore. I spend enough time in them. But maybe someday I’ll give Kansas a try.”
“It’d probably do you some good.”
The plane began to descend into the airport. She couldn’t help the excitement building in her chest. Home at last. As cliché as it was, it was true.
“There’s no place like home, is there?” the man asked, winking.
“Nope, there’s really not,” she replied with a smile. There really is no place like home.