Christmas in the Country (A Pocahontas FanFiction)

Second Day of the Journey Home

The next morning, the boys got up early and got ready to go.  Just as Thomas finished brushing his teeth, their parents got up.  Mr. Smith rubbed his eyes, "Well, you two are certainly the early birds.  Well, go down and get breakfast and we'll be right with you."  John nodded, "Sounds like a plan."  He patted Thomas' back, "Come on, buddy."

While they ate, Thomas began thinking about what their dad had been hearing on the news.  Someone named George Floyd had recently been killed by a white police officer who basically strangled him to death with his knee.  Since George Floyd was African-American, people took to believing that the killing was done out of racism.  Since then, people had been trying to topple and vandalize memorials or statues of any historic figure they considered racist.  It somewhat scared Thomas, this and other forms of violent protests didn't seem right.  Violent protesting never helped, not even George Floyd's brother was for it as he'd read.  John looked up from his pancakes, "What's wrong, Thomas?  Somethin' botherin' ya?"  Thomas swallowed a bite of his cinnamon roll, "I was just thinking about all that's been happening since George Floyd was killed.  Do you think it'll stop anytime soon?"  John took another bite of his pancakes and thought for a minute, "Well, I'm not sure.  I guess it will if anyone takes the time to explain that none of the violence and stuff will make any kind of racism go away.  Not very many people have that kind of courage.  Thankfully, I'm next up in the family to vote, I'm keeping all that in mind when I make my choice of who to vote for."  Just at this, their parents came down and joined them.

After eating, they checked out, loading their luggage, and got back on the road.  Thomas kept thinking about the whole thing.  How would it affect their life?  Would the new rule be that if you're white, you live in the south, you don't approve taking down Confederate memorials, you're racist?  It would be a big topic in the upcoming presidential election.  How would this all turn out?  The questions kept popping up in his head as he slowly began to fall asleep.  John put an arm around his shoulders, even now, he could tell Thomas was still perturbed, "It'll be okay, bud.  You'll see."  Thomas yawned big and dropped off to sleep.  

John patted Thomas back and suddenly had an idea and took out a notebook.  His story for English wasn't due till the day they got back.  He had a new idea for his story and the inspiration was right next to him.  He would call it "The Little Prince who could Never Stay Awake."  As the title suggested, it would be about this prince who could never stay awake.  The king would be worried that this would cause the prince to struggle when it was his turn to rule, so he calls in every wiseman he had to see if they knew of any way to help the prince stay awake.  But the one who would get the cure was the youngest of the wisemen who knew the prince very well and was a friend of his.  He knows the prince doesn't have much to do, so he suggests the king have the prince do more with his time like run, be outside, and the like.  So the king decided to try it and put the wiseman in charge of seeing to it.  It, of course, worked like a charm.

John worked on the new story until it was almost time to stop for lunch, "Boys," Mr. Smith called to the back, "where do you two wanna go for lunch?"  John lifted Thomas' face to face him.  Thomas opened his eyes a little while John whispered something in his ear.  Thomas nodded and went back to sleep.  John looked at their dad in the rearview mirror, "We've chosen so much, why don't you and mom surprise us?"

"Alrighty."

Mr. and Mrs. Smith talked for some time and finally decided on Chili's.  When they parked, John ran his fingers through Thomas' bangs, "Hey, buddy?"  Thomas' eyes fluttered back open, "Time to wake up, we're at Chili's."  Thomas yawned, "Okay, I'm up."  Everyone got out and stretched.  John looked at his little brother, it was almost amazing how he could never stay awake during a long road trip.

While they were eating, John asked Thomas, "How do you feel?"  Thomas yawned, "Better, I just wish the trip wasn't so long.  It's always hard to stay awake."