Earth Dies

Alice sighed as she pulled the John Deere tractor back into the barn behind her parents' house, watching as her father drove the combine in ahead of her. It wasn't that she disliked the farm work, but it wasn't what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Alice had grown up on her parents' farm in southwest Iowa, knowing that her future largely revolved around soy beans and corn. She wanted to see the world and have adventures, something that seemed less likely as time went on.

Alice Thompson was 18, a recent graduate of Harlan Community High School, and woo, go Cyclones she thought as she rolled her eyes. She'd finished her senior year a few months prior, but didn't have plans for what to do next. She had wanted to be a doctor and heal people, but she knew that wasn't possible, so she didn't consider it a realistic career path. Alice's father needed her to help keep the farm going, not that they had the money for college anyway. Many of her friends were headed off to college, a few to the military, and yet Alice remained stuck, driving a tractor and wishing she could be more. She supposed she'd do what all good Midwesterners do - she would just shove her feelings deep down inside and just get on with life, because that's what you do when nobody wants to hear you whine.

As Alice walked into her parents' house, she carefully took her boots off in the mud room. If she was lucky, she could sneak through the house and upstairs without her mom realizing she was back yet and -

"Alice, is that you? Come help me in the kitchen please." Her mom's voice rang out.

Shit. Busted.

"Yea mom, coming."

Shannon Thompson stood at the kitchen counter, preparing what looked like the usual meat and potatoes dinner. She was a beautiful woman, a former cheerleader at Iowa State, and even in her 40s would turn heads when she was out and about town. Alice always felt like a fraud standing next to her mom. She was about the same height as her mom, sure - a modest five and a half feet - but that was about where the similarity ended and it only got more obvious as she stayed rail thin through her teenage years. Alice couldn't help but envy her mom's C-cup chest, but puberty had not been kind to Alice and had left her with little more than bee stings. Alice at least had her mom's straight black hair and blue eyes, but most of the time kept herself hidden away behind grubby farm shirts and jeans, ashamed of her figure in comparison.

"So, I hear the end of summer party is tonight, right? Where's it at this time?"

The end of summer party was a big annual tradition among the kids who graduated. In early August, before everyone went their separate ways to the next stages of their lives, someone would offer up a spot hiding in a field somewhere, light a bonfire, and the graduates would descend upon it. The adults would all look the other way as for one night, the former high schoolers could party together. In the morning, many of them would be heading off to the next chapter of their lives and would likely not see each other again. More than a few relationships ended - or began - as a result of the end of summer party, and sometimes even a child resulted from it, but it was mostly a chance to get some closure on the previous four years of high school.

"Mom, you know I can't tell you where it is, not that I even know what you're talking about."

Alice's protests fell on deaf ears, though.

"Sure, honey. We all know how the game is played. Just stay safe and have fun, okay? What are you wearing? Something cute I hope, maybe show off your legs? You really are beautiful, you know. You don't always need to hide yourself away in grubby farm clothes."

"I uh ... maybe a dress. I'm going with Bridgette, and she was going to loan me something, I think. We'll see." Alice wasn't exactly sure what to wear. She didn't think she was ugly, but just maybe not what most people really were after. Not everyone went for the beanstalk look, after all. She was the butt of so many jokes at school, the bean farmer's daughter who looked like a rake. But who knows, a dress could be fun, but only if the right person liked it. Alice had even bought a few things online without her mom noticing, she hoped, but wasn't sure if she was confident enough to pull them off.

"Bridgette is a great friend, I'm really happy you have her. What are her plans for the future?"

"It's complicated. She wants to leave, something about joining the Air Force, but I don't know the specifics. She was going to tell me about it tonight."

Bridgette was a touchy subject when it came to Alice, and she really didn't want to get into it with her mom. The two of them had been great friends since birth, but over the years it had shifted slightly. Bridgette went through puberty and came out the other side as an athletic yet busty redhead, she was the class valedictorian, honor society, prom queen, and honestly half of the town followed her around drooling, while Alice just got more awkward and introverted. Alice's feelings got very complicated at that point, and she just kept shoving them down inside along with everything else, ignoring them and moving on. It's not like Bridgette was interested in her, or she was interested in Bridgette, so no point even thinking about it.

"Anyway mom, I gotta go shower before I head out for you-know-what. I'll see you in the morning. I promise to behave. Love you. Say good night to dad for me, I think he's still cleaning up out in the barn."

"I love you, honey. Have fun."