Eclipse Fare

The water was wonderfully clear and calm for an early Spring morning. The traffic on the lake was up four-fold for that time of the year, but the impending total solar eclipse had brought people in droves to Southern Indiana. Everyone was traversing the lake looking for an ideal spot to set up or anchor to watch the celestial event. The water would have looked like a smooth mirror, if not for the boat traffic.

Brad Powell steered his Nautic Star across the lake with a bottle of Yuengling dark lager in bottle cosey. He had a disinterested look about this trip. Grilling on his deck would have been a more ideal way of watching the eclipse, even though it would have just been a partial eclipse. Instead, they came early to the lake and spent almost three hours waiting to launch the boat.

His wife, Skyla was lounging, with her blonde hair blowing in the wind, on one of the front seats next to their unhappy eight-year-old son, Caleb, who was being forced to read a book before the light started dimming. Behind Brad, his fourteen-year-old stepdaughter, Christy, was digging in a cooler past the beer and sodas to find a bottle of water. She contemplated asking for a beer on this special occasion but knew she would be denied. Meanwhile, she wished her phone got a decent signal, then maybe she would not be bored to tears.

Skyla turned her head to Brad and yelled, “Do you see that?” She leveled her finger toward a thin, rocky island about seventy yards away and slightly starboard.

“I do now. Let’s check it.” He slowed the boat down and adjusted their course to approach at an angle watching for shallow obstacles. As they got closer, he stated, “That’s so weird.”

Interest piqued, Christy asked, “What is?”

“An island like this should have shallow water around it, but it all looks deep. It’s like this island is floating.”

Caleb dropped his book and yelled, “Rock raft! Rock raft!”

After parking the bow of the boat about a foot from the edge of the island and dropping anchor, Brad told his family to wait as he tested the ground and hopped off the boat. The ground felt solid. The island was about ten feet long and about seven feet across. There were no plants, not even grass. Sand and smooth stones looked like a carpet with three stacks of flat rocks, five high.

The family began off-loading their folding chairs, blankets, coolers, and bags. They had nearly two hours until the eclipse. While everyone else was setting things up, Caleb examined the stacks of rocks. They looked identical in height and were the same distance from each other. He turned over the top rock of one of the stacks to reveal three etched lines extending straight from a single point with six odd carved runes around the outside of the outer lines.

“Hey, Dad. Lookit this.”

Brad had just settled into a chair with a fresh beer in hand. “Give me a few minutes, bubby.” Brad rarely had time off from being a firefighter, so when he had it, he tried his best to decompress.

Caleb found the top rock of each stack had the same symbols. He hummed while he contemplated what they meant.

Then, Christy came over. “What’cha up to, creep?”

“I don’t know. What do you think this means?” He ran a finger along the deep-cut grooves.

Christy took the stone and looked at it closely. She noticed the light was reflected from deep inside the etchings. “So weird. How do you find the strangest things, creeper,” she asked as she set the rock back on the stack.

“I dunno, Frizzy. They are just come to me.” Caleb started inching towards the edge of the island with a mischievous smirk. His nickname was his clever plays off her name and over-treated hair.

Christy gasped and started rotating the stone. “Wait! We can line these up.” Once it was turned so each outer line was pointing at the other stacks, she went to the next one.

While the second stone was being lined up, Caleb came up next to her, wiped his wet hands across her cheeks, and yelled, “Don’t you hate it when you pee all over your hands!” He started laughing as he ran to the other end of the island.

“Oh, you little shit!” Christy took off after him.

“Language!” Both parents yelled at the same time.

“Sorry.” Christy caught her brother and pulled him down onto the blanket that was spread out on the ground. She pinned him down and began lightly slapping his cheeks. “You are so pale, creeper. Let’s get some rosiness into those cheeks.”

Amused, Brad and Skyla watched the entertainment, while Caleb laughed and attempted to defend his face.

Then a family-filled pontoon boat pulled up near the open side of the island. All the family’s eyes were focused on the island. Confusion dominated their faces, except for a teenage boy. He was staring hard at Christy.

The driver asked, “Where did this island come from?”

“It came with the boat.” Brad joked.

“That’s funny.  But seriously, I have owned a house on the shore for almost twenty years, and there has never been an island anywhere on this lake.”

Brad shook his head. “You got me. I can’t explain it, but there is one here now. Unless we all became Jesus this morning.”

“Alright. Be careful and have fun.” The driver throttled up and maneuvered the pontoon away.”

That was when Brad and Skyla noticed the sunlight had started to dim. Skyla said, “Ok, kids, get your eclipse shades. It’s starting.” She handed out the mostly black paper commemorative glasses with reflective lenses.

Christy released her brother and took a pair. Then she walked over to the third stack of rocks and rotated the last of the stones into position. She put her fists on her hips in triumph and went to sit in one of the chairs. Putting the glasses on blacked out everything except for the sun and the shadow moving across it.

While everyone was looking up at the disappearing sun, Skyla handed out sandwiches, chips, and drinks. Then she settled into her chair to watch the event.

“Woah! This is so awesome! It’s like God is sliding his thumb over the sun.” Caleb was squirming in his chair making it creak.

“Settle down, Caleb,” Brad said as he opened another bottle of beer. Lightening up, he decided this was better than his deck would have been.

Christy lightly slapped Caleb across his shoulder with the back of her hand. “Yeah, Creeper. You will ruin the best part. Geez,” she said in a funny voice. This made her brother chuckle.

As the moon moved into the final position of the complete eclipse, they heard a sound like a large rock being dropped onto another rock and felt a rush of wind hitting them sideways. The sound of water lapping the sides of the island disappeared, but none of them stopped looking at the total eclipse, glasses now raised to watch white light streaming from behind the moon in a perfect ring. The wind was picking up steadily.

“This is so awesome,” Caleb yelled more than once.

After a few minutes, Skyla began thinking this eclipse was lasting longer than it should. It looked like the moon had stalled on top of the sun. She looked around. “Oh my God, Brad. What’s happening?”

“It’s called an eclipse, Sky.”

“No, Brad. The lake is gone.” Her family started looking around.

The wind was getting stronger.

The lake was not just gone. The island was flying through the sky and gaining speed. The island seemed to be moving at the same pace as the moon was moving across the sun keeping their view constant. The velocity was generating enough wind to make it hard to stay on the island. Brad stood up and leaned into the wind. His chair instantly flew off the island. Ahead he saw a cloud bank. Things were about to get wet.

Caleb screamed as the small smooth stones gave way under his chair causing him to slide toward the edge. Skyla lunged towards him, grabbed him by his upper arm, and pulled him to her letting the chair fly away. Then Christy’s chair started sliding before tipping sideways, spilling her onto the island. She screamed in terror clamoring for a hold. Brad leaped towards her and used his body to pin her down. Her chair hit him on the head before it sailed off. The impact made his head swim for a moment.

Brad dug his fingers into the rocks and sand of the island while his daughter clung to him. Then he yelled over the rushing air, “Sky, come here and hold on to me!”

Skyla was fully leaning into the wind with her feet slipping. She was so glad to have chosen running shoes instead of flats. Her fingers were gripping Caleb’s arms so tightly that bruises were forming. She was only three feet from her husband, but the effort made it feel like half a mile. She began to cry from terror and the burning in all her muscles. Could she make it before getting blasted off? Would she be able to hold on to Caleb, who was only being kept from being blown off by her grip? Caleb’s feet were blowing in the wind. She summoned everything within her she could.

Skyla made it to Brad and wrapped her free arm over his shoulder and across his chest. All his muscles were taut. Skyla tried to pull Caleb up, so he could hold on too. Her arm did not have the strength. She was afraid her grip would fail her but willed her hand to hold fast.

Then they all felt the change in the island’s course. It was descending. The wind let up slightly giving a little relief.

“Be prepared to hold your breath,” Brad yelled. “We will probably stop hard in the water.”

The air felt heavier, and thicker for a moment before the sound of a large splash. The family was launched headfirst through the air and plunged into cold water. Brad and Skyla struggled to get their heads above water. Their muscles were already overtaxed. Caleb and Christy began swimming for the island while screaming for their parents. The water was so cold; that it felt like it was attacking them all with tiny daggers.

Brad broke the surface before Skyla and helped her. Swimming to the island was tough. The water felt thick. His body was so numb. He could tell his wife was trying to help him swim, but her arms were barely moving.

Once they were close enough, the children helped their parents onto the island. They all collapsed on the rough ground breathing hard and shivering. The air was cold.

“We need to keep our core body temperature up. Huddle up,” Brad said.

They all got close and curled up together. As the sun began to shine more. They looked around in shock.

Mountains.

Forested mountains surrounded them.

“Brad. Where are we?” Skyla’s voice was trembling. She was sobbing from pain, cold, and fear.

“I don’t know, babe.”

The sound of a motor was approaching. They all turned their heads. A fishing boat with just a single person was coming toward them. Brad tried to stand but lacked strength. Christy jumped up and began waving her arms and screaming. The driver nodded and raised a hand to wave back.

Within a minute the boat was turned alongside the island. The driver smiled and greeted them. “Hello there. Hell of a day to swim out to an island.”

Christy asked, “Where are we?”

The man shook his head in bewilderment. “Hammond Reservoir.”

Skyla asked, “Where is that?”

The man raised his eyebrows, shocked by the question, and answered, “Pennsylvania, ma'am.”

The family froze in shock. Skyla added, “How the hell?!”