Scene 1:
-The school bell had rung and many elementary school age children were walking out of their school together. Coming out from one door was Grace and another girl named Abigail.
Abigail: Thanks again for the cool cat picture you gave me Grace. It's really awesome looking.
Grace: No big. I had extra time in art class last week and just felt like making it.
Abigail: Okay. Well I hope we're in the same class again next year. Ooo. There's my mommy. Bye.
-Grace then watched as Abigail ran over to her mother who was standing nearby a curb. Abigail then suddenly tripped on the curb and began to fall down.
Abigail: Ah! Mommy!
-Abigail's mother quickly held both of her arms out and Abigail then grabbed onto one of her mother's arms with both of her own arms and stopped herself from falling. Abigail then got out from her backpack the cat picture Grace had drawn and showed it to her mother.
Grace: Look at this really cool picture my friend made mommy. She makes really cool pictures all on her own. She's so talented!
-Grace continued to watch from nearby as she made a small smile.
Scene 2:
-Grace along with many other elementary school age children were starting to sit down on a bus. Once they were all seated, Farkle stood up at the front of the bus and began to speak to the children.
Farkle: Okay friends. Our end of school year field trip is about to begin. Now again, to our little friends: this is a nine hour trip. Meaning the sun is going to go down before this trip is over. But don't worry. Those grownups that care about you will indeed be here to pick you up when the trip is over. Anyway, last chance for bathroom. Oh, and make room for all of the adults coming in.
-From the bus door: several more adults including Maya stepped onto the bus. Maya walked down the bus isle and saw sitting by herself was Grace. Maya then sat next to Grace and spoke.
Maya: Hey. Mind if I sit here?
Grace: Oh. Sure.
-The two heard the sound of the bus engine starting, and then the bus started to move.
Maya: Well, here we go on our field trip adventure. So… how was your last day of school?
Grace: It was okay. We…
-Suddenly the bus hit a small bump in the road causing Grace to bounce a bit in her seat.
Grace: Ahh!
-Grace began to shake a bit as Maya looked concerned.
Maya: Uh, Grace. You okay? It was just a little bump in the road.
Grace: Oh, um… I'm okay. I'm okay.
Scene 3:
-Some time later, Grace was looking outside of a window as Maya was pointing things out to her.
Maya: And over there is one of the oldest train bridges in the state.
Grace: Whoa. That is so amazing.
Maya: Yeah. But that's enough of talking about landmarks for now. How about we listen to what Mr. Farkle and Ms. Smackle are saying to the rest of the kids now.
-At the front of the bus Farkle and Smackle sat up looking back at all of the students as they were talking to them.
Farkle: Okay everybody. So because this bus ride to our field trip destination has been so long, it was suggested that we pass the time with something fun. So I was thinking about doing a little...
Smackle: STORY TIME!
Farkle: Yeah. What she said. Anyway, I thought I could share with you all the classic tale of Rapunzel.
Smackle: Ooo. I love that story. Lets take turns telling parts of it.
Farkle: Okay. So… long ago an evil witch took a young princess away from her family and forced her to live in a tall tower. But one day a noble man came the castle wanting to save Rapunzel and said…
Smackle: It's a me! Mario! Here to rescue the princess!
Farkle: What?
Smackle: Hey. It's a princess that has to be rescued from a castle. This is obviously a job for the famous Italian hero. Come on Farkle. Just roll with it.
Farkle: I… okay. So this young hero decides to climb up the castle walls and asks Rapunzel to let down her hair so he can use it to climb up.
Smackle: But then the evil witch finds out what the two are up to, and calls upon her ally – GIGATRON: the evil robot from Earth X that wishes to wipe them all out for good. Then Rapunzel who is tired of having others try to defend her, activates her magic pendant and yells: HENSHIN, which transformers her into the Metal Kamen Sentai Hero Girl!
Farkle: What? Smackle, we were supposed to tell the kids the story of Rapunzel. How did we get from princess in a locked tower to an intergalactic war story?
Smackle: With effort of course.
Farkle: I… I don't know to what to say after that.
Smackle: How about rules and expectations. We are at the amusement park now.
Farkle: Oh, right. Okay friends. Now once I'm done talking, you can all get up and go meet with your usual group leaders outside of the bus. From there, we'll divide you into groups of people who want to ride roller coasters, and people who don't want to ride roller coasters.
-Everyone on the bus then got up and walked off together. Eventually every child was standing near an adult leader. Farkle then stood where everyone could see him and shouted out to everyone.
Farkle: Okay. You all know which group leaders you're allowed to go to. So pick your leaders wisely now!
-Many children began to walk towards specific adult leaders as Grace simply stood still near Maya. Maya turned her head and noticed Grace was right near her.
Maya: Oh. Did you wanna be in my group Grace?
Grace: Oh, um… Sure. I'm okay with whatever.
-Several other children walked towards Maya. Farkle looked in Maya's direction and then called out to everyone.
Farkle: Okay. It looks like Miss Maya almost has a full group. Does anyone else want to join Miss Maya's Loves Roller Coasters a Whole Lot group!?
-Grace's eyes suddenly widened as a look of fear went across her face.
Grace: I'm in the group that wants to ride roller coasters?
Maya: Yeah. I thought that's why you were standing near me. You cool with riding roller coasters all afternoon?
Grace: Uh… yeah. I'm okay. I'm okay.
Scene 4:
-Grace was strapped into a large swing that was spinning around very quickly. As Grace sat in the swing, a look of extreme fear was going across her face.
Grace: Oh, why? Why!? Why do I have to…
-Suddenly Grace's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Maya call out to her.
Maya: Grace! You okay!?
-Grace turned and saw Maya was in a spinning swing near her. Grace made a fake smile as she looked at Maya.
Grace: I'm okay! I'm okay!
-After a few more moments, the ride ended. Maya, Grace, and several other children met up together and began to talk.
Maya: You all had fun?
-All of the children nodded their heads except Grace. Grace who was keeping a fake smile on her face began to speak.
Grace: Well that wasn't so bad actually. If that's how crazy the rides here get then…
-Suddenly a young boy interrupted Grace and spoke.
Young Boy: What are you talking about? That was just the warm up. Now it's time to go on the REAL RIDES!
-Grace had a look of terror on her face as her body suddenly became frozen.
Grace: Re… real rides!?
-Maya had a look of concern on her as she began to notice the look on Grace's face.
Maya: Grace. You still fine being part of this group?
-Grace then suddenly made a fake smile again as she looked at Maya.
Grace: Yes. I'm okay. I'm okay.
Scene 5:
-Maya, Grace, and several other children were walking away from a roller coaster. Most of the children were walking away smiling while Grace had a look of complete terror on her face.
Grace: That is what people actually do for fun?
-A young boy next to Grace smiled as he walked near her.
Young Boy: Yeah! Totally awesome, right? Plus, it was nice that Miss Smackle's roller coaster group was able to join us on that ride. Roller coasters are always more fun when she's around!
-Suddenly from behind the group, Smackle jumped out with an excited look on her face.
Smackle: That was awesome! But you know what would be even more awesome? The Spinorama Extreme! After you go up the biggest man made hill in the state, you're sent spinning in all sorts of crazy directions as you fly down! It's even more amazing than locating lost karaoke singing koala bears in Africa! We should all go on that next and… Ooo! A guy in a bear costume over there is doing a polka dance! We should join him!
-Smackle then quickly ran off while from far away Farkle called out to her.
Farkle: Smackle! What are you doing!? You're a grown woman! Either that or I was simply under the delusion you were all these years!
-Everyone stood with confused faces for a moment. Then Maya stood in front of his group of children and spoke.
Maya: Well since we probably only have enough time for one more ride, how about it? Let's end our night on the wildest ride yet.
-All of the children began to cheer in excitement except for Grace who had a look of extreme panic and terror on her face. Maya noticed the look on Grace's face and then spoke to her.
Maya: Hey Grace. You good with going on The Spinorama Extreme with us?
-Grace then quickly put on a fake smile as she looked at Maya.
Grace: Oh, I'm cool with whatever. I'm okay…. Yeah…. I'm okay.
Scene 6:
-Maya and Grace both sat next to each other on a rollercoaster as it was slowly moving up a very large hill. As the rollercoaster moved up the hill, a young boy and girl in front of Maya and Grace began talking.
Young Girl: It's taking forever to get to the top of this hill.
Young Boy: Hey, just remember. The higher we go, the more awesome it'll be when we go down at a million miles per hour.
-Grace suddenly closed her eyes as a look of complete terror and fear went across her face. Maya turned her head and saw the expression on Grace's face.
Maya: Grace, are you okay?
Grace: I'm okay. I don't need anything or anybody. I'm okay.
Maya: Grace, don't worry. I'll be right with you the whole time. I got you.
-Suddenly the rollercoaster reached the top of the hill. The rollercoaster just started to move downwards as Grace opened her eyes and a look of total fear was on her face.
Grace: I'm okay. I'm okay.
-Suddenly the rollercoaster began to go quickly down the hill. Grace's eyes got huge and suddenly she began to scream.
Grace: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
-Maya then held out her arm near Grace as the rollercoaster began to move faster.
Maya: I've got you Grace!
-Grace then grabbed onto Maya's arm with both of her own arms. Then Grace held onto Maya tightly as she yelled.
Grace: MOMMY!
-Hearing that: Maya suddenly had a look of confusion on her face. But suddenly the action of the fast moving rollercoaster diverted her attention away. Eventually after several minutes, the ride ended.
Scene 7:
-In the evening, Maya and Grace were sitting next to each other on the bus again. Grace sat quietly as she looked outside the bus window at the night sky while Maya sat silently with an expression of uncertainty on her face. After a few moments of no sound, Maya turned her face to look right at Grace.
Maya: So… Grace…
-Grace turned her face to look right at Maya.
Grace: Yeah Miss Maya?
Maya: So when we were going down that hill on that last roller coaster… you know it was kind of loud and windy but… I think you called me…
Grace: Hey Miss Maya, have you seen all the stars that are in the sky tonight?
-Maya leaned towards the window and looked up at the night sky with Grace.
Maya: Oh yeah. No clouds anywhere. You can see everything.
Grace: How many stars are out there?
Maya: No one really has a real specific answer to that question. We'd first need to map out every solar system that exists. You know stars are actually just suns that are really far away.
Grace: Really?
Maya: Oh yeah. Some stars out there are actually even bigger than the sun our planet rotates around. But because it's way farther away, it looks like a tiny dot. But even if a sun is millions of lightyears away, somehow you can still be touched by its' light.
Grace: Wow. That's amazing.
-Maya and Grace then continued to look up at the night sky as their conversation and the evening continued.
Scene 8:
-Right outside of the before/after care building, the bus had just stopped moving. Within moments, children and adults all began to step off of the bus. Many children quickly began to walk over to adults that were already ready to pick them up. As Maya and Grace got off of the bus together, Grace turned her head and saw Ms. Wilson standing nearby at her van.
Grace: Well, it looks like Ms. Wilson is here to pick me up.
-Maya then got down on one knee as she looked right at Grace in the eyes.
Maya: Well I had a great day with you Grace. Hope you have a great summer. I'll look forward to seeing you in the fall.
-Maya then held out a hand in front of her. Grace then gave Maya a light high five.
Grace: Yeah. You too. And… thanks for doing all that… stuff you've done for me… and for being there when I wasn't okay.
Maya: Okay. Bye Grace. Keep being the amazing person you are.
-Grace then turned her back to Maya and began to walk away to the van Ms. Wilson was at. However just before Grace reached the van, she stopped. Grace then turned around showing tears were in her eyes and then suddenly she ran as quickly as she could back to Maya with her arms stretched out. Grace then rushed into Maya's arms and hugged her tightly as she closed her eyes and spoke in a soft voice.
Grace: I love you Miss Maya.
-A few tears suddenly began to appear in Maya's eyes as she hugged Grace back.
Maya: I love you too Grace.
END OF CHAPTER 4
Upcoming Chapters For the Series:
-Chapter 5: Shining Your Way (Coming 5/3)
-Chapter 6: The Bigger Picture (Coming 5/5)
-Chapter 7: What Really Happened (Coming 5/7)