Lovely Lane Chapter 13
JULY 4TH – PREPARATION & DELIVERY
Clana take the CK express to California in early June. They plan to spend 3 days with Densi, most of it at the beach playing & planning. Therefore, Clark has gotten the luggage pared down to 1 medium suitcase; he can fly with that + Lana. Kensi has gotten Marty, Nell and Eric to agree to be on a Kent Farm float. Lana is really excited. She has high hopes for this friendship; Clark is on board too.
They land near the mission, walk to the parking lot, and with Hetty's knowledge and permission Lana teleports them to the Ops center – they have warned Kensi that they have landed and are arriving shortly.
When they appear it always is a little bit of a shock, and Sam for instance frowns. He doesn't like funny business like this. The rest are glad to see Clana and renew their acquaintance. Hetty gives them keys to a beach condo for their stay, plus a vehicle in case they need one. After some chit chat, they get directions to the condo and leave to rest and freshen up. They will meet Densi and Neric on Malibu beach in 2 hours to get started. Lana hopes there won't be a water emergency this time!
ON MALIBU BEACH
Kensi has thought of a theme for the float:
K: a couple years ago for a Halloween party, Marty and I . . ."
M: party/Marty, I like that!
Deeks gets a swat, Lana smiles.
K: shut up and pay attention!
M: yes, ma'am.
K: we dressed up as Little Abner & Daisey Mae Yokum. It was a real hit.
L: I love that!
N: me too!
E: what about us guys?
K: well, Marty was Little Abner, Clark could be a cousin, Lana a younger sister to Daisey Mae.
N: I know, I could be a school teacher and Eric my dumb student.
E: Hey! I'm not dumb!
C: this is make-believe, Eric.
E: well, ok.
They work on the characters, what the float should look like, the acts and the script. The girls go on a food run to nearby food trucks and they eat lunch.
After eating and a little rest time the guys hit the waves while the girls lie back and soak up some rays. After ½ hour the girls are pretty warm so they walk down to the water and play and splash awhile.
Marty has brought an extra surfboard for Clark while he and Eric have their own. Clark has never surfed before, but he catches on quickly. However, with his ability to levitate who knows for certain if he is really surfing or not?
"Cheater!" Marty yells.
"Huckster!" Eric adds.
"Jealous!" Clark grins.
Marty and Eric look at each other, "Yeah," they agree.
The waves aren't great, so after 45 minutes the guys paddle in. They lay the boards on the sand and turn toward the girls, who are in the shallow water. They sneak up on them and attack; splashing, dunking, tackling, kissing and more ensue. After another 45 minutes everyone is exhausted. They retire to the blanket and/or towels and rest in the sun.
'When did we last have this much fun?' Lana communicates with Clark.
'I don't know, babe. These are great people. I hope we can keep this friendship going.'
'Me too! Fortunately, we can fly out here most any time!' Lana agrees.
JULY 4TH – SMALLVILLE
The 3 couples descend on the Kent Farm on July 2nd, Thursday. The girls have been in touch with Martha and Jonathon frequently; the folks have followed the plan and have a good start on building the float. The tractor is in good shape, so pulling the float is taken care of – dad will do the driving. Mom has, with some convincing, agreed to walk in front of the tractor holding a sign – THE KENT FARM. She even agreedto wear short-shorts and a tight top, in line with the theme. Clark could hardly believe that! Friday will be frantic – float finishing!
When sleeping arrangements were discussed, Densi grabbed 1st dibs on the loft. Neric took Clark's room with a queen bed. Clana will stay in their Met U loft, commuting via the C/K express.
Friday morning 06:00 Clana arrive and start rousting their guests out of bed. This is a farm after all . . . no rooster though so the human touch will have to do. The aroma of a hearty farm style breakfast helps.
After eating their fill, and more, they trot to the barn and get to work. The flat-bed has been started; by lunch time they have it ¾ done.
Martha has soup, sandwiches, veggies w dip, lemonade and ice cream for dessert. They groan some more, then get back to work.
By 16:00 the float is ready. Martha has been taking pictures and video of the process; Nell and Eric have promised to consolidate the pix and video, combine it with the parade footage and produce a DVD. Everyone is looking forward to that!
FLOAT
The finished float, on a flat-bed had:
A sign on the side saying, Li'l Abner meets The Kent Farm,
2/3 of the way back is a "shed" functioning as a changing room,
Straw is scattered about,
2 corn shocks on the front part,
2-5' diameter tubs filled with water are up front,
Apples for bobbing,
4 pails filled w water up front,
The back is decorated as a school room, with 3 seats, teachers desk w swivel chair, black board, and 2 small white boards.
And Martha's sign.
Everyone is tired, but pleased. Jonathon hooks up the tractor and pulls the float to the staging area at the Smallville HS.
They all sat on the bed and talked through the script they had agreed on, and the action; they assumed there would be some adlibbing, but they needed a place to start. They attracted quite a bit of attention. All were looking forward to a big day tomorrow.
Afterwards, they returned to the farm tired and excited. Martha fed them again; they settled down in he LR to chat until bedtime. Tomorrow promised to be clear and sunny. And Full of fun.
PARADE DAY – JULY 4TH
06:00 the rooster (Marty) crowed. Kensi groans, "Did you have to do that?"
"I've wanted to do that ever since I was a little kid!"
"You're still a little kid!"
"At heart, the heart you stole by the way." Marty grins.
"Want it back?" A questioning look.
"Never," he gives her a good-morning kiss, or two, or three. "Time to rise & shine, honey buns."
Kensi swings her legs off the couch, "I'm up. Do I smell coffee?"
"Yup, I think mama Kent beat us up."
"Doesn't she always?"
"Yes, I think that's the farmer's wife."
"Then I can't live on a farm."
"Me neither. I do love her home cooking though."
"Amen to that!"
They throw on some clothes and dash into the house, following their noses to the kitchen.
"Well, glory be. Look who the cat dragged in." Martha shakes her head, "Smell the coffee, eh?"
"Yup," Densi blurt out simultaneously. They fill a mug apiece, doctor it to their liking and take a seat at the kitchen table.
"Since you two are first up, you get to set the table. Get to work, kids." Mama Kent is definitely in charge.
Marty groans, Kensi swats him. 'Come on lazy bones, you aren't that lazy Li'l Abner until the parade."
"Hey, I gotta work my way into my character.," he pouts.
Mama zaps him with a dish towel.
"Ouch! That stung."
Mama giggles, "I haven't lost my aim!"
Kensi cackles, Marty frowns.
Just then Clana blow in, literally, and Neric come dancing down the stairs. "What's for breakfast mom?" They chorus.
"Well, someone needs to make toast." Eric volunteers.
"Then there is bacon." Marty volunteers.
"And hash browns." Nell volunteers.
"Setting the table." Kensi steps up to the plate (pun intended).
"Pouring juice & milk." Clana is on it.
Martha wipes her hands on a towel, the cheesy scrambled eggs are already in the oven keeping warm. She loves the sight and sound of her extended family! 'Let's do this again' she thinks.
PARADE
The Kent Farm float is situated in the middle of the pack.
Characters were:
Marty Deeks = Li'l Abner,
Kensi Blye = Daisy Mae (Scragg) Yokum,
Tiny Yokum = Clark Kent. Tiny is Abner's younger brother.
Lana Lang = Nightmare Alice. A practitioner of Louisiana Voodoo & black magic. There had been much discussion as to whether Lana should do some magic. The final vote was NO.
Nell Jones = Miss Nelson; 1st & 2nd grade teacher.
Eric Beale = Rusty, 2nd grade student. Acts up all the time.
Main Street Smallville is 20 blocks long. They have timed the parade and sequenced the acts and script accordingly. They want everyone to see some action.
Act One: the characters appear from the changing 'room'. The ladies all have on long-sleeved T's and ankle length skirts over black boots. The guys appear along side them and gesture to their lady, emphasizing their beauty. Then the music starts – "The Stripper" by David Rose. The guys cover their eyes or ears in sequence as the girls gyrate and throw off their clothes; leaving them in short-shorts and skimpy, tight tops. Daisy Mae's top is polka-dot as was the comic strip. The crowd goes wild, especially the kids.
Nell & Eric enter the changing room to change.
Act Two: The other 4 start bobbing for apples in 5' diameter tubs 18" tall filled with water. Kneeling and leaning over necessarily exposes their posterior assets! The winners prance around with an apple in their jaws; the losers chase them and pout.
Act Three: Nell and Eric come out of the changing room in school garb, on the back end of the float. Eric in pants and shirt, Nell in a long skirt and long-sleeved blouse. She holds a tablet and a long pointer.
She taps the pointer vigorously, instructing Eric to sit. Lessons start with reading. He attempts to read Dick, Jane & Spot. He bungles it, she is exasperated!
Next is arithmetic; on the blackboard she writes 1 + 1 =? His answer is 3. The crowd boos! He picks up a small white board and writes 1 + 1 – 3. The crowd boos louder.
She picks up the other white board and writes 1 + 1 = 2. The crowd cheers. They prance around, showing their boards to cheers or boos. They slip into the changing room.
Act Four: The girls come out on the front stage, each wearing a brightly colored bikini; blue, red or white. The guys are wearing board shorts of the same colors. Shirtless! They parade around arguing about who won the apple bobbing.
Then, unawares, Marty stops with his back to one of the tubs and Kensi pushes him backwards, into the water. He gets up, sputtering and shouting, and squirting a spout of water from his corn-cob pipe. (He had to practice this many times!).
And, Eric pushes Nell into the other tub. The crowd boos. She gets up squealing at him, he laughs at her until Lana throws a pail of water at him.
To defend his buddy, Clark pushes Lana into a tub; then Kensi, Nell, and Lana throw 3 pails at Clark. They mill about, shouting and gesticulating; tossing apples which wind up in the crowd. Finally, they exit Main Street, and drive back to the staging area where the floats will be on display for the rest of the day.
At the closing ceremonies: Martha wins the BLUE ribbon for her apple pie (no surprise), and the Kent Farm float won the BLUE ribbon for parade entries. Everyone grabbed some food at the buffet picnic anddrifted home. Happy and exhausted.
As a special treat, Clark flew them one-by-one up to Chandler's windmill to watch the fireworks show; then back home.
At brunch the next morning, Jonathon took the time to thank everyone for coming and making this the best 4th of July he can remember. Everyone reciprocated, and gave mom and dad a special thanks for hosting them, all.
Before heading to Metropolis and flights home, they stopped in at The Talon for refreshments. They sat around a large corner table and talked and laughed. A few kids stopped by and asked for an autograph on their program. All obliged.
Clark spoke up, "Hey everyone, my folks wanted me to give you all a special invitation to a family Thanksgiving at the Kent Farm. Can you come, please?"
"Wow, I wish we could," Nell expresses. "We are going to be with my family." She and Eric are disappointed.
Kensi & Marty look at each other and shrug, then nod and smile. "Yes, we can come, that sounds great!" Kensi tells them. "Let's keep in touch and plan the details."
"Absolutely," Lana exclaims, she and Clark have smiles a mile wide.
TBC