ʚ ɞ


It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you

There's nothin' that a hundred men or more could ever do

I bless the rains down in Africa

Gonna take some time to do the things we never had


ʚ ɞ


Donna sits on the end of her bed in her dorm room, flipping through the pages of a textbook. She's frantically trying to study just a little bit more for the final that has been looming over her head. She applied for the honor's college, and this course was going to make or break her acceptance. As she starts to read the next paragraph on the page, her roommate, Marjorie, bursts through the door.

Marjorie is sort of like Jackie, she cares a lot about the way that she was perceived. She never leaves the dorm without at least mascara on her lashes and lip gloss on her lips. She sleeps in curlers each night to ensure her hair would be flawless in the morning, and always picks out her outfits the night prior. But, she is sort of like Donna, too, in the sense that she knows that she is enough and doesn't need a man to complete her. Majorie's major is pre-law, a very male dominated field. She's strong-willed and passionate for things that she cares about, which is another reason why her and Donna get along so well.

"Guess who got a B on her final?!" Marjorie asks Donna, carrying her backpack full of various books and binders.

"You? Congrats," Donna says, her mind still focused on her studying.

"No, not me. I got an A! 100 percent, baby!"

"Shit, really?" Marjorie nods, a smile gleaming. "Your corporate law final?"

"That would be the one," she responds, sitting down on her own bed. "That was my last final for the year. God, this had to be the longest year yet."

"You may be right, there." Donna agrees, thinking back on the last four months.

Homesickness struck Donna really hard the first month she was away. She missed her friends, their circles. She missed waking up in her bed, seeing her father every morning with a smile on his face. She missed her conversations with Jackie, and her deeper thoughts with Hyde. Most importantly, she missed Eric. Like, a lot. More than she had expected, considering she had been away from him double the amount of time last time. She thinks it was the combined changes in her life, leaving her life in Point Place behind, and Eric leaving her behind. She wrote to him at least once a week. Neither of them could afford long-distance calls, so they only were able to write to each other.

As time went on, she hated to admit it, but she didn't think of "home" as much anymore. She stopped thinking about what her father was up to without her, she didn't think about Mrs Forman's home-cooked dinners. Things got easier. She got used to her schedule, she started to enjoy her classes. Donna actually was a little upset she had to leave Madison for the summer to go back home. She formed a really close bond with Marjorie, as they both understood each other's hardships. When Marjorie was 13, her father left her and her mother. Marjorie didn't have her "firsts" until she started college, and went to Donna a lot for advice. Donna saw a lot of herself in Marjorie, same as Marjorie did in her. She considered living with her again next year. She'd have to talk to Eric about that, as she knows he wanted to get an apartment off campus. Overall, she was happy to say she found a live-long friend her first semester in Madison.

Donna still got good grades like she did in high school. She loved to participate in her classes, and ponder hard questions with her professors. She formed a handful of friendships in her classes, mostly with students also majoring in journalism. Donna had also formed a rival in her first semester, Doug Coppola. He was a know-it-all junior, who wanted to compete with Donna in every discussion. They had shared two classes together, and he tried to make those classes hell for her. She saw it as he was intimidated by a strong woman and needed to whittle her down. And, Donna was not going to let that happen.

The class she was studying for was one of the ones she had with Doug. This professor was notorious for posting the whole class's grades on the board outside the office. He would rank each student - who did the best in the course, and who did the worst. Donna knew that she needed to place above Doug, or else he would never let her live that down. Part of her thrived on the competition, but another part just wanted the drama to be over. Nonetheless, she was trying her hardest to ensure she would place on the top of that list.

"Still studying for that test, huh?" Marjorie asks.

"You know it."

"Donna, you can't let that asshole get to you. You're better than that."

"I know, I know." Donna brushes her comment off, "I'm doing this for me. I want my name at the top of that list. I just happen to want Coppola's at the bottom. No big deal."

"If it's no big deal, why have you been stressing about it for the last week?"

"Fine, I lied. It is a big deal." Donna grinned. For only having met her four months ago, Marjorie already knew Donna so well. She appreciated that, she knows that to be known is to be loved.


ʚ ɞ


Wedding planning for Jackie did not go exactly the way she had wanted it to. The night that Hyde proposed, she pulled out this great big binder full of pages and pages of how she wanted her wedding to go. Some of the pages dated back to when she was nine years old, and some were just placed in the binder a couple of days ago. Regardless, Jackie has envisioned exactly how she wanted her wedding to go.

The first problem occurred when she tried to actually set the date. She had started to call around to different venues in the Point Place area, called as far out as Michigan to find somewhere to have her reception. She called country clubs, VFWs, FOPs, and all different places to try to book for the day she had picked. You name it, she called there. At last, she found a golf course in Green Bay that would be free that day. But, there was a catch. It was a combined golf course / cow farm, and it reeked of manure. After a long time of debating her options, she settled on pushing the wedding back to the next year. This way, it gave her plenty of time to find a venue that she loved.

The second problem was their living situation. Now that she and Steven were engaged, she didn't want to live apart from him. So, she started spending a couple nights a week at the Formans', sneaking out before Red and Kitty saw her. By March, a couple nights turned into every night, and she was practically living in that basement, too. Red and Kitty caught on fast, and they sat Hyde and Jackie down and told them it's about time to find a place of their own. Kitty described it as a way for them to become closer with one another and gain some independence, Red posed it as "get out of my damn house already". This sudden change caused Jackie to pause her wedding planning for the next month.

So, they decided to rent the cutest little bungalow on the outskirts of town, a place that was picked out by Hyde. It's decorated with navy blue shingles, white shutters on each of the windows, and a beautiful, dark oak porch. There's a big backyard, a detached garage, and an attic to help store all of Jackie's clothes. It is the perfect little home for them. So, with their living situation figured out, Jackie got back to wedding planning.

Jackie still had a ton of basics to go over before she went onto the next step of her planning. She had just figured out who she wanted in her bridal party after several months of debating. She decided against asking Laurie to be a bridesmaid, she hated that bitch with every bone in her body, regardless if she was marrying into her family or not. Laurie as a bridesmaid can be a Donna problem, not a Jackie problem. She opted to ask Angie to be her third bridesmaid, who happily agreed. Jackie liked Angie, and she especially liked the thought of gaining a sister. Jackie still was debating the colors of the gowns. She wanted the maid of honor to wear a maroon gown, but she feared that Donna's red hair would clash with the color. She wanted her wedding to be perfect, and she was going to make sure every possibility of disaster was considered before she finalized anything. She saw a color clash to be a major disaster.

Jackie made sure Donna kept her promise of speaking to at least twice a week. Notably, Jackie also started writing to Eric as well. Whenever she saw Steven composing a letter, she would always tell him to add something in for her. After about the third time she chimed in while he was writing one, he pulled out a couple pages and told her to write to him herself, she may like it more. And, she did. She found it fun to fill him in, and she genuinely looked forward to his response. Each time the mail came in, it was a fight to the mailbox to see who got a response from him yet, whether it be her, Hyde, or his parents. They were actually starting to become friends, something neither of them would have expected.

So, now, four months after their engagement, Jackie and Hyde were living contently in their little home. Spring has come to Wisconsin, and it is slowly turning into summer. She has all of the windows in the house open, the curtains gently fluttering with each gust of wind that enters the home. She's sitting in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee, getting ready to start her day. She's working at a TV station down in Milwaukee. She's currently only working behind the camera, but they have hinted to her that she'll soon be on the other side. She hates the drive, but really loves her job. She has been driving her father's Lincoln, it was one of the few possessions that was left behind after he got arrested. Hyde walks into the room, and places a kiss on her temple.

"Good morning," he says, grabbing the pot of coffee and pouring some in a mug for her first, then himself. He hands her the mug, her own special mug, and sits down at the table beside her. "What're you up to, today?"

"Oh, nothing. Rick has the day off, so we're not going to be shooting a ton today," she flips over the page of her magazine. Rick is the station manager, who happens to have a soft spot for Jackie. He says she reminds him a lot of his own daughter, who works at the station as well. She is glad that this time she gets along with her boss, considering that her last one was a royal bitch. If Jackie Burkhart thinks you're a bitch, then you definitely are one!

"If you're not gonna be busy, I'm gonna head to WB's office today, do you wanna go with me?" he asks her, taking a swig of coffee.

"Really? I'd love to, Steven!" She stands up and wraps her arms around his shoulders. This will only be the second time that they will have seen WB since their engagement. He was a busy man and did not stay in the same city for long. She also really liked WB, and looked forward to joining his family as well.

"Alright, then" he smirks from behind his coffee mug. He holds onto her arm and rests his head onto her shoulder. He hadn't expected to enjoy domestic life this much. Coming from a broken household, he figured he'd always be able to make it on his own. But, now with his woman at his side, he knows he'll never go back.


ʚ ɞ


Eric's remaining time in Africa was mostly great, he reunited with the village and could tell that he was well missed. He was able to get back into the work pretty seamlessly, like he hadn't left for two weeks. He got right to teaching again, and was really enjoying his life in Ghana again.

One night in April, Eric was sitting outside with Leslie underneath the trees, admiring the African sunset. It was a Saturday night, the village was cooking a big meal for everybody to enjoy. He could smell the food wafting up the hill he was sitting on, it instantly made his mouth water. Along with the kids and the people he's with, he was going to miss the food so much. Him and Leslie were just shooting the shit, talking about their days and what they were looking forward to tomorrow.

"I can't believe we are going to go back to the States in three days. It hasn't even felt like three months," Leslie shared. She decided to stay a little bit longer to finish out the program with Eric. Besides, she loved it so much, she couldn't turn down the opportunity to stay a little longer.

"I know. I'm gonna miss it here so much," he agreed, taking a drag of his cigarette. Since he's returning home soon, he keeps telling himself that each one will be his "last one". But, that never goes to plan. "Look on the bright side. You're going back to Tom, I'm gonna be with Donna. We're gonna get a full ride to college. That's why we're here, afterall."

"Maybe at the beginning I was here for the money. Now, I'm here because I want to be. I love it here."

"Me too, honestly. This place is my second home." They looked down at the village beneath them, full of life and emotion. "What do you say we go down there and join the party?"

"Sounds good to me, smells like the food is done," they both stand up and brush any debris off of themselves. He throws his cigarette butt into the grass behind him. He tells himself he needs to come up here before they leave for good and clean up his mess. Eric gestures for Leslie to go first, citing "ladies first", and he follows behind her.

"I am going to miss this so much.." he says again as they make their way down the hill. There's a path that has been worn into the hill, the grass flattened and brushes pushed aside. Leslie looks over her shoulder back at Eric and smiles.

"How many times are we going to say that?" she jokes.

"Too many times," he smiles back. He's looking at her rather than straight ahead, and starts to stumble down the steep hill. She notices his uneven steps and slows down to help him steady himself. That does not go as planned, as instead, his step does not land on the ground and he falls on his ass, and begins to slide down the hill. He's laughing, as he can't believe he finally fell down this hill. There's a village story that at least one mentor will end up tripping down that hill during their time there. She's laughing along with him, thinking of that story as well.

The hill doesn't seem that steep when he was walking down it. However, now that he is sliding down it, it's a lot more intimidating as it seems. He tries to get up before he hits the bottom, but fails tremendously and instead takes a tumble into the bushes inside him. He falls down to his right, hitting the sharp brush.

"Jesus Christ!" he calls out in pain, not aware of how sharp that brush actually is.

"Eric, are you okay?" Leslie calls out, running down the hill. "Oh my God, Eric, you're bleeding!" His white shirt is slowly becoming red as blood begins to seep into the fabric. "Are you okay?" she repeats, concerning.

"Holy shit!" he yells, looking down at his abdomen, eyes bugging out of his head.


ʚ ɞ


Two days later, Eric stands in front of the mirror after getting out of the shower. He examines his reflection, his eyes focused on the massive wound on the left side of his body. The wound extended from his last rib down to right above his pelvic bone. It was about seven inches across his abdomen. It was in the process of healing, the staples still in place from his initial visit to the medic. He touches the area around it, still tender from his injury. He is covered with bruises all over, with small cuts along his body as well. He just looks beat.

He's slightly embarrassed that he was this beat up from just falling into some brush. Apparently, underneath all of it, were tons of rocks and twigs and crap that caused such an impact. At least he'll have a cool scar, he tells himself. He'll say it's from saving the village from a vicious rhino or something, a story that makes him sound cool. It's a surface level injury, which he's very grateful for, but goddamn, it was a surface level injury that hurt like hell! It hurt for him to stretch, for him to sleep, and, most times, for him to breathe. After staring at his reflection some more, he finally moves to get dressed and start his day. He was getting his staples out, and he was going home.

He is disappointed that the program has come to an end. He really does love those kids and wanted to spend as much time with them as he could. Leslie meets him outside to go with him to the medic, for moral support she tells him. When they arrive, it is a quick in-and-out session. They take out the staples, bandage it, and congratulate him on his progress. He thanks them again for all their help, and he and Leslie head back to where they are staying.

"My friends want to meet you." Eric tells Leslie as they are walking.

"Really?" she chirps, "I want to meet them, too." They continue walking for a moment. "My friends want to meet you as well, Tom especially."

"Okay, so let's promise to see each other when we're back in the States. I want you to meet everybody. I want you to meet Donna." he grins.

As they approach the home with the volunteers, he can see that it is decorated in bright colors and flowers. The villagers decorated the house in celebration of their program completion. This village has hosted several volunteers over the years, and they are proud whenever a group finishes the program. Inside, there are cards filled with precious notes from the kids who they helped teach. Beautiful drawings on the cards, with heartfelt letters inside. His heart swells when he sees how much love and care these kids put into this.

He moves to sit down on his bed, and winces as his muscles in his abdomen adjust to his new position. He still hasn't gotten used to the pain that came with his injury. He couldn't wait for it to subside. On his bed, they placed an intricately weaved blanket for him to take back home. God, these people made it so hard for him to leave.

"The bus is on its way to pick us up," Leslie says as she enters the home. She looks around in awe at the dedication of the kids. "Wow."

The door bursts open as the kids storm into the home, wanting to say goodbye to their mentors one last time. Last night, they held the ceremony that officially ended the program. Today gave them the ability to say their goodbyes and pack up to head back home. Leslie generously helped Eric pack all of his belongings, knowing it would be painful for him to do it himself. The kids cling onto legs, give the tightest hugs, and some, even the boys, are crying. Eric has the biggest grin on his face as he spends these last moments with these kids. It was so hard to go home after spending the past year with these exceptional kids.

The program leader enters the room, and announces that the bus has arrived to take them to the airport. The kids shuffle out of the home, letting Leslie and Eric exit to board the bus. The other volunteers left earlier in the month, when Eric and Leslie were originally supposed to go, as well. Eric's two weeks off in January prolonged his stay, and Leslie wanted to stay behind with him. They load the bus up and climb aboard.

As the bus travels down the country roads, Eric looks out and sees the village he called home for the last year fade off into the distance. He watches as his year in Africa turns into memories, as that is what it is now. It's a part of the past. Now, it's time for him to move on.