Alexa, play Africa by Toto

She grabs my arm. I have never seen her before in my life. The woman before me has an old, withered face and is slightly tanned. Her gray hair falls around her face in rings. I do not know why she has picked me. She speaks.

"You know this will be my 100th solar eclipse. I have seen all of them. My favorite was in Africa". She releases me with a dreamy look on her face as Toto's Africa floats in my head. And for a second, I am there too. In my mind. Because, in reality, in all my 40 years, I have not traveled very far.

She is a solar eclipse chaser, and today, I am as well. On my birthday.

"Today is my birthday. This is my present from my mother".

"Oh goodness me. Happy birthday, you have the face of a child.”

"Thanks. I am 40 today.”

I take this time to look around me. Other solar eclipse chasers have started to gather, joining the already big crowd, here at Highway 92, the desert junction, which borders New Mexico and Arizona.

"I do not want anyone at my funeral". I hear someone say behind me and I laugh. An unstrained laugh that sounds almost like a ha!

People turn to stare, and I press my lips into a thin line, hanging my head, with my eyes on the hot asphalt in front of me.

Then I think of Australia, and I think of Mom and her new life with her new husband. I lied to that woman. I decided to come here away from my parents in Santa Fe, and skittishly and with my dress hanging down my pale legs, entered the bus and sneezed when hot air from outside filtered in.

I am left standing among a big bear of a man with a small beady-eyed chihuahua, and the solar eclipse chaser who went to Africa.

So, I have seen her before. I am busy looking at the chihuahua that looks back at me, miserably.

I turn my head towards the crowd behind me, all thoughts of pulling my hood around my head, behind me. That is when my eyes lock on you.

Oh boy.

I push up my hand to wave then realize how dumb that looks. She is standing only 10 feet away. I think of pushing myself against the crowd until I get to her.

Hi, I am going to say.

How are you?

Long time, no see.

Is this your first Solar Eclipse?

The choices are endless, but then she's gone, and I find myself with the thought of her fingers lingering against mine. Even when the elevator doors opened, we did not pull apart.

Then I realized that that is how you probably described me to your mother: "Well he's cute, but he's nothing to write home about".

I find the Solar Eclipse Chaser, who went to Africa under the shade of trees near the gas station. She is standing away from the crowd that has increased in size. Most of them are looking up.

"Amateurs”. She pulls out a pair of blue neon eclipse glasses from her backpack.

"It hasn't started yet".

"Well, it will start soon, and fast. They must be ready. So, take your glasses out..."

"Carolina. And your name?"

"I am Pat. Did you say it's your birthday?"

"Yes. My mother, she lives in Australia, she's the one who paid for this trip. As a present".

"Australia". Pat takes a breath with an open mouth, as if she's somewhere in Australia, on her last day; she inhales a bit of it to keep with her. "God, I miss it".

"How long were you over there for?" I say over there with the arrogance of a seasoned traveler, and I feel like a fraud. I try to scuttle away, much like a crab would.

"Hey, do not leave me alone with this bunch".

I come back with a sigh and stand beside her. I scan the crowd in front of me. My eyes lock on the man who doesn't want anyone at his funeral, and I think of his story.

"Hurry, boy she's waiting there for you".

Arnie Ham is a longstanding fan of Toto and Warren Ham's sax playing. He's playing it now in his head while his partner Ingrid is searching in her bag for her glasses. Her face is lined with tension.

"Where is it?"

"Arnie, put on your glasses".

Arnie looks up at the sky and then looks at his watch. He looks at Ingrid again, who now is pushing stuff out of her bag and onto the hot earth under her feet. Arnie covers his lips with his mouth and turns the other way. By the time he's through chuckling, Ingrid has found her glasses but is red in the face.

"Put your glasses on, Arnie!"

She says his name with dangerous emphasis. Arnie can hear the growl as she leans down to pick up her stuff.

Then there is a silence among the chasers: glasses get whipped out, almost with terrifying precision, and the land gets cloaked in darkness, but not all at once, like someone is switching off the lights in a room one by one.

My lips form a silent wow. Beside me, Pat is looking up.

Jenny sits in the cafe when the eclipse begins. She has just finished her shift and is busy stirring the cup of coffee in front of her when the radio falls silent. She whips her head towards the dark kitchen in the back, where the only pale blue light above the kitchen sink flickers.

"Hello?"

"Gary?"

"Sam?"

Silence. Jenny gets up from her seat and moves towards the kitchen, silently cursing the things she hates about this eclipse.

The sudden darkness

Her feet move closer to the pale blue light

The ridiculous glasses

Close

The radio turns off by itself

One more step

"Sam?"

A blood-curdling scream fills the air behind her. It takes her a second to realize that the scream is coming from her. The lights come back on again as she sinks to the floor.

“Alexa, play Africa by Toto”.