Arkansas. The 25th state is mostly known for Walmart and hillbillies. His ire against those who perceive him for either stereotype don't come close to what people call him. Bastard? No. Son of a bitch? Not even close. Retarded hillbilly? He would get mad at that, but that's not his biggest pet peeve.

What grinds his gears are people who call him Ar-kan-zes instead of Ar-ken-saw. He'll groan and grow irritable trying to explain in great detail how to say his name. Yet, there are people who continued to say his name wrong despite such corrections. He went so far as to make a law in 1881, officially declaring the 's' in Arkansas to be silent. He hoped this law would put an end to all these mistakes. Sadly, he was wrong.

☆☆☆☆☆

"Okay now. Steady your aim, and pull the trigger when you're ready to fire."Texas eased the rifle in Indian Territory's hands, praying he's careful with the dangerous weapon.

A territory at the time, Indian Territory or Oklahoma was rarely around states. He always kept to himself within the borders of his home. He spoke little, especially in English, so few states rarely interacted with him. Indian Territory would've been fine on his own, however, there have been migrants travelling across the country, some he noticed were eager to settle in his home. And so he turned to Tex for help.

"Remember. Keep your eyes on the target and shoot when you're ready," Tex reminded him.

Indian Territory raised the rifle, aiming at the aligned beer bottles that sat on a lone railing in the middle of a field about a hundred meters away. Taking a deep breath, his finger was on the gun, ready to shoot when-

"TEX! TEX! I got wonderful news!" A teenage boy with shaggy, light chestnut hair and bright green eyes darted onto the property.

His loud voice startled Indian Territory's concentration. Subconsciously, his finger pressed the trigger, firing the gun in a giant wham. The loud boom shattered the atmosphere before Tex could stop the young boy. The bullet flew and shot over Arkansas's head, missing the young lad by the thin hair. The delay of Arkansas's high-pitched squeal followed the bullet as it shot over the beer bottles. The bullet completely missing the bottles would've been a bad thing. Instead, the three were fearful, but were relieved seeing no dead bodies on the ground.

Tex grabbed the gun out of Indian's Territory's trembling hands.

She muttered curses of the close-call, shaking her head furiously at Arkansas. "Ya stupid idiot! Cant' you see we're practicing?!" she yelled upset.

Arkansas puffed his cheeks. "You nearly killed me!" he angrily hollered.

He managed to move his frozen feet once more, stomping toward the Texan and Indian.

She scoffed, "No! You nearly killed yourself! He would've drove a bullet in your head if he was an experienced rifleman. Look at him! He's paler than a ghost because of you." Tex turned to a shaken Indian Territory who continued to stare in the far distance.

"Guns are scary..." he uttered hauntingly.

The hillbilly crossed his arms. "Well, thank goodness he missed because otherwise you wouldn't hear the good news I have to tell ya," he said it with a smug look on his face.

Tex and Indian Territory gave him questionable looks.

"This better be good," she grumbled. "So, what is it that nearly got you killed?"

"It's official!" he boasted with a confident smile. "From now on, the official way to say my name is Ar-ken-saw."

Both the Texan and Indian and Indian took a long look at each other before turning back to an excited Arkansas over the supposed "great" news.

"You seriously came all this way just to tell me this." She wasn't impressed.

"I am confused," Indian Territory muttered words that summarized their feelings hearing this.

Seeing the two not give a shit on the news, Arkansas crossed his arms in disgust. "Stop looking at me like that! Y'all should be congratulating me for passing a bill on the matter!"

"Unless you found diamonds in your home, why should I be happy with your name becoming official? I mean, you've always been Arkansas, so what are you talking about?"

Tex was already accustomed to saying Arkansas's name properly. She had little clue of her neighbor's torment, oblivious of his struggles.

"By what did you mean by official?" Indian Territory inquired.

He waved his arms in disbelief at both his neighbors' stupidity. "You two just don't get it! I mean, people always say Texas or Indian Territory correctly. When it comes to my name, they always pronounce it as Ar-kan-zes."

"And?"

He stomped his feet in a frustrated manner. "That bugs the crap out of me!"

"Bugs? Crap?" Indian Territory cocked his head, sickened by what he thought Arkansas was saying.

Luckily, Tex was there to help translate the phrase for him. "He's mad cuz people say his name wrong. Which by the way, you made into law how to properly say your name!" she snickered at her neighbor, nearly losing the ability to breathe.

Arkansas fumed. "Stop laughing! How would you feel if everyone called you Tejas all of a sudden?"

Her laughter stopped. "That's not my name! It's Texas now!"

"See!"

Arkansas turned to Indian Territory to confirm his point, only to hear, "I guess," coming out of his neighbor's mouth.

Tex huffed. "Look. Just because it's law doesn't mean everyone is going to obey it."

"I disagree!" Arkansas concurred, still confident the bill will erase any misconception of his name. "From now on, everyone is going to call me by my official name, and no one is going to mistake me for Ar-kan-zes ever again! Right now, I have to tell the others the news. When I do, they'll be more supportive with my decision than you two ungrateful jerks. Anyway, later y'all!" He sprinted off the property with a loud laugh.

Both Texas and Indian Territory were left to absorbe what they just heard and been through.

"Do you still want to shoot?"

He stared at the rifle Tex had in her hands, responding with a shrug. "Will I be able to scare off the White people from coming to my home?"

"... I guess...?" She didn't know what else to tell him.

He made a rare smile. "Okay! Let us continue the lesson."

Hearing his answer, Tex was more than happy to teach her protege. "Alrighty then! Now, where were we before that dingus interrupted us?"

While the two continued to shoot at beer bottles, Arkansas continued to travel to each state he could see to tell them the news. Whether the bill worked to educate the masses remains debated. For sure, there is an official way to say Arkansas's name. Even then, some people will continue to say his name wrong, even in years to come.

~ Present Time At the States Meeting ~

"Hey, Ar-kan-zes!" Mississippi joyfully greeted her fellow state.

"It's Ar-ken-saw!" Arkansas corrected his name for the 4,988th time.

Ah, things will never change.

☆☆☆☆☆

+ In 1881, two Arkansas legislators got into an argument regarding the proper pronunciation of Arkansas. One favored Ar-ken-saw while the other favored Ar-kan-zes. The disputed ended when a bill was voted on and signed, declaring the official way to pronounce Arkansas as Ar-ken-saw, the last end of the name being silent.

- A popular questions regarding Arkansas is why it's pronounced Ar-ken-saw when Kansas is pronounced as normal. The reason why: French. As many of y'all know, French is different from English, especially when it comes to pronouncing certain letters and words. Because of France's influence on his colonies, many Americans don't say 'Ill-in-noise' or 'Dez Moinz'. While the names of Arkansas and Kansas are rooted in the same term relating to the Quapaws, a tribe of Native Americans, Arkansas's pronunciation is rooted in French while Kansas's pronunciation is based on English. Also, Kansas's name is actually based on the Kansa Tribe, so both she and Arkansas aren't related in case anyone's wondering.

+ Compared to the other chapters in this volume, this one was one of the shortest. Apologies to those who were expecting a longer chapter on Arkansas. At the time, I was pooped out from writing long-ass chapters, and I wanted to write something short for a change. And to be honest, the stuff I read about Arkansas wasn't interesting in my opinion. Hopefully in the future I write better stories on the state in order to make them sound as interesting as possible.

~

Feel free to vote or comment any thoughts on Arkansas or the chapter here.