In a far away Asian land the full midnight moon hangs above the sleeping harbor metropolis. Most of the lights in the small buildings and huts were out and nothing was heard except for the chilly fall wind flowing through the old city streets. However, not all was quiet and sound, for two bears were running on the street away from a group of mysteriously cloaked figures that were holding loaded handguns. One was male with wheat colored fur, round glasses and was wearing a brown aviator jacket, the other one was a petite female with brown fur. She also wore the same jacket as the wheat colored one and knee long light brown skirt and shirt and she was holding a hand gun in her right. The two bears were continuing to run until a gray bear waved his arm out of an alleyway. He whispered loud enough for the two hunted bears to hear him, " Quick! Turn into here!" He said. And the two did. While the brown bear looked out for the mysteriously cloaked men the slim gray bear knelled down to try to catch his breath.
" Sorry… I… took so long… I had to… take care of some… personal… business." The gray bear apologized. The wheat colored bear looked at the exhausted one and said tiredly, " That's understandable Charlie. But I think I've finally found what Amelia and me were looking for."
" Wait." Charlie said with bewilderment, " Matthew don't tell me did you stole the—"
" Shh! They're coming!" Amelia whispered. The three bears duck behind crates filled with fresh fruits to try to hide themselves. The cloaked men ran past the alley. Matthew continued when the cloaked men were far away from their sights.
" I borrowed is a word I prefer better than stole." Matthew reached into his pocket and pulled out a yet beautiful elongated emerald that glowed brightly when the light of the moon hit it just in the right spot. It was about the size of a pinky finger and for some odd reason two little holes were on the top and bottom of the jewel. One hole was the shape of a crescent, moon the other a shape of a sun with its ray's. Through the crescent moon hole a brown rope that was tied together to resemble a necklace. Charlie whistled while looking at the stone, " Wow. Now that's what I call a emerald."
" Oh boy! You did it! " Amelia hugged Matthew tightly and squealed with joy, " Matthew! Oh Matthew! If you weren't married already I would have told you to marry me, I'm so happy! You did it! And once you and me head back to Cape Susette to tell boss we finally found it we'll be rich! I'll never have to leave my kid alone ever again—"
" Amelia." Matthew gasped hoarsely, " I need to breath!" Amelia realized poor Matthew was turning blue so she immediately let go of him, " Sorry. I just got so excited."
" It's okay for you to be excited lady were gonna be millionaires!" Said Charlie.
" Personally," Matthew objected while adjusting his glasses, " I would rather have it in a museum. You guys don't understand how this artifact is too valuable to be locked inside some tycoon's desk drawer forever. Researchers from all backgrounds and the world would marvel at this find. It's should be for everyone to see! "
" But we sure do need the money." Amelia said, " Once Smithers finds us and take us to the plane we can get out of here."
" What about Checkpoint inspection?" Charlie asked, " The inspector's like taking beautiful jewels rather anything that doesn't belong to them."
" Shoot!" Amelia cried, " We forgot all about them! Now we can never bring it to Cape Susette!"
" Not if I can help it." Matthew cried. He placed the jewel on the floor and kneeled down. He sighed, " I hope my Pandanese isn't too rusty—ahem."
" Shoxing jewel of known ability divide your self to appear unworthy!"
When Matthew finished reciting the little rhyme the jewel started to softly emit a soft green light until a bright orangey red line appeared in the middle. Suddenly the jewel broke in half and the glowing slowly stop. Now the jewel was the size of half of a thumb. Everybody was amazed except for Matthew.
" Golly!" Amelia cried, " How d'you know how to—"
" I'll show you latter," Matthew interrupted, " But as of right now I need to ask Charlie a favor." Matthew took the newly split apart jewel and said, " Charlie I need you to listen carefully. Amelia and me are going to go back to Cape Suzette to tell Shair Khan about the jewel, I'm going to give you the split jewels and I want you to hide them somewhere safe. And latter on we'll come back and we'll get your love ones out of here along with the jewel."
" We would take your family with us tonight," Amelia added, " but the plane Smithers provided us is too small and slow. Besides, I don't want to take the jewel and something misfortunate happens to it." Matthew handed the split jewel into the palm of Charlie paw and continued, "And me and Amelia trust you more to leave the jewel in your hands than anyone in the world. Now go on home to Leena and your kid."
Charlie glanced at the split jewel for a few seconds, then at Amelia and Matthew with a smile, " Thank you so much, I'll guard it with my life." He was about to run until he remember something, he asked, " Hey, how would I know it's your plane?"
" We'll flash the lights in the plane for you to know it's us." Amelia smiled. They all said their goodbyes and she and Matthew look at Charlie running down the street until he was far from their view. Suddenly a shadowy figure with a deep voice called out to them on the other side of the alley. Come you guys, your plane awaits." Smithers called….
…Inside the plane Matthew was sitting in the navigator side while Amelia was cutting on the plane and checking the controls. But before she cut on the plane she stopped herself and with worried eyes she looked at Matthew,
" I don't think something is right…. I was in flights and missions more dangerous than this but… this …this…this is too easy. Why do I keep thinking this is going to be the last time I'm ever going to fly?"
" Because this is going to be our last mission." Matthew said while trying to console her, " Everything is going swell Amelia, we just have the jitters…." Matthew grinned at the worried bearness and joked, " By any chance do you hear a ticking sound?" Amelia giggled, " It's your wristwatch silly."
" You see, it's all in our minds." Matthew said. Amelia nod her head and grinned, " Your right. It's all in my mind." She cut on the plane and the two propellers started to rotate fast enough for the plane to gain enough power to move.
Charlie continued running since he left Amelia and Matthew behind in the alley. The landscape of the area began to change from urban landscapes to modest, rural little homes. The gray bear began to lose his breath and decided to stop at a bridge where it was famous in the little community to have a really good view of the harbor down below. While catching his breath he saw a small sea airplane gliding on the water until it gained altitude and was flying in the night sky.
" Is that them?" He said to himself. The little airplane's lights flickered on and off. He jumped for joy shouting, " It's them! It's them! It's—"
All of a sudden a loud explosion ringed thru the night sky and a bright red and orange fireball in the air. The little airplane was now a burring wreck slowly falling into the ocean making a trail of spiraling black smoke. All the house lights in the harbor and the rural area Charlie was in started to cut on and Charlie could see people of all types running towards the harbor to see what happened. People from the rural area started to gather towards the bridge to also see what was the commotion out in the ocean. While groups of people were conversing to themselves what they think happened on the bridge Charlie stood their in near tears while looking at the smoldering heap floating (and sinking slowly) into the dark water below.
" Matthew…Amelia…no…." He sobbed. He turned around and began to run off the bridge and onto an unpaved walkway, but before he left he glanced once more at the black smoke and thought of the only person who could possibly help him in his time of crisis.
" …Baloo…."
Tale Spin: The Search for the Shoxing JewelBy: Jerseygirl
The afternoon sky riddled with spots of friendly cumulus clouds, which showed an indication that this Friday was going to be a nice slow day in the fairly large harbor metropolis named Cape Susette. Near the harbor section of the town were small companies that run their businesses to transport cargo by sea or air. On one small pier, a large bear, who was heavy around the waist, was listening to soft and peaceful jazz music on the radio. The large bear was resting in his hammock with his aviator hat atop of his eyes. He was wearing his usual khaki colored short sleeve shirt. His fur was the color of the churning gray ocean during a storm.
His hammock was tied onto the poles that hold up the sign that read Higher for Higher, which was posted in front of the pier. Not too far from the pier was a seaplane, a Conwig L-19. However, the owner proudly calls his plane the Sea Duck. The Sea Duck was a slightly used goldenrod airplane with two propellers on the middle of the left and right wings. This apparatus may look ordinary in the eyes of any hotshot pilot, but this plane and her pilot saved the day many of times when the crew of Higher for Higher were sailing in the ominous sky. But today, the plane was softly bobbing up and down against the harbor's current, reflecting the sun's rays as if small precious diamonds were floating in the emerald green harbor.
On the corner near Higher for Higher a city bus rolled to a stop. Kids of various ages departed off the vehicle and started to walk to their homes or to somewhere else around the area. The last one to depart the bus was a young cub named Kit Cloudkicker: a cub who is about the average height during the beginning of his preteen years. He was holding a pile of books stacked on top of each other like pancakes. Beads of sweat were running from the cub's chocolate colored forehead, which was the same color all over his body. Except around his mouth, it looks like the color of sand. He was wearing a large old dark green sweater that was patched with a yellow cloth on his right sleeve near his elbow. With much struggle Kit finally made it to Higher for Higher property, which was his home.
" Hey Baloo! Papa Bear! I'm home!" Kit shouted. The large bear heard the cub's voice; he lifted his aviator hat from off his eyes and placed it on his head.
Baloo waved his paws and called out Kit by his nickname, " Hey Lil' Britches." The large bear lazily rolled out of the hammock and started stretching his arms out. For some strange reason he heard Kit's voice but all he could see was a stack of schoolbooks in front of him. Baloo scratched his head underneath his maroon colored hat. " Hey, Kit? You behind there?"
" Yep." Kit panted. One of the books from the top started to sway back and forth and he could feel the tower of books about to fall out of his hands. He tried to balance the books but the tower started to tilt in front of him. He realized the books were slanting towards the water so he quickly ran to give the tower some momentum to stand strait. But he didn't realize he was heading right towards the end of the pier! Baloo quickly helped the cub by holding onto the front side of the book tower and scooped the books into his arms. Kit was relived. " Thanks papa bear." He sighed. Kit sat down on the wooden support beams that held up the pier. He took his cap off and wiped the sweat underneath it. He had a tired look on his face.
" Don't mention it." Baloo said. He took Kit's hat and placed it back on Kit's head until he pulled the rim down in front of Kit's eyes in a playful way. Kit laughed. " I know what you need." Baloo said, " You look like ya need a nice cool root beer don't ya. C'mon I'll get it for ya from the fridge."
Baloo, who was still holding the books, walk towards the Higher for Higher office building. The office was a small, old wooden building with an aluminum rooftop. This building look like it held up against the elements and the test of time. The building also had a small tower, made out of the same material as the building and it also had an aluminum rooftop too. On top of the tower roof was a small triangular red flag flapping in the wind.
The tower looked out towards the mountain shaped like wall, which separated Cape Susette from the rest of the world and protected it. The local people called this wall made out of rock the barrier and it could have been a really good barrier except for the canyon that was struck right in the middle it. It's almost as if a huge crack was struck between a big brown wall. The canyon is the only way in or out of the city and the only transportation that can go through the canyon are plains and boats.
Baloo grab hold of the door handle and turn it to open the door. Through the opened door the sunlight went through it but they're still wasn't enough light in the room so Kit went to the windows and pulled the shades up. The sunlight beamed through the slightly dusty windows and the room was filled with sunlight. Baloo placed the books onto the floor.
" Why did ya haf'ta bring all these books home for?" Baloo asked. The last time Kit had to bring a lot of books home he ended up having to help him with lots of homework. It was a disaster for days. Baloo never applied himself with homework or school when he was Kit's age and even later in his life. In other words, books and Baloo don't mix.
" Vacation homework." Kit said with gloom, " Of all the days my teacher's assigned me with lots of work before my first day of vacation. But I finished all of them on the bus ride home."
A sign of relief went over Baloo's face.
" Except for one." Kit added.
The expression on the large bear's face dashed away. He swallowed nervously, " Which one?"
" An English project."
" Oh no." Baloo thought out loud. The most torture Baloo ever had when he attended school was no other then the dreaded English class. It was probably one of the main reasons why he hated going to school in the first place. " Who do you have'ta write a report on now?" Baloo asked. Even though he didn't want to hear the answer coming from the cub. He opened up the refrigerator and grabbed two root beers and toss one over to Kit.
" It's not a report about someone from the past," Kit assured. He found a can opener near the neat and orderly work desk and used it pop the cap off the bottle. Fizz started to seep through the bottle opening causing Kit to wait for it to stop. As soon as the fizzing stop Kit chugged the soda down quickly to quench his thirst. " I have to write a biography about someone I know."
" Biography?"
" Yeah, I have to write about someone's past."
" That's easy then." Baloo drank some of the soda, " Write about Molly."
" Molly?" Kit said with perplexity.
" You can't write much about her she's only five years old." Baloo and Kit laughed. It was a good idea but Kit couldn't do that. His English teacher wouldn't let him if he tried, " Aww, that's no good Baloo I have to write about someone who's grown up." Kit said. He looked at the large bear and smiled, " I was thinking of writing it about you."
" Me?" Baloo said.
" Yep."
" Really?"
Kit shook his head. He was really sure he made the right choice, " Absolutely."
" Absolutely positively?"
" Uh huh, absolutely positively sure."
" Wow." Baloo said with a smile. He was flattered. Nobody ever asked him to write about him before, but what could Kit write? Sure, he could write about the many adventures they had which could fill a book, probably two. But Baloo know from his own experience when he wrote English assignments in the past (despite his lack of enthusiasm) near the truth his teacher's tend to give him low grades. Baloo knew Kit wouldn't write like him but most of the adventures they had sounded as if Kit was writing for a radio broadcast, and chances are his teacher was going to fail him on what he wrote.
Baloo sat down on a recliner to rest while he took a long sip of his soda. " I'm just a normal bear living in Cape Susette who works as a delivery man. There's nothin' special about me to write about."
Kit couldn't believe his ears! There is something special about him, he thought. If it wasn't for him they're wouldn't be no Cape Susette, Kit wouldn't have the life he would have today, and countless other things Baloo did.
Suddenly the door opened and a petite female bear with the same fur color as Kit stroll into the office. She was wearing a burgundy blazer along with dark navy blue slacks. Her light brown hair was sitting atop of her shoulders, and it could have been longer if the front of her hair wasn't pinned up. This was Ms. Rebecca Cunningham, owner and boss of Higher for Higher. The little girl holding Rebecca's hand had blue ribbons tied around her ears, sky blue overall, and a pink short sleeve shirt underneath. This wheat colored girl was Molly Cunningham, daughter of Ms. Cunningham and notoriously known by Kit for trouble (for him).
They would have looked normal if it wasn't for the scattered white feathers stuck in their hair and clothing. Maybe this was an indication why Rebecca looks as if she just had experienced a heart attack and Molly had excitement filled in her young eyes.
" Baloo!" Molly greeted happily. A trail of feathers marked her pathway towards Baloo as she ran over and jump onto his soft belly.
" What happened to ya pigtails, got lost in a pillow factory?" Baloo asked while trying to pluck some of the feathers from the little girl. Molly shook her head side-to-side, " Nope, me and mommy saw a chicken truck got in a accident. And then the chickens flew everywhere!" Molly showed Baloo how the chickens flapped in the air by waving her arms like a bird; feathers were flying off her arms while she preformed it.
" Are you okay Ms. Cunningham?" Kit asked. For some strange reason Kit notice he has the habit of saying the s in Ms. a z. When he first went to school in Cape Susette his teacher always scolded him to say it correctly and he does, but no matter how hard he tries he never could break the habit of calling Ms. Cunningham with a z. Besides, Rebecca told Kit it was probably because of his accent and it was okay. He liked it that was okay with her, as long as it didn't annoy her. Rebecca was plucking feathers off herself until she sneezed. Most of the feathers flew off her body and slowly fell on the ground.
" Bless you."
" Thank you Kit." Rebecca said kindly. She picked up Molly off of Baloo's belly to place her on the desk to begin the process of plucking the feathers off of her. While she started working on her she began to tell the accurate description of the accident, " When Molly and me walked out of Mr. Wrong's supply shop in Pandatown we were walking across the street while a truck transporting chickens went out of control. I picked up Molly and ran to the other side but the truck cascaded on its side and the chickens escaped. Feathers everywhere! It was a good thing nobody was hurt." She sneezed again, "But Molly insisted to take one of the chickens as a pet."
" Aww mommy," Molly begged, " Can I please get one, pretty please, with sugar on top?"
" No." Rebecca sneezed again, " You know I'm allergic to chicken feathers. Besides, the apartment isn't suitable for a chicken rather, a pet." She glanced over at Baloo who was laughing at the two. Rebecca narrowed her eyes at the large bear, " And what did you do today Mr. Baloo, hmm?"
Baloo thought for a while to answer Rebecca. "As if he needed to think what he did." Rebecca thought. Baloo recited what he did the whole day, " I lay down in my hammock for the whole day, went to make a sandwich, and lay down some more." Rebecca gasp she forgot to tell Baloo something really important, " Oh Baloo your vacation. I'm sorry—"
" For what?" Baloo was confused, what was Rebecca sorry about?
After she placed the last remaining feathers off of Molly and placed it into her trash bin she continued, " Your vacation ends as of today."
" What!" Baloo was shocked. He didn't screw up for three full months and he was on time well, some of the time, he thought. But that wasn't the point! The point was he had all his cargo intact (to a degree) and delivered from point A to point B. He deserved this vacation he thought and he wanted it. Before he voiced his opinion Rebecca handed him a sheet of white paper with directions, " You have a shipment of rice and other foods supplies to be delivered to Phina so you better get Wildcat to help you load the cargo." Baloo jumped out of his seat and shouted, " Rebecca are you out of your flippin' mind I deserved this vacation!"
Rebecca didn't flinch or shown any thought of changing her mind in her eyes. She already knew Baloo's shouts, cons, or demanding nature when something doesn't go his way. However, she remembered an important rule she learned in Business School; treat your employees as how you want to treat you, and she wanted Baloo to have this vacation. But business this month was slow and she was already behind in most of the company bills and some of her own. Rebecca shook her head and remind herself this was, no is good for the business, and Baloo just have to sacrifice his vacation for the good of Higher for Higher. Besides, we all can't have a vacation whenever we want to. She just has to be firm and demanding to get things done.
" The only reason why you're on vacation Baloo is because we wasn't getting any business and this would be the perfect time to gain some revenue." Rebecca scolded. Hastily she headed towards the door with the bin full of feathers. Baloo followed behind her trying to persuade her to get his vacation back,
" But Becky—"
" No excuses or buts." Rebecca demanded, " You're going Baloo, and that's Ms. Cunningham to you. Kit could you watch over Molly while I finish an errand I won't be long."
" Sure thing Ms. Cunningham." Kit said.
" Thank a lot Kit." She sneezed.
" Bless you, Rebecca—"
Rebecca opened the door and smiled, " Thank you." Then slyly she narrowed her eyes at the large bear, " But you're still going to deliver that cargo."
" W-wait!" And Baloo closed the door behind leaving Molly and Kit in the office. Molly climbed off the desk and asked Kit worryingly, " Kit, is Baloo angry at mommy?"
" A little, " He answered. But he reassured Molly that Baloo would pass it off in a while. " Oh." Molly said. She glanced over at the schoolbooks and gasp with joy, " Oh boy! Are those storybooks Kit! Can you read me a story, please?"
" Those aren't storybooks they're books for school." Kit corrected. " But if you wanna read about how plants produce chlorophyll then I'll be happy to." The cub said sarcastically.
Molly blinked aimlessly at him, " I can't read 'em 'cause I don't know how to read yet. "
Kit remembered about his project and the suggestion Baloo made about using Molly as his subject. Even though it wasn't a good idea, Kit was running out of people to do his project on. He asked, " Say Molly, do you ever think about your past or your mom's."
Molly couldn't answer the question on account she didn't know what the word past mean. " Huh? What's a past?" She asked.
" It's what your mom use to do before you came or what you did yesterday."
" Oh!" Molly thought for a while until her eyes brightened up, " Well, mommy would take out a photo album and we use to look at myself when I was a baby. But mommy doesn't take it out as much because it's in a closet that has a lot of stuff in it and when she opens it everything spills—"
" That's it!" Kit said with glee. " I can look for a photo album in the basement. Maybe Baloo has one in there, and if I could find it could help me on my biography!" Kit went towards the basement door and opened it very carefully. The last time Baloo opened the door tons of objects spilled on top of him. Luckily for Kit he didn't suffer the same fate when Baloo opened the door. He carefully walked down the rickety stairs. With each step particles of dust would softly flow up in the air; by the looks of things nobody wasn't in this room in a long time.
He could see the dust particles dance softly in the air since the orange evening sunset went through the small basement windows that was covered in thick yellow dust. The squared shaped room was filled with boxes of all shapes and sizes filled with miscellaneous trinkets. Baloo must have collected them when he went on his trips before Higher for Higher was established, Kit thought, or this stuff was probably here even before Baloo moved into this place. Either way, all of his stuff wasn't placed neatly inside. Most of the items were spilling out of their containers, and some of the tower of boxes looks like they were going to fall down with one touch.
" These boxes look like it's about to tip over." Kit said to himself while walking carefully in the basement. " What's dangerous?" Kit quickly turned around and found Molly behind him. " Molly what are you doing here!?" He said alarmingly.
" Looking for the photo album with you silly." She answered. Molly walked over to one of the boxes, opened it, and found something of interest— a paddleball. She grabbed hold of the paddle and attempted to play with it but Molly didn't have the skill to continually beat the ball on the paddle. Kit remembered when Ms. Cunningham told Molly never to go into the basement because she was too little and she might get hurt. If she found out Molly was down here with him he would get in trouble, and Kit defiantly doesn't want to get in trouble with Ms. Cunningham.
" Little kids can't be here ya know, it's dangerous." Kit scolded. Molly poked her head out of the box and counter Kit's statement, " I bet my mommy wouldn't let big kids in here too. "
She had a point, Kit thought. Then he had another idea to get rid of Molly, scare her!
" There's big rats down here and I've seen them before." Kit warned. Molly's attention turned toward Kit, " I've never saw a rat before." She said. Kit started to distort his face and tried to imitate sharp nasty teeth to resemble the rats he was talking about. While walking closer and closer to Molly in big monster steps he raised his arms like he was a vampire getting ready to pounce on his pray. He roared viciously,
" They're huge, Molly! Big huge black rats that have sharp teeth. They're so huge they can scare a housecat; oh did I mention they're probably bigger than housecats?"
" No."
" Well, they are!" He enforced, " They're ugly and nasty and they love to eat little kids. Especially little girls who have pigtails! They love to have 'em for dinner." Molly narrowed her eyes at Kit, " I'm not a scared of some rat. Are you?"
" N—no." Kit said, " I'm not afraid of a rat or even a mouse. But you should be." Kit said, " They usually come out around this time…" While Kit continued to frighten Molly she saw the silhouette of something animal like. Her eyes focused onto the unusual shadow and realized immediately what it was. She pointed at it and shouted,
" Kit! Look behind you!"
The brown cub turned around and saw the shadow of a huge rat. He screamed loudly and quickly backed away from it. However, he accidentally backed into one of the unstable tower of boxes, which caused it to quiver left to right until gravity kicked it. Suddenly the tower crashed into another box tower and it started a domino effect but instead of small dominos it was heavy boxes toppling down on each other. Finally at one time everything crashed on top of Kit and Molly. A cloud made out of brown dust filled the basement for a while until it settled down.
Molly opened her eyes and found herself underneath old, musty smelling pillows. She lifted the pillows off of her and looked around. Instead of towers of junk the room was a landfill of objects scattered around the floor.
" Kit!" Molly called out, " Where are you?" She found the shadow of the rat once again on one of the boxes. She traced the shadow to its source and found it really amusing; it was a frail little white mouse shaking in fear. Molly immediately went towards him and looked at the little mouse in awe, " Hello, you musta gotten frightened when everything fell huh?"
The white mouse perked its head up and squeaked in fear from the large bear standing in front of him that was Molly. It ran in circles until it ran from under Molly's legs squeaking in panic jumped into a broken jewelry box and closed it. Molly walked over to the jewelry box and picked it up from the floor. Carefully she opened it and found the little white mouse somehow tangled itself in brown string trying to let itself loose. " I'm not going to hurt you." She said. It only took a few seconds for Molly to carefully untangle the mouse from the string. The mouse, which was still frightened, crawled up her arm, shoulder, and chest until it found solace inside Molly's front overall pocket.
" Are you that scared?" Molly said surprisingly. The white mouse poked its head out, nodded hasty to confirm its answer, and went back into her pocket. " Ok, you can stay in there for now. I guess I can call you…Egbert." Molly said. She looked inside the little box and took the string out and at the end of the string she found a pretty, little green rock. The string Egbert was tangled in went thru the little hole inside the pretty rock, it was almost shaped like the moon when it look like a backward letter C. Molly picked it up and marveled at how pretty the stone is, even Egbert awed at how pretty the stone was. " This is a really pretty necklace Egbert, the rock looks like green glass! " Molly said, " I'm going to keep it inside my pocket with you so you can guard it." She placed the pretty rock inside her pocket and Egbert saluted Molly and went back inside.
" Molly!" Kit called. He rose out of a pile of dusty books. Molly ran and helped him out of the pile. " Are you okay?" She asked.
" I think so." Kit answered. He looked at himself and at Molly to make sure she wasn't hurt and luckily she wasn't, but he frighteningly gasped at the sight of the little girl. Her bows were undone, her clothing and fur was covered in thick layer dust and dirt, and her face was probably dirtier than her clothes! " Aw man, Ms. Cunningham's gonna kill me." He thought aloud. Egbert popped its head out of Molly's front pocket and looked at kit. Kit gasp and screamed in panic, " Rat!" And tried to get away. But he backed into a bookstand and all the small trinkets that were on top fell onto the hard ground along with a small picture frame that Kit or Molly didn't notice landed on it front side. Egbert also panic and retreated back into Molly's pocket.
" Molly! What are you doin' keepin' that thing in your pocket!" Kit shouted.
" You frightened Egbert Kit! You just scared him more." Molly defended, " And why are you afraid of a little mouse for? You said you wasn't afraid of rats or mice."
Kit hesitated, he couldn't answer that question. To protect his ego he barked back, " At least I don't keep wild animals in my pockets!"
The basement door swung open and the two children could hear heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Baloo was the first one to see the two cubs.
" Molly! Kit! Are you two all right? I heard a loud crash from outside." The large bear asked with worry. Molly walked towards Baloo and smiled sweetly, " Hi Baloo! I was helping Kit to find something and Kit saw a teeny tiny mouse and he ran away and he hit some boxes and then everything fell down. But were okay now."
Kit folded his arms around his chest and rolled his eyes, " Tell the whole wide world why don't-cha Molly…."
Baloo scooped the dirty Molly off of her feet and tried to brush the dust off of her clothing but nothing was accomplished, the dirt wanted to stay. " I guess the dirt in here got the best of you huh sweetie." Baloo walked up the rickety stairs and continued, " C'mon pigtails let's get out of here before another avalanche happens."
Kit heard the front door quickly opened and close. He suddenly realizes if Ms. Cunningham found him he will surely be in big trouble. Immediately he jumped into the pile of pillows and prayed Rebecca didn't find him. The owner of Higher for Higher poke her head inside the opened basement door and said, " Baloo, I'm back. Why is the basement door opened? Oh my goodness! Molly Elizabeth Cunningham what happened to your clothes and your hair and…oh no your ribbons! That's it! where's Kit?"
" Rebecca calm down. She's just dirty." Baloo said. He steeped into the office and put Molly on the floor. " Mommy calm down," she repeated, " I'm just dirty."
Kit was the only one left in the basement when Baloo halfway closed the door. The cub jumped out of the stack of pillows and sighed, " After all this I didn't find a thing." With the first step he took he heard a cracking noise underneath him. He raised his foot and realized he stepped on the bottom of the picture frame that fell from the bookshelf. Worried, Kit knelled down and carefully turned over the picture frame hoping he could save the glass but fragments of glass were spilling out. When he turned it over he recovered an old photograph of what looks to be a picture of a baby bear. " I wonder who's this?" Kit thought aloud.
" Baloo! Why don't you clean out your basement of all that junk like normal people, do you really think you need that stuff! Kit!" Rebecca cried from upstairs in the office and she also was still calling for Kit. The boy cub quickly fold the picture, place it inside his shirt, and quietly climb up the staircase to slightly close the door to look through the small opening. He found Rebecca kneeling down in front of Molly trying to clean the dirt off with her handkerchief by moisten it with her saliva and rubbing it on molly's face. But no matter how hard she tried it didn't seem to work, and Kit knows by watching other mothers that mother's spit is probably the strongest thing next to soap.
" It doesn't need cleaning!" Baloo retorted, " It's a basement. That's what basements are for!"
" Basements are not meant to squish five year old girls to death." Rebecca complained. " KIT!" She called out.
" She's fine." Baloo said, " Right Molly?"
Molly shook her head to agree, " Yep." Molly even tried to help by rubbing her face with her paw, " Look mommy I'm rubbing it out."
" You're rubbing it in." Rebecca corrected, " Keep still Molly. Young man! You come out from hiding right this minute!" She yelled.
" I think it's not going to come off Beckers." Baloo mentioned. Rebecca stood up and sighed while she looked at her dirty little daughter, " I might as well take you home since it's almost bath time."
" But what about my vacation?" Baloo mentioned. Rebecca rolled her eyes at the large bear with a sigh of defeat, " Alright Baloo you can have it back." Baloo was jumping for joy until Rebecca interrupted his celebration, " But until you come back form Phina it's on a hiatus. " She confirmed.
" Hiatus?!"
" Yes, a Hiatus." She emphasize," And as long nothing goes wrong with the cargo and you're not late with the shipment, you can have your vacation back." She walked towards the door, open it and called for Molly, " Come on Molly. Say bye-bye."
Molly ran to the door while waving her hand to Baloo, " Bye Baloo! See you soon! Bye Kit wherever you are!"
" Bye-Bye." Baloo said. Before Rebecca closed the door she warned, " And remember Baloo I better see the cargo on the Sea Duck when I come here tomorrow…. and wherever you are Kit Cloudkicker I'm will be looking for you tomorrow!" She yelled out. " Bye guys." She said. And then Rebecca shut the door.
Baloo looked through the window and saw the Cunninghams' get into their car and drive off. When they were gone Baloo said aloud, " Hmm…I wonder where Kit could be hiding." He grab hold of the basement doorknob and before he opened it he said, " Could he be hiding in here!" Baloo open the door wide and Kit fell on the floor with a thump.
" Hiya fugitive." Baloo said playfully. " Hi Baloo." Kit said glumly.
" I know Ms. Cunningham is looking for you so I have an idea." Baloo said while picking up Kit from off the ground, " Let's skip town for a few hours and head to Louie's."
" Sounds good to me!" Kit said.
Louie's is a bar and hangout located on a small tropical island a couple of miles away from Cape Susette Canyon which was owned and named by a short, orange orangutan named Louie who usually wear a colorful, flowery, tropical shirt. Louie's is very popular among pilots who stop there to have some of their famous tropical drinks and enjoy their wild parties before they continue on their flight. And since the island is over a flight path use by many pilots, a lot of people stop by to have fun. But tonight business was somewhat slow for the owner who was trying to keep himself busy by working at the bar, scrubbing glasses dry, and listening to Baloo once again complaining about Rebecca while enjoying a piña colada inside a empty out pineapple (with a little pink umbrella).
" …And you know what Louie, " Baloo complained but pause to sip some of his drink through a straw, " I was this close to tell Becky, ' I quit!' I'm tellin' ya I was that close, really."
" Sure Baloo," Louie said aimlessly, " And this would be?"
" The forth time he quit." Kit answered. He continued eating his banana split. " No guys I really was going to quit." Baloo defended. " She never says, ' oh you did a wonderful job.' or ' Baloo I'm going to let you get a day off for today.' It's always work, work, work it's like she expects me to be Mr. Perfect."
" Papa Bear you just cant have a day off whenever you want, you gotta work sometimes." Kit explained. Suddenly a group of loud pilots walked in shouting in merriment. One of the pilots yelled out to the large bear, " Hey Baloo! I got lucky in the horses ya wanna play cards?" Baloo got up from his seat and walked over to the table where the pilots were setting up their game " Sure thing fellas I got some loose change on me. Kit I'll be right back."
" Okay, but don't loose your shirt…again." Kit playfully warned. " I won't." Baloo said when he and the others started to play. While Baloo was playing cards Kit remembered about the picture he found today. He pulled it out of his shirt and unfolded it to look at the picture again since he didn't have a chance to see it.
It was a picture, (a cute picture if Rebecca have seen it Kit thought), of a baby panda smiling happily in the picture. It had white fur, black ears, short hair that was kind of messy and a round patch around its right eye. He couldn't tell rather the baby panda eye color was blue, light gray, or some other light color since it the picture was black and white. But Kit thought for a while and remembered that from all the Pandas he'd ever seen in his life he never saw one with light colored eyes. What makes this kid so different? Kit thought. He turned the picture over and found something written in pen. He read it out loud to himself,
To: Baloo
From: Leena (Who's Leena? Kit thought.)
I'm sorry I've hadn't written to you for the past 2 years Baloo but I was so busy taking care things that the time just flew by. Oh! I have some good news, this is the only picture of Linny I have as of right now but she's grown so fast in the last three years I couldn't afford a photographer to take her picture again. ( I guess the baby in the picture is named Linny. Kit said. He continued to read.) I always tell stories all about you to her and she can't wait to see you on her birthday! And Charlie, especially me can't wait to see you again Baloo.
I hope you can't wait to see your daughter Baloo!
Love,
Leena
" Daughter!" Kit nearly shouted. He looked over at Baloo who looked as if lady luck was sitting next to him tonight with anxiety. He wondered how could Baloo never told him he had a daughter. Come to think of it, Kit thought, Baloo never told him much about his family except the time when a rich uncle passed away and he inherited a great deal of money, until the butler and the cook tried to kill him off for the money which fortunately failed. But he had to pay debts his uncle left behind and all that was left was some pocket change. But this tops the cake! Kit thought: Baloo has a daughter somewhere in Phina! He's a father!
" Hey Kit." Louie called out. The cub snapped back into reality and looked at him. " Aren't ya gonna eat your ice cream? It's melting everywhere." Louie said. Kit glanced at his banana split and realized what was left was a mixing puddle of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Kit folded up the picture and placed it back in his shirt. He pushed the bowl toward Louie's side, " N—No. You can take it Louie, thanks."
" Kid, are you alright?" The orangutan asked worriedly, " You look like you're in shock."
" I'm fine—sort of." Kit answered. " Can I ask you a question Louie?"
" You can ask your old pal Louie anything, so shoot."
" Alright. Did Baloo ever mention anything about him having a…. Daughter?"
" Daughter!" Louie said in surprise. He was so shocked that he accidentally leg go of the glass he was drying and it dropped on the floor. Baloo turned around and called out, " Louie is somethin' wrong?"
" N—No man, nothin' wrong j—just dropped a glass." Louie laughed it off and continued, " You keep playin' ya hear." Baloo look at the innocently smiling Louie and Kit and thought they were acting really funny until he shrugged it off and continued to play. Quickly Kit turned around to Louie who leaned over to Kit to keep their conversation private,
" Kit, what in the world are you talking about Baloo being a daddy?" He whispered.
" I was looking around in the basement today for my English project and I found a picture."
" Let me have a look 'n' see."
" Here." Kit reached into his shirt and pulled out the folded picture of Baloo's daughter. Louie took the picture and started to unfold it. " The baby's name is Linny, and maybe…well… I think she's Baloo's daughter." Kit said. Louie glanced at the picture, front and back, for a while until he folded it and gave it back to Kit, " Wow. Cute picture… looks nothin' like Baloo…maybe that's a good thing… I wonder if her mother is a cutie too. " Louie joked.
" Louie!" Kit stressed, " Did Baloo ever mention anything about Linny?"
Louie thought for a while and said, " Nope. Not a thing. But the name Leena rings. Way before you came along, like, five years ago—that's when I use to have hair— Baloo use to fly to Phina to see this girl name Leena. But that was before they closed the Phina Harbor down for good."
" How come?" Kit asked.
" To tell ya the truth I don't really know, but I heard that the leader of Phina decided to shut the harbor down fearing it was some crazed radicals and it was some declaration of war 'n' all that but I don't believe that story one bit. 'Cause a couple of days after that I overheard some people talkin' about it and they were trying to smuggle out a valuable treasure that was more valuable than all the gold, silver and diamonds in the world. And you wouldn't believe what type of people were jabbering about it."
" Who?" Kit said. He was getting really interested in the story. He made the best guest he could think of and said, " Air Pirates?"
Louie shook his head from side to side, " Nope, wrong answer. It was an official Shier Khan employee to another official Shier Khan employee. Now these guys weren't some muscle men or some paper pushers in an office, these men look, sound, and act like they were in the inside."
" You mean they work closely with Khan?"
" Yep. And I also heard that the people who were trying to smuggle the treasure out were also working with Khan too. I think they kicked the bucket when they were trying to escape. But you never know Kit, all these rumors I've heard in the last five years I highly doubt are true, cause I even hear a rumor about aliens from the planet Mars trying to take over Phina that night. "
" But if Baloo use to travel to Phina a lot did he saw the explosion too?" Kit asked. Louie had the expression on his face that looked as if he was searching thru the many file cabinets in his brain of past memories. " You know what Kit." The orangutan aimlessly thought aloud. He must have found the right file in the cabinets. " I remember when Baloo came here two years after the explosion happened. He stomped in and he look so angry he was about to strangle anybody who went close to him, and he kept repeating this guy's name on the picture over, and over, and over and…
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The early morning sun look as if it was floating on top of the ocean and everything on Louie's island was peaceful and Louie (who was talking in his sleep) was sound asleep in his bed. But not until the Sea Duck, which was flying at a fast speed loss altitude and skied onto the water till it stopped at the island pier. Louie pitched up, rubbed his eyes, and looked out his bedroom window to find out who was coming her at a time like this. And he knew who's plane that was parked on the water, it was Baloo's. " Aw man, Baloo." Louie moaned, " You know better not to come here early I gotta clean up." He complained. Tiredly he put on his robe, walks down stairs and walked out onto the pier to find out why Baloo picked a wonderful time to stop by. Until the passenger door was kicked opened and a fuming Baloo jumped out roaring at the top of his lungs, " That no good, double-crosser, two-timing, so and so, Charlie! I'll ring his neck if I see him!"
Alarmed, Louie backed away from the large bear incase he started swinging his fist around. Louie wanted an explanation why he was screaming, and he wanted it fast, " Hey! Chill out man! Don't be screaming at six-thirty in the morning like a maniac. What happened?!"
" What happened?!" Baloo shouted with anger, " What happened! This is what happened!" Baloo franticly reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a black and white picture of a couple. The woman was a beautiful panda with two black ears; two black patches around her eyes and had strait raven colored hair. She was wearing a simple white gown and a small bouquet of flowers. The other was a tall and slim, handsome, gray bear wearing a brown leather jacket and a tie. They were together in an embrace and they look very happy together. Louie had to admit, they were a cute couple.
" So what's the problem?" Louie asked.
Baloo pointed to the panda girl on the left, " The problem is this girl was suppose to be with me." He pointed to the groom and shouted, " And this guy stole her away from me!"
Louie aimlessly blanked at the fuming bear; he didn't know what to say to clam him down, " Oh. Oh man Baloo, I'm so sorry. Man these things happen a lot—well—not really. But Baloo, I feel for ya. Really." Baloo walked away from the orangutan and sat on the end of pier. Louie could see the sadness slowly creeping up to the large bear. He sat down next to Baloo and listen to what he said.
" Charlie offered to let me leave him behind so he could take care of her. I agreed 'cause Leena's mother is ageing and she couldn't do much all by herself. And I couldn't stay behind because I was the only one who could fly the Sea Duck and defend myself from Air Pirates, Charlie could never do that. While I did some business to keep sending them money to Charlie, he works in Leena's mother's shop as a delivery boy to survive and help Leena's mother."
" Well Baloo that was nice of you two to help a sick girl and her mother." Louie said, trying to cheer the bear up, " Nice?" Baloo sobbed, " It was stupid of me to leave her alone with that snake! 'Cause I got this picture and letter in the mail and Leena wrote to me to call her for now on Ms. Glider 'cause they got hitched! Louie, I trusted him. I actually trusted him more than anyone in the world, probably more than my own family, and I thought of him like my brother. And now he turns my back on me and marries her."
They're a period of quietness between the two friends. Finally Louie broke the silence when he asked, " Baloo, do you still love Leena?"
" What do you think?" Baloo said glumly, " I wouldn't be screaming at six in the morning for nothin'."
" Does Leena love this Charlie guy?" Louie said, " 'Cause it looks to me big guy that this girl looks really happy in this picture."
Baloo pondered at the question and glanced over at the picture of Leena and Charlie and recognize that he never seen her so happy in her life, even though he wished it was him in that picture and not Charlie. And suddenly Baloo realized that Leena would probably never thought of Baloo as more than just a friend no matter how hard he tried or showed. The large bear stood up and sighed in defeat, " You know what Louie, your right. She is happy in this picture."
Louie pitched up and laughed in joy. He was probably going to get the happy-go-lucky-Baloo back, " Cool! Now if she's happy you gotta be in high spirits too 'cause you want your love ones to be happy and—"
" No…."
" Whaddya mean no?!"
" I can't fool myself…" Baloo said, " I can play along to be happy for her but in reality Louie I can't. 'Cause I know I was the first to love her. I could have said it but I was afraid and I didn't. And I've lost her."
A light gust of wind blew and Baloo let the picture go with the wind till it was too late for Baloo to catch it, and for a while the picture danced in the air until the wind placed it on top of the water. Slowly the photograph started to sink to the bottom of the ocean, and the water started to engulf the image of the happy couple, along with Baloo's chances of ever being with Leena….
*********************************************************************************************************
"… And till this day," Louie emphasized, " Baloo never, ever, ever mention anything about Leena or Charlie again. He even asked me if I never, ever told anyone what happened that morning to no one! Not even you!"
Kit sat there trying to absorb all of this info inside his head. No wonder Baloo kept that picture in the basement, Kit thought, he never want to see it again and this was the reason why Baloo never go clean the basement—the memories are inside there. He looked at Louie who was waiting for a response. He said, " Louie, all of that really happened to Baloo?"
" Yep." Louie replied, " And Kit. Let's keep this between you, the big guy and me, okay? And don't mention anything about this conversation to him." Louie warned, " 'Cause five year's isn't enough to heal a big, broken heart."
" Kit!" Baloo called. Kit nearly jumped from his seat. He turned around and shouted, " Yeah."
" C'mon Kit let's go home we got a big day ahead of us." Baloo said.
" Alright." Kit jumped off the stool and was about to run to the exit door until he stopped, " Excuse me Papa Bear I just have to do one last thing."
" Okay, just don't be long." Baloo warned. And he walked out the door to start the Sea Duck. Kit quickly ran to the bar where Louie was and asked, " Louie, if Baloo told you not to tell anyone about that day or about Leena or Charlie then why did you tell me?"
" Why?!" Louie laughed, " 'Cause I trust you the most that's why and besides I didn't know Baloo had a daughter, until now."
Kit turned around and ran toward the exit, but before he shouted he yelled, " Thanks Louie!"
" Don't mention it…" Louie continued to clean his glasses until he realize to warn Kit again. He yelled, " And I mean it! Don't mention it!"
The plane ride back home wasn't boring. Baloo was very talkative on the plane talking about his earnings and what he lost. Even though he lost more than he gained. Kit on the other hand was aimlessly looking out the starry night sky thru his window. Baloo notice this and remembered that Kit was never into cards like he was. So he tries to bring up a conversation they would both enjoy, " Kit?" The cub nearly jumped a foot into the air. He panted, " S—sorry Baloo."
" What's wrong lil' britches? It looked like you almost had a heart attack." Baloo said, " What were you and Louie talkin' about?"
" Uhh…" Louie warned Kit not to talk about the conversation to anyone. Quickly he thought of a lie to tell Baloo…Kit was never a good liar and besides, he didn't like lying to Baloo, Kit thought.
" Me and Louie were…talking about baseball." Kit said.
" Baseball?" Baloo looked at Kit as if he was crazy, " I thought you said you didn't like baseball?"
" Opps did I say baseball?" He apologized, " I meant football."
" I think it's a little too late for football."
" Then frizbee!"
" I've never seen you play with one."
" The Olympics?"
" It's four years away."
" Basketball!?"
" You play that?"
Finally Kit gave it one more shot. If he didn't get it then he'll give up, " Then I was talking about the yo-yo…"
" Oh!" Baloo cried, " Did you know that Louie was a all around yo-yo champion. You should have seen him Kit! He could of walked the dog for a mile in a half! Oh did I mention his yo-yo show in Cape Susette….
For almost an hour Baloo and Kit were talking about yo-yos non-stop, but Kit was getting tired minute by minute and his eyes started to get heavy. They continued talking until they saw the memorable canyon that surrounded the city they lived in. When Baloo went thru the canyon and landed the plane he looked over at Kit. He was already sound asleep.
Aww. Sleepin' like a little cub. Baloo thought. He picked up the boy and carefully carried him out of the Sea Duck, thru the pier, into their home and up the stairs where he opened the bedroom door and placed Kit on his bed. He tuck the sleeping cub and quietly he walked away to close the door but before he closed it he told the cub, " Good night lil' Britches." And closed the door….
So what did you think of the story so far? Have any comments? Just R&R and thanks for reading my fic! Chapter 2 should come up in a couple of weeks so stick around!
P.S: To anybody who probably noticed it, I don't know how to spell Khan's name. I tried looking on ff.net but I couldn't find his name anywhere so could anyone tell me if I spelled it correctly and if I didn't could you tell me in your review? Thanks!
Jerseygirl :)
DISCLAIMER: I, the author of this fan-fiction, do not own the cartoon show Tale Spin or the characters in the show, it is owned by Disney. BUT they do not own any of the characters who were not in the original show (the character's I made up) Also, if this Fanfic (or chapter's) resembles or is identical to another fanfic that another author typed or wrote it is purely coincidental and I am sorry.