A/N Hello, all you non-existent fans of this show! I love Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street so much, and I decided to write this short thingy based off the cartoon at the end of Gortimer vs. the End, since it goes a little too fast. And then watching it again made me cry again, and... yeah. Please PM me if you ever want to talk about the show because there is NO FANDOM. :P
Anyway, the show and characters, etc. belong to Amazon and the show's creator David Anaxagoras (who is a genius), not me. Have fun reading!
It was Gortimer's junior year of high school, but he wasn't in school at the moment. It was his mother's wedding to Adam, and he was giving a speech. The best part of that day, though, was the fact that he got to see Mel and Ranger again. They had video-chatted with each other weekly, and they had a constant group text going, but so far this was only the second time they'd both come to see him. He'd been back to Normal Street one weekend, Mel had come to the city four times, and Ranger twice. This was also the day he'd met Rachel...
Then that summer, Gortimer got his driver's license. Naturally the first thing he did was make another visit to his old friends, staying at Ranger's overnight. Ranger had told him how he'd finally accomplished his dream of playing on the basketball team, but hadn't mentioned how tall he'd grown, thinking it was amusing to to give Gortimer a surprise.
When Gortimer got back, though, there was a different kind of surprise in store. "I'm moving," Rachel told him. "And I just don't think things work out for us anymore. I'm sorry." And Gortimer became a mole person for a while.
It gave him an opportunity to exercise his creative writing skills. Gortimer had occasionally written to Mrs. Hudspith, but she was made very happy now by his frequent letters read to her by Mel and Ranger. Stories, mostly about their childhood adventures.
Then came the Normal High Graduation. Valedictorian had been a competition between Catherine and Mel, a friendly one this time. When Catherine won, Mel smiled and clapped loudest of all, and Gortimer saw all his friends graduate with honor. They all came to be there for him a week later.
The three of them were practically adults now, and all very excited, because they were attending the same college. It was going to be a busy time, but they would get to see each other every day now. Classes began, and they entered the world of grown-ups together.
But early that semester, Ranger got the phone call. This time it was more than a simple overnight hospital stay. Going back to Normal Street had always been a happy occasion, but not this time. Mel and Gortimer now knew that sometimes there's nothing you can say. So they said nothing. But they stood by Ranger's side the whole time, and their silent sympathy meant everything.
This meant Ranger had to quit college and go back to working in the now struggling bakery. Mel graduated college with a degree in engineering. Gortimer graduated with a degree in the arts and rented an apartment, where his friends helped him get settled. He got a desk job to support him while he worked toward his dream of becoming an author and penned his first novel.
One night, Stanley, who had embraced the jokester side of himself, invited his first three friends to the club where he was a successful stand-up comedian. He was hilarious, proving he'd found his true calling. The next act was always the one Mel remembered most, however. Owen made busy, no-nonsense Mel fall head over heels in love.
Mel was only a few moments away from walking down the aisle. She looked up at her father. Tears stood in his eyes. "I wish your mother could have been here to see you." Mel smiled at him, tears rolling down her own cheeks. "She's looking down on us now, Dad." They embraced, and he led her down to the new man in her life.
Abigail, though she still preferred to be alone or with close friends, was in the public eye now. And just like she wanted, her art was what people mostly focused on. She and Gortimer shared many a laugh over the awkwardness of their youth.
It was 11:53 P.M. Gortimer was staying up late, working on his novel, and Ranger was tying up loose ends at the bakery, when they got a phone call. "Hey, it's Owen," came the excited voice. "It's time!" Two hours later, they stood by Mel's hospital bed, now uncles because of this little pink mini-Mel.
Gortimer had finally finished his novel. Everything was set. He had a publisher, prospective distributors for his book, and his friends and family loved it. But it didn't sell, and he wondered if he just wasn't cut out for his dream job.
Ranger wasn't doing so well, either. The bakery had been going downhill for some time now, and there just wasn't enough money to keep it going.
Mel's career, meanwhile, was skyrocketing. Literally. She became an astronaut, and did what she'd always loved. Exploring, pushing her limits, and advancing the cause of science. And Melissa was the only little girl at kindergarten who could say, "No, real spacecraft don't have dragons. I know, because my mommy drives one."
Ranger and his parents had been brainstorming ideas. They still had a building with the proper equipment for cooking, right? Maybe all they needed was a new direction. Not sushi. But after a short time, they were running the most popular bistro on Normal Street.
A new direction. So Gortimer went back to his former school, and became a teacher, which he actually ended up enjoying. "Mr. Gibbon? I brought in the attendance sheet," said Miss Emily, the red-haired history teacher. Then came a proposal, made even more special in that it took place in Ranger's bistro, and Gortimer had his first true romance. And you know who the best man and maid of honor were at that wedding.
Mrs. Hudspith passed away, leaving her house and belongings to the three who had freed her from the Frog of Doom, and spent time with her so often. Mel, Ranger, and Gortimer were there cleaning the house for one of her distant relatives who needed it, and sorting through her possessions. Gortimer came across a shoebox filled with papers in a familiar handwriting. Ranger and Mel sat on the floor with him, and they read them all, living their adventures over again. That gave him an idea.
Even though he doubted himself now, he enjoyed storytelling, so he went at it again just for the fun of it, and on a whim, he sent it to a publisher with no expectations. Average Ave. became a best-selling novel within a week. But the best was still to come. Though Gortimer and Emily found the adoption process long and a bit difficult, little Tate was worth it all.
Gortimer was talking to Ranger on the phone. "Gortimer, they put a "For Sale" sign up at your old house." Now they would have a bedroom for Tate and be closer to the school where Gortimer and Emily taught.
Gortimer, Ranger, and Mel stood on the street with their families and Ranger's girlfriend, looking at Gortimer's old home. They had just finished moving all the stuff in. "Let's get a picture," suggested Mel. Emily smiled. "Say cheese!" They did, and a fat, familiar-looking frog, bewildered by the flash, hopped away. Melissa and Tate giggled, looked at each other, and chased it down the street.
They watched them run down the street, the small, chubby, imaginative future of Normal Street. And for that moment, at least, everything was perfect.