What happens when you feel like you can't keep going on? It's like… you just want to give up; you've lost the will to press onward. You've got a crummy, underpaying job, a fat, lazy husband, and three kids, and two of them cause trouble and stress for you every day. Still, you've beaten every obstacle. What happens, though, when it all pushes you too far? What then?
The Will (The Siren That Didn't Sound)
By
Marches45
For Henry Peters
I
It was 14:45. Nicole Watterson drove toward Elmore Junior High from her job, or what used to be her job. She was furious, stressed, and sad over a recent incident. That afternoon, she had received a phone call from said school. It was the tenth one in that month alone.
"What did they do this time, Principal Brown?" she asked as she picked up and answered the phone. She was clearly annoyed at the frequency of these calls, as her tone of voice indicated.
"Well, Mrs. Watterson," Principal Brown began in his usual tone, which belied his anger and seemed not to acknowledge Nicole's aggravation. He, as well as the rest of the students and faculty that hadn't already gone home or been taken to Elmore Hospital, was outside, standing near the remains of the school. Principal Brown was calling from his cell phone since his office had been demolished as a result of Gumball and Darwin Watterson's earlier actions. Next to him, Miss Simian held each boy by the back of his shirt collar or, in Darwin's case, his tail fin. She smiled evilly at them as they looked down guiltily. Anais, arms crossed, was standing next to Principal Brown to keep her distance from her brothers, at whom she glared.
"It seems that your boys have done the worst thing yet. During their chemistry class, they were instructed to carefully mix two solutions. Gumball claims that a fly landed on his hand, which apparently made him shriek and drop his test tubes to swat it away. Long story short, they wound up mixing too much of each solution together, and as a result, they destroyed the school. So, they must b—"
"They destroyed the school?!" Nicole shouted into the phone, interrupting Principal Brown. To maintain control of her temper, she squeezed it until her paw blanched a very light blue.
"Yes, Mrs. Watterson," answered Principal Brown. "Fortunately for them, I've decided not to press charges." Nicole sighed, her anger beginning to subside. "However, because they committed a very serious offense, I must issue some sort of punishment for them, so in lieu of pressing charges, your boys are expelled."
At hearing their now former principal's declaration, the boys went wide-eyed. They had really screwed up this time, and they knew what their mother was capable of. Miss Simian noticed their discomfort and chuckled at them.
That last word reverberated inside Nicole's head as her jaw dropped, and she gaped at nothing in particular. Expelled. Expelled. Expelled. She couldn't believe it. After all the times her boys had gotten in trouble at school, they never learned. Now, they had gone so far that they were kicked out of the school district. Her left eye began to twitch. Once again, her anger flared. This time, there was no stopping the now free beast.
"Mrs. Watterson?" Principal Brown asked after a few moments of silence from the other end. Suddenly, there was a clatter, followed by a crash and an enraged roar.
"Oh, my," Principal Brown whispered, then hung up the phone. Crossing his furry arms across his chest, he said, "Well, boys, considering your mother's current state, I wish the best of luck to you two."
"Haha! Finally, you're expelled!" cheered Miss Simian. "I never have to see you two losers in my classroom again! Wahoo!" Releasing the boys, she started dancing as she had when Gumball signed her Teacher of the Year Award recommendation letter.
"Man, I love that woman," said Principal Brown in a low voice as the boys watched Miss Simian's awful dance, awaiting their mother's arrival.
Meanwhile, Nicole stood hunched over a little, panting as she surveyed the mess that was now her entire office. Papers were scattered all over the room; drawers were empty, ripped from their filing cabinet, dented, and against the wall in a large pile; the window had a gaping hole resulting from the filing cabinet Nicole had thrown out of it (it was easier to do since it was empty); the computer had an almost circular hole in the screen where she had punched it while protecting her hand from broken glass with a small pencil bucket, and the keyboard was in half thanks to her knee; claw marks lined the walls; and her desk's swivel chair lay disassembled from being smashed on the floor.
Slowly, Nicole's rage turned to fear as she realized what she had done. Just then, the worst thing she felt could happen at a time like this, the very reason that she was afraid, happened: her boss, the newspaper employee Mark Crumple, walked in.
"Nicole, I need to see you in my office," he said upon taking a good look at the office. Nicole sighed and followed him out, knowing that she was bound to receive a pink slip.
Nicole sniffled and shed a tear as she watched the skyscrapers shrink in the distance from her rear view mirror. Now that she didn't have a job, how would she put bread on the table for much longer? How would she be able to pay for the damages that Gumball and Darwin caused to their former school?
School. Her mind went back to the phone call she had gotten, the main reason for it all. Her boys, especially Gumball, had caused her to lose both the control of her temper and her job. With that, her sadness subsided, and less intense anger replaced it as she thought of possible punishments for them.
She pressed down harder on the gas pedal, driving faster. Once she got to the school, she exited the car, slammed the door and stalked up to take her children home. She picked up Anais and carried her to the car. She put her in and then went for her boys.
"That's right," said Miss Simian, who had finished dancing and was smiling as she stood over Gumball and Darwin. "Take your delinquents away and never show your face here again, loser." She cackled, catalyzing the reemergence of Nicole's full rage, fuller maybe.
Nicole released a feral screech and lunged at the baboon, tackling her to the ground. Anais stood up in her car seat and watched in astonishment as Nicole proceeded to unleash all of her pent-up rage at her, yelling as she made each strike. The males simply watched it unfold, Gumball and Darwin in awe, Principal Brown in horror.
"This is for my first steps!" She grabbed Miss Simian's throat and throttled her. Miss Simian gagged.
"This is for my bicycle!" She repeatedly punched her in the face, blackening her eyes. Miss Simian groaned.
"This is for my poem! This is for my hair! This is for Richard!" Extending her claws, Nicole grabbed Miss Simian's face, piercing the wrinkled pink skin and drawing blood.
"This is for every time you've called me a loser!" Nicole slowly dragged her claws down Miss Simian's cheek, making her scream as the three gashes lengthened.
"Mrs. Watterson!" yelled Principal Brown authoritatively, working up the courage to confront the enraged mother. "Get off of Miss Simian right now, or I will pr—" Using her free hand, Nicole grabbed his fur and threw him aside. He landed on his face, and the lenses of his glasses broke. He groaned as he lifted his head.
Once Nicole reached Miss Simian's nose, she swiped up her paw and retracted her claws. Immediately, Miss Simian's hand shot up to her face to cover the bleeding wound.
Standing up, Nicole grabbed her boys by the ear/tail fin and dragged them to the car. She slammed the door as they got inside; then, she got in and sped home before anyone had time to fasten his or her seat belt. Anais almost fell onto the car floor as a result. Miss Simian grumbled, staring at the car as it disappeared from view.
II
Nicole got out of the car, pulled out her sons by their wrists and slammed the door hard enough to make the glass crack. Anais got out on her own and followed them all, keeping her angry gaze on her brothers. Walking up the porch and gripping the boys with one hand, Nicole fished in her skirt pocket for her key. She pulled it out, unlocked the door, brought the kids inside, and forced the boys onto the couch, next to their sleeping, snoring father, Richard. Anais walked upstairs to her room, grumbling as the boys stared in horror at their fuming mother.
"Do you have any idea what happened to me because of what you two did?!" she shouted, causing Richard to awaken with a start.
"Honey, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Richard, go outside and entertain yourself somehow," she commanded, taking some of the intensity out of her voice.
"Can I—"
"Now!" she yelled and pointed in the direction of the backyard. Whimpering, Richard hurried off of the couch and did as he was told.
"Now, then. Do you two have any idea what you did to me?" she repeated, her vocal intensity increasing again as she returned her attention to her sons.
"What happened?" Darwin whimpered.
"Ugh, never mind! That's not important!" sighed Nicole, pinching her glabella. "The main problem is that you destroyed your school! And for what? A fly! Gumball, you should know better than that!" she scolded, hands on her hips. "You let a meager fly control your actions!"
"I'm sorry, Mom," Gumball squeaked.
"Sorry's not gonna cut it!" Nicole's voice began to crack, and tears were starting to form in her eyes.
"Sorry doesn't pay for the damages you caused!" Nicole stepped forward until she was towering above them. Her angry frown didn't leave her face.
"Sorry doesn't help me find a new school for you two! Sorry doesn't earn the money we would need to get a new house so you can take the school bus! Sorry…" Nicole was panting, staring her frightened children down. She blinked and slowly exhaled through her nose.
"Darwin, you're grounded for two weeks," she stated, choosing not to address the issue of her losing her job. "Gumball, since you caused this whole mess, you're grounded for a month."
With that out of the way, she left the living room and headed toward the stairs.
"Tell you father he can come back inside," she ordered as walked up to the second floor. Once she reached her bedroom, she got in and slammed the door behind her, which signaled that it was safe for the boys to talk. What they didn't know was that once she closed the door, she collapsed to her knees and burst out sobbing into the bed.
"This is you're fault, you know," said Darwin, glaring as he turned on his brother. "This wouldn't have happened if you weren't scared of bugs."
"Wha—hey! You're in this too, ya know!" objected Gumball, making an excuse.
"Only because I was your lab partner, so it's guilt by association!"
"Ugh! Whatever. Let's just get Dad," said Gumball, wanting to change the subject. He got up from the couch, made his way into the kitchen, opened the door, and called for his father to come back inside.
"What's up with your mother?" said Richard, putting his hands on his hips curiously.
"Well," Darwin began, rubbing the back of his fish head, "Gumball and I, mostly Gumball, accidentally destroyed the school and got expelled." Gumball gave Darwin a dirty look when he said "mostly Gumball."
"Expelled? What's that?" asked Richard, clearly perplexed.
"We got kicked out of school," explained Gumball.
"You mean you can stay home all day? Awesome!" said Richard, failing to comprehend the severity of his boys' offense. "Hey, where is your mother?"
"She's upstairs," answered Gumball. Richard left the boys to see his wife. As he walked upstairs, he heard what he thought was sniffling. Thinking it was Anais, he went into her room to check up on her. He found her sitting around her dolls, having a tea party at the small table in the center of the room. Finding nothing out of the ordinary there, he then went back to check on his wife.
"Hey, honey, what's—" he couldn't finish his sentence because once he walked into the bedroom, he found Nicole slumped over the bed, bawling. Richard's ears drooped as he walked up to her and tried to comfort her.
"What's wrong, honey?" he asked, crouching down and rubbing her shoulder. She lifted her head to meet his gaze, her eyes red.
"I— I— I lost my job, Richard," she wailed and threw her arms around him to cry into his shoulder.
"There, there, Nicole," said Richard, hugging her and patting the small of her back. "Now, what happened?"
She began explaining everything that happened, from the boys getting in trouble at school, to destroying her office as a result of her blind rage, to her beating up Miss Simian for once again calling her a loser, to her grounding the boys. For once, Richard listened intently.
"What are we going to do, Richard?" she whispered. "My job didn't pay well to begin with, but now, I can't get paid at all. How are we going to pay for the damage to their school?" Her breath became ragged as she stuttered. "How am I going to keep paying for this house? Plus, we need to move to a new school district. How will we be able to pay for a new place?"
"Honey, relax," Richard told her, putting his hands on her shoulders to mollify her. "It'll be all right."
"Richard, how will it be all right? How will I be able to get a new job?" Nicole asked him seriously, tears still falling down her face. "No one's going to want to hire me if they know about my anger issues."
"Then I'll get a job, and it won't be like last time," he said to try to reassure her. She just fell back into his shoulder and cried harder, not convinced. Seeing that there wasn't anything more he could say to help his wife feel better, he just hugged her tighter and patted her back.
III
Later that evening, Nicole made a sausage on a bun for Richard, a sandwich cut into quarters for Anais, and fish flakes for Darwin. For Gumball, she gave him two oranges. Then, she went upstairs and secluded herself inside her bedroom once more. She lied down on the bed and relived the day's events. Her spirits shattered more with each passing second, and once again, she wept.
Reaching into her skirt pocket, Nicole pulled out a bottle of antidepressant pills that she had taken from her kitchen cabinet while she had been preparing dinner. Still lying down, she held them over her head and thought, Should I? Should I just end it all? Right now?
Her mind drifted back to her meltdown at work. She was right. After that incident, no business in Elmore, or anywhere, for that matter, would want to hire such a destructive person like her. There was no use in hiding it. She would have to state on any application she filled out why she no longer worked at her previous place of employment.
Next, her mind went to her son, Gumball. She was infuriated with him for his destructive cowardice. She even began to consider him an accident. Then, she drew back that last thought and replaced it with the idea that his destructiveness was inherited from her.
She sighed and sat back up. Slouching beside the nightstand and gazing at the contents of the bottle in her hand, she made her decision. Grabbing a post-it note from inside the nightstand, and a pen, she scribbled a farewell message for her family.
To my dearest Richard, I hope you turn into a better parent than I was.
To my little Anais, continue to excel. With my absence, you need to be the brain in the house.
To my little guardian Darwin, keep Gumball in check.
And to my little Gummypuss, I've negatively influenced you too much. I hope this will undo some of the damage.
A tear fell near the edge of the note as she finished. Sniffling as she put it beside her on the bed, Nicole grabbed the bottle, opened it, poured the contents into her hand…and swallowed them all. Soon, her eyelids felt heavy, she leaned forward, and she passed out on the floor. The bottle rolled out of her hand.
IV
That night, after dinner, when Richard explained to everyone that Nicole had lost her job as a result of what had happened, Gumball went to apologize again for what he did at school. When he found her unconscious form, he beckoned the rest of the family. Thinking they still had time to save her, they called the police. When Officer Doughnut arrived, he asked to see the body. Richard brought him upstairs so he could feel Nicole's pulse.
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Watterson," said the officer solemnly after he checked her wrist, "but your wife is dead." It was 20:02. Richard cried out:
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Then, he and the kids began to cry for Nicole's soul. Gumball cried the hardest, feeling that he was the main reason for his mother's suicide. He fell to his knees and repeatedly beat the floor as he sorrowfully yelled, "Why?!" over and over, his eyes shut tightly. His father picked him up, and he cried into his shoulder as Richard tried to soothe him.
"I think it's time you kids went to bed," Richard sniffled. He let Gumball go, then, as the kids departed to their beds to cry themselves to sleep, he faced Officer Doughnut and asked him to take her corpse away. He complied and brought Nicole to the ambulance. Two band-aid doctors placed her onto the gurney they had set up and loaded her into the ambulance. Once she was inside, it left the Watterson home. From the upstairs window, Richard tearfully watched it move at a moderate speed toward the local morgue. It did not sound its siren.
THE END