CHAPTER 1
A peanut sat on a bench by the river of Danube. She watched as the slow rusty ferries that glided over the water. The girl waited as river shimmered underneath the marmalade sky, feeling the autumn breeze. She knew that the person she was waiting for was not coming any later or soon - or so she thought.
She looked at herself, regretting for what she had done. She stood up, straightening her black beret and dusting her dress while doing so. The peanut turned around to the taxi behind her. There stood two more older peanuts.
"Penny, how was your work as a model?" one of them asked, with a bright smile on her face.
Penny looked at her mother with a grim frown.
"Why do you think I passed Turin?" she asked, in a rather down voice.
Her father noticed the sadness of her daughter, as she said every word. Placing his hand on Penny, he sighed. She gave him a sharp glare, as if he was a stranger that held on to her.
"What's wrong, Penny?"
Penny shoved her father's hand, surprising both of her parents. They saw the angry glint in her eyes and her clenched fists. Her beret fell to an angle that made it seem to fall. The bright grin of her father slowly turned into a dark frown.
"What's wrong?" she asked with a small hiss in her voice. "Well, everything that happened ever since we left Elmore!"
"Look, Penny," her father stated. "We came here because…"
"Because you've got a job transfer! Why not find another in the state at least?"
"It's very complicated and…"
"You've said that every single time I ask you the very same question! Why not tell me now!"
Penny was furious now. So was her father.
"Would you just… agh! Your not staying at our place for the rest of your career!"
"Frederick!" Ms Fitzgerald barked.
Penny turned away saying, "So be it."
Emotionlessly, her parents watched her walk away. There was no way to stop her, since they were no longer her legal guardians. She was as free as the wind. The two knew that Penny would come back soon. There was one thing left that they haven't taught her.
Penny, minute by minute, walked further and further towards the centre. Soon, she was absent from the vision of her parents. She was now free from the grasp of her parent's supervision and safety. She was out of the cradle.
Penny passed by numerous amounts of bricked boutiques and shops until she reached her wee two storey bricked terrace. It was down this road with trees in both sides and bricks fully covering the pedestrian.
She pulled her keys out and searched through for the house key. She had random keys for almost everything from her bike to her handbag. Penny pulled out a rusty key and inserted it into the door lock, unlocking it.
The door opened, revealing her well maintained lounge room. There were only two seats and pictures on the burnt fireplace. All of them depicted her and her family in Paris - all except for one. The one which depicted her and her crush, Gumball.
Penny approached the fireplace, shutting the door behind her. She held the picture of Gumball and dusted it with her finger.
She missed him more than anybody else in Elmore. Every night, she had nightmares about how they met for the last time and never met ever since. Most girls would love to be in her position right now - famous, loved and flirted. But Penny would trade these elements for Gumball.
She really wished that he came.
• • •
In a skyscraper at San Francisco, an employee was having a meeting with his boss, regarding his job future. He was worried because of his job history of being fired a hundred and nineteen times. This was his only steady source of income and it would've killed a part of him if he was cut off.
Fingers crossed, he listened to his boss, hoping for a positive statement.
"Gumball Watterson, I'd like to say that you will be promoted to be our photographer there in Europe and you will have a 75% income increase," the old cupcake woman said, in her raspy monotone voice. "Congratulations."