Little Bluebird Learned to Fly
A fan fiction by LM Simpson
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this piece of fiction. No money is being made by doing this.
LM Simpson's tidbits (A/N): Recently, I somehow found myself upon a fanfic community on LiveJournal called 52 flavours. The goal is to be able to write fifty-two one-shots (basically one fic a week for a year), based on either a specific series or non-slash pairing, using the themes they have provided. I instantly became intrigued, and decided to write for the challenge even though the chances of me finishing it before December 31st would be nil. After a few minutes of picking specific pairings, I decided to write the challenges for ZobxGreta, for a variety of reasons. This is the first one; wish me luck on further ones. My flame and toast policies still apply (see my profile for the former).
Enjoy!
Theme One: Kan, ya ma kan (Translation: Once there was, and once there was not.)
0000
It only seemed like yesterday…
Zob woke up, smelling the unmistakable scent of bacon cooking.
"Gee, it's early," he thought after looking at the clock. He attempted to go back to sleep for even a few minutes, but failed to do so after a couple of seconds each time. Giving up, he yawned and half-sleepily walked downstairs.
Greta was switching from taking toast out of the toaster to working on the bacon when she heard a voice say, "Smells good."
She turned around. "'Morning, dear."
"Do you need help with anything?"
"Sure," she replied, pointing at the plate of toast, "you can help me with the toast."
As she got back to the bacon, Zob placed two more pieces of bread into the toaster and began buttering a couple of slices. All was quiet in the house, except for the sizzling bacon and Zick snoring upstairs.
Zob noticed his wife was crying as she placed the finished bacon on another plate and began on the eggs.
"Greta? Is something wrong? Did some of the grease spatter on you?"
"No, no, I'm fine," she replied, rubbing an eye, "it's just that… today's the day…"
Zob felt his heart sink. How could he have forgotten that Zick was moving out later that day?
"I'm worried…" Greta continued, "that Zick might get too busy to see us, or move somewhere faraway and never see us again, or get himself stuck in some trouble and—"
Zob hugged her. "Greta… You know Zick would never do that to us… And let's face it—Zick's young; he's bound to get in trouble sometime. And when he does, he should be able to get out of it…"
Greta didn't speak for a moment. "Yeah, you're right," she softly said with a slight smile.
She looked back at the scrambled eggs. "Oh, no!" she cried as she turned off the stove and removed the burnt eggs. "Hmm… And I just used all the eggs we had…"
"Is the store open?" Zob asked.
"Probably."
"I'll be right back then," he said, leaving the kitchen.
Before exiting, he heard Greta still working on breakfast. He turned his head around. "Don't worry—I'll take care of the rest. Just relax for now; you look like you need to get some sleep."
Greta stood there, holding a butter knife as she heard the front door swing and slam. After buttering a slice of toast, she placed the knife on the counter, went to the living room, and plopped onto the love seat in relief.
0000
"Say, son…"
"Yeah, Dad?" Zick after a short while later as he bit into his toast.
"Did you pack everything yet?"
"Um… No, not yet…"
"Why not?" His mother asked.
Zick shrugged. "I don't know; I probably just forgot."
"Well, you got a long ride ahead of you, so I suggest you get packing as soon as you're done eating."
"I will, Mom," he said as he finished his last bite of toast. He moved on to the eggs and took a bite. "You made these, Dad? They're actually pretty good."
"Thanks, son," Zob replied, thinking about the amount of eggs he had carelessly burnt before the eggs his son were eating were prepared.
"How was your toast and bacon?" Greta asked.
Zick smiled. "Just the way my mom knows I like 'em."
Greta felt her eyes watering and hugged her son, emitting a sob. "I'm going to miss you so much…"
"I will too, Mom, I will too," he said, patting her back.
He let go of her and got up from the table. "It's getting closer to 'that' time; I'm going to start packing upstairs. See you in an hour…"
0000
"Did you pack a jacket?" Greta asked Zick almost two hours later.
"Yup."
"Is there a map in the glove compartment?"
"Yes, Mom."
"A spare everything?"
"I checked it all with Dad."
Zob entered the foyer. "The oil and engine are fine!"
"So I guess I'm good to go?"
"Yeah, pretty much…"
Whoa, Zick thought, it's really almost time… "Where's everybody else?"
Zick suddenly heard his grandmother say, "We're right behind you, dear."
Turning around, he saw his grandparents, Timothy, and the monsters on the staircase and in the foyer. "You're all gonna see me leave?"
"Of course we are," Theo said.
"It's not everyday that your only grandchild is going away to college!" Tessa added.
Zick smiled. "Thanks guys…"
After turning back around, he wrapped his arms around his mother. "Call us whenever you stop at a gas station or hotel," she said.
"Don't worry, I will," he said, kissing her on the cheek before doing the same with his father.
"If you need help or anything else, you know who to go to, right?"
"Of course I do, Dad," he replied, moving on to Timothy and his grandparents.
"You know you're in our hearts," Theo told him.
"If we still had hearts, that is," his grandmother replied with a wink.
He let out a chuckle as he looked down at the maximum tutor, who informed him, "I've known you for pretty much all your life, so this must be as heartbreaking to me to see you go as it is to your parents. It isn't going to be nowhere the same without you here, I'll tell you that… Good luck, Zick."
"I'm glad to know that," said Zick as he gave him a goodbye hug and turned his attention to the detention oasis' monsters.
In response, the monsters dogpiled him. "We'll miss you!" they yelled.
"I'll miss you too," Zick responded as each and every one of them got up from the floor. "Oh! And that reminds me…"
Zick ran out of the house. A few seconds later, he returned, holding a box. "Elena left a couple of days ago," he said before giving it to Bombo, "but we both want you to have this. Think of it as a sort of goodbye gift…"
Opening it, the monster found a favorite treat of his. Gleefully, he ate the old, tattered pair of sneakers and replied, "Thanks, Zick!"
He laughed. "No problem…"
Looking at his watch, though, Zick became less enthusiastic. "Yow—if I want to make at least a quarter of the trip, I'm gonna have to leave now!" he cried as he opened the front door.
"You're still my baby as soon as you turn that car on, Zick!" Greta yelled.
"And I still will be by the next time I visit. See you in the holidays, everyone!"
"See you too, son," Zob said, "Good luck on your trip!"
"Bye, guys!" Zick called, waving as he went towards the car.
"Goodbye!" everyone said, waving as well until the car and Zick disappeared from their sight.
Greta wrapped her arms around Zob's waist, crying. "Our baby's on his own now…"
Zob gave her a kiss. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Knowing what a good job you did with him, I know he'll be just fine."
Greta smiled. "Thank you…"
As the wind started to blow, kicking some fallen leaves up in the process, Zob closed the door, allowing life to resume in the house with a crucial member missing…
THE END
A/N: I'm currently working on my second theme; it will come as soon as possible. Until then, thanks for reading, and have a good day!
Bye, y'all!
LM Simpson