Chapter 2:
As Gertrude sat and thought about things from "what makes someone popular?" to "What magical force allows the Cat in the Hat to constantly pop in and out of worlds?" She used all of the things she knew but couldn't think of a logical reasoning for the latter. The Cat in the Hat visited the jungle of Nool often, usually with a new child in need of an adventure and some self-discovery. The last time they had seen him he had rushed off so quickly to find "JoJo" (whoever the heck that was) that he almost lost his stripped hat!
"Help!" yelled a small voice that was barely audible. The yelp interrupted her train of thought and she looked for the sound. That's funny. Thought Gertrude, There's no one around. Then she heard it again calling out, "Help!" So Gertrude looked harder she strained her eyes until she finally saw a small speck of dust blowing past through the air. "Help!" the small voice called once again. Gertrude knew it must have been from the speck. "How confusing!" Gertrude whispered to herself, "I've never heard tell of a small speck of dust that was able to yell." There must be a small little person on that small speck. "Oh, no!" gasped Gertrude, "He'll blow into the pool! And with all of this wind, if he hits the water he'll drown. I'll just have to save them because after all a person's a person no matter how small!"
By this time Horton saw Gertrude. The sight was quite strange. Gertrude had plucked a soft pink clover from the ground and was placing something too small to see onto it. He mustered all of his courage and walked over to her. "He-hey Ger-Gert –Gertrude," Horton stuttered, "What are you doing?" She looked up at him with her deep blue eyes making him lose his balance for a second. "Ummm," she paused. She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to make Horton think she was crazy for hearing such a very small voice and believing a person may be living on the speck she had placed on the clover. She decided he could be trusted and hopefully open minded enough for her to tell him her theory. She glanced back down at the clover where the dust speck rested then said, "I heard a small voice, just a very faint yelp, it sounded like someone calling for help. I looked all round but saw nothing except for this speck. I then traced the sound back to the dust speck. I assume that if the Cat in the Hat can bend reality between worlds, why can't a tiny person exists? So to keep it safe I put it on this clover. Please don't think I'm crazy!" she said in a rush.
He laughed gently. He'd never think of her as crazy. She was the most logical and complex thinker he knew. She was very geeky, that was one of the reasons he liked her. "Tell me more." He said. This time less nervous. She wondered why he was still interested in what she had to say. Most people listen to her for five seconds then leave, bored with her "useless" ideas and thinks. Maybe he'll be my friend! No, that's just wishful thinking. Why would someone want to be friends with Gertrude McFuzz? To test and see if he really did not see her as a pest like the other jungle citizens she offered him a seat under the truffula tree next to her so she could tell him more.
Horton was overjoyed. Gertrude is actually talking to me! And offered me to sit next to her! He sat down and faced her. She was even more beautiful up close. Not Mayzie's makeup and forced beauty, but natural true beauty. It was a shame that he was the only one to notice. "I think that a there are world everywhere! If we would only have better vision or hearing we would notice them all. Imagine if this truly is a small little world, amazing but true, then think of how many more there are! This could be a new discovery! I plan on trying to communicate with them in a little while. Well it was nice talking to you, Horton. Believe it or not, not you're the only person who has listened to me talk with an actual interest in what I have to say before. Well, goodbye! I need to get home before dark." She said "We are neighbors, maybe we could walk together. You could tell me more about yourself on the way. Maybe we could even chat again!" Horton said. He wished he could read Gertrude's thoughts to see what she thought of him. She looked even more perfect in the light of the setting sun. The dying rays cast yellow light on her delicate features making her pale skin look golden. "Sure!" she exclaimed. Horton cheered silently in his head.
"Oh Gertrude!" called a sing-song voice, "it's me, Mayzie! Will you be a dear and come over here for a sec?" Gertrude stole a doubting glance at Horton then slowly made her way to where the Bird Girls and Mayzie La Bird stood. Both Gertrude and Horton had been teased by Mayzie and her posy and feared what she was going to say to Gertrude. Horton had a want to protect her. "Now we're trying to see who has the best tail! Mine's certainly the most show offish! And there's definitely nothing show offish on you so you don't have to worry about being argued about!" she said. "Thank you, Mayzie." Gertrude mumbled. "So it's between me and Jane and we need an unbiased judge. That's you. So whose tail is better?" Mayzie asked as she and Jane, a yellow bird with a rainbow of feathers, turned around to show Gertrude their tails.
Gertrude didn't want to offend anyone so while the two birds were turned around she flew away silently towards Horton. Mayzie saw this and flew after her, enraged that she had flown away and hadn't automatically declared her to have the better tail. She collided with Gertrude mid-air. The force of the impact made Gertrude loose her balance and plummet to the pools below. Horton started running toward Gertrude as she fell from the sky. She tried to turn around and flapped her wings frantically but she couldn't flip herself and remained falling back-first. The water hit her like a brick wall and quickly welcomed her into its dark depths. The sun had now set completely making the watery abyss completely black. Everyone knew birds couldn't swim. Her lungs burned for air So Gertrude stopped flapping and closed her eyes. She sent a short prayer that Horton would watch over the clover and the small world that was the speck of dust then let the darkness consume her.