Chapter 2 in which Ponyo Wakes Up and Starts her New Day.

And a few more touches of sugar and...

(Knock, knock.)

Yes?

"Hi Mr. Narrator."

"Hello."

Hey you two!

"Can we come in?"

Sure Ponyo, take a seat. And you must be Sosuke. Come on in!

"Thanks."

How are you two doing today?

"Wonderful!"

"I'm doing good. How are you?"

Just fine Sosuke. I just finished some lemonade. Would you two like some?

"Yes please."

"Mmm. This is yummy."

Thanks Ponyo. So what's up?

"We came to hear more of Ponyo's story. Ponyo said you would tell some more, and she said I could listen too."

"Yeah! We want to hear more!"

"Can you tell us more please?"

"Pleeeeeaaaase?"

Sure, just let me take a seat here.

"Yay!"

Now where was I?

"You finished the part where I became a human forever."

Oh yeah, that's right. Now I'll begin telling the real story. I'll start on the morning when you first woke up in your new home.


The first things Ponyo (who used to be Brunnhilde) experienced on her first morning in her new home were two sounds: the distant and gentle yet mighty splashing of ocean waves far below the house and the chirping of birds eager to begin the day. She had hardly slept that whole night. She was far too excited. The whole day before, she and her new family spent the day getting her settled in. It was the beginning of a new life: for her and the family.

She sat up, stretched her arms and opened her eyes. The sunlight poured through the glass windows and bathed her room with a warm golden hue. It was (and still is) a very nice room with its windows, wooden floors and walls, dressers and toy box. It was Sosuke's room, but now it was Ponyo's room too.

A large sliding-glass door was on one side of the room. It opened out onto a balcony with a large light used to signal boats. Sosuke used it whenever his father Koichi sailed by on his fishing boat. Then they would communicate and say hello and other stuff like that. On the other side of the room, directly opposite the glass door, was a wooden door leading to the hallway, which led to Lisa and Koichi's room, a bathroom and downstairs. Sosuke slept on a bed on one side of the room. Ponyo slept on a comfortable futon and pillow on the floor. After all, the family didn't have an extra bed for her, but Ponyo didn't care.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked around…and then it hit her: she was in her new home for good. She remembered that she now got to live with her beloved Sosuke and his parents. She remembered that she could now see all there was to see and learn all there was to learn on land. With a burst of joyous excitement, Ponyo leapt off the futon and ran over to Sosuke, who was still fast asleep. He wasn't going to be asleep in a moment.

She leapt onto him and bounced up and down on his bed.

"Sosuke! Sosuke! Sosuke! Wake up! Wake up! It's morning!" she trumpeted jovially.

Sosuke groaned and stirred a little. Being woken up like this wasn't exactly the perfect way to start a morning. But Sosuke was a good boy and understood Ponyo's excitement.

"Okay Ponyo, I'm up," he said in a tired and assuring tone.

Ponyo stepped away from the room and let Sosuke get up and stretch. Ponyo couldn't keep still but bounced and rocked on her feet in place. Sosuke rubbed his eyes, looked at Ponyo and smiled. He may not have acted as exhilarated as Ponyo, but in reality he was just as excited as she was. He just had a better hold on his emotions than Ponyo at the time.

"Good morning Ponyo" he said.

"Good morning Sosuke!" Ponyo exclaimed. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept great," Sosuke remarked. "How about you?"

"I couldn't sleep much," Ponyo said. "I was too excited. Let's go wake up your mom and dad!"

Sosuke knew better than that.

"Um…actually we should…"

He didn't get a chance to finish. Ponyo dashed out the door.

"Hey wait!" Sosuke shouted.

He chased after her, still dressed in his blue, long-sleeved pajamas. He knew that his parents didn't care for being woken up unless it was an emergency. However, he couldn't help laughing a little at Ponyo's glee and the situation.

Of course, Sosuke didn't reach her in time and Ponyo burst through the partly open doorway and into her adopted parents' room. Without a formal introduction, she leapt onto the bed between Lisa and Koichi, who were both sound asleep.

"Hey! Wake up! Wake up! Good morning!"

They responded with tired groans while she laughed and bounced. Sosuke stayed at the door trying not to laugh.

Then they both just fell back to sleep. Ponyo stopped bouncing. Didn't they want to say good morning? Didn't they want to be with Ponyo on her first day?

"Huh? Lisa? Koichi?"

She rubbed them vigorously. First she tried Lisa. Then she tried Koichi. Nothing happened. She looked at Sosuke.

"Sosuke, what's wrong with your mommy and Daddy?"

Sosuke chuckled.

"They don't like being woken up."

Ponyo felt a little guilty…and a little dejected. After all, shouldn't they hang out with her?

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"That alright Ponyo," assured Sosuke. "We'll just go downstairs and make ourselves some breakfast."

The dismay Ponyo felt vanished at the prospect of "making breakfast." She had never made breakfast before in her life. This was something she had to do!

"Okay!" she announced with glee.

But before she could get off the bed, Lisa (who was completely awake and waiting for the right moment) reached out and grabbed Ponyo. Ponyo squeaked in surprise and Lisa snuggled with her and tickled her. Ponyo laughed and squirmed.

"Good morning Ponyo!" said Lisa cheerily.

Lisa had the feeling that Ponyo would try and wake them up on her first morning so she told herself it was all okay and she would accept Ponyo's excitable nature. Koichi did the same and he too was awake and waiting. Without warning, he reached out and gave Ponyo a strong "good morning" hug. She squirmed and laughed in his grasp.

Wanting to join the fun, Sosuke laughed and leaped onto the bed. Soon, everyone was wishing each other a good morning and nestling with each other as parents and children do.

"So how did you sleep?" Lisa asked Ponyo.

"Oh, I slept fine," Ponyo chirped. "I was really excited at first and couldn't go to sleep, but then I did."

"Was the futon comfy?"

"Yep!"

"That's good," Koichi said, "But we'll have to get you a real bed one of these days."

Ponyo giggled with excitement. Sleeping in a bed sounded especially fun.

At last, it was time for breakfast. Lisa slipped out of bed, followed by her two children. Koichi stayed in bed a little longer. He had to go back to work that day and wanted to rest up as much as he could.

"Okay kids, it's time for breakfast," Lisa said. "We've got a big day today."

"Breakfast?" inquired Ponyo cheerily.

"Yep; so head on downstairs and we'll get something to eat. You've got school today Ponyo."

"School?" asked Ponyo. The idea of going to school was a little confusing to her. "But I'm a human now. I don't go to school anymore."

"Huh?" asked Sosuke.

"Humans go to school too, Ponyo," Lisa remarked.

"They do?" asked Ponyo curiously. "They swim with the fishes too?"

Lisa responded with a blank, confused look. Sosuke responded in kind until he realized what Ponyo was talking about.

"Oh," he said in a "now I know what you're talking about" voice. "You mean school as in a bunch of fish."

Ponyo nodded and Lisa had a "now I know what you're talking about" look on her face.

"Okay. On land, there is a different kind of school," Sosuke explained.

Ponyo's eyes widened.

"Really? What kind?"

"I'll tell you all about it," Sosuke said. "First we should get out of our pajamas and change into our day-clothes."

"Okay," Ponyo agreed.

The two children dashed to the room to change their clothes. Ponyo went into the closet and closed the door. When she emerged, she wore her characteristic red dress with white bloomers. Sosuke then went into the closet and came out wearing his yellow shirt and dark-brown shorts. He brushed off his clothes with his hands. Upon seeing him do that, Ponyo decided to do the same thing and brushed her clothes wherever her little arms could reach. Then she thought, "hey? Why stop there?" She enthusiastically brushed off her hair, face, arms, legs and feet. Sosuke laughed.

"Ready?" Sosuke asked.

"I'm not done yet," she replied. After brushing off some more, she said, "Okay, I'm done," and the two ran downstairs hand-in-hand.

In the kitchen, Lisa was taking out some food for breakfast. Upon the countertop, she set a bag of wheat bread, a box of cornflakes and some leftover steamed veggies (broccoli, carrots, peas, and corn). Then she heard the pitter patter of unshod feet approaching. She looked up and saw Ponyo and Sosuke staring at her.

"Hey kids. Ready to make breakfast?" she asked.

"I wanna make breakfast!" Ponyo exclaimed. "Can I make breakfast?"

"You sure can," Lisa chuckled. Ponyo jumped up and down while Sosuke laughed at her eagerness.

"Okay. Ponyo, come here please." Ponyo pattered over to Lisa's side with Sosuke following her. She looked at the various food items on the counter and studied them intently.

"So Ponyo, what do you want for breakfast?" Lisa inquired.

Ponyo studied the items and looked up at Lisa.

"There's no ham," she astutely remarked.

"I'm sorry, but the ham is for dinner," Lisa said apologetically.

Ponyo seemed a little disappointed. After all, ham was (and still is) her favorite food.

"But I want some ham now," she said dejectedly. "Can I have some please?"

"Sorry Ponyo, but the ham is for later," Lisa said decidedly. "However, you can choose from anything here. And I'll show you how to make it yourself. How does that sound?"

Ponyo still wanted ham but was willing to try something new.

"Okay," she said politely. After looking over the foods before her, she pointed to the box of cornflakes. "What's that?"

"That is cereal," Lisa said.

"Cereal? I want some cereal!" Ponyo said excitedly. She jumped up and down, eager for this interesting sounding food.

So Lisa took out a bowl from a cupboard and set it on the counter.

"Now," she said, "I'll show you how and you do as I do. Okay?" Ponyo nodded and Lisa opened the box. "First, you pour the cereal into the bowl…like this." Lisa poured the cereal into the bowl. Ponyo stared wide-eyed. She especially liked the sound of the cereal hitting the bowl. She giggled and put her ear to the bowl. Then Lisa handed her the box.

"Now you try it, but remember to pour very slowly."

Ponyo nodded and titled the box upward. Unfortunately, the cereal bunched up on the plastic lining inside the box. She tilted the box upward more and more and more and…

After a while, Lisa finally got the last of the cornflakes off the counter and floor into the trash. Ponyo and Sosuke helped as best as they could. Now there was a bowl of cereal on the counter filled with a mountain of cornflakes.

Lisa sighed. "Well, I did say to pour slowly."

"Ponyo," Sosuke said, "when you make a mistake, you have to say 'sorry' and promise to not do it again."

"Okay," Ponyo said. She knew the concept of being sorry and trying to do better. "I'm sorry."

Lisa smiled. She actually found the situation funny, even if Ponyo emptied the entire box of cornflakes onto the counter and the floor.

"That's okay Ponyo. Next time, you pour a little bit faster but not too fast."

"Okay…um…what do I call you?"

"Well, since I adopted you…you can call me mom or mommy."

"But Gran Mamare is my mommy."

"Yes, but since I adopted you, I'm your new mommy. And Sosuke is your brother and Koichi is your daddy."

The idea of Sosuke being her brother filled Ponyo with glee. Then she had an idea.

"I know! I'll call you and my new dad 'mommy' and 'daddy' or something like that. My other parents I'll call 'father' and 'mother.' Is that a good idea?"

"That is a great idea, Ponyo," Lisa affirmed. Ponyo smiled.

After that, Lisa scooped some of the extra cereal into another bowl for Ponyo while Sosuke made himself a peanut butter sandwich. Then Lisa showed Ponyo how to pour the milk. After that was done, Ponyo and Sosuke sat down to eat their breakfast while Lisa mopped up the floor and wiped the counters…after Ponyo apologized and Sosuke offered to help clean up of course.

Lisa sighed. Raising a child wasn't easy. She remembered having to do this when Sosuke was younger. But she loved it too. Moments like this, frustrating as they were, were worth all the world to her, and she loved Ponyo like a daughter. Life was going to be an adventure alright…for Ponyo and the rest of the family.


So…how was that?

"That was funny, Mr. Narrator."

"That was great. Wasn't Ponyo being silly?"

Yes, but she had a lot to learn and she is still very little. Little kids don't control their arms as well as they do when they get older.

"Yeah. That box was heavy."

"So can we hear some more?"

"How about when I go to school and when I meet Kumiko?"

Sure, but…oh dear, I have things to do.

"Really?"

"But we didn't even get to the part where Sosuke told me about school."

Sorry, but I have to get back to work now.

"Okay Mr. Narrator. We'll go home now. Come on Ponyo."

"Okay Sosuke. Goodbye Mr. Narrator and thanks for the story...and the lemonade!"

"Yeah thanks and have a nice day."

Goodbye you two and you're welcome.

Well, Ponyo seems to be taking to her new home quite well. So how will she will take to school on her first day...or riding in a car for the first time? Find out next time! Goodbye and God bless!