Chapter 9 in which Ponyo shows she is a Good Girl and where she Plays a Game

(Knock, knock.)

"Coming!"

"Hi Mr. Narrator!"

"Hey Ponyo! Hi Sosuke! Long time no see. How's everything?"

"Things are fantastic!"

"Ponyo memorized all the main islands of Japan."

"Really? What are they?"

"Ahem…they are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and…and…wait I know this! It's…mmmmmmmmmmm…Shikoku! That's it!"

"Great job! You're a smart girl."

"Thank you. Here. I drew the islands without tracing! It's for you."

"Oh thanks Ponyo. It's really nice."

"Mm-hmm."

"So kids, are you ready for another story?"

"Yes please Mr. Narrator."

"Well have a seat and I'll begin. Did you read my letter?"

"Yep. I read the story to Ponyo. She felt a little sad at that story."

"Oh, I'm sorry Ponyo."

"That's okay."

"Well this one will be happier, I promise."

"Good!"


The next day was a brighter day for Ponyo. She woke up from a very lovely dream of life with her new family, and her homesickness was now a shadow of a memory. It was still there, but it was almost insignificant now. The love showered upon her was more than enough to cure her of her homesickness. She still desired to see her home again, but now she was content with her new life on land. Now she knew what she could do to be a good girl. She knew that she could love others and be loved as well.

So after a nice breakfast, the family piled into the car and drove down the coast road. This time, Ponyo looked out the window most of the time so she didn't get sick. She just spent a lot of time watching the clouds and talking with her family.

"So mom," she asked in a chipper voice, "if I see that somebody needs something, do I get it for them?"

"If you want to, sure," Lisa replied. "But you don't have to get things for people all the time."

"If they ask for it, then you can get it for them," Sosuke advised.

"Oh and remember," Lisa continued, "if you do good for other people, do not do it so you can be liked or thanked. Do it because it is the right thing to do and because you want to."

"Okay," Ponyo said. "What about sharing? Everybody at school says it's good to share."

"Yeah, sharing is very important," Sosuke remarked.

"Good," Ponyo quipped. "I'll make sure to share when I get to school!"

"That's my girl," Lisa said encouragingly. Ponyo then gazed outside and fell silent.

"What'cha doing Ponyo?" asked Sosuke.

"I'm looking at the clouds," she replied. "They are very pretty and so high in the air."

"I like to look for animals and dragons in the clouds," Sosuke said.

Ponyo's eyes widened as she spun to face Sosuke.

"There are animals and dragons in the sky?" she asked excitedly.

Lisa and Sosuke responded with a laugh.

"No, no Ponyo," Sosuke laughed. "I like to see if I can find their shapes in the clouds."

"Oh," Ponyo said with a little disappointment in her voice.

Sosuke looked out her window and saw a cloud that almost looked like a hippopotamus.

"There," he pointed. Ponyo looked out her window to see what Sosuke was pointing at. "Do you see the cloud that look like a hippopotamus?"

Ponyo looked around and finally saw it.

"Yeah!" she said excitedly. "It does look like a hippopotamus! That's clever Sosuke!"

"Thanks. Now you try and find one!"

Ponyo looked around and the two pointed out various cloud shapes until they finally reached the nursery.

The two children raced across the quiet parking lot and through the bamboo fence to the nursery. Ponyo ducked through the hole in the fence first.

"Wow! You're fast," Sosuke panted.

"Thanks," Ponyo said.

They entered the building, slipped their shoes off and entered the main room. Sensei walked up to them.

"Good morning children," she greeted.

"Good morning Sensei," the children replied.

"How are you doing?"

"We're doing fine," Ponyo replied. "How are you?"

"I'm doing very well," Sensei said.

"Good," Ponyo said.

"Feeling better Ponyo?" Sensei asked. "You didn't look so well when I was talking about the ocean."

"Oh, I was feeling homesick."

"Oh, I'm sorry Ponyo," Sensei consoled. "Are you feeling better today?"

"Much better," Ponyo said in a cheerful voice.

"That's good. Remember, if you need to talk with someone, don't be afraid to come to me."

"Yes, Sensei."

"Good. Now go on and play."

"Okay," the two children said. Then they ran off for the classroom.

"And have fun!" Sensei called.

"We will!" they called back.

After they entered the main room, Ponyo got to work on her favorite activity (which, if you forgot, was drawing). She drew for about five minutes when something caught her eyes. Over to her left was a four-year-old girl with a ponytail trying to carry a stack of books. The girl was trying to put the books back on the shelf where they belonged, but it was obvious that she couldn't do it alone. Ponyo watched her for a moment. Then the girl fell over and dropped the whole stack.

"Ow!" the girl yelped.

There wasn't a moment to lose. Ponyo ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The girl shook her head dolefully.

"I'm trying to get these books back where they go," she grumbled. "Sensei says to put things back where they go but I can't carry them all."

"Do you want some help?" Ponyo offered.

"Okay," the girl said.

So the two girls worked together and put the books away. After putting the last book on the shelf, the four-year-old turned to Ponyo with a smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," Ponyo replied.

The little girl scratched her head and turned to Ponyo again.

"What's your name again?" she inquired.

"My name is Ponyo."

"Hi Ponyo," said the girl. "My name is Minako."

"Hi Minako," Ponyo greeted. "That's a pretty name."

"Thanks. I like your name too."

So the two chatted on until they finally said bye and went off to do whatever they were doing before. Ponyo smiled. Doing good for others made her feel wonderful inside. So she thought to herself, "why not do more?"

And so Ponyo spent much of her time playing and learning, but she also spent a considerable part of the day helping others, and boy did she enjoy it! It almost became a favorite activity. At one point, she saw Naoki drawing. He didn't have a lot of paper there with him, so Ponyo offered to get him some. Of course she got it for him and he was very grateful. Some time later while she was coloring, she saw a girl seated nearby asking other children for crayons. None of the children she asked wanted to share so Ponyo gave her some of her own crayons. Then she helped another kid take his rather tight boots off. As a matter of fact, they were on so tight that both children tumbled backward each time a boot came off. But Ponyo really didn't mind it. These were just three of a good number of good deeds she did that day.

At one point, she saw Kumiko trying to take a ball off a shelf. Unfortunately, it was far too tall for her to reach. Ponyo went and grabbed a small plastic stool.

"Kumiko," Ponyo said.

Kumiko frowned upon hearing Ponyo's voice.

"What do you want?" she asked. "I told you I'm not your friend."

"No, no," Ponyo said. "I just wanted to give you this." Ponyo showed her the stool. Kumiko looked at it for a moment. Then she looked at Ponyo, and then she looked at the stool again. Ponyo then set the footstool down on the ground.

"There," Ponyo said. "Now stand on it."

Kumiko stood on it and reached her ball. She stepped off the stool and looked at Ponyo in confusion for a moment. She didn't know whether she should say thank you or not, or why on earth Ponyo would help her after the way she treated her. Finally, she shook her head and walked away without a word. Ponyo didn't smile. She was hoping Kumiko would say 'thank you' or something like that. But then she remembered Lisa's advice on not looking for thanks from other people. So she decided to forget about it and went off to play with Sosuke.

Later that day, Ponyo and Sosuke were helping their friends build a castle out of blocks when the next they knew, they heard a loud ringing. They looked and saw Sensei ringing a bell.

"Come on Ponyo" Sosuke said. "That means Sensei wants us to come to her. She has something important to say."

"Okay," Ponyo said.

With that, all the children ran over to Sensei and gathered around.

"Okay kids. Quiet down please" Sensei said. After a while, the children ceased their excited chatter and Sensei continued. "We're going to play a game called Capture-the-Flag." Murmurs of excitement rippled through the crowd of children. "Who doesn't know how to play?" Sensei asked.

Ponyo raised and waved her hand excitedly. She didn't know how to play, but a new game was something she had to be a part of. Most of the other children knew how to play. Only Ponyo and six other children didn't know how to play.

So Sensei explained the rules. There were two teams and the playing field was the backyard of the school. Each team had a team captain and their own territory where they kept their flag. The goal of the game was to get the enemy flag over the boundary and to their own side of the yard. The one who got the other team's flag over first was the winner. However, if a member of Team 1 was tagged in Team 2's territory, the captured person was sent to jail where he or she was guarded. They could only be freed if another person from their team tagged them. So that was the basic rules. Oh, and a guard kept watch on the flag as well. With that, it was time to get started.

"So," Sensei announced, "who will be team captain?" Almost every hand shot up, but Sosuke's hand went up first. "Okay. Sosuke is the leader of Team 1."

"Yes!" Sosuke said triumphantly.

Then Naoki was chosen as the leader for Team 2. Then the teams were chosen by Sensei. Unfortunately, Ponyo found herself on Naoki's team.

"Sensei," she asked, "can I switch places with someone else?"

"But the teams are already chosen," Sensei remarked.

"Please?" begged Ponyo. "I really want to be with Sosuke."

So Sensei agreed and Ponyo traded places with another girl. Now there was a drawback to being on Sosuke's team: Kumiko was on the same team as well. She looked at Ponyo with a contemptuous look and walked away with a humph. Ponyo looked at her angrily and stuck out her tongue but Sosuke nudged her.

"Remember Ponyo," Sosuke reminded, "you promised to be good."

Ponyo sighed reluctantly. Being nice to Kumiko was hard but he was right.

"Okay Sosuke," she said in a begrudging voice. "I won't make faces at her anymore. That's how this whole thing got started."

"That's right Ponyo," Sosuke said encouragingly.

"Okay kids!" Sensei called. "Let's get started!"

With that, the game started. On Sosuke's team, a boy named Uchino was chosen as the flag-keeper and a girl named Aiko was the jailor.

Then they all gathered around the flag to make their plans.

"Okay," Sosuke said, "I think we should try and go at it in two ways." He then drew his plans on the ground. "Four of us will go here and run for the flag. Then four of us will run this way. When they try and catch one side, the other side will get the flag."

"I wanna run!" Ponyo said.

"Ponyo should stay here and guard the flag," Kumiko advised.

"But I wanna run," Ponyo replied.

"I'm faster than you!" Kumiko snorted.

Ponyo was about to say something in response, but she stopped. Since she wouldn't want someone to say something nasty to her, she shouldn't say nasty things to others. So she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Ponyo is really fast," Karen argued.

"I want her to help me guard the flag," Aiko said.

Sosuke pondered for a while to find a solution and finally got an idea.

"Okay Ponyo…here." Sosuke picked up two sticks and hid them behind his back. "If you pick the long one, you get to run with us."

Ponyo then picked the right hand…the one holding the short stick.

"Aw," she whined.

"I'm sorry," Sosuke said.

"That's okay," Ponyo comforted. "Maybe next time?"

"Yeah," Sosuke said. "I'll let you run next time."

So Ponyo stayed behind with her seven other teammates while eight other children ran off to capture Team 2's flag.

Unfortunately, Naoki's team was a little faster than they thought. Sosuke's plan went completely awry and all his teammates with him were caught! Now Team 1 was outnumbered 2 to 1. Ponyo looked at the other team with dismay and ran back to her fellow teammates.

"Guys!" she said. "Our friends are in trouble! We have to do something!"

"We can't," Aiko said hopelessly. "Naoki is too good."

Ponyo thought for a while and then looked up.

"I got it!"

The team huddled together and whispered.

"It's pretty risky and dangerous," Karen remarked. "But it might work."

In the meantime, the captured children were being held behind a large palm tree. The boy in the striped T-shirt guarded them.

"This is miserable," Kumiko whined.

"This is all your fault!" complained a boy to another girl.

"Okay stop," said Sosuke. "We have to wait now."

"Okay," said a little girl with pigtails.

"Just you wait," Sosuke said confidently, "Ponyo will save us."

"Ponyo?" Kumiko snorted. "She's never played before. She can't help us. She's just a stupid little girl."

"No she's not!" Sosuke snapped defensibly. "And don't call people names. It's not good."

Now Naoki was guarding the flag when he saw four of Team 1's members circling around to capture his flag. Right then, eight of his teammates ganged up on them to catch them while the other eight stayed put. But those who stayed put were distracted by all the activity. Ponyo took this opportunity to sneak along the wall in the bushes toward the jail. She managed to avoid detection.

Then two of Ponyo's teammates rushed to capture Naoki's flag. Of course, Team 2 chased after them, but the intruders escaped in time. While all this was going on, Ponyo was sneaking little by little toward the jail. She crept closer and closer until she stopped to pick up a rock. She looked to make sure no one was looking and then threw it against the fence behind the jailer and to his left. He looked and Ponyo dashed behind the jail where she wouldn't be seen. As a matter of fact, she was so sneaky, the other children didn't see her either. She then reached forward and grabbed Sosuke's hand. Sosuke nearly jumped out of his skin and the others were equally surprised, but Ponyo put a finger to her lips.

"Shh! No one can see me," she whispered. "Pretend you're not looking at me."

So the kids acted like she wasn't there while Ponyo continued speaking.

"I'll free you all now but we'll pretend that we're caught. Then we'll run, but it has to be when I saw 'now.'"

"There's too many of us," Kumiko whispered. "We'll get caught."

"No we won't," Ponyo assured her. "Not if we move fast."

"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard," Kumiko retorted.

Ponyo looked hurt. After that comment, she wanted to make Kumiko stay in jail, but she knew better than that.

So Ponyo freed her friends (and Kumiko) and they all waited. After a while, nine of Naoki's teammates walked over to capture the flag. Then two of Ponyo's teammates who were still on the other side ran for the flag. Sure enough, some of the remaining Team 2 members chased them, but they ran for safety before they could get caught. And not only did they reach safety, but they distracted the opposing teammates, giving Sosuke's team the perfect chance!

"Now!" whispered Ponyo.

With that, everyone in the jail ran out and for the boundary as fast as they could. Of course, this confused Team 2.

"What?" Naoki wailed. "That's cheating! You can't do that!"

"Yes we can! I tricked you!" Ponyo shouted.

Naoki gaped at Ponyo in disbelief. How could he and his teammates have missed her? Team 2 realized they had been duped, but it was too late. Team 1 was free and they caught all of Team 2 that was in their territory. So Ponyo's plan worked.

With that, Sosuke decided to directly attack Naoki's flag. Aiko kept a very sharp eye on her prisoners and they were kept in a place where they couldn't be sneaked on. Team 2 did what they could, but Team 1 outnumbered them. The only person they could catch was Kumiko, who was promptly sent to jail. In a matter of minutes, Ponyo had the flag!

"Run for it Ponyo!" Sosuke yelled.

"Go Ponyo!" Karen cheered.

And Ponyo ran…but not for base. Instead, she ran to free Kumiko. Before the jailor could do anything, Ponyo tagged Kumiko.

"Come on," Ponyo urged.

With that, the two ran for the boundary. Unfortunately, Team 2 was closing in on them. Kumiko was farther away from the pursuers but Ponyo was close to getting caught.

"Here!" Ponyo yelled to Kumiko. With that, she passed the flag to Kumiko. Kumiko grabbed it and Ponyo was tagged out while Kumiko made it to safety. Team 1 won!

Everyone cheered Kumiko as she proudly waved the flag. Everyone on both teams congratulated each other and shook hands and even hugged. Ponyo slowly walked over to the throng of cheering children. She really wanted to be the one who carried the flag over, but she knew that the only way the team would win was if Kumiko carried it over. She was a little sad that she didn't win but happy that she helped her team win. They all paraded around Kumiko while Ponyo got less attention. Kumiko then looked at Ponyo. She had a curious look in her eye that one might have mistaken for gratitude. Then Kumiko, being too proud to admit Ponyo helped her, walked away with a confused and slightly proud expression because she didn't know what to think.

After that, Sosuke came up to her.

"Thanks Ponyo," he said. "You saved us really. We wouldn't have won without your help."

"You're welcome Sosuke," she replied.

"And I'm glad you rescued Kumiko," Sosuke continued. "That was really good what you did."

Ponyo smiled. She decided that being told she was a good girl was all the reward she needed. But Sosuke thought otherwise.

"Hey everybody!" he called. "Let's thank Ponyo for helping us win!"

With that, the children gathered around Ponyo and cheered, shook her hands and congratulated her. Karen and Aiko even gave her a hug. And to top it off, Sosuke lifted Ponyo onto his shoulders. Ponyo couldn't help laughing in excitement and gratitude. Then she looked over to Kumiko. Kumiko just stood there looking a little jealous. Ponyo smiled and waved for her to come over. Kumiko just shook her head and walked inside. Ponyo looked a little saddened at Kumiko's stubbornness but then she decided not to let it bother her. The whole school had accepted her as one of their own and she knew that all in all everything was going to be all right.


"So how about that?"

"That was wonderful!"

"I'm glad I helped Kumiko out."

"We all are."

"So what happens next?"

"Come back in three or four days and find out."

"Sounds fun. Well, we had better go now. Mommy's waiting."

"Okay Sosuke. Tell her I said hi."

"We will."

"Bye Mr. Narrator and thank you!"

"Bye you two and you're welcome!"

So it looks as if things are looking up for Ponyo. She's learning how to do better and she's won the respect of most of her classmates. What does the future have in store for Ponyo now? Tune in next time as she experiences an astonishing encounter where…well…I'll surprise you. Until then, goodbye and God bless!