" To Private's Eyes"
Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter. I still have no idea how many more chapters I'm going to type for this, seeing that the story kind of guides me by itself. Also, I may revise this chapter, again. I don't know. I'm still deciding on it. Also my brain's been a little slack lately and I don't know why, but probably because I've been on summer vacation for over a month. LOL. Anyways. Please enjoy.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 11
He smiled at Skipper hopefully, waiting for him to answer. The lead penguin stared at him in thought." Oh. All
right. I'll go through with the plan," Skipper smiled then waddled toward the fishbowl entrance, once more.
He stopped at the ladder and took a deep breath. " Here I go, again. Wish me luck." He glanced over at
Kowalski, who gave him an assuring look. He wished him good luck then saluted him. He returned the
salute to the tall penguin then climbed up the ladder and out through the fishbowl entrance.
As soon as he got up to the top of the platform, he looked over at Marlene's habitat. He noticed that she
was outside, floating on her back in her swimming pond, and smiling joyfully. Skipper exhaled deeply then
marched over to Marlene's and climbed up the brick wall, which surrounded her habitat. Right after he
climbed up the wall, he hung onto the top of it, with his flippers folded. He then peeked his head over the
edge at Marlene. The expression on his face had turned completely nervous. Suddenly, he began to feel
really dizzy from hunger, again. The lead penguin kept thinking to himself. Why did I have to choose to wait
until dinner to eat? Please don't pass out. Please don't pass out. Soon, Marlene noticed Skipper with his faint
expression, became concerned, then swam over to check up on him.
" Skipper," Marlene climbed out of her pond and onto a huge flat rock, close to the wall. " Are you okay?"
Skipper snapped out of his faint expression. " I'm fine," he stuttered as he climbed over the wall and landed
on the same rock that Marlene was on. " Just a little exhausted. That's all."
" Oh," Marlene studied Skipper's face, noticing his irritated, red eyes, once more, but chose not to say
anything about them. " You look hungry. Do you want some sardines? They're still good to eat."
Upon hearing Marlene's offer, Skipper decided to give in and accept the sardines. Marlene then went inside
her cave. When she came out, she brought out a plastic plate of sardines, swam over to the rock with one
arm, while holding the plate above the water with the other, and handed them over to Skipper, while
remaining in her pond. " Thank-you," Skipper smiled gratefully, with a soft voice, as he took the plate from
her. He then remembered what he was going to do. " Marlene, do you have a minute?"
" Sure, Skipper," Marlene smiled widely, climbing out of the pond and onto the rock, again. " You have my
undivided attention."
" Well, I've been thinking about what we've talked about earlier," the lead penguin stumbled nervously,
staring at his feet. " And I've been wondering. Would you like to spend some time together and go out
on a date with me tomorrow night? I'm ready for it now."
Marlene stood in silence, staring at Skipper with raised eyebrows then squealed as she lunged forward,
hard, hugging Skipper. Due to her surprise attack, she caused him to lose his balance, sending both him, her,
and the plate of sardines into the water, both separately and sideways. Little did they know, her squeal and
the loud splash that she and Skipper had made, had attracted the lemurs attention next door, causing them
to all turn their heads to see what was happening. They all began watching, silent, but confused and
concerned about the sudden disturbance. Soon, Skipper, Marlene, and the spilled sardines had all surfaced
to the top of the water. The couple soon began keeping afloat, while coughing and laughing at the same
time. Skipper, who still had the empty plate in his flippers, sat it down on the rock that he and Marlene had
fallen off of. Suddenly, Marlene wrapped her arms around Skipper tightly, again, almost breaking his spine in
half. " Skipper," the otter moved back a little to stare into the penguin's eyes, now keeping a hold of his
flippers." I would love to go out on a date and spend time with you tomorrow."
" Great," Skipper smiled as he shouted excitedly, trying to keep afloat with his feet. " What should we do?"
" I don't know," Marlene shrugged, copying the same thing that Skipper was doing, while still hanging onto
his flippers. " How about we go out for dinner, dancing, and a walk around Central Park?"
" Marlene," Skipper responded. " That sounds great and all. But to be honest with you, I don't know how to
dance, except for the waltz and I don't like the waltz. How about we go out for popcorn, watch a film at the
movie theatre, and then take a stroll around Central Park?"
" What are we," Marlene raised her voice. " A couple of teenagers? That's so old fashioned, plus I can teach
you how to dance, if you want, unless, you'd prefer to waltz?"
" Alright," Skipper folded his flippers, letting go of Marlene, still keeping afloat. " Since neither of us can
decide. How about we combine them? We can eat dinner first, dance, watch a movie, and then take a stroll
around the park. How does that sound?"
" Nah," Marlene responded. " Sounds too expensive and exhausting for one night. How about we do one
option tonight then save the other option for another night? Sound good?"
" Works for me," Skipper pondered, then took a flipper to the bottom of his beak. " But which one should we
do first?"
" How about we do mine first? Since I am the lady," Marlene responded, pointing to herself.
" Forget it," Skipper scoffed. " I'm the one who came over here and asked you out. We should go along with
my idea."
" But you asked me what we should do first," Marlene argued as she poked Skipper lightly on the tip of
his with one of her fingers then folded her arms. " So, I get to decide what to do. And I still say that we
should go along with my idea."
" Okay," Skipper folded his flippers, thinking then smiled deviously. " Since both of us want our ideas to
come first. How about we go head to head in a game of Chess? Winner decides on the date. Deal?"
Skipper held out his flipper, waiting for Marlene's response. Marlene smiled back. It was like he had been
communicating with her telepathically. " Deal," she held out her paw and grabbed Skipper's flipper, shaking
it, then stopped. Soon, the pair both pulled each other close with their gripped appendages and kissed like
they did earlier, but for a little longer. This is what Skipper had called a " Hello kiss". Luckily, for Skipper,
Marlene was not wearing any lipstick that time, so he would not have to worry about being embarrassed,
again, later. Unfortunately, the lemurs saw them kiss, gasped, and stared, causing Maurice to shield Mort's
eyes. Soon, Skipper and Marlene pulled apart then released each other's grips. Marlene stated in her
competitive tone." Don't forget to bring your best dancing shoes with you," she smiled teasingly as both she
and Skipper lowered their appendages back into the water to help keep afloat a little more better. " Because
you're going down this time."
" Oh, trust me. I will forget them, because you're the one who will be going down, as usual" the lead
penguin stated, smiling jokingly. " Meet me at my place at 1900 hours tonight for the competition."
" Why 1900 hours," Marlene raised an eyebrow. " And exactly what time is that in regular time, anyway?"
" It means seven o'clock in the evening and my team and I eat dinner at 1830 hours or six-thirty in the
evening," Skipper retorted. " And it takes me about fifteen minutes to a half an hour to eat and settle down
before expecting any company."
" Oh," Marlene stared into Skipper's eyes as he stared back into hers then smiled. " Well, in that case, see
you at 1900 hours then."
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Wow. What a way to decide on a date. Yay! The pair has finally gotten together! ( Claps happily then stops) Oh, man. The lemurs saw them kiss, too. Poor Mort. He will probably have nightmares like Private will for a long time. LOL . BTW: I will mention why Skipper doesn't like the waltz later. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 12. See who wins the Chess match and decides on the date. Please stay tuned and find out.