Chapter 12 – Of Feathered Friends and Flying Fish
Author's Notes – I want to make Chuckles likeable, and an important member of the Tank Gang – so that it is understandable that the rest of the Tank Gang will be upset when he dies, as his death will have a big impact on Gill. Now, as requested, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!
"No," said Gurgle, looking from Gill and to Nigel, and then back again, "oh no, you're not planning to do what I think you are planning to do, are you?"
Gill stifled a sigh, "Look, it's obvious," he said, "Nigel can transport us in his beak, out of the window and down to the harbour, and from there we can swim to the ocean." He turned his attention back to where Nigel was watching them with interest, and gave the pelican a small smile, "With your permission, of course," he said.
"Hey, it's fine by me," replied Nigel, "we will have to do this at some point when the dentist isn't around though," he added.
Gurgle looked up at Nigel, gave him an awkward grin, and then pulled Gill down towards the bottom of the tank, "Fish are meant to swim, fish are not meant to fly!" he practically hissed.
"You've heard of flying fish, haven't you?" Gill asked.
"Oh, very funny," said Gurgle sarcastically, then glared at Gill, "I can't believe I have to tell you this," he whispered, "but fish don't take rides in birds' beaks!"
"I'm sure it's perfectly safe," said Gill dismissively, "I'm sure that Nigel would never do anything to hurt us."
Gurgle indicated Gill's right side, the torn and useless remains of Gill's fin. Then Gurgle quietly hissed, "Haven't you learnt anything from your previous escape attempt?"
"Don't worry, there are no dentistry tools inside Nigel's beak," Gill replied.
"Huh?" said Nigel, craning forward, "did I hear my name mentioned?"
Gurgle gave him another awkward grin, "Uh, we were just talking…" he said.
Gill sighed, and turned his attention towards where Nigel was peering in at them, "I said that there are no dentistry tools inside your beak," he said.
Nigel grinned down at Gill and Gurgle; Gill suspected that the pelican was enjoying this just a little bit too much, as Nigel winked at them, "That's right," the pelican said, "there's no dentistry tools inside my beak, and I should know, it would be very uncomfortable if there were any sharp things like that in there. Want to have a look?" he opened his beak very wide, and Gurgle screamed in fright, before swimming down to the base of Mount Wannahawkaloogie, where he proceeded to shiver in fear.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Gill accused.
"I think that one's a nervous wreck," Nigel commented, "I don't think he will be able to take a ride on Air Nigel without a lot of coaxing first."
Gill looked at where the gramma was still shivering, "You have a point," he said thoughtfully, "but I'm sure if I go first, and someone goes with him, he will be able to manage a short flight."
"Yeah, maybe," Nigel sounded uncertain, then turned his attention towards where the dentist had noticed him, "anyway, I've got to fly, get in touch again as soon as the dentist is distracted, and we can put your plan into action." With that, the pelican flew away into the clear blue sky.
The dentist scowled as he watched Nigel fly away, "Darn birds," he muttered to himself, "always after the tropical fish." Without another word, he went back to examining a patient in another part of the room.
"Now…we just have to wait," Gill said.
Unfortunately, patience was not one of Gill's virtues. He spent the next few minutes swimming backwards and forwards from one side of the tank to the other. Chuckles gave a little laugh after the fifth time he did this, and Gill looked up at where the goldfish was grinning down at him, "What?" Gill demanded.
Chuckles giggled, "Oh, nothing," he said airily, "It's just that fish can't pace, we're just not made for pacing, yet somehow you seemed to manage it, you seemed to be pacing back and forth up and down this tank."
"And you found that funny?" Gill asked.
"Hey, I have to get my amusement where I can," Chuckles replied.
Gill was going to reply, but Peach interrupted him, "Potty break!" she said excitedly, "We have just over three minutes."
"Plenty of time," Gill replied, then turned his attention to where Bloat had positioned himself, inflated, under the bubble volcano, "Are you ready to alert Nigel that we are ready?" Gill asked.
"Yep, ready and willing," he said.
Gill placed a yellow flower in the top of Mount Wannahawkaloogie, and a moment later, it was shot towards the window - a clear signal to Nigel. It did not take long for the pelican to fly back to them. Gill grinned up at him, "Are you ready?" he asked.
"Dentist not around?" Nigel asked.
Gill indicated the toilet, "He will be in there a little while, but I don't think we have time to dawdle," he said.
"Right," said Nigel, and forced the window open with his beak.
The pelican then looked into the room, and hesitated. Of course, thought Gill, he's a bird - his natural place is in the open expanse of the sky, not cooped up here in a this tiny room; he does not feel like he belongs in here, anymore than I feel like I belong in a box. Better be patient with him. "Let us know when you feel ready," said Gill, giving the pelican an encouraging smile.
"Uh, yeah…" said Nigel, as he carefully, nervously, made his way inside the room. He looked around himself momentarily, and stared at the door to the toilet, understandably wanting to avoid having the dentist detect him inside the room. After staring at the door for several seconds, almost certainly to reassure himself, he turned his attention back to the Tank Gang, and gave them a nervous smile, "Uh, right, okay," he said uncertainly, "which one of you wants to be the first to flay Air Nigel."
Of course, there was no question that Gill should be the first to enter Nigel's beak. Giving the others a reassuring smile, he swam towards where Nigel was lowering his beak into the tank…
And stopped. Gill stared up at the inside of the pelican's beak. Suddenly, as he stared at the open mouth, all of his confidence and bravado seemed to melt away. Gill realised that he could not just swim inside Nigel's beak – all of his instincts were practically screaming at him to avoid getting close to a bird, especially to avoid contact with a bird's beak – however much his rational mind and intelligence tried to reassure him that Nigel was a friend, who would never hurt fish he knew personally. But fish were ancient creatures, had lived on Earth for millions of years, and in that time had developed clear instincts to avoid the birds that fed upon them. And so Gill remained still, his instincts urging him to swim away, his mind telling him to move forward, and the rest of the Tank Gang just watching, unsure what was happening with their leader, or what they should do to help him.
Time seemed to stand still, as Gill remained staring into Nigel's open mouth, and found that he could neither swim into the pelican's open beak, nor swim away from Nigel.
"Gotcha!" suddenly, Doctor Sherman had his hands around Nigel's beak, and was escorting the struggling pelican towards the window.
Gill seemed to come out of his trance, and shook himself, looking around at the rest of the Tank Gang, who were still watching him uncertainly. Gill gave them a slightly embarrassed smile, "Well, it was worth a try," he said apologetically.
"And stay away from my fish!" the dentist added, as Nigel was shoved out of the window. Although his feathers seemed to be ruffled, the pelican did not appear to be harmed. However, he gave the Tank Gang a quick wink, and flew away – probably the most sensible course of action, Gill thought, with the dentist now aware that he had come into his surgery and tried to put fish in his beak – although Doctor Sherman was obviously unaware of the wider implications of Gill's plan. Gill sighed, and watched the dentist as he walked back over to the other side of the room, grumbling under his breath.
There was a moment of silence, as the Tank Gang watched Gill uncertainly. Predictably enough, it was Chuckles who broke this silence, "Okay, so that's two escape plans, and two failures – a success rate of exactly zero percent. Perhaps now you will take notice of Gurgle and stop trying this foolishness," he said.
"Hey, don't get me involved in this!" Gurgle hissed towards Chuckles.
Gill looked at the goldfish and the gramma, and then smiled at both of them, "No, Gurgle's right, as usual," he said.
"Oh great, so you are going to stop trying to escape," said Chuckles, sounding relieved.
"No, I'll never give up trying to get back to the ocean," Gill said, and then turned his attention to where Doctor Sherman was seeing to another patient, and stared at the dentist for a long moment. "But I've been going about this the wrong way," he added quietly, turning around and facing the rest of the Tank Gang, "I've been trying to formulate escape plans when the dentist has not been around, trying to avoid him. But humans rule the land, and I know that they have at least some degree of intelligence," he grinned at the slightly wary looks that the rest of the Tank Gang were giving him. "What I need to do is get the dentist to actually help us get back to the ocean, rather than trying to sneak there when he is not looking," he said, "so I'm going to find a way to communicate with Doctor Sherman, so that he can help me with my next escape plan."