Author's Comment: I'm so happy. I manage to get this chapter up right on my birthday (Jan 20). Yay. Go NiteWolf! Go NiteWolf! It's your birthday! It's your birthday! … Hehe, sorry, maybe I'm expressing a bit too much there. Just 6 or 7 more chapters to go…at least I think so.
Chapter 28 – Friends' Absence
In Haliotis Island…
Throughout half the day, several campers were starting to worry on behalf of three members missing, especially Jane Doe. The tall doe started to worry more than ever, because there was neither Slinkman nor Lumpus around and she knows that she can't take care of EVERYBODY by herself. Earlier she tried looking for them herself, but failed to find them at all. On the other hand, she sent a few volunteers to go look for them.
In the middle of the island, a large tree stood tall. Up on the tree branch, on the large tree was a bean scout. It was none other than the bean scout elephant – Raj. His hand was placed on his forehead to shade his eyes from the sun while looking around. He slowly swings his head left, then right. Raj was still looking for clam, on the contrary. And yet this has been about an hour that he has done so.
"No…sign of Clam yet," said Raj, talking to himself. He was beginning to feel depress and worried at the same time. All day he hasn't seen Clam. "This has to be Gretchen's fault," said Raj, accusingly.
Meanwhile, a squirrel scout giraffe was sitting at a tree branch as well. She was looking around on the branch for a better view, looking for who she volunteered to look for. She was looking for Scoutmaster Lumpus the moose, and Slinkman the banana slug. And right now, she wasn't making good progress looking for them.
"I don't see them anywhere," said Nina as she sighs. But she continued looking around to see if there's any possibility seeing them before getting up to climb down the tree. Raj on the other hand, was tired of looking around from this view for Clam. What Nina and Raj didn't know was that they were actually on the same tree. They were on one side of the tree across from one another.
Once they have gotten tired of looking on the branch, they both got up at the same time, still oblivious to realize that they're both there at the same time. Then they turned around to climb down the tree, when all of the sudden, they feel something soft and sweaty at the same time touching each other's hand. Curious to know what it was, they both looked at their hands. Then they looked where it was coming from, and then they both find themselves staring at each other eye to eye.
"AHHHHHH!!" Raj screamed, not believing who it was again. Raj's screamed startled Nina, making her scream as well. Both being startled, and screaming, they lost balance from standing straight on the branch and then they tripped from the branch, sending them both falling and screaming all the way down. Then they both landed on the ground, and a large amount of puffy smoke spreads around the area that they were in, like slow breezing.
They both lifted their head up with their hands placed on their forehead and groans in agony, regaining back their composures. Then they shook their head and refocus from their foolhardiness trance.
"Gee Raj, you sc-" "Stay back!" Raj exclaimed, cutting Nina off, with his hands waving in front of him, as he scoots back away from the giraffe. Nina cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at this. "What is your problem?" she asked.
"Oh like you don't know what my problem is," Raj rejoined, shuddering. "No, I don't." Nina answered. "Y-You can't fool me," said Raj. Nina sighed in annoyance, and she nearly growled too; she was aggravated and curious at the same time about this. "WHAT are you talking about?!" she asked in a maddening tone.
Raj pauses for one second, and then answered her, "I'm talking about last night…what you did." Comprehending what he just said, Nina begins to understand what he mean by that. Acting the way he is now, he was obviously repulsive about last night when she kissed him. Then she makes an understanding look on her face. "So THAT'S what it is," said Nina, almost to herself. "I don't get it," Raj said.
"Raj," Nina said strongly, "Just because of what I did, doesn't mean anything." Raj paused for a second again. "You kissed me," Raj replied in disgust, "That has to mean something." "Ok, ok, look. I only was showing a bit of appreciation - well…maybe a bit too much - about what you did to me." Nina explained.
"See?! I knew it!" Raj exclaimed. "You did?" she asked. Raj looked at her with one of his brows raised up. "Yes…" Raj said flatly, "Wait no…I DON'T KNOW!" Raj covered his face. "I'm just trying to look for Clam 'cause he's been missing all day."
"What? Clam is missing too?" Nina asked. "Missing too?" Raj asked. "The moose and the yellow slug guy is missing too," said Nina, now stunned that Clam is missing as well. "And I seen Clam earlier, but now he's gone too?" Of course hearing what she just said, Raj started to remember earlier Almondine told him that Nina knows where he is.
"You saw Clam earlier?" Raj asked. "Of course, he came to see Gretchen and he apologized to her for pushing the tree down and hitting her by accident. But she didn't even accept his apology and was just being mean by dumping juice all over him." Nina explained, rerunning the flashback of what happen. "Ohhhh…that Gretchen," Raj said, with an annoying look on his face. He couldn't believe that she did that to him. He was thinking that maybe that's why Clam is missing, because maybe his feelings were probably hurt and just hid somewhere really good for nobody to see him.
Then he crouched down and began digging up the dirt. "What the heck are you doing?" Nina asked, grimaced on what Raj is now doing. "Trying to find Clam," Raj said flatly. "What makes you think that he would actually be underground?" she asked. "Well the fact that Gretchen was utterly being mean to him, he probably wanted to burry himself to see nobody," Raj explained.
"Wouldn't his head AT LEAST stick out shaped like that?" she asked, as she points at an object. Raj looked over where she was pointing at. What he saw was something yellow and sharp shaped like a cone. "Clam…? Clam!" Raj yelled in excitement, as he ran to the sharp object. "Don't worry, I'll get you out," said Raj. Then once he grabbed and pulled the end of it, it picks up with him, causing him to nearly lose his balance. Then he opened his eyes, looking at half the object.
"AHHH! I took half of Clam's head off!" Raj cried in fright. Then he placed his hands along with his right hand still holding onto the yellow shaped cone on his head. "I'm sorry Clam! I'm sorry! It was an accident! I…" Raj paused for a second.
He felt that the object didn't seem to feel right. And also was also noticing he didn't hear any screaming because of him yanking it off of the ground. Raj was curious now, and then he looked at what he was holding. It wasn't anything apart of Clam's head or mouth. It was actually a banana half cut, and it seem that it's been sitting on the ground for a minute or so.
Raj now turned from a sad and worried look to an annoyed look. "Very funny…" Raj said in a low tone to himself. "WHY!" Raj screamed, slamming the banana piece down on the ground. Nina covered her mouth with one hand, trying to hold back from laughing at Raj's mistake. "This…this here," Raj said, points down on the ground. "First the crash, Lazlo's missing, now more are missing, and I still can't believe what you did last night."
"Hey," Nina said, "I told you already that-" "What makes you so sure?" Raj asked, cutting Nina off. Nina, again, cocks her head and glares at the elephant. "Can't I even believe you?"
"Well of course you can, why shouldn't you?" Nina asked. "Because you're a girl, that has to be something else than that, especially you obviously thinking that Lazlo and Patsy together is so cute," said Raj, flatly. Nina frowns. "So I'm being a girl is a bad excuse for almost everything?" Nina asked in a storming tone. "Well, maybe," Raj answered.
"So you don't believe anything that I just explain? And why be aggravated because of those two? And Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean you can't believe me for anything," Nina said, annoyed. She turned around crossing her arms.
"Well you just don't understand," Raj said vaguely. "Oh I understand," Nina said, turning around and looking at Raj again. "Raj…you're just selfish." And with that, Nina turns back around and walks off with a sad look on her face.
Raj just looked at her walking away. His eyes opened and he stares at her, as she continues walking off. He was a bit surprise about what she just called him. Then he looked down on the ground. "Selfish…?" Raj said to himself. "I-I'm…not selfish."
Meanwhile Jane Doe was sitting on a log, with her leg twitching up and down impatiently. "Oh dear…" she said to herself. "Oh dear, oh dear." Then all of the sudden, a squirrel scout, Toodie, emerges from some bushes. This caught Jane Doe's attention, as she immediately stands up.
"Have you found any of them?" Jane Doe asked in a worried tone. The squirrel simply shook her head. "No Denmother." Jane Doe was now even more worried. "Oh dear…oh dear," Jane Doe said repeatedly. The squirrel just stared at the worried doe. It was probably quite atypical for Jane Doe, since she was acting like this. She was so worried that something could've happen to Lumpus and Slinkman…especially Lumpus. But what made her worry more than being in her own little world?
Then the squirrel scout giraffe, Nina, walks toward the squirrel scout and the squirrel scout mistress. Jane Doe saw the giraffe approach. "Oh Nina, please tell me that you found one of them," said Jane Doe. "No, sorry…" Nina said in a soft, sadden tone. "Ooh…this just doesn't…what's the matter dear Nina?" Jane Doe asked, recognizing that the giraffe looked simply depress.
"Nothing Denmother…" Nina said, "I'm just…tired from walking." Jane Doe wasn't so sure if she was honest. "Well ok dear," said Jan Doe, slightly smiling. Nina kept walking with the same look on her face, sighing.
Meanwhile, a squirrel scout alligator, Gretchen, was walking around in the island by herself. "I can't believe she was use 'cute' between me and a bean scout, RIGHT in front of everyone. GARRGH!" Gretchen groaned in discuss, angry she was as well. She was still mad about what happen earlier.
Gretchen looked down while walking. "Matter fact, she had no business using that word around me period," Gretchen told herself. "And also, that prick calling me 'overbite'?" Then all of the sudden, not paying attention and still looking down, she bumps her head onto someone else's head that wasn't paying any attention as well.
"Argh!" They both groaned in pain, rubbing their heads. Then once Gretchen opens one of her eyes, she saw that it was the platypus standing in front of her. Then the alligator shoves the platypus without warning, causing him to nearly unbalance himself.
"Watch where you going!" Gretchen snarled at the platypus, Edward. Perplexed at the moment, Edward growls at the angry alligator and shoves her back. "You watch where you going, overbite!" Edward exclaimed. Gretchen opens her eyes, after being shoved, from what Edward called her again.
"Ohohoho! So now you wanna go for round 2," Gretchen said, rolling up her sleeves. Edward squints his eyes at her. Then the platypus elbows the tree that was standing beside them. Causing the tree to shake, a pack of coconuts was sent dropping and dropping down at the alligator.
"What the?" Gretchen said, looking up. Then without warning, the coconuts fell on her, the coconuts started piling up on her. After it completely covered her, Edward shot a smirk on his face. Then he lightly huffed in aptitude and triumphant.
Once Edward took one step to walk off, the alligator's green hand pops out of the pile of coconuts and grabs onto the platypus' shin. Edward opens his eyes and looks down at Gretchen's grasp. Then he grabbed onto her arm with one hand and the other one grabbed onto her wrist. So he can try and break her off from grasping him.
"Hey!" Edward snarled. "Let go of my leg!" Then Edward was growling in agony. Then he heard her groaning in the pile of coconuts, and then she pulls him and caused him not to balance any longer.
"Aah!" Edward yelled at the same time he was now falling. Then Gretchen pulls him once more. But since there's not much strength in her momentarily, Edward manage to break free. Then he got up and ran off, growling.
Then Gretchen's hand bald up onto a fist and then she starts pulling herself up and pushing herself out of the pile of coconuts. She was lightly panting, as half her body was out and the other half, starting her lower waist, was still inside the pile. Realizing that Edward already disappeared, she growled in annoyance. "…Bean scouts," Gretchen said in a deep hatred tone.
On the other side of the island, Dave and Ping-Pong were walking and talking to each other. "Doesn't it seem odd that Slinkman and Scoutmaster Lumpus are gone?" Ping-Pong asked. "Yeah, but who cares about Scoutmaster Lumpus?" Dave said. "Yeah you're right. But what about…" Ping-Pong then saw Samson and Almondine sitting down together.
This also caught Dave's attention to look at the two scouts sitting as well. "You know, they have been hanging around each other for over an hour now," Ping-Pong said as he continues to stare at them. "Who cares?" Dave asked. "Yeah you're right." Ping-Pong replied. Then they both turned around and walked off.
"I don't get it. Where would they go?" Samson asked, talking to Almondine about Slinkman and Lumpus missing right now. "I don't know. Hey, wasn't that elephant guy looking for somebody?" Almondine asked. Samson placed his finger on his chin.
"Hey yeah, he HAS been looking for his friend Clam for quite a while. Do you think he would be missing with the other two as well?" Samson asked, looking at up the owl. "Maybe so." Almondine answered.
Later, all of the bean and squirrel scouts were gathered up at the usual spot. As they all were talking amongst themselves with different conversations, Denmother Doe gets up and steps up in front of the scouts. "Now um…please quiet down for just a sec," Jane Doe said, with her hands up, trying to quiet them down from talking so they could hear what she had to say.
Edward and Gretchen on the other hand, caught each other staring at one another, causing both of them to growl at each other. But since it was kind a crowded, they didn't try to get up and confront with each other.
"Now please scouts…can we just…I need to tell you guys…" Jane Doe kept trying to get their attention. But, obviously, they weren't paying any attention to the mistress doe. Jane Doe sighed and sat back down. She also placed her hands on her face, covering her face. "What am I going to do?" Jane Doe asked herself.
Then all of the sudden, a strong sound roared loudly, causing everyone to go silent. A couple of seconds later, Sheldon the hippo says, "And it wasn't me." "Well of course it wasn't you," Edward said. "It was just the boat."
Then several bean and squirrel scouts express emotion agreement on Edward's statement, such as 'oh' and 'ok'. A couple of seconds later…everybody widens their eyes and yells, "BOAT?!"
