Author's note: Heavily inspired by "Friends With You"'s "Cloudy" clip: watch?v=kySziocrOmU . If you watch the video, it's a magical story about how rain is made. If you just focus on the music, it'll match things in the fanfic (if a bit faster than written, haha).
Also there's my small headcanon about Howdy - she resembles a roly poly doll a bit, so I thought she could possibly have a bell in her body (which might've been lost with time).
I talked to them there, for long, and we played. Mom, their language is different. There's so many of them, Mother! They are wonderful.
Maya Kucherskaya, "The Garden of Many Colors"
Yesterday
"Richard, how are they?" Mrs. Watterson whispered to her husband as he closed the door of the children's room.
"Sleeping all right," Mr. Watterson said just as quietly, nearly woking the children up again with his giggling – it was about time his wife put a paw over his mouth. "Okay… Okay, I'm quiet... Oh, I can't even wait- can we take just one more peek at their gifts? Can we, Nicole? Pretty please?"
"Well, if you're asking so nice", smiled Mrs. Watterson, unwrapping the packages one by one. "Say, weren't we lucky to choose them out of all the toys! The moment I saw this shaggy li'l fellow I realized he's just right to cuddle with before falling asleep. Do you remember how many times Gumball used to fall asleep like that with my old sweater? He said it was soft and smelled like me. And this little fella will smell the same. I'll put him under my pillow for tonight. Look, even his fur is made of yarn! Isn't he a sweetie?"
Mr. Watterson nodded. "And what about that clown? I myself almost burst out laughing once I picked him up. See, you can tell by the look on his face that he's about to say something funny and laugh at himself! Y'know, I've got an idea- how about we put him in a…" He started whispering something in his wife's ear, to which Mrs. Watterson just nodded, trying not to laugh too much, and finally pointed to the third gift:
"And this funny little round thing? She's got such a sweet smile! And even can sing!" She shook the toy a little, and a small bell jingled in its body. "She managed to lift even my mood, so I hope the boys will cheer up just the same".
Today
Dad's pink ear cautiously poked through the door of the children's room, and then his eye peeked in. Everything was just as he suspected: the sad birthday boy (who hasn't even left the room since he woke up) sitting on the windowsill, forehead pressed against the glass, humming a sad tune to himself, and Darwin, his little stepbrother, singing along with him.
That wasn't how Gumball Watterson's fifth birthday was supposed to start. It should've started – frankly speaking – with sunlight flooding the room. With a cake that would have been brought into the birthday boy's room by the parents as soon as he and Darwin opened their eyes, with a song "Happy birthday to you!", and a festive show with balloons and a clown in their yard.
Who knew that the weather had its own plans for this day. No, Mom and Dad had already bought the balloons the day before and decorated the living room with them. And the cake was waiting in the fridge. And the gifts were hidden in a safe place for now. But neither the clouds thought of leaving the sky, nor the boring drizzle behind the window wanted to stop. So much for a show with a clown. Mr. Robinson, their neighbor, was the only one who was happy about it – judging by the sound of him wheeling a wheelbarrow with flowers and whistling, or planting flowers into a flower bed.
A few minutes before the miracle
Barely able to contain his laughter (kids sit there, not having a single clue about WHAT EXACTLY is waiting for them!), Dad quietly slipped back into the living room.
"What shall we start with?", Mom whispered.
"Cheering them up", Dad said. "Soap bubbles are the best remedy for the blues!"
With these words he bravely dipped the blow ring on the stick into the soap-bubble mix.
"Gumball", Darwin called to his brother. "Hey, Gumball? Do you see them too?"
The kitten reluctantly turned to him... and almost fell off the windowsill: Darwin pointed at the huge soap bubbles flying straight towards them.
"Wow!" Gumball said admiringly and blew on one of the bubbles, which immediately flew to the top of Darwin's head. Gumball was afraid that the bubble would burst, but the fish boy shook it off and blew on it, too. The bubble landed squarely on Gumball's nose. Pheeeeewww – now it was on Darwin's nose. Pheeeeewwww – now it was the kitten's turn to blow it off his own nose. And around them floated even more colorful, large, beautiful bubbles. Who would even care about the cloudy weather outside!
While Dad blew bubbles through the door, Mom rustled something behind his back.
"Done", she finally whispered. "Now give me your hand, honey…"
Dad held out his left paw. Mom immediately slipped onto it their first gift, a glove puppet looking like a shaggy lilac-blue monster with fur made of fluffy yarn.
"Let's introduce him first", Mom suggested. "It's time!"
As much fun as it was to play with the bubbles, something was bothering Gumball. The kitten's sensitive ears caught something unusual going on behind the wall. It seemed like the three voices – not familiar, likely not even from this world – talking to each other. One was like a jingly bell. The other was a smooth, trombone-like baritone. Another one sounded like a soft bass of a trumpet. And the strangest thing about these voices was that, despite they didn't sound like any of the Wattersons' neighbors, neither of them seemed eery to the kitten. Instead, they made him terribly curious.
"Darwin", he said at last, nodding at the door. "Ssssh… Do you hear what I hear?"
Before Darwin could answer, the door creaked open again.
There was a knock on it from outside.
The one who knocked, judging by the sound, was small. Almost like… a toy, even.
And then a funny-looking, shaggy little monster poked his head in.
"Wowie…" Gumball was taken aback, his grin widening almost to his ears."Wh-who are you? Are you our gift?"
The little monster nuzzled Gumball's cheek, as if kissing him, and nodded. The kitten heard one of those voices again, this time more clearly: "Yes! Yes!"
"Me too!" Darwin asked. The monster gave him a peck on the cheek, too.
"How soft you are!", Gumball said admiringly, squeezing the toy in a hug. "And you smell just like Mom's sweater!"
The moment Darwin did the same, the whole room was flooded with…
Sunlight?
All of a sudden
Both kids froze, their mouths hanging open.
The first thing they realized was that they were no longer in their home. The place was unfamiliar and resembled a large valley with hills of different colors, and without a single cloud in the sky. And the little monster puppet they'd been hugging a few moments ago had turned into a shaggy giant – lilac-blue, kind, and real.
Before Gumball and Darwin could utter a word, the giant bowed to them, picked them both up, hoisted them onto his shoulders, and set off across the colorful hills. A silver trumpet appeared in his paw out of nowhere, and it was not clear whether he was playing it, or singing with a trumpety voice: Frank! I'm Frank! Come on, let's go and play!
"We need the same ones..." Gumball barely had time to think, holding on to the shaggy, dreadlock-like plush strands on Frank's head. Immediately, a similar, smaller trumpet appeared in his own paw and in Darwin's fin, and both of them sang in the same tone as Frank's trumpet the moment both brothers raised them to their lips, so that the song echoed through the valley... wait, was it not echo? Was it the valley itself singing along with the voices of its guests, coming to life?
It was indeed. On Gumball and Darwin's watch the hills were covering with flowers – and the flowers stared at the guests with wide eyes, some being admired and some surprised. Marshmallow clouds danced in the sky above the valley, light lollipops and tinkling notes floated by, and colorful trees and bushes grew on the ground, just like the ones the brothers used to draw. And Frank threw one or the other into the air and caught them, just like Dad used to play with them. And, just like Dad, he suddenly flopped on his back, so that both kids landed right on his furry stomach. Darwin was nearly startled that they might've hurt the giant, but he rolled around on the grass, laughing and kicking with all his paws when the boys tickled him in retaliation.
"It's our turn!" Mom put the round jingly puppet onto her paw. "Come on girl, cheer them up like you cheered me up yesterday!"
She just rolled out of the blue right at them – bright, made of colorful balls, with slender, yellow, tentacle-like paws and large curious eyes. The moment she managed to catch both of the brothers and Frank under their paws (and fin) all four of them began to dance in a circle, her jingly little voice ringing in their ears and the valley breeze whistling, calling her name: Hoooowdyyyy, Howdy-y-y-y... Gumball and Darwin had long forgotten about the rain and clouds behind the window of their own room – it was much more fun to dance, ring and laugh together in the confetti rain.
"Your turn!" Dad picked up the largest box and carried it towards the children's room. "What a surprise you're about to get! Go ahead now, buddy, surprise them!"
Frank, being the tallest one, was the first to notice it. The dance stopped as he paused and stretched out his paw, pointing at something in the distance. A bright gift box with a bow on top was walking over the hills on its long, thin legs towards the four friends.
"Wh-wh-who's in there?" Darwin whispered, unable to believe just how much happier they could be and what other surprise this wonderful valley could have in store for them.
"We'll see soon", Gumball said, rubbing his paws together in anticipation. "Look, it already climbs up our hill".
From within the box sounded a muffled jolly tune – almost the same one that Frank's trumpet played, but with a higher pitch.
Gumball pulled at the ribbon. The lid of the gift lifted slightly, and the music became louder.
"Come out, new pal", exclaimed the kitten. "Let's go and play!"
Grrr-a-a-a-dy-y, creaked the lid slightly (that should be their new friend's name, the kids guessed) and finally bounced up.
Colorful balloons soared from the box into the sky.
Frank gasped (oh, so many of them!).
Howdy ouched (oh, not in my face!).
"Eh?" Gumball and Darwin wanted to say in unison: "Grady" wasn't supposed to be the name of this balloon batch, after all. But when all the balloons floated away into the sky and it finally became clear who was in the gift, they both shouted – or rather, sang without words – with joy.
Because there was a clown, a bright, cheerful clown with long arms and legs. He waved his arms, conducting the brothers, and sang along to them – also without words, in a sonorous, trombone-like voice. The box had long disappeared off him. He reached down and pulled a silver spoon right from behind Gumball's ear. Oop! Now it was Frank's turn to stare in surprise at another one that Grady has fished out of his thick fur. Oop, oop, oop! The clown pulled out spoon after spoon from Howdy's hair, from under Darwin's arm, from under his own cap – and then began to juggle all five at once, immediately making the sun dance around the valley.
Finally, Grady clapped his hands and bowed. The spoons landed on their own – one into his hand and the others into the paws and fin of his grateful audience.
"Thank you", Gumball thanked him. "Well now, we each have got a spoon. Now only to find out what exactly do we need them for…"
"I know!", exclaimed Darwin in delight. "We haven't had any cake yet!"
The valley sky flickered ove the kids' heads, turning into the light of the kitchen lamp. Mom and Dad, both wearing party caps, were leaning over the brothers. On the table was a birthday cake with five candles on it. Balloons hovered under the ceiling. And Grady, Frank, and Howdy – all back to their small, toy selves and wearing the same party caps – all sat right on the table.
"Mom, Dad," Gumball breathed out, coming to his senses. "You won't believe where we've just been!"
...The kids' stories lasted till very bedtime. Dad only could gasp and ouch and ask them stuff, and Mom only nodded and smiled.
"I know that valley", she said at last. "Dad and I used to get there, too, when we were little. So that's what Imaginationland should look like now…"
"Does it?" Gumball sighed. "Darwin and I thought that we had discovered a whole new land… I mean, a brand new, undiscovered one, and on my birthday at that…"
"No need to be upset", Mom laughed. "it's always like this with Imaginationland. Every child rediscovers it, and for everyone, it is always new. And you were lucky enough to get there with your brother, even!"
"All right, then", said the kitten, immediately cheering up. "Can you get there in your sleep?"
"You bet", Mom winked. "How about we bet who will fall asleep faster?"
"Me!" Gumball immediately squeezed Frank in a hug, turned to the wall, and gave a pretend snore: "Zzzzzz… pbrpbrpbr… zzzzzz…"
"Good night, birthday boy", Mom said, smiling. "To you too, Darwin", she said, kissing the goldfish boy through the wall of his tank, and then sat Grady and Howdy on either side of it, one with his arm and the other with her paw wrapped around the tank. "That's it. Now guard their sleep, little ones. Good night..."