Darwin wasn't sure how long he had been running for. He was far past Elmore, that was for sure. He wasn't sure what he was going to do now. He had been so focused on getting back to the Wattersons that he didn't have a back up plan in case that didn't work out. He couldn't go back to the ocean, he didn't think he could survive that same trip twice. Besides, he had legs now, he wasn't sure if he could go back to a regular fish life. With no other ideas he kept walking until he came across a town. It was small, but he wasn't complaining. As long as he could find some food, and maybe a place to rest.
He came across a building with a sign that said "Grocery". He couldn't read the sign, but he could see the pictures of various fruits and vegetables that were painted on it. Maybe this was a place he could find food? He walked in and was amazed. There was food piled a mile high! As far as the eye could see! He ran over and started eating when an old teapot lady gently tapped him.
"You can't just eat the food dear, you have to pay for it," she said kindly. He looked like he was really young, so he probably didn't know. Darwin looked at her confused.
"Pay? What's that?"
"You know, it's when people exchange money for things." She tried to explain. This didn't clear anything up for Darwin.
"What's money?" He asked. She didn't answer him and instead looked around.
"Where are your parents dear? I'm sure they can explain this to you." Darwin hesitated. Parents? Did he have those? He must have, or else he wouldn't be around, but he couldn't remember any. Honestly, the closest things he had to parents were Nicole and Richard Watterson, but they clearly didn't want him.
"I-I don't really have any," he admitted. The lady looked concerned at this and took out her flip phone.
"Why don't you come with me dear?" she said. Darwin had a sinking feeling that he had done something wrong, but he still did what she said and followed her. She had called someone on her phone. Darwin didn't know who, but he heard her saying something about a child on his own. Before he knew it more people had showed up and he was being led to a strange place. He was brought to a room and told to wait. Soon after, a tall carrot man entered the room.
"Hello there." He said in a friendly manner, with the kind of tone you would normally take when talking to a young child. "What's your name?"
"Darwin W-" He stopped mid-word. Guess he couldn't call himself "Darwin Watterson" anymore. But he'd already started the word, it would be weird if he didn't finish. He didn't know much about land-dwellers, but he knew that they would expect him to have a last name. Guess he would have to make one up. "White, Darwin White," he finished. He immediately started admonishing himself "White? Really? That's a color, not a name, idiot!" But the man didn't bat an eyelash. Guess "White" was an acceptable last name after all.
"Alright Darwin White, I'm just going to ask you a few questions, is that alright?"
"Where am I?" Darwin asked.
"You're in one of our offices. I'm with the Child Protective Services. Do you know what that is?" he asked. Darwin shook his head no. "Well, it's our job to look after children. Some of them come from bad situations, and some, like you, are lost." Darwin shook his head, he wasn't lost, not anymore. He simply had nowhere to go. "Like I said earlier, I just want to ask you a few questions. Nothing to worry about, just trying to work out what happened to you and why you're on your own." Despite his reassurances, Darwin felt fear enter his heart. Could he tell him what happened? Or would he just sound like he was completely nuts? He didn't think his talking would be a big deal until Gumball freaked out about it. And if that was noteworthy, what would he think about the rest of it? He knew that goldfish growing legs and lungs wasn't something that happened every day. Then he thought of something else. If he did tell him everything, he would likely call the Wattersons to back up his story. He wouldn't be able to stand them rejecting him twice. It was settled then, he couldn't tell this guy anything about the Wattersons, or where he truly came from. He was going to have to lie.