Finding Home
(NOTE: The beginning might be alittle boring.....)
Chapter One: Gill's Tale Part I
"Come on Peach! You can do it!" yelled the fish from down in the water.
"That's the shortest red light I've ever seen!" shouted the little starfish before she jumped into the water. Her other friends from the tank cheered. Bloat puffed up, then he deflated himself.
They were all in plastic bags, floating on top of the water.
"Now what?" asked Bloat.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do," said Gill, looking up at a bird flying high in the sky. "HEY NIGEL! NIGEL!!!!!!!" Gill started to yell at the bird.
"Is that Nigel? I can't tell." said Gurgle.
"Whoa you finally got out, did ya? Well, now what?" said Nigel as he flew down.
"Can you poke up out of these bags?"
"Why, of course I can!" Nigel took each of the bags in his beak and ripped open the top.
"Finally!" Gill said to himself and he flopped out and fell into the ocean.
"It is big and blue! Just like I said," said Bubbles. "Where are the bubbles?"
"Wow it's mighty deep!" said Peach, sticking onto a nearby rock.
"It's filled with germs!" said Gurgle, sounding worried.
"You sound like you're worried." said Gill, swimming down into the deep ocean.
"Well, I'm not worried." said Bloat.
"Then follow me." said Gill, swimming still deeper excitedly.
"Take care! We'll meet again!" said Nigel, and he flew away.
The fish swam close to Gill, since he seemed to be the only one who knew about the ocean.
"Where are we going, Gill?" asked Deb. "And where did Flo go?"
"Don't worry guys. We're going home." Gill seemed so absorbed in his own world that he rarely talked as he swam along.
As they came down to the bottom, they spotted a school of fish all swimming in the same direction. It looked just like the road they had crossed in their plastic bags.
"Gill, are you sure you know where you're going? I mean, this is a pretty big place." said Deb.
"Of course he does." said Jacques, who was swimming in back of them all.
"Yes, I do know where we're going. But it's going to be a long way." Gill's face was lit with excitement.
"Gill's really excited about this, isn't he?" said Bloat.
"Well, he did spend most of his time trying to escape, didn't he?" said Peach.
"Well, yeah, but this doesn't seem that different from the fish take. Except it's bigger."
"And dirtier." pointed out Gurgle.
Gill wasn't listening. He plunged right into the school of fish and started to follow them. He seemed to be concentrating hard.
'Hey, Gill, wait up!" shouted Bloat.
Hours went by.
"How far is this place we're going to?" Deb finally asked.
"Not far now....not far now....." said Gill, still staring ahead, the ocean reflecting in his eyes.
They passed many places on their way, and finally Bloat changed his mind.
"This is NOTHING like the fish tank." he said excitedly.
Finally Gill stopped.
"What is it Gill? Are we there yet?" asked Bloat, who puffed up when a scary looking fish swam by.
Gill didn't answer at first. He just kept swimming slowly around in circles, looking about him.
'HOLD IT! Gill, you haven't told us anything useful since we fell into this thing. I demand to know where you're taking us." said Gurgle. Gill stopped swimming, and was looking bewildered. Then he finally just grinned. "I lived in here before. I had a home, you know." Then he continued to swim forward.
"So that's why he's been so eager to go. He's going back to his home. He must miss it a lot." said Deb.
The other fish agreed.
They just followed Gill without another word.
*
Soon it became dark and they stopped to rest. While the other fish went to sleep, Gill stayed awake, swimming back and forth.
"Is she still there? What if she left? Where would se go? What if she found someone else?" suddenly Gill gasped between his questions. "What is she killed herself?"
"Who?"
"AGGGH!" Gill whirled around, but only saw his friends. "I thought you were asleep!"
"We couldn't. You were talking to much." said Bloat.
"Well, who is it you were talking about?" asked Bubbles. Gill suddenly looked embarrassed.
"Oh, just an old friend."
"A she, are they?" said Peach, mysteriously.
Gill didn't say anything.
"Oh come on! We heard you rambling over her to yourself. Who is she?" urged on Gurgle.
'"Please tell us?" begged Bloat.
"No, no. She's just a friend I knew when I was younger......"
"Before you were captured?"
His friends were sounding him now, in the darkness, but Gill could still see them swaying back and forth.
"Yes."
"I've never seen this kind of side to you, Gill." said Peach, laughing.
"What do you mean?"
"You're so shy now. You should see yourself."
Gill looked down at the sand, still not saying anything.
"Oh, let's stop embarrassing the guy and get some sleep." said Bloat, and Gill was secretly glad. He still didn't fall asleep though.
*
"We're almost there!" Gill cried behind him as he sped up towards the city they were heading to.
"Hey wait up!" yelled Bubbles.
"Let him go as fast as he wants." said Peach, grinning.
The city was beautiful. Every fish there was a different color, and the seaweed was greener than any color green they had ever seen, and the water was the cleanest water in the sea. No wonder Gill missed it so much.
"Gill! Hey guys! Gill's back!" shouted one of the fish. All of a sudden gill was attacked by more than 5 fish.
"Good to have you back, old buddy!" a gold fish exclaimed.
The other fish from the tank just stood nearby, watching. Peach grinned. "I'm glad he was missed as much as he missed them." she said.
"Which one do you think is the fish he was talking about last night?" Gurgle asked them. They just shrugged.
"There's no females there....." pointed out Bloat, started to swim towards a bunch of other puffer fish.
"I feel so bad now! Gill must have had a great life here." said Deb. Suddenly a fish that looked exactly like her swam by. "FLO! There you are! Where have you been?"
The fish turned to her, looking suddenly scared, but also gave Flo a look like she was crazy.
"Who's Flo? And do I know you?" she said.
"I'm your sister!" said Deb, looking and sounding a little hurt.
"So, where's Michelle?" Gill asked, looking around the crowd of fish. His friends suddenly froze. Only their eyes were moving.
Gill's grin vanished. "What? What is it?"
His friends didn't answer for a moment. Then one of them said, "she's not here right now."
Gill eyed them. 'What do you mean?"
"Who's Michelle?" said Gurgle, swimming over to them.
"Who are YOU?" asked the gold fish.
"These are the other fish from the tank. That's Gurgle, That's Deb, that's Peach, over there is Bloat (Bloat was puffing up with a mixture of female and male puffer fish), there's Bubbles, and....where's Jacques?"
"Bonjour." said a voice from behind them as the crab swam towards them.
"Er.......yeah.......bonjour....." said the gold fish uncertainly. "I'm Brian."
(I'm not going to introduce the others I'm horrible at picking out names.....especially for fish.)
"Yeah, so who's Michelle?" repeated Gurgle. Brian looked slightly taken aback.
"She's just a friend of mine." Gill said quickly.
"More like a GIRLFRIEND." said Brian, chuckling.
"Uh huh......" said Gurgle, also letting out a giggle. Gill gave them all a look, and they became quiet. Gill seemed to have that affect on people. I mean fish.
Gill turned back to Brian. "Where is she, then?"
"Well," Brian began worriedly. "Last time we saw her she was in that cave you two found."
Gill looked thoughtful. "And when was the last time you saw her?"
Brian gulped. "Just after you were taken."
Gill's thoughtful look turned into sorrow. "You mean, she disappeared?"
Brian nodded sadly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry......" he heard Peach say. Gill didn't say anything, then he turned his gaze over to a nearby cluster of seaweed. "I'm gonna find her." he said, then she sped into the seaweed.
*
Gill didn't know if they were following him, but he didn't care. He swam on, twisting and turning through the familiar trail Michelle and he had made when they were young. It would be hard for the others to follow him.
As he was swimming, a flashback drifted into his mind:
"Gill....Gill look out!" Michelle had been shouting.
"What?" but Gill was too late. A huge net surrounded him and he was caught.
"GILL! GILL!" he heard her screaming.
"MICHELLE!" Gill had tried to scream. He remembered thrashing about, trying to break free.
He saw Michelle reaching out to him, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. He just grabbed her outstretched fin, and she pulled him. But the net was also pulling up, and his fin slipped, and he had been taken away.
Gill shook the memory away, and kept swimming. But he couldn't help remembering the last thing he had said.
"Wait for me! I'll get back!"
Gill tried to shake it away. Had Michelle heard him?
He reached the cave without even realizing it and almost crashed into the side. He ignored the pain and rushed into the cave. It was just like he remembered.
It was dark, just as before, and there was still that small light way in the back than neither him nor Michelle had been brave enough to go and see what it was. Well, they were, but Gill was sure both of them just wanted to see the other one do it, so neither of them went themselves. Gill suddenly regretted it.
He slowed down, gazing into the light. He hesitated, then he raced toward it.
It was the end of the cave, and at first Gill thought it was only a rock. But then he realized it wasn't just a rock. It was a rock with a VERY bright and shiny thing on top. He shielded his eyes, and went to look at it.
It was a crystal, in fact. It was bluish pink, and seemed to light the whole cave from back here. He was drawn to it's light. He went to touch it, and was horrified as the light grew brighter until he couldn't see a thing and was sure he had gone blind. He got even more afraid as the cave started to tumble and collapse, and the ground started to shake. The water around him started to swirl around him, and he kept spinning and spinning and spinning, and then suddenly he was shot out of the water, and the last thing he heard was himself scream.
*
Gill opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, which was somehow flat. He wasn't under water, but he could breathe. All above him was blue, but it was the sky, not the water. He sat up. He was sitting on a beach. He looked down at his fins, which were now arms and hands. His tale was now turned to two legs. He was wearing human clothes, and had human hair. One of his arms was cut up from where Gill's bad fin had been. His face had cuts as well.
It took him a minute to realize a female human was sitting next to him, looking at him worriedly.
"AGHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to scare you!" the girl said, standing up, then helping Gill to his feet, though Gill fell right back down. He wasn't used to using feet.
"No.... You didn't scare me.....I just don't.........Where am I?" Gill asked. He realized he was breathing hard.
"New York City." answered the girl, reaching out her hand to help him up.
"New York City? How......how did I get here from Sydney?"
The girl shook her head. "I don't know. You flew out of the water screaming, then you were just laying there. I came out to save you." she helped him up again, but Gill wobbled and fell back down.
"Is something wrong with you're legs?" she asked, then she spotted the cuts on his arm and face. But she didn't say anything.
Gill looked the girl up and down. She reminded him of someone. She had black hair, like he had now, and her skin looked pale white, like his own now. Her eyes were dark, like his.
"I'm Michelle." she said, helping him up again, though this time she supported him.
"Michelle?" the name startled him. It must have been a coincidence. "I.....I'm Gill." He wasn't used to his new body form.
"Gill!" she looked just as surprised as he must have looked. "That's a.....er........nice name."
There was a small silence as Gill leaned against Michelle for support. Gill tried to get off her and get in the hand of walking. He was a little wobbly, but he thought he could do it.
"So...... do you think you're all right?" asked Michelle. Gill nodded.
"I'm fine. Just a little spooked."
(Ok, there's Gill's Tale Part I. Part II might be coming tomorrow! Depends on how much homework I have.)
(NOTE: The beginning might be alittle boring.....)
Chapter One: Gill's Tale Part I
"Come on Peach! You can do it!" yelled the fish from down in the water.
"That's the shortest red light I've ever seen!" shouted the little starfish before she jumped into the water. Her other friends from the tank cheered. Bloat puffed up, then he deflated himself.
They were all in plastic bags, floating on top of the water.
"Now what?" asked Bloat.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do," said Gill, looking up at a bird flying high in the sky. "HEY NIGEL! NIGEL!!!!!!!" Gill started to yell at the bird.
"Is that Nigel? I can't tell." said Gurgle.
"Whoa you finally got out, did ya? Well, now what?" said Nigel as he flew down.
"Can you poke up out of these bags?"
"Why, of course I can!" Nigel took each of the bags in his beak and ripped open the top.
"Finally!" Gill said to himself and he flopped out and fell into the ocean.
"It is big and blue! Just like I said," said Bubbles. "Where are the bubbles?"
"Wow it's mighty deep!" said Peach, sticking onto a nearby rock.
"It's filled with germs!" said Gurgle, sounding worried.
"You sound like you're worried." said Gill, swimming down into the deep ocean.
"Well, I'm not worried." said Bloat.
"Then follow me." said Gill, swimming still deeper excitedly.
"Take care! We'll meet again!" said Nigel, and he flew away.
The fish swam close to Gill, since he seemed to be the only one who knew about the ocean.
"Where are we going, Gill?" asked Deb. "And where did Flo go?"
"Don't worry guys. We're going home." Gill seemed so absorbed in his own world that he rarely talked as he swam along.
As they came down to the bottom, they spotted a school of fish all swimming in the same direction. It looked just like the road they had crossed in their plastic bags.
"Gill, are you sure you know where you're going? I mean, this is a pretty big place." said Deb.
"Of course he does." said Jacques, who was swimming in back of them all.
"Yes, I do know where we're going. But it's going to be a long way." Gill's face was lit with excitement.
"Gill's really excited about this, isn't he?" said Bloat.
"Well, he did spend most of his time trying to escape, didn't he?" said Peach.
"Well, yeah, but this doesn't seem that different from the fish take. Except it's bigger."
"And dirtier." pointed out Gurgle.
Gill wasn't listening. He plunged right into the school of fish and started to follow them. He seemed to be concentrating hard.
'Hey, Gill, wait up!" shouted Bloat.
Hours went by.
"How far is this place we're going to?" Deb finally asked.
"Not far now....not far now....." said Gill, still staring ahead, the ocean reflecting in his eyes.
They passed many places on their way, and finally Bloat changed his mind.
"This is NOTHING like the fish tank." he said excitedly.
Finally Gill stopped.
"What is it Gill? Are we there yet?" asked Bloat, who puffed up when a scary looking fish swam by.
Gill didn't answer at first. He just kept swimming slowly around in circles, looking about him.
'HOLD IT! Gill, you haven't told us anything useful since we fell into this thing. I demand to know where you're taking us." said Gurgle. Gill stopped swimming, and was looking bewildered. Then he finally just grinned. "I lived in here before. I had a home, you know." Then he continued to swim forward.
"So that's why he's been so eager to go. He's going back to his home. He must miss it a lot." said Deb.
The other fish agreed.
They just followed Gill without another word.
*
Soon it became dark and they stopped to rest. While the other fish went to sleep, Gill stayed awake, swimming back and forth.
"Is she still there? What if she left? Where would se go? What if she found someone else?" suddenly Gill gasped between his questions. "What is she killed herself?"
"Who?"
"AGGGH!" Gill whirled around, but only saw his friends. "I thought you were asleep!"
"We couldn't. You were talking to much." said Bloat.
"Well, who is it you were talking about?" asked Bubbles. Gill suddenly looked embarrassed.
"Oh, just an old friend."
"A she, are they?" said Peach, mysteriously.
Gill didn't say anything.
"Oh come on! We heard you rambling over her to yourself. Who is she?" urged on Gurgle.
'"Please tell us?" begged Bloat.
"No, no. She's just a friend I knew when I was younger......"
"Before you were captured?"
His friends were sounding him now, in the darkness, but Gill could still see them swaying back and forth.
"Yes."
"I've never seen this kind of side to you, Gill." said Peach, laughing.
"What do you mean?"
"You're so shy now. You should see yourself."
Gill looked down at the sand, still not saying anything.
"Oh, let's stop embarrassing the guy and get some sleep." said Bloat, and Gill was secretly glad. He still didn't fall asleep though.
*
"We're almost there!" Gill cried behind him as he sped up towards the city they were heading to.
"Hey wait up!" yelled Bubbles.
"Let him go as fast as he wants." said Peach, grinning.
The city was beautiful. Every fish there was a different color, and the seaweed was greener than any color green they had ever seen, and the water was the cleanest water in the sea. No wonder Gill missed it so much.
"Gill! Hey guys! Gill's back!" shouted one of the fish. All of a sudden gill was attacked by more than 5 fish.
"Good to have you back, old buddy!" a gold fish exclaimed.
The other fish from the tank just stood nearby, watching. Peach grinned. "I'm glad he was missed as much as he missed them." she said.
"Which one do you think is the fish he was talking about last night?" Gurgle asked them. They just shrugged.
"There's no females there....." pointed out Bloat, started to swim towards a bunch of other puffer fish.
"I feel so bad now! Gill must have had a great life here." said Deb. Suddenly a fish that looked exactly like her swam by. "FLO! There you are! Where have you been?"
The fish turned to her, looking suddenly scared, but also gave Flo a look like she was crazy.
"Who's Flo? And do I know you?" she said.
"I'm your sister!" said Deb, looking and sounding a little hurt.
"So, where's Michelle?" Gill asked, looking around the crowd of fish. His friends suddenly froze. Only their eyes were moving.
Gill's grin vanished. "What? What is it?"
His friends didn't answer for a moment. Then one of them said, "she's not here right now."
Gill eyed them. 'What do you mean?"
"Who's Michelle?" said Gurgle, swimming over to them.
"Who are YOU?" asked the gold fish.
"These are the other fish from the tank. That's Gurgle, That's Deb, that's Peach, over there is Bloat (Bloat was puffing up with a mixture of female and male puffer fish), there's Bubbles, and....where's Jacques?"
"Bonjour." said a voice from behind them as the crab swam towards them.
"Er.......yeah.......bonjour....." said the gold fish uncertainly. "I'm Brian."
(I'm not going to introduce the others I'm horrible at picking out names.....especially for fish.)
"Yeah, so who's Michelle?" repeated Gurgle. Brian looked slightly taken aback.
"She's just a friend of mine." Gill said quickly.
"More like a GIRLFRIEND." said Brian, chuckling.
"Uh huh......" said Gurgle, also letting out a giggle. Gill gave them all a look, and they became quiet. Gill seemed to have that affect on people. I mean fish.
Gill turned back to Brian. "Where is she, then?"
"Well," Brian began worriedly. "Last time we saw her she was in that cave you two found."
Gill looked thoughtful. "And when was the last time you saw her?"
Brian gulped. "Just after you were taken."
Gill's thoughtful look turned into sorrow. "You mean, she disappeared?"
Brian nodded sadly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry......" he heard Peach say. Gill didn't say anything, then he turned his gaze over to a nearby cluster of seaweed. "I'm gonna find her." he said, then she sped into the seaweed.
*
Gill didn't know if they were following him, but he didn't care. He swam on, twisting and turning through the familiar trail Michelle and he had made when they were young. It would be hard for the others to follow him.
As he was swimming, a flashback drifted into his mind:
"Gill....Gill look out!" Michelle had been shouting.
"What?" but Gill was too late. A huge net surrounded him and he was caught.
"GILL! GILL!" he heard her screaming.
"MICHELLE!" Gill had tried to scream. He remembered thrashing about, trying to break free.
He saw Michelle reaching out to him, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. He just grabbed her outstretched fin, and she pulled him. But the net was also pulling up, and his fin slipped, and he had been taken away.
Gill shook the memory away, and kept swimming. But he couldn't help remembering the last thing he had said.
"Wait for me! I'll get back!"
Gill tried to shake it away. Had Michelle heard him?
He reached the cave without even realizing it and almost crashed into the side. He ignored the pain and rushed into the cave. It was just like he remembered.
It was dark, just as before, and there was still that small light way in the back than neither him nor Michelle had been brave enough to go and see what it was. Well, they were, but Gill was sure both of them just wanted to see the other one do it, so neither of them went themselves. Gill suddenly regretted it.
He slowed down, gazing into the light. He hesitated, then he raced toward it.
It was the end of the cave, and at first Gill thought it was only a rock. But then he realized it wasn't just a rock. It was a rock with a VERY bright and shiny thing on top. He shielded his eyes, and went to look at it.
It was a crystal, in fact. It was bluish pink, and seemed to light the whole cave from back here. He was drawn to it's light. He went to touch it, and was horrified as the light grew brighter until he couldn't see a thing and was sure he had gone blind. He got even more afraid as the cave started to tumble and collapse, and the ground started to shake. The water around him started to swirl around him, and he kept spinning and spinning and spinning, and then suddenly he was shot out of the water, and the last thing he heard was himself scream.
*
Gill opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, which was somehow flat. He wasn't under water, but he could breathe. All above him was blue, but it was the sky, not the water. He sat up. He was sitting on a beach. He looked down at his fins, which were now arms and hands. His tale was now turned to two legs. He was wearing human clothes, and had human hair. One of his arms was cut up from where Gill's bad fin had been. His face had cuts as well.
It took him a minute to realize a female human was sitting next to him, looking at him worriedly.
"AGHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to scare you!" the girl said, standing up, then helping Gill to his feet, though Gill fell right back down. He wasn't used to using feet.
"No.... You didn't scare me.....I just don't.........Where am I?" Gill asked. He realized he was breathing hard.
"New York City." answered the girl, reaching out her hand to help him up.
"New York City? How......how did I get here from Sydney?"
The girl shook her head. "I don't know. You flew out of the water screaming, then you were just laying there. I came out to save you." she helped him up again, but Gill wobbled and fell back down.
"Is something wrong with you're legs?" she asked, then she spotted the cuts on his arm and face. But she didn't say anything.
Gill looked the girl up and down. She reminded him of someone. She had black hair, like he had now, and her skin looked pale white, like his own now. Her eyes were dark, like his.
"I'm Michelle." she said, helping him up again, though this time she supported him.
"Michelle?" the name startled him. It must have been a coincidence. "I.....I'm Gill." He wasn't used to his new body form.
"Gill!" she looked just as surprised as he must have looked. "That's a.....er........nice name."
There was a small silence as Gill leaned against Michelle for support. Gill tried to get off her and get in the hand of walking. He was a little wobbly, but he thought he could do it.
"So...... do you think you're all right?" asked Michelle. Gill nodded.
"I'm fine. Just a little spooked."
(Ok, there's Gill's Tale Part I. Part II might be coming tomorrow! Depends on how much homework I have.)