Disclaimer:
Dot and JC are staring at a glass of water.
"I'm telling you, JC, this's half-full!"
"I must disagree, Dot. It's clearly half-empty."
Dot yanks on her dorsal fin with fins, like pulling out hair in frustration. "Argh! I can't work with this silly glass! Half-full! Half-empty! It looks the same!"
JC simply points upward, still staring at the glass. "Blame Mademoiselle. She made us do this."
Hey! You want to do the disclaimer!
"Then why the glass?" Dot asks.
Because it's fun to tease Muses.
"Oooh." Dot rolls her golden eyes as she comes to JC's side. "Mademoiselle's got a nasty side."
"Wonders who you got it from." JC glances at her with a sly look.
Dot frowns, then gazes down to the glass. "You've been staring at the glass lately. What do you see, O' seer?"
It's JC's turn to frown at her. "I'm just pondering about the state the glass is in. Half-full or half-empty."
"Who cares?"
I do. Look, the glass is inside the water with you guys, silly. It's not half-empty or half-full. It's full. Got it?
JC and Dot again stare at the glass, then around them. The glass. The ocean. The glass.
"I dunno. It looks empty."
"No, no, Dot, look. The glass is full with seawater, see? It's full."
"But then there's nothing in the glass, obviously. Empty."
"Full."
"Empty!"
"Full!"
See? That's fun to play with Muses' minds. Considering that I'm playing with my mind, too. Fun. Good thing I don't own Finding Nemo. Otherwise, the characters need therapy after I play with their minds. *grins*
Chapter Ten: Half-empty or Half-full?
The glass world with its crystal walls, its landscapes and homes, had changed from its cleanliness into a green filthiness that seemed to reign over all.
Gill and Nemo were proud of the conclusion. The plan worked. The filter had stopped working, stopping cleaning the water. In mere less than forty-eight hours, the tank had become a world of scum. The water had turned alkaline, colored a faint greenish-black hue. The scum blanketed the walls and objects within with a new green coat, also smeared the Tank Gang's bodies slightly greener.
Gill grinned at the filthy walls as if they were his art. "Would you look at that? Filthy. Absolutely filthy." He turned to the little Clownfish. "All thanks to you, kid. You made it possible." As Nemo gave a smile of pride, the Moorish Idol glanced toward another wall and frowned. "Jacques! I said no cleaning."
The tiny Shrimp stopped cleaning off at the corner of the wall and looked back in guilt. There was a scum moustache around his mouth. "I'm ashamed."
Peach was laughing with delight, pushing scum from the wall with her arms. "Look! Scum angel!"
Gurgle had the worst time adjusting to the filthiness. Being 'germophobic', he freaked out at the sight of the horrible scum, his purple eyes as wide as they could get. He tried very hard not to touch the scum, but his attempts proved difficult, whenever he 'accidentally' touched more scum after trying to duck away from a scum speck. His terrified screams became common by the minute.
Bubbles stared at a new, weird bubble that rose out from his treasure chest. It was black and dirty, and it didn't move as fast as the other bubbles. Nevertheless, he was delighted to see a bubble. "Bubbles! I love bubbles!" He attempted to kiss it, but it burst in his face and he coughed out murk.
Deb was worried, not toward the filthiness, but toward the disappearance of her 'sister'. She swam near the walls, trying to find a glance of black and white stripes. "Flo? Have anybody seen Flo? Flo!"
Halting her entertainment, Peach fell silent when she eyed the clock on the wall. She was the only one who can read numbers as well as words, and so when she noticed the usual time for the entrance of the dentist every morning, she got ready. "9:00 and cue dentist." As Dr. Sherman just then marched in, the fishes quietly pretended not to notice him. Secretly, they were hoping that Dr. Sherman will notice the murky tank in time to clean it before his niece arrived. It was the only time for Gill's plan to work. It had to happen before Darla came. Peach, being the 'look-out', calmly watched the dentist conversing with a young boy Diver on the chair. It was her job to warn the fishes whenever Dr. Sherman neared the tank.
Finally, his nerves calmed by a tad, Gurgle tried his best to ignore the dirtiness surrounding him. Unfortunately, for him, Bloat wasn't making it easy on him. The Gamma was horrified as he watched the Blowfish gleefully rolling in the scum-filmed pebbles. His rolls had stirred more scum up in the water, darkening it, and Gurgle resisted screaming as the scum clung on his scales. Then his disgust deepened when Bloat swallowed a bit of scum.
"Bloat, that's disgusting!" he cried, shakily pointing.
The Blowfish gave him an amused smirk. "Tastes pretty good to me." Then he burped out a great long belch right in his neurotic friend's face.
"Eeew!" Gurgle hysterically gazed at his other friends, disbelieved that they didn't show any disgust toward the dirty tank. He shook his fins in frenzy, croaking, "People, don't you realize that we're swimming in our own - ?!"
"Shh!" Peach twisted off the wall, gave him a brief glare that silenced him, and warned, "Here he comes!"
The Tank Gang darted for their hiding places, which were inside the sunken ship. They watched as Dr. Sherman removed the tank lid and expressed astonished disgust. "Crikey, what a state." He dipped in a finger and brushed off scum, forming a clear line on the wall. He glanced at the thick scum with puzzlement, wondering how a tank could get so dirty that fast.
"Barbara, what time is the first appointment tomorrow?"
"10 am, luv."
Dr. Sherman cleaned his finger on the young Diver's bib. "Leave it open, would you? I've gotta clean the tank before Darla comes here."
The fishes slowly emerged out from the ship and grinned at the dentist's decision. The middle part of the plan worked! The plan was beginning to look realistic. Maybe they could actually get out and become free at last.
Gill was most excited, glad that one of his plans finally worked this time. Grinning, he turned to the ship where Nemo was still hiding. "Sharkbait, did you hear that?"
"Yay, he's gonna clean the tank!" The fishes were puzzled, trying to find the tiny Clownfish, but finally, the lad squeezed out from a porthole, grinning. "We're gonna be clean again!" In fact, he needed to be clean again; from his squeezes through the ship, the scum stuck on his scales, forming him into the Scum Monster.
Gill chuckled at the bright eyes from inside the Scum Monster. "You ready to see your dad, kid?"
"Yeah!" Nemo excitedly nodded, brushing away scum.
"Of course, you do." The Moorish Idol led him to the window that overlooked the harbor. He gestured toward it, saying, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if your father is waiting in the harbor right now."
"Yeah . . ." Earlier, Nemo looked at the harbor with sadness and rejection, knowing that there was no way for him to get there and find his father. But now, thanks to Gill's plan, he finally regained hope. His father will be waiting for him, right there in the harbor. He can't wait to see his face once again, hug him once again, and tell him that he truly loved him. He watched the harbor with anticipation.
Don't worry, Daddy! I will be there soon as I can!
***
Marlin wasn't happy.
Well, being unhappy would be an understatement. He was frustrated. Furious. Hopping mad - pardon me - swimming mad.
It was understandable for him to be that enraged, for he was trapped inside the mouth of a Whale. After that imbecilic Blue used her charms to lure the Whale, to both their surprise, the Whale actually came and swallowed them up! Oddly, the Whale simply filled his mouth with water and allowed the fishes to swim inside. He often wondered how come the Whale didn't eat them yet. That didn't help relive his anger, though. He was so angry that he began to search for a way out by ramming upon the baleen wall.
He used the swells formed from the whale's lazy strokes, increasing his speed for ramming. Of course - because it just had to be! - the baleen wall was too thick to be able to break apart. Did he give up? No! He kept on trying and trying until his head ached from the pressure. His anger didn't calm down at all. It was fueled by the frustration he got from being unable to break through and from the annoying laughter of Dory. She forgot about her stupid attempt and was riding the swells, enjoying every moment of it. The sight of the Blue floating, her eyes sparkling, her laughter enraged him. He didn't believe that he let her tag along when she was nothing but trouble.
Marlin was blinded with the haze of anger as he attempted to ram upon the baleen wall once again. No success, and he glared at it with fury. He then bristled at the giggles. "Whoa, here comes the big one!" Dory laughed, floating on her back, toward the throat. "You gotta try it."
He turned to swim in the swell, hissing, "Would you just stop that?"
She righted herself and looked over to him with puzzlement. "Why? What's wrong?"
"We're in a whale, don't you get it?!"
"A whale?"
"A whale!" Marlin sharply turned at her with a blazing glare. He received a brief moment of bittersweet satisfaction when she cowered. "You had to ask for help!" Another swell came in and following it, he jabbed his fin up. "And now we're stuck in here!"
She didn't sound worried, but pleased. "Wow, a whale! I speak whale."
Marlin's anger exploded. "No, you're insane! You can't speak whale!" His exploding anger was rapidly replacing with growing aghast panic. He became afraid. He was afraid that he was now in a place where it was impossible for him to get out. He was afraid that there was no way for him to find his son. The sight of the mouth began closing in on him, as if was proving that his hopes were worthless. "I have to get out of here!" He yelled to particularly no one as he darted for the baleen wall. Wham! " I have to get to my son!" Wham! His words were broken by repeated, agitated rams. "I have to tell - " Wham! " - him - " Wham! " - how - " Wham! " - old - " Wham! " - sea - " Wham! " -turtles - " Wham! " - are . . . !"
His panic was then changed into profound grief and dismay. It was useless . . . He was trapped. He couldn't get out. It was too late for him. It was too late for his son. He will never see him again . . . With a heartbroken sob, Marlin drifted downward onto the Whale's tongue.
Dory drifted past, still laughing with delight at the wild ride. But then she stopped, feeling this odd sensation. Someone was sad. She didn't know how she could know, but she just knew. She then scanned around, perplexed to find that her friend wasn't here. Where was he? Then a weak sniffle attracted her attention. Looking down, she found him. He was laying on the tongue silently, sniffling to himself. Why was he so sad? "Hey . . . You ok?"
She swam down, her heart softening at the absolute sorrow on his face. She couldn't bear seeing her friend being so sad. She wanted to help. She wanted to help him feel better. 'There, there." Her voice was surprisingly soft and gentle, unlike her gleeful voice. "It's alright. It'll be Ok."
Marlin shook his head, his eyes sadly closed. "No, no, it won't."
"Sure, it will. You'll see."
"No. I promised him I'd never let anything happen to him."
His son . . . His son was gone, and he was sad because of that . . . She didn't notice that she was remembering, but her heart yearned to ease his sorrow. Although, the words he was uttering distracted her. What kind of promise was it? "That's a funny thing to promise."
Marlin slowly opened his eyes at the response. "What?"
Once again, Dory showed her other side of sagacity, simply saying, "You can't let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him."
He was startled. Maybe she was right . . . Maybe it was wrong to wish that anything wouldn't happen to Nemo . . . Maybe it was his fault. Maybe it was his mistake. He recalled the last moments he had with his son before he was taken. 'I hate you'. Nemo didn't hate him just because he did. He hated him for being too protective. He was too worried over Nemo's safety, over possibilities that would happen or would not happen, that he didn't let Nemo experience life as he should. He was only a child and childhood happened only once. He was taking the childhood away from him. Maybe . . . he should let Nemo do what he can.
Marlin gazed up to his friend, again was amazed at the wisdom the forgetful Blue had.
Dory then beamed. "Not much fun for little Harpo."
The Clownfish felt a slight tug of a quiet smile at his lips. Even though that she seemed wise, she was still forgetful. He closed his eyes, wondering what he can do to regain Nemo's trust and learn how to be a better father. Then his thoughts were distracted when the tongue slightly stirred, and he then noticed that the waters had already calmed down.
"What's going on?" he quietly mused.
Dory was curious, too, peering around intently. She then shrugged at his question. "Don't know. I'll ask him." She arose just below the surface and began one of her annoying attempts of speaking whale. "Wwhhhhaaaaatttttsssssggoooooiiinnnggggoooooonnn?"
The Whale answered back, and the fishes weren't prepared. They slapped their fins over their agonizing ears. It wasn't that the Whale's voice was loud. It wasn't loud at all, but just large. The very vocal resonance was more than enough to rumble the waters. The voice was very low, muted, and the words were also stretched. Marlin anguished against the rumble, couldn't understand the strange resonances. Dory listened carefully, undisturbed.
Finally, the rumble eased down and Dory lowered her fins. "I think he says we're stopped."
"Of course, we've stopped!" Marlin growled as he swam up to her side with a warning look. "Stop trying to speak whale. You'll make things worse." He stiffened up at another rumbling sound. But it wasn't the Whale's voice. It was something terrible. "What's that noise?!"
He didn't know what that noise was, but it was something that he didn't want to find out. It was a sucking sound, somewhere near the back of the throat, later became a sloshing sound, as the water was sucked down. His orange eyes widened as he looked up. "Oh, no . . . Look what you did," he hissed over to the perplexed Dory. "The water's going down." The water level, originally near the palate, began sinking in a rapid rate. "It's going down!"
Dory didn't express fear or curiosity. Instead, she inspected the water level with a questioning gaze. "Really? You sure about that?"
"Look! It's already half-empty!"
"Hmm, I'd say it's half-full."
Stop with that stupid optimism! "Stop that! It's half-empty!"
The vocal rumbles came again, this time a bit longer.
Dory was clearly puzzled at the new words. "Ok, that one was a little tougher," she translated. Marlin only half-heard her, his full attention on the water level. "He either wants us to go back to the throat . . . or he wants a root beer float."
He knew it! That was what all the carnivores thinking. Meat! Meat, meat, and meat! "Of course he wants us to go there!" Marlin yelled, madly pointing at the throat. "That's eating us!" In his growing frustration, he sourly rubbed his tail against a large taste bud. "How do I taste, Moby? Did I taste good? Tell him I'm not interested in being lunch!"
"Ok, heee - "
He later regretted that he slapped over her mouth in order to silence her. Her eyes held total surprise at being slapped, along with the hint of wretchedness underneath the scarlet shade. He couldn't help it. He was so frenzied that he was close to finding his son and yet still trapped in a Whale's mouth, that close to being swallowed, that he cast all his anger on her. He was angry at her, too, for being forgetful, for being optimistic. For that instant, he hated her for her optimism, envied her for the innate innocence . But he didn't stop there after he slapped her. He bellowed out his anger, as well.
"Stop talking to him!"
As if the Whale was aggravated toward him for doing harm, the tongue abruptly rose out from the water. Its massive bulk snared the fishes from falling off into the water. Gasping for water, the fishes frantically searched for a fin-hold as they stumbled down the tongue. Finally, they grabbed for a hold on the taste buds, trickles of the water flowing past.
"What's going on?!" Marlin yelled in frustration.
The Blue beamed helpfully, already forgotten all about her wounds. "I will ask. Whaaat-"
"No more whale!" His eyes were ablaze. "YOU CAN'T SPEAK WHALE!"
Dory winced at the bellow, then grimaced. "Yes, I CAN!"
"No, you can't! You think you can do these things, but you can't, Nemo!" Then, he stopped, shocked at what he said. Did he recently call Dory by Nemo's name? Why . . . Why did he do that? She wasn't Nemo, and Nemo wasn't her. What made him call her Nemo . . . ? His anger cooled down as he stared right in her eyes. He did see Nemo in her . . . The optimism, the innocence, and the efforts to prove the worthiness. He was shocked to realize that he could've yelled at Nemo just like he did to Dory. Why was he angered at Nemo's virtues? Did he really envy those virtues, the virtues he didn't have? Was that why he made every effort to keep Nemo safe? So that he wouldn't have to experience the same dangers his dad faced?
It was his mistake. Marlin was stealing Nemo's childhood away. He wasn't letting Nemo live. Just like he did that to Dory right now.
Dory merely stared back, but there was a faint flicker of understanding in her face. It was too faint for him to accept it as credibility, but it was there.
The Whale then spoke something, the tongue shaking at the resonance.
The Blue became composed and nodded. "Ok." Then she let go!
Marlin quickly grabbed on her yellow fin. No, Dory! Don't leave me!
She seemed puzzled that he was keeping her from falling, and then her smile was so gentle that his heart almost softened at it. She spoke calmly, "He said it's time to let go. Everything's gonna be alright."
He wanted to believe her, but the sight of the wide frightening hole that was the throat and her hanging under his tense grip frightened him. "How do you know?" He felt his other fin slipping on the taste bud, and he struggled to tighten it. "How do you know something bad isn't gonna happen?"
Dory blinked. "I don't!"
Marlin stared down the throat. It seemed to be waiting for the fishes to fall in, but all of a sudden, it didn't have the terrible look to it. It looked . . . patient and welcoming. Was she right? There was no way to know first about the danger before experiencing it. The only way to know about the danger was let it happen. Maybe he should stop worrying too much and just let the experience happen. He closed his eyes and silently let go of his grip on the taste bud.
He remembered a little because he had his eyes closed the whole time. Firstly, he stumbled into the water, then suddenly had the sensation of being pushed forward with the water. Up or down or in any direction, he couldn't tell, tumbling in the flow, then his gills tasted the dryness of the outside water. Opening his eyes, he found himself high in the air. Together, the duo meekly looked down and screamed at the height. They plunged back into the sweet water and regained their balance.
Marlin gazed at himself and Dory. They were safe. No danger happened to them! He then laughed in relief. "Woh! Hahah!" He embraced her, gently holding her face close to his in merriness. She expressed mild surprise, but then grinned at his excited spins. "We're alive!"
They broke through the surface. It was night already, the sky already black with twinkling stars. But the surface was oddly lightened, too. It wasn't touched by any of the stars or even by the moon. Looking around, Marlin saw that he was in a place occupied by boats. Many boats of all sizes silently floated in the night waters, the strange coral structures nearby also lightened. The light was caused by those weird globes floating near tall black posts, casting a yellowish-white unnatural radiance. He thought they were like stars, but made by Divers. Diver stars.
Dory excitedly pointed toward one of the boats, the light coloring her scales a dull blue. "Look! Sy-d-ney!" She was right! The markings looked very familiar to the last word on the mask's strap. "Sydney! Sydney, again!"
They were in Sydney Harbor!
"You were right, Dory!" Marlin agreed. He went into a leaping spin up in the air. He was finally here, finally at the last place just before he could find his son waiting for him. "We made it! We're gonna find my son!"
Splashes attracted their attention and they turned to see the friendly Whale 'waving' farewell with his large tail before he departed. The Whale was simply carrying them to their destination, although in a strange way. Nevertheless, he did help them out.
Marlin grinned and shouted out in whale, "Thaaaannnkkkkyyyyooouuuusssssiiiiiiirrrrrr!"
Dory stared at him with astonishment. "Wow! I wish I could speak whale."
He laughed. "Now, all we gotta do is find the boat that took Nemo."
"Right!"
He again looked around the harbor. There were so many boats to search for the right one. It could take him a couple of days and nights. He didn't lose his hope. He was so close. He will definitely find his son. All he could think was rush up to him and take him gently in his embrace. He smiled and held on her fin. "C'mon, Dory, we can do this!"
A/O:
I like the whale scene because it's intense - it shows more of Marlin and Dory than before. Hehe, sorry, folks, I'm not a big Dorlin fan here. They do look cute together, but I just don't see it there. Nevertheless, I love it when Dory shows more of her sweetness toward Marlin. No surprise there that the whale scene fuels up the passion of Dorlin fans. ;)
