DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons" or "Moana."
STORY #2: Wilbur's First Adventure
STORIES OF REFERENCE: Training (Ch. 5); Pride and Justice (Ch. 10)
NARRATOR: Wilbur
DECEMBER 26, 2032 – TODAYLAND, NORTH MONTANA, USA
I woke up and could not contain my excitement! I bolted out of bed, put on a white shirt, blue pants, and black shoes. I took the travel tube in my room and went to the living room. Then, I went up to the garage, typed in the password, and bolted to the garage.
Once I got in the garage, I walked up to the new red prototype time machine and got in. I giggled as I pressed all of the buttons to see what each of them did. But then, something happened.
"Uh-oh. What did I do?" I asked myself as the time machine came to life.
I felt myself floating, and I looked above me to find the roof opened. Then, the time machine started flying on autopilot and a colorful bubble formed around the time machine. I felt myself spinning in a circle before I saw the world flash before my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I screamed. I was plunging right down toward the ocean! I grabbed the controls and tried to level myself to avoid crashing, but it was to no avail. I felt myself crashing and I found myself under the water before I passed out.
MAY 5, 1000s BC – MOTUNUI, SAMOA
I woke up and found myself lying in the warm sand. But I was all wet. I slowly got up and explored my surroundings, and I gasped. The time machine was nowhere in sight!
"Oh no!" I exclaimed, panicking as I explored the shore trying to find the time machine.
"Hey, wait!" a female voice said behind me.
I turned to see a young tan woman who looked about five years older than I am. She was dressed in red and white garments made of feathers while wearing a floral crown as well as a floral bracelet and anklet.
"Who are you?" I asked with both panic and fury at the same time, getting into my fight stance.
"Hey! I'm not here to fight you," the woman said, holding her hands in the air. "I'm here to help you. But first, maybe I should get you some… clothes. What do you call that?"
"These?" I asked, surprised she didn't know what my clothes were called. "This is called a shirt. These are pants, and these are shoes."
I paused as I took a look at my surroundings. It looked like I was on an island of some sort.
"Where am I?" I asked. "When am I?"
"When are you?" the woman asked with amusement. "You're here in Motunui… right now?"
"I have no idea where that is," I replied with a flat expression.
"Let me tell you my story," the woman said, sitting down in a crossed position, and I sat down across from her. "Thousands of years ago, my people were voyagers. We sailed the open seas for new islands to explore and roam. But one day, the demigod Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, and monsters lurked, forbidding us to voyage the seas. Their stories were told through all generations, and my Gramma Tala told me these stories. The ocean chose me to find Maui and deliver the heart back to Te Fiti. After all of our islands were restored, I declared that we would voyage the open seas again, but we never forgot that Motunui was home."
"Whoa!" I gasped in awe. "Is this the Pacific Ocean?"
"One of many islands in the Pacific Ocean," the woman answered. "I'm Moana, the chief of my people. And you are?"
"Wilbur Robinson! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Wilbur Robinson? That is a very interesting name," Moana replied, shaking my hand. "So is that."
"How do you say hi?" I asked with curiosity.
"Well, we simply put our foreheads against each other, telling each other that we're in this together."
"So, what year am I in?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand," Moana answered with uncertainty.
"I'm from the future!"
"How did you get here?" Moana asked with shock.
"I took the time machine to get here, but I didn't know what it was doing. That's what I was looking for before you found me!"
"Wilbur, you almost drowned!" Moana cried with worry in her voice. "You were inside some sort of machine near our shores and you were sinking."
"I have to get that time machine back!" I exclaimed, tears forming in my eyes. "I'm going to be in trouble!"
"I'll help you look for it, but you need help navigating."
"I need help doing what?" I asked, unsure of what she meant.
"Navigating. Finding your way. Come on, I'll teach you all you need to know about wayfinding."
"I don't want to learn about wayfinding!" I replied sternly. "I just want to find the time machine and go home."
"Where is home?" Moana asked as I followed her back to the shore.
"Todayland. My dad says it's the city of the future, where anything is possible. My dad is called the 'Father of the Future' because he invented everything."
"Invented… like your dad made things?"
"Yeah! He makes really cool gadgets, like the travel tubes, flying cars, monorails, moving sidewalks… and he made the time machine."
"What are all of those?" Moana asked, looking fascinated as we got onto a boat.
"Travel tubes are tubes that take you from one place to another without going through all those rooms. Flying cars are vehicles that take you any place in the air. Monorails are like trains, and moving sidewalks are… well, the land moves while you just stand there."
"Like a boat?" Moana asked as we made our way onto the water.
"Actually… yeah. Like a boat."
"So, where's your family?" Moana asked as she set up the sails.
"Back home. It's just me."
"How old are you, Wilbur?"
"I'm nine!" I answered proudly.
"Aren't you a little young to go time-travelling?"
"Aren't you a little young to be a chief?" I asked in response.
"Hey! I'm responsible! My dad became a chief when he was sixteen. Now, let's do this."
Moana spent all day teaching me how to be a wayfinder. I grew exhausted when nighttime came around, and I went to sleep. When I woke up the next day, as well as all the days of that week, Moana had reprimanded me of how a wayfinder never sleeps, and every day I rolled my eyes.
"Well, if you keep falling asleep, you'll never find your way home," Moana told me sternly, every night.
"All I want to do is find the time machine and go home," I told her sternly one day, and she let out a sigh.
"Alright, fine," Moana replied in a huff. "I'll get your time machine out of the ocean, and you can go home."
The next day, we sailed to the spot where I almost drowned, and Moana swam to the depths to get the time machine. I was in awe as she quickly learned how the time machine worked, and she was able to get it out of the water.
"You did it!" I exclaimed happily. "And you even know how it works."
"Meet me by the shore!" Moana yelled back.
I tried to turn the boat around, but all I ended up doing was turning the boat over, and I quickly fell in the water. In that moment, I was thankful my mom taught me how to swim, and I quickly swam to the surface. I looked around to try to find the boat, and I found it to my left. I decided to just give up and swim back to shore.
It took me hours, but I finally made it back. I saw Moana, who had a look of shock on her face.
"Where's the boat?" she asked with panic.
"I… um… turned the boat over instead of around, and I fell in the water. I couldn't flip the boat back over, and so I swam back. And now I'm soaked."
"Stay here."
I did as she was told, and while she was gone, I watched the sun setting below the horizon. The sky turned into an amazing piece of art with orange and pink skies and clouds.
"Wilbur! Here!"
I turned to see her handing me some garments. I walked behind some bushes as I got out of my clothes and changed into… a skirt.
"Moana, why am I wearing a skirt?" I asked after I emerged from the bushes.
"Because that's what the boys and men wear," Moana answered with a smirk.
"But I don't have a shirt."
"Men don't wear shirts."
"It feels so weird, but so natural at the same time."
"Now, we need to get that boat," Moana said with determination.
"Now? But it's night time!"
"Not for us wayfinders! Come on!"
"But the time machine—"
"I need you, Wilbur! You can go home after we get that boat back!"
We got onto another boat, and we started to sail to where the last boat had flipped over.
"Now, do you remember how to measure the stars?" Moana asked, and I demonstrated what she taught me. "Very good! At least you paid attention to something."
"I'm smarter than you think," I replied.
"Sure, but you don't put your knowledge to good use. You are impatient. You need to be patient when it comes to things like this. And you'll need patience to learn how to drive the time machine."
"How did you learn how to drive the time machine so fast?" I asked with both awe and surprise.
"It's not that different from being a wayfinder," Moana explained. "I knew where I was, and I know where I'm going. You remember being in Todayland. But do you know how to get back?"
"Yeah! I just push the numbers and then I'm home."
"Alright, show me… after we get this boat home."
I helped Moana sail to her boat, and I watched with shock as she pulled the boat upright by herself.
"Follow me, Wilbur!" Moana yelled, and I tried my hardest to sail back to the island.
The wind kept changing the direction of my sail, so getting there was easier said than done. I got back to the island about fifteen minutes after she did.
"What happened?" Moana asked me, and I gave her an exasperated look.
"The wind kept moving my sails," I explained.
"Let me sing you a song," Moana said, and she started singing. "We read the wind and the sky when the sun is high. We sail the length of the seas on the ocean breeze. At night we name every star. We know where we are."
"I don't get it," I replied.
"Just like how we measure the stars, we have to measure the wind. If the wind blows in a different direction, then we adjust the sails so that we stay our course. But, all you want to do is get back home, so, go. Go home."
There was a part of me that felt bad for her because she sounded angry, but at the same time, I just wanted to go home. I got in the time machine, and I punched in the year I wanted to go to. But this time, I turned off the autopilot function and controlled the time machine, flying into the sky until I saw a bubble around me.
The flash of light came again, but I wasn't home. I was in a desert.
"This isn't home!" I yelled out loud. "Is there a way to go back?"
I punched in all sort of buttons while flying in the air, and I found myself in the same circle. The flash of light came, and I was back in Motunui.
"Well, I did something right," I said out loud as I landed the time machine right next to Moana.
"You didn't go home, did you?" Moana asked with a smirk, and I groaned.
"No, I landed in a desert in my time. Can you teach me how to use the time machine?"
"I can't teach you how to drive the time machine," Moana answered. "But I can teach you how to navigate. But you have to pay attention."
"I will, I promise!" I pleaded.
"Help me look for some food," Moana told me, and I helped her look around.
"This is a dumb question, but why do we need food?" I asked. "Don't you go to sleep faster if you eat?"
"I… That is a good point," Moana said after some hesitation. "How did you know that?"
"My dad's extremely smart."
We made it back on to the boat with very little food, and Moana taught me how to set the sails up. I noticed that the wind was pushing my sail in a different direction.
"You want to adjust the sails to where you're going in the right direction," Moana advised me. "If the wind is pushing them to the left, then turn to the right. And vice versa. And then you'll want to tie the rope to the boat so that you will stay on course."
"I think you showed me how to do that," I replied with confidence. "Let me try."
I remembered how Moana tied her knot, and I tried it the same way. After two attempts, I was successful.
"That is impressive," Moana said with a smile. "It took me numerous times to get that just right."
"Who taught you how to be a wayfinder?" I asked as we continued on toward the sunset.
"My Gramma Tala described wayfinding to me through her stories," Moana explained. "But I didn't get the grasp of it until I discovered the story of my ancestors, who were voyagers. Even with Gramma Tala's advice and stories, I still never grasped it until the demigod Maui taught me while we sailed to Te Fiti. I always thought of teaching one of my kids how to be a wayfinder."
"Well, you're teaching me now," I said with confidence as I sailed around another island after the sun set.
"What would you call it? A test run?"
"I'm the guinea pig – the test run."
We continued sailing all night around various islands in the Pacific Ocean, and while I felt tired, I fought my fatigue and kept going. I measured the stars to be sure I knew where I was and that I was going in the right direction. Then, the sun rose, and Moana was confident in me to let me sail back to Motunui.
"Remember, Wilbur, to look forward, but remember where you were. Also, don't forget who you are: a time traveler from the future. Take the knowledge of the past and apply it to the future. Learn from your mistakes and keep going."
Using her words and my confidence, we made it back on the island with no trouble at all.
"I did it!" I exclaimed happily and did a little dance around the island.
"When you set your mind to it, you are a fast learner," Moana replied while clapping. "Now, let's see how fast you can learn how to use the time machine."
We walked to my dad's prototype time machine, and we both hopped in.
"I know the green button is to start the engine," I explained out loud. "The number pad helps you punch in the time you want to go to."
"How did you end up here?" Moana asked with a perplexed expression.
"I just typed in a bunch of random numbers."
"Let's think about this logically. There's gotta be a button you push to confirm that's the timeline you want to go to."
"That's the red button," I replied.
"Now think about this: when you made your way back to your own time, you ended up in the desert."
"Maybe I need to be specific in where I want to be," I proposed out loud.
"There's one more button on the pad, and it's blue," Moana said. "Maybe that might help you?"
I first entered the date I wanted to go to, and then I pushed the blue button, which brought up a selection of locations.
"Yes! It worked!" I exclaimed happily. "Now, I just keep pushing the blue button until I find the location I want."
I did just as I said until I found the option I wanted: Todayland.
"Congratulations, Wilbur Robinson: you learned how to be a wayfinder and you figured out how to use the time machine. I'm proud of you."
"I'm proud of myself," I replied, returning the smile. "Thank you for helping me."
"Do they have boats in the future?" Moana asked.
"Oh yeah! We've got them. I'm not sure when I'll ever ride a boat, but if I do, I'll remember you."
"You better. Or else my teaching you would have all been for nothing."
We shared a laugh, and then we touched our foreheads, which she taught me was a sign of respect.
"Have a good journey back to the future, Wilbur."
"Safe travels, Moana," I replied.
Moana jumped out of the time machine and I closed the lid. I turned the engine on, and then I punched the date and chose the location. Before I took off, I waved good-bye to her, and then I took off.
DECEMBER 26, 2032 – TODAYLAND, NORTH MONTANA, USA
I got out of the time bubble and saw the city in the distance.
"YES!" I shouted with delight.
I focused back on finding the garage to my house, and I landed the time machine safely in the garage.
"Wilbur!"
I turned to see a frantic Carl running up to me and giving me a hug.
"I was so worried you wouldn't make it back!" Carl cried with worry. "I saw on the machine of possibilities that someone had taken the time machine, and then I went to your room and you weren't there!"
"Don't worry, Carl," I told him with a smile. "I'm here. Actually, if it wasn't for Moana, I wouldn't be here."
"Who's Moana?" Carl asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The chief of her people on Motunui in the Pacific Ocean. She taught me a lot of things, including how to get back."
"If Moana knew how to use the time machine, then we've got a problem—"
"Carl, relax! She only learned how to use the time machine to help me."
"Well, you're lucky, Wilbur. Not everyone would feel the same way. What if someone stole the time machine and used it for their own selfish deeds?"
"Carl, would you relax? That's not going to happen in a million years!"