Chapter 18: Realization

Taz walked the gloomy streets of the city he hasn't been in before. These were the parts Townly was refering to when he mentioned the city they were in having scary parts. Taz saw a man who was in a bunch of torn up clothes, talking to himself. It was weird but he continued forward. He then saw another man, this time sitting down with a sign in his hand that said: The end is near. Taz was starting to become a little uncomfortable. He then saw an old and creepy lady smoking, just staring at him with wide eyes. This was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable for Taz, to the point where he was unable to pay full attention to his surroundings. He ended up bumping into a man holding a newspaper. The man put down his newspaper and burst out, "CAREFUL WHO YOU BUMP INTO IN THESE PARTS KID! YOU MIGHT JUST FIND YOURSELF WALKING WITHOUT A HEAD!" He then laughed crazily. Taz was terrified at this point, so he ran as fast as he could. He didn't get far however, as a group of 4 grabbed and pulled him into an alleyway. "Give us your damn money you badger thing!" one of them shouted. Taz freaked out as he tornadoed out of fear which made the group of 4 fly off of him.

He ran as fast as he could out of the area. When Taz was out of the area, he vocalized angerly. He was within a seaport and decided to sit down on one of the docks. Taz then looked down and saw his angry self within the water reflection. His face immediately turned into a face of sadness. Taz spoke in gibberish lightly, wondering if this is what his siblings saw when he was angry. It was only further fueled when he began to imagine Molly and Jake within the reflection. Then he imagined Hugh and Jean as well as Dog within the reflection. Taz tried not to cry, but it became too much for him. He broke at the realization of what he's done and knowing how much his family really means to him.

Something then caught the devil's eye up ahead. A row boat very far out there. Taz ran over to one of the coin binoculars and put a quarter in. He looked to see what it was. It was Molly and Jake on the boat. Taz tried calling to them, but they were too far out there for them to hear their big brother. Taz knew what he had to do next.

He ran into a convenience store and bought as much food and drinks as he could with what little money he had left. He then looked around to see if there was any boats around within the seaport. It took some time to find one but he eventually did find a row boat. He put everything on board and he set off! It started to rain and it became foggy. Taz was determined though, so he rowed as fast as he could. Slowly but surely, Taz began to find himself leaving the city of California.

After about a half hour, Taz looked to see if Molly and Jake were up ahead. They were indeed up ahead, though still pretty far. Taz vocalized and spoke in his gibberish loudly to try and get his siblings attention. It didn't seem to work. Not to mention, the waves began to get bigger and bigger. Taz was starting to fall behind. "Taz hate water!" he said, "But Taz needs too keep moving forward!" It didn't help that the waves nearly flipped Taz' boat over several times and he began to lose some food and drinks. He shrieked when he noticed it all coming out. He quickly grabbed a hold of the others, to make sure they didn't fall out of the boat. When he felt they were in a safe place, he continued to row after Molly and Jake. Unfortunately though, when the waves and rained stopped, he didn't see Molly or Jake anywhere in sight. Taz felt his heart sink. "No..." He murmured.

Later on, the sky had cleared up and it was sunny. Taz didn't row as his arms were incredibly tired. He just looked down at the water with shame. He knew he had screwed up big time, especially after what he did. Taz had become overconfident and selfish and he knew it too. While there was a chance that he may have been at odds with Tazmania after finding out what they thought about him and his family, it certainly wasn't an excuse to eat the passport, especially when Molly and Jake wanted to go back. Not even just that, but the thought of Tazmania likely being in trouble and his parents likely still on the island, just to name a few.

Night came and Taz continued to row, he called for Jake and Molly occasionally but got no response of course. Taz would eat out of boredem through most of the day before the night came and even then, he would still eat out of boredem. He found himself getting tired, so he would have to stop for the night. Slowly falling into a deep sleep.

The next day, Taz continued rowing. Just like yesterday though, there were no signs of life anywhere. He went through his food and drinks like crazy. Didn't help that it was incredibly hot too. "Taz regrets wrongdoings...Taz regrets wrongdoings," Taz said, before he ate and drank. All in all, the morning was slow, uneventful, boring, and tiring.

It didn't change at any point throughout the day. It was just a series of Taz losing more and more hope in finding his siblings, let alone getting back to Tazmania. Little by little, it ate away at him. The night though would prove to be a little more eventful, but for all the wrong reasons.

During the night, it was stormy. Taz struggled to fall asleep and cover himself up. The storm made it difficult for both of those things to happen. Unknown to him however, due to the waves and wind, most of the remainder of his food and drinks fell overboard. This wasn't found out until the next morning.

The next morning when the storm was long gone, Taz woke up to find only a small bag of chips and water left. He shrieked when he saw what was left. He vocalized, wondering how most of the remainder had disappeared. It didn't matter though, it was what it was. Taz sadly would have to deal with it, much to his dismay.

Throughout the day, it was just about the same as yesterday and the day before. Still no one in sight or any signs of it. Taz' hope continued to diminish. "Taz regrets wrongdoings," he murmured in a depressed tone. He felt much worse than yesterday, especially with the lack of food and water. At some point in the middle of the day, he couldn't hold back sparing his stuff anymore, so he ate it insanely fast. It didn't help though, he still found himself hungry and dehydrated.

Eventually, the night finally came. The Blue-ish Indigo sky, followed by all the stars was beautiful. Taz had stopped rowing for the night once more. All he did was look up at the night sky, feeling all his hope being drained out of him. "Taz regrets wrongdoings," he sighed, "Taz regrets wrongdoings." Taz' eyes became very watery, as he felt like he was about to lose everything in his life. His family, his friends, his home, and his chance to save Tazmania. In the eyes of Taz, he believed that he would never get to see his loved ones again and believed Dingo had won. The only thing Taz believed was that he was going to starve to death at sea before he could even get back home. A tear came down his cheek and it fell into the water. All Taz could do was fall asleep, waiting for the painful inevitable to happen.

Luckily for him though, it wasn't over just yet, and the next day would certainly prove that...

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 18 published 10/7/22)