My Heart Turned Red
Chapter 14: Could It Honestly Get Any Worse?
Author's note:
I'M BACK! I HOPE I'M NOT TOO LATE. I AM UPDATING A LITTLE BIT SOONER THAN LAST TIME. THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT!
We got 8 reviews! OH MY GOD THAT'S WONDERFUL! Also, for those of you that don't know, I need at least 6 reviews before starting another chapter alright? Seems fair? Good, very good.
I'm back finally and now that my senior year of high school is dying down and the pressure has gone away, I've found the inspiration to start writing again.
This chapter is dedicated to the loyal reviewers who waited so patiently!
Disclaimer: I own Gnomeo and Juliet on DVD proudly! I wish that owned more than that but... oh, well.
In this exact moment, I could list every single scenario of how I could die. This dog could bite down too hard and smash me to pieces, he could throw me somewhere too hard and smash me to bits, he could leave me in an unfortunate spot in front of a bunch of people where I wouldn't be able to move or defend myself, he could leave in a place in which I could get smashed, oh, I can't even list any more. I can freely admit it: I was more terrified in that moment that I had ever been in my entire life. Sure I was sometimes nervous when I was racing against Tybalt in lawnmower racing when he did things that put my life in danger, but I was so used to his tricks that I knew how to defend myself and get myself out of those situations whenever they happened, which was many times. But in those situations, I knew what to expect and how to get out of them. But in this situation, I might as well could accept the fact that I was going to die. I had never been outside of Verona Drive, let alone beyond the alleyway that connected the old Laurence Place and Ms. Montague's house. I didn't know how to get anywhere or even how to get home and who knows where this bloody dog is planning on taking me. If I even managed to get away from this accursed dog, which was highly unlikely, given how tight he was holding me in his mouth, I didn't even know where to begin in trying to get back home. I had no idea where the bloody hell I was or even how to begin to try to get home. Needless to emphasis more, I was completely terrified about what sort of area this bloody dog was taking me. I had no control over this or any idea how to ditch this bloody hound, and that terrified me to no end.
There was something else that was bothering me as well. After I jumped up onto the truck that almost destroyed me, I could've sworn I heard voices screaming my name out of agony and something crashing, but I was so preoccupied in saving myself and getting back to Juliet that I had no time to process it or give it any thought. I don't even know how I'm managing to process those thoughts now, given the fact that the level of danger in both situations was very even. I thought of Juliet and hoped that she was alright now that our secret was out in the open and everyone now knew about us. I worried about what they thought about what happened to me. Hopefully they all thought that I had disappeared and knew that I was going to get back them as soon as possible. But then again, I remembered the agonizingly painful scream of my name by the love of my life. She didn't think...No, she couldn't possibly think I was dead, could she? She knew that I wasn't that easy to get rid of...didn't she? She didn't think that I would forget our promise and just die without any sort of fight within me, did she? She must have known that I'm alive and that I'm coming back to her as soon as I got away from this bloody dog and found some sort of way to get back to Verona Drive. I had no way of knowing and that screaming of my name did not help to convince me that she didn't know that I was actually alive and had survived that truck before it completely smashed me. Maybe Tybalt had some sort of prayer of getting put back together, but if that truck had hit me, I knew that I wouldn't have had any sort of hope getting put back together. I knew that when I did everything I could to prevent that from happening and get back to the girl I loved as soon as I could. And now, I don't know if she knew I was alive or dead or even what her family and her father were going to do to her now that they knew our secret. All these things made me more determined now more than ever to get back to her. I am not going to let this bloody dog get the better of me and destroy me.
This accursed dog ran more and more quickly as we got further away from Verona Drive. He shook me so much that it made me insanely dizzy to the point that I didn't bother freezing when we started running past people. Not to mention there was really no danger of a human looking at me very much, given the fact that a very wild and agile dog was running in front of them at full speed, which would cause them to focus more on avoiding the dog on his journey and less on the Gnome that he had a death grip on in his mouth. My theory was proven correct, as the people, even though they looked very fuzzy to me, were struggling to get out of the way of him running fast to get to his destination. The bloody dog changed lanes many times, until he brought us into what appeared to me in my dizzy state to be some sort of construction site and then to continue his phenomenal treatment of me, then threw me into a hole and with my extremely dizzy state, I could barely process it or anything else that was going on. All I felt was a hard and filthy ground below me, dirt across my face, and minerals and dirt entering my lungs, all things which caused me to realize what this animal was planning to do with me. He was going to try to bury me as if I was some sort of toy. Oh, no. Not on my watch, pup! Just like the truck, you're just another obstacle in my way of the life that I wanted with the woman I loved. She was back there and I had no idea if she knew I was alive or not and I had to get back to convince her that I'm alive. I could lie down here and be forgotten, but that's not going to happen. I still have something to live for, the girl I loved and the life that I wanted to spend with her back at the Lawrence Garden, away from the hate of our families.
As I gained some sort of control back to my senses, I wiped the dirt off my face from being thrown into this hole, I looked up and realized without looking behind me that his back was turned. I then began to run as fast as I possibly could, making a run for the pipes that would hopefully help me ditch this dog and get to some place else where I could look for a map that could tell me how to get back to Verona Drive as safely as possible. But the bloody dog was not as stupid as I originally thought and caught me in the act of running away from the prison he was attempting to put me in. He then began running after me and I ran even faster than I did previously. I am not going to be eaten or smashed by this bloody animal. If I'm going to die, it's not going to be because of bloody vicious dog burying me or smashing me and eating the pieces. How's that for a reputation? I'm not going to die this way! I WON'T! That's what I was thinking as I ran fast and faster from this animal, until finally, fortune smiled on me and allowed me to separate from this creature as I dove in through some nearby pipes, barely escaping the jaws that aimed to trap me again. And thus, the animal and I parted, thankfully to never see each other again, which was completely fine with me.
But despite the fact that I had gotten rid of the bloody thing that took me away from my home in the first place, I knew that I was nowhere near safe yet. For knowing this, I continue to run until I was certain that I was out of the way of the dog and at least to somewhere that appeared more safe than the hole he was attempting to bury me in. Eventually, I ended up out of the pipes that saved me from that animal and onto what appeared to be dirt. I was so exhausted and still a little out of it after being dragged over half of Stratford, I didn't realize exactly what I was standing on. I stopped to catch my breath in relief of escaping that dog, thinking that I was safe at last. I didn't know how wrong I was until then suddenly, the ground started to shake at an incredibly fast rate underneath my feet and then to my complete shock, the ground started to elevate into the air. I then quickly realized that this wasn't solid ground, but rather a bulldozer doing a job of cutting into the ground. I was lifted up into the air and then the bloody equipment moved and caused me to get lifted up and then dropped abruptly and tossed me into yet another dirt pile. Thankfully, it didn't hurt that much and it once again, didn't cause me to smash. But even so, it caused me to roll over, causing me to lose control of my body and to go through a bush and landing in yet another unfamiliar area, one that I recognized as a park.
I then was met face to face with yet another I looked around. I panicked, because I was yet again in an unfamiliar area and I was once again more lost than I ever was. Not to mention this was an open space in the middle of the day, which meant there were going to be humans everywhere, in this open space where you can't tell which direction they're coming and you have no where to hide in time to avoid them seeing you. If they saw you, and I know humans are not the smartest creatures on the planet, but they are bound to know as well as anybody when something is out of place and a Gnome appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the park is the definition of strange. That's probably how that woman felt when she came face to face with every single Gnome from the Red and Blue Gardens in the middle of the street and out of nowhere. See the reason we don't like leaving our gardens? This is why. I tried to calm myself down and was trying to tell myself that everything would be OK as things couldn't get any worse than they had been, right? I had been through enough today, right?
Things couldn't get any worse, could they?
Yes, they could. For as soon as I became more aware of my surroundings, and was starting to find a way out of this hole that fate continued to bury me in, a soccer ball bounced right in front of me. My heart starting racing once again: a soccer ball could only mean that humans were close by and were coming closer and closer. I looked to my left and my terrified suspicions were proven correct. Acting as quickly as I could, I froze within a matter of moments and my frozen self was greeted by a bunch of immature looking teenage humans, who didn't seem to know right from wrong even if it hit them dead on in the face.
"Hey, what's this? A gnome?" one says.
"Yeah, mate. Looks like your sister!" another one says. They both laughed and being the bloody stupid teenagers that they were, they started throwing me around in the air like I was a bloody toy that couldn't be broken if it fell the ground. I know stupidity and immaturity when I see it! And this is coming from a man who spent the last ten years basically I was their age as well and yet I knew the difference between fragile things and things that can't be broken. Quick lesson: things that are EXTREMELY fragile, should NOT be played with as they were a bloody ball! Oh the shame of being smashed on the account of a couple of bloody teenagers who don't have a clue! I would be rather be smashed by something like that blasted truck. Even being smashed by a truck by less shameful than something like this!
OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE BLOODY JOKING!
If I could've, I would have cringed and shouted in fear because I was beyond terrified at what could potentially happen to me by these meddling teenagers. This was worse than being dragged around Stratford by that blasted beast or being lifted up by heavy machinery. Of all the terrible situations I had gotten myself into, this had to be the worst one thus far. If these people made even the slightest mistake, I would fall and most likely smash into a million pieces for real this time. Not like before where I almost smashed by Tybalt on the lawnmower or how I had barely escaped that truck from hitting me. I had absolutely no way of defending myself. I was not proud and I knew that there would be no shame in admitting that I was completely terrified. I couldn't escape this. I was starting to wrap my head around the fact that I was probably going to die, which meant that I would never see my family or friends, my mother, or Juliet ever again. The last thought pierced my heart harder than all the rest. Never seeing the love of my life again was a thought that I never hoped to consider. It ripped my heart apart, thinking that something terrible had happened to her as a result of her father knowing about our secret love, and thinking that this was it and I would never see her again. These bloody teenagers were going to be the death of me and I was beyond furious about that.
And then the worst thing that I imagined happened: one of the bloody reckless youths threw me higher than normal, causing them to gasp in surprise and watch me fall. My eyes unfortunately were wide open the whole time in fear and I started to fall over the statue nearby. I refused to die again as I had someone to live for, someone who I had no idea what had happened to her or what they were planning on doing to her. I refuse to die in a place like this, in a shameful way, and without seeing her one more time. And that's why I thought incredibly fast and at the exact right moment, grabbed onto the back of the statue's head with all of my strength and able to avoid being seen by the blasted teenagers that put me there in the first place. I closed my eyes tight in concentration, trying to hold on literally for dear life as this was the only chance I had at living. Now, I had to wait and see whether or not these bloody teenagers actually cared enough to wonder where I had disappeared too. I kept my eyes tight in worry. If these was the end, I didn't want to watch.
"OYE! Where'd he go?" one of the boys said.
"Does it really matter?" another one said.
"No, but objects don't just go and disappear like that! Where'd he go?" the first one said.
One of the boys scoffed. "Forget it mate, we have to get going anyway. Mum's going to get home at any minute."
"Alright, let's go."
And then, I presumed the group of troublemakers were gone when their annoying and pestering voices finally disappeared. I opened my eyes in relief and let out of sigh of relief as well. I maybe very high off the ground, but at least at this point, I was not going to die as a result of being tossed around by a bunch of teenagers, and that was enough for me. Now, I had to figure out another way to escape my current situation of being almost 30 feet above the ground. I started to climb up the statue's head to try to get a better view of my surroundings, and as I suspected, very high and thankfully, not a single human in sight. That was a much needed relief after continuing to be reminded of how far away from the ground I was. I continued to have my death grip on the statue and then something happened that I did not expect: the statue began to move around very quickly and rapidly, almost to the point where I almost lost my grip many times. I once again was reintroduced to the emotion fear, as I didn't yet know what I was going to up against.
"Oh my goodness! Oh dear! What on earth is on my head?" the statue sighed. "A rat? A snake? A bird? Oh yes! It must be a bird! Oh you bloody bird, get off my head! I have had beyond all doubt had enough of you using my head as a form of rest! Well, no longer you ugly and venomous creature! I have not escaped destruction of blasted humans to be a feared of your... wings!"
He began swatting at me with his arm with the feather in it and I held on for dear life despite his attempts to give me the boot. I knew that I would get smashed if I didn't beg this statue to stop moving around so much, and I knew that he spoke my language now and so I said:
"Please, stop! I'm not a bird or any animal of any sort! Please stop moving or else I'm going to fall and smash which I would very much like to avoid, thank you!" I shouted.
He stopped moving around so much.
"Paragon of animals!" he gasped. "It speaks!"
"What?" I said, very confused.
"Never have I had a visitor on my head that speaks before!" he said.
"Ummm..." I said, not really knowing how to respond to that.
"Allow me to introduce myself: I am William Shakespeare, playwright, actor, theatre and drama lover, among of my multiple titles and accomplishments. But enough about me. Tell me, dear boy. What is your name?" he said.
"My name is Gnomeo," I said in return.
"Gnomeo, eh? Well, that is a very interesting and yet very familiar name, my dear boy. Yes, I quite say that it is quite splendid! It's almost as though you could use that name as a main dashing and important character in a play! Audiences would love and adore you my boy!"
"Um...thank you..." I said awkwardly. " Um, you wouldn't know how to get me down back onto the ground, would you?"
Shakespeare laughed hysterically and again, very dramatically. "Oh my dear boy, how you do get on!"
I didn't know who this William Shakespeare was, but I knew that he was going to get on my nerves very quickly. I had a feeling that Shakespeare wasn't going to give me a hand here, no matter how many hints I was dropping his way, he didn't seem to get the gentle hint that I was in a bit of a hurry and needed to get back home immediately before something horrible happened between the two gardens. I thought about Juliet again and again, worrying that of the worst possible things that could be happening while I was away. I was still afraid, no terrified, that she thought I was dead and might do something without thinking it through. I wasn't sure yet how I would react if Juliet were dead...all I know is that I didn't want to even think about it. The thought was enough to tear me apart, to break my heart...and I knew that I couldn't think about that right now. I had to focus on figuring out a way to get back home and I wasn't going to be able to do that being on top of Shakespeare's head.
"Wherefore art thou, Gnomeo? Where for art thou sad? Sadness is not a good quality for any man to have, least of all a good looking man as yourself! Well, not as handsome or nearly as talented as myself, of course. Why, you remind of a chap that I met in my youth as I was studying to become an actor in London. Of course, you are less talkative than he was, of course. You don't really speak that much, do you?"
Shakespeare talked so arrogantly and dramatically, you might have thought he considered himself to be somewhat important to society. His personality reminded me a lot of Tybalt, but different in the way that he was rather friendly and charming, and wasn't trying to constantly kill me. Still, that didn't help me at all and I knew that I was going to be stuck up here for a while, since Shakespeare didn't catch the gentle hint that I needed to get down from the top of his head and try to find some way back to Verona Drive. I thought of Juliet yet again, and how being away from her was one of the most painful things that I had ever experienced. It was different being away from her, but knowing that she was just next door, and being really far away of her. This distance between us continued to break my heart that was already terrified at what she was going through right now. I was still wondering whether or not I heard her voice cry my name out in agony and that made me wonder yet again if she thought I was dead. If I somehow managed to get home and something had happened to her, I don't know what I would do.
"What troubles you, my dear boy? It can't be that bad being up on top of my head," he said joyfully.
"It's a prison," I said, honestly.
"Then is the world one?" he said, in the same tone of voice and attitude as before.
"Look, all I know is that I need to get down so that I can back to my home and to the love of my life before it's too late and I can't do it here on top of your head..." And then I was so rudely interrupted yet again, by this statue who didn't have the good sense to stop shaking and moving around so much, causing me to once again become very nervous and scared. After all, there was a pavement of hard concrete below me and one wrong move would send me directly to that, most likely smashing me into a million pieces.
"Oh! Love of your life?! A tale of romance! A young swashing and dashing gentleman of young age in love with a beautiful girl, separated by the barrier of 15 or so miles! How romantic! Daring! Adventurous even! I long to hear the story of your romance! Come, come! I demand to hear this story!"
"Have I not made it clear that I'm in a hurry?" I said, annoyed.
"Come! A passionate speech! Come on, tell me your story. I promise not to move around so much! I give you my solemn word!"
Seeing as though this statue was not going to help me get unstuck and back onto the ground, I found no other option than to give into his peer pressure and tell him the story of the girl that I was trying so hard to get back to, the girl that my heart ached and yearned beyond all hope to see again, the girl I missed with all my heart and soul. I wanted to be with her, not here, miles away from her, hoping and praying that she was alright. These so many miles between us just made it hurt so much more. I just hoped that finishing this story would finally help Shakespeare see that I was in trouble and needed to get back to her as soon as possible. So I sat upon his head, and began to tell my story from the very beginning.
And thus, I began to chat up Shakespeare.
That's it! Hope you enjoyed it! I'm trying to get back into writing again so I hope that this chapter was OK! I had a lot of fun with this, throwing in a lot of Shakespeare references. I hope I got him right!
Next Chapter: Where Gnomeo chats up with Shakespeare. Well more than he has already.
Again, thank you to those who reviewed and waited patiently for the story to continue. I do apologize but I was serious about my schoolwork. It has become a living hell for me and thankfully, the pressure is starting to go away as I am graduating in 20 days. I now have more time to write and I honestly forgot how much I missed doing it before. So please bare with me as you have done so far and I'm grateful, so I will never wait that long to update ever again. I promise. You guys are honestly the best and I'm really glad you didn't give up on me and you have no idea how much I appreciate that. Thank you again.
Please REVIEW! 6 reviews or more! You know the drill!
Until Next time!
Signed
kagomehater4ever
