Chapter 4: Dawning

Why did it have to be quiet that day? Curses, curses but what good did it do to her? It was a mere misunderstanding, it'll never happen again! He promised, they promised! But still it felt lodged deep within Ginger's brain.

It was just yesterday, hmph has such a blank title now, especially after what happened. Ginger had decided to see the boys once again, she felt so relieved after she and Skipper apoligzed. Ginger had awoken to find that the zookeeper had put a couple of red shrimp in her pond, she dove without question. To feel the static electricity that ran though her nose felt wonderful, she hadn't felt that in what felt like an eternity. She pushed her bill towards the pebbles and dug up maybe one or two shrimp. A little satsified by what she found, Ginger went up to the surface and decided to relax.

When she arose, she saw a piece of paper hanging from the wall. Curiously, Ginger swam over to the wall and stared up at the paper. How do I get it? Ginger wondered, her tail flicked with excitement. She dove underwater and sprung up with such force she landed on the wall. Keeping her eye on the paper she slowly crawled over to it. Ginger used her claws to stab the paper, thinking it was just paper she was shocked to hear a loud yelling sound.

She turned around and peered down, her claw was stuck on the paper and on something else. She looked down and saw that she clawed Private's flipper. Retracting immedialy, Ginger took her hand off the paper and the flipper. However, Private still crying with pain started to fall down the wall with the paper floating away.

Screw the paper, Privates more important Ginger thought determinily. Ginger put out her hand, mindfull of Privates now bloodied, clawed flipper. She rapped her hand around his flipper and pulled him up, when he was up near the wall she sprung backwards and flung Private into the pond. When Ginger came back up from the water, she swam towards Private.

" Oh my gosh! Private! I'm super sorry, I-I thought it was just a piece of paper, not a flipper! Please I'm so sorry!" Ginger held onto his wounded flipper.

Trying to smile though pain and grunting, Private smiled a warm, assuring, but still in pain smile at her.

" I'll be fine, don't worry"

Ginger nodded and asked Private to come into her burrow so she could help his wounds.

" I'm sorry it's so you know.....enclosed" Ginger was pratacilly on top of Private.

" It's fine" Private breathed on Ginger's face.

They both changed their postions and tried to keep comfortable in the small enclosed den. Ginger looked out of the burrow, the air in here seemed dence, amountable almost if you will. Ginger could feel the nerviousness settling in her stomach, for no reason she couldn't comprehend why though. She needed air, and quick.

" Umm Private, why don't we go to your guy's place" Ginger asked, while she was sweating from the heat that was overwhealming the place.

She heared Private make a little mm-hmm sound. She walked to the penguin habitat.

Inside, Ginger explained what happened to Private, with the paper incident that still annoyed her like crazy. Ginger used Rico's first aid kit, though relictant at first due to the fact that he threw it up. She put Private's arm on a table and put on some peroxide and bandaged it. Ginger still felt terrible about the whole incident, she rubbed his flipper and let him rest for a while. Ginger then turned her attention to Kowalski, who was working at his table, tinkering with something.

" So what was the paper about?" Ginger turned around in order to ask Private.

" Classifed" Private rang out, with a little smile spreading on his face.

Ginger smiled, she knew about how the penguin's worked, especially after talking to Marlene. She told Ginger that she felt that they were her brothers, brothers who were very secretative about their daily lives. She warned Ginger that they wouldn't answer many of her questions, really what she meant, don't get discouraged. Ginger promised she wouldn't.

Ginger made her way over to Kowalski's work table. She stood beside him and saw him looking over blue prints, Ginger reliunent to ask at first finally summonded the courage to ask.

" Kowalski? when are we going to do the experiment?"

Kowalski stopped doing what he was doing, he turned around, removed his goggles and stared at Ginger. He then put his flipper on her nose, slowly of coarse relieuent at first. He smiled and rub her nose softly. When he relised he was taking too long he pulled back quickly. He tapped his flippers together nervously and stopped.

" No, not today but soon, if you want I could stop the experiment"

" No no! I would like to find why I was like this, the way I am..." Ginger clamped her hands together, " This is a curse, my own complexion, I lost so many friends I could've gained, all because of the way I looked" Ginger could feel herself start to break down so she stopped talking.

" Oh so this is most of utter importance to you I prosome?" Kowalski asked, while flipping though his notebook.

Ginger nodded and unclamped her hands. She looked at Kowalski, she was hoping that she could have gotten the experiment over today, even if it was just looking at her family tree. But how? That made her more curious. Her family tree wasn't written in paper, so how would they have found out? Ginger turned to ask Kowalski.

" How will you find out about my family tree?" Ginger asked, curiously.

Kowalski then turned around flustered, tapping his flippers together he put on flipper on her shoulder and whispered nervously.

" Either by cotton swab or by test"

" Why are you so embarrised?" Ginger asked.

" Because it can be pretty personial were the cotton swab is inserted, or by test it consets of your urine" He answered pretty quirky of the situation.

" I'm fine with that" Ginger answered while putting a resurring hand on Kowalski's flipper.

Kowalski smiled a little bit and then took his flipper off her shoulder, he turned around and contunied working. Ginger came and stood beside him.

" You know back home in Tasmania, there was this one platypi male. He was so smart, always coming up with some contrapation to make hunting easier for us platypi, I.....well always found him a little attractive" Ginger said while getting the nervous twitches in her stomach, " I'd never find the courage to ask him out or come to my burrow for a bit, nothing. I just gave up because he found someone he liked, and they seemed happy...."

" But your not happy" Kowalski finished her sentance, Ginger looked up at him astonashied really.

" Yeah" Ginger's voice was so quiet she was suprised that he could hear her. Ginger for some reason thought of him as soon as she saw Kowalski, and yes she had liked him for a long, long time. She rememebered always going over to his house, only to be turned away by his "girl friends" She would always go home and cry to her mom. Ginger never had a chance with a boy or any platypi for that matter, she would always be the sore thumb in the nest of platypi's.

" So, did you ever tell him your, er, feelings?" By the way he was talking, Kowalski was getting a little hot under the collar.

" No, I could never work up the courage to tell him or explain how I was feeling, just being around him made me jittery. And now that I think about it, his girlfriends would just make fun of me and call me snow white or something among that line" Ginger explained while pain sliced her heart in half.

" Oh" That's all he said, and the silence awakened in the room.

Ginger then got a look around, the room was empty. Private must have left, she hadn't seen Rico for a while, and Skipper was nowhere in sight since she showed up. Ginger then turned forwards and started kicking her feet.

" Yeah, I never was mean't to be beautiful" Ginger whispered lifelessly.

" No, that's not true... you ever hear of the Grimm's fairytale about a duck.." Kowalski was really sweating bullets.

Ginger's eyes twinkled, her mother used to tell that story to her all the time when she was little, it was mainly to help boost her self confidence. Ginger smiled a little goofy smile, he, he was trying to cheer her up by saying that she was a rose bud and that she would blossom. Ginger looked up and found Kowalski was closer to her now.

" Are you saying I'm like a swan?" Ginger asked slowly unsure of herself.

Kowalski swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded.

" Yea"

Ginger could feel embarrised but really flattered, never before was she called a swan in bloom. Instead, she was dead flower who would never change. She felt so blissful of his kind words.

" You just need time to go through your puberty and you'll be fine"

Not a true poet. But good enough,

" Well....thank you" Ginger said with warmness arising in her throat.

Kowalski never said anything but nodded. Ginger then figured it would be the approitie time to leave, she made him so nervous, and she never was the one to leave a bad impresion.

Ginger stood up to leave and felt a warm tug on her arm, she turned around and felt herself being pushed onto his body. She then felt her lock lips with him and being held tightly. Ginger could barely breathe, she wasn't suffocating but so shocked! Kowalski was kissing her, and, and, she couldn't even think straight. After what felt like an eternity, he pulled back.

" I'm sorry, it'll never happen again, I promise!" Kowalski said nearly tripping over his feet.

Ginger still dizzy after what happened, she walked over to the ladder and what felt like flung herself up to the opening. She walked more like stumbled her way to her exhibit, ingoring Marlene as well and going to her burrow and hurling herself into a ball.

It was a quiet night, too quiet. The type of night that let your mind wonder easily, unfortunely. Ginger had a hard time falling asleep. She could hear the monkey's snoring, Marlene swimming around in her habitat and the penguin's training. To her dismay the only voice that stuck out was Kowalski's even though Skipper was doing most of the talking. The only time she fell asleep was when the guys went into the HQ and slept for the night.

Btw: for those wondering about the paper, it'll come much later. And I know it seems like it's going to fast, but I'm working on it :)