"Amazing Gertrude"
The next day arrived, and it was just as hot as the day before. Horton hadn't created any fuss the night before, and Aribelle was beginning to think that that was the end of it. Today, she had found a comfortable tree branch to lounge in. She had almost fallen asleep when a bird song snapped her from her doze.
The little blue bird took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Love song for Horton," she said, "Number ... four hundred and thirty-seven."
Aribelle blinked and sat up.
The little bird strummed her guitar and started to sing. "There once was a girl bird named Gertrude McFuzz, and she had the smallest plain tail ever was. One droopy-drop feather, that's all that she had, and oh that one feather made Gertrude so sad.
She curled it, she dyed it, she gave it a puff. She decked it with flowers, but it wasn't enough.
For no matter what, it just was what it was."
Gertrude sighed, "A tail that simply wasn't meant to catch the eye of an elephant."
She strummed her guitar again, "The one-feathered tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz."
The sound of bird calls made Gertrude look up. She sighed slightly as a troupe of brightly colored birds came in to land. The brightest fanned her long tail as she landed.
"Hey Gertrude!" the brightest bird called before Gertrude had a chance to vanish into the bushes.
Gertrude sighed softly.
The colorful bird tsked slightly, "Poor little Gertrude, a sorry sight." She fluffed her feathers, "Well, I'm gonna take you under my wing and baby, you'll be alright!"
"I was just a plain little bird like you kid," the bird sang, "One pathetic feather was all I grew. I had nothing show off-ish. What's a plain bird to do?" She looked Gertrude over, "And there's certainly nothing show off-ish on you kid."
Gertrude rolled her eyes, "Thank you Mayzie," she said, heavily sarcastic. If all that Mayzie was going to do was show off her own tail, she wasn't interested.
"Then I made a plan for my self-improvement," Mayzie continued, oblivious to the sarcasm, "No more crumbs, I vowed I would have the cake! So I went to the doctor - doctor Dake by the lake - and he told me what sort of a pill I should take."
Gertrude blinked.
"Now I'm amayzing Mayzie," the bird twirled, "As feathered as feathered can be now. Amayzing Mayzie - it was all for sale!"
Now she had Gertrude's interest. If Mayzie had had a little help in growing her tail, then maybe... maybe... The little blue bird took a closer look at Mayzie's feathers.
"Amayzing Mayzie!" all the birds twittered.
"The birds are all whistlin' at me now: Amazying Mayzie," she sang, "Baby that's my tail!"
High or low - Mayzie strutted about, collecting an audience of other birds.
"Gee it's fabulous," Gertrude thought, despite herself as she watched Mayzie go, "Gee I'm envious."
Mayzie flew to and fro, showing off her fabulous tail.
"I wish I had one like it," Gertrude muttered jealously.
The colorful bird seemed to have forgotten about Gertrude as she darted left and right.
"Best I've ever seen..." Gertrude grumbled. Even she had to admit it. Mayzie looked perfect, day or night.
Mayzie seemed to notice Gertrude again, "Kid - you're turnin' green." She commented.
Gertrude flushed slightly. It was that obvious?
"What a sight," the birds in the trees sang, "Mayzie's fabulous tail!"
Mayzie suddenly seemed to remember what she was there for and she looked back to Gertrude, "Get the pills, and you can have frills for all of the world to see!" She grinned, seeing that Gertrude was hanging on her every word, "And you can be amayzing - " She stopped and looked the little bird over. Well... even Dr. Dake needed *something* to start with. "Well almost..." she added quietly and then fanned her wings, "As amayzing as me!"
With that Mayzie flew off, making sure to show off her tail to everybody in the immediate area.
Aribelle ducked to avoid getting a mouthful of feathers.
She pushed her green hair out of her eyes. First an elephant hearing things and now the most vain and self-centered bird in the Jungle of Nool trying to help one of the plainest? Things were not adding up.
Like Aribelle, Gertrude was a bit surprised by Mayzie's sudden helpfulness. Still, if it worked... She made up her mind.
So she flew to the doctor, the doctor named Dake, who's office was high in a tree by the lake.
She cried, "Mr. Doctor! Oh please do you know of some kind of pill that will make my tail grow?"
Dr. Dake wiped his hands on his long white lab coat and looked Gertrude over with an expert eye. He was not a Nool native, and had only recently opened his practice here.
"Tut tut," said the doctor, "Diese Gespräch ist zu verrückt! Ihre kleine Feder Schwanz ist genau richtig für ihre vogelartig."
At times like these, it was pretty obvious that Dr. Dake wasn't from around here.
Gertrude looked at him blankly, "Huh?"
He blinked. Then realized what he had said. "In other words," he said, in his thickly accented voice, "your little tail is just right for your kind of bird."
Gertrude's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. That was NOT what she wanted to hear.
Then her eyes narrowed. She hadn't come all this way just to hear that there was no hope for her. One way or another... she was going to get a tail just like Mayzie's - no... Better than Mayzie's!
Gertrude had tantrums. She raised such a din that finally the doctor just had to give in.
"Alright already!" Dr. Dake held up his hands in surrender.
He turned back to his assistants, "Bitte schon! Hier mit der Pill-Berry Bush!"
The doctor muttered softly to himself as a nurse brought out a small bush, covered in pillberries.
Now that was more like it. Gertrude eagerly hopped over to the bush and examined it from all sides. Then she leaned down and took one, swallowing it down. She made a slight face, but if it would help her get her tail... She gulped another one... and another.
For a few minutes, nothing happened, and then she stood up suddenly as she felt something. She turned around, "What was that?" She craned her head, trying to see behind her, "Something's itching me." She saw a flash of color, "What was that? Something's twitching me."
"What was that?" her eyes widened, "Are those feathers I see?" A grin spread across her face, "I think my tail's beginning!"
She turned her head back again to see more feathers sprouting from her tail. "Oh my word! This is wonderful!" she grinned at the doctor, "second... third... wow I'm colorful!"
Gertrude preened, "what a bird I'm to be..." She would be just as colorful as Mayzie, now she'd even be... "Amazying Gertrude!"
The ever watchful gossipers twittered from the tree tops, "Just look at that tail she is sporting - Amazying Gertrude!"
The no longer plain little bird seemed to glow under the attention. "Thank you doctor Dake!"
The Doctor just smiled and nodded.
She really was Amazying Gertrude now.
"And hopefully I'll impress Horton!" Gertrude exclaimed, then thought better of it. He was an elephant, and Horton never seemed to have noticed Mayzie... but... if Gertrude's tail was bigger then Mayzie's...
"One more pill will do me good!" Gertrude took another one, "Yes it will! One more, one more, one more pill!"
The doctor tried to stop her, but Gertrude wasn't having any of that. Soon she'd have the biggest tail...
"I'll have the biggest tail!" she exclaimed, mid-bites, "The biggest tail of all!"
Dr. Dake took the bush away, "Nien!" he exclaimed, "No more! Or else your tail will become too long!"
"Too long?" Gertrude scoffed, "That's impossible. The bigger and brighter the better!"
Dr. Dake shook his head and fled back into his office, locking the door behind.
Gertrude pouted a bit, but then looked back. She used to have to crane her neck to see, but now she didn't have to look too far back to see bright flashes of color.
She spread her wings and started home. When she got into the air, she felt a bit funny, a little off balance, but she shrugged it off. It was just the rapid feather growth that was doing it to her.
Back at her nest, Gertrude couldn't help but continue to watch her feathers go.
"What do you think?" she asked a random animal near by.
Aribelle looked Gertrude over. "You look different," she said.
"Don't I look lovely?" Gertrude said, fluffing her feathers.
"You did before..."
"Nah," she dismissed that, "I'm not finished yet, but soon I'll be just amazying!"
"Right," Aribelle said doubtfully.
"Have you seen Horton?" Gertrude asked.
Aribelle pointed.
Gertrude looked down to see Horton sitting on the ground, speaking softly to his clover.
"He hasn't looked up from that thing all day," Aribelle said.
"Oh he'll notice me," Gertrude said with a smile.
On the one hand, it would be a lot neater if Horton lost interest in the clover and was fascinated with the very visible Gertrude. It would create quite a stir, but not one that was worth Aribelle's professional attention. On the other hand... it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.