"Monkey Around"
The next day dawned hot and cloudy. Gertrude McFuzz was still in her nest, arranging her feathers. It was difficult for Aribelle to see just how long the tail was with the little bird still in her nest. Horton was still giving his clover his undivided attention.
So in short, no interesting new developments.
Aribelle gazed at her paws and then groomed her green hair back. After the interesting past few days, she didn't want to go back to just lazing by the pool. She wanted some action.
Almost in answer to her thought, there was a soft sound next to her in the foliage. Aribelle turned.
"There's a rustle in the bushes," a soft voice sang, "there's a tremble in the trees..."
She grinned and padded towards the sound of the voice, following it until she found herself looking into the blue eyes of one of the Wickersham brothers.
"Hear it like a whisper, smell it on a summer breeze," he continued, taking her hand and leading her over to where the other two were gathered - up in a tree.
Aribelle settled down on a branch, watching as the more acrobatic monkeys settled themselves.
"Something big is getting nearer," the leader told her, "Something big is coming through." He grinned and gave her a wink, "got some monkey business - that's what we intend to do!"
Leaving Aribelle in her hidden, but excellent vantage spot, the lead Wickersham started downwards
"Come on!" he called to his brothers, "I wanna monkey, monkey around!"
The other two followed, "Come on!"
Aribelle grinned, getting comfortable.
"Ooh we've gotta monkey around!" they sang.
Just then, there was the unmistakable sound of an elephant passing by.
The Wickershams dropped from the trees to surround the unsuspecting Horton.
"The Wickershams!" Horton gasped to himself, looking at the trio warily, "Um... hello."
"Well it's bigger than a breadbox," one of the monkeys poked at him.
"Hey it's wider than a whale," the other agreed.
"Peanut butter breath," their leader made a face.
"And scared to death from head to tail!" they circled the poor elephant.
Horton held his clover protectively.
"So you're still talking to dust?" the leader laughed, "oh that's hot!"
"A dust speck that's all full of "Whos" who are not!" the second added
As Horton watched the two, the third leaned in close to the clover, tilting his head.
"There aren't any Whos!" he called, "Why I don't hear a sound!"
"Come on!" the leader called, sneaking a glance at Aribelle, "We gotta monkey - monkey around!"
That was apparently some sort of signal, for the third monkey grabbed for the clover. Horton trumpeted in alarm and yanked it back, holding it far out of the third wickersham's reach...
And practically thrust it into the leader's waiting paws.
Horton grabbed for it, but too late, as the monkey took to the tree and sped off.
"Hey!" he shouted, "Give that back! STOP!"
Aribelle watched Horton chase the Wickershams around, reaching out with his trunk.
The monkeys laughed, playing keep-away with Horton's precious clover
"Give that back!" Horton pleaded.
The leader of the Wickershams jumped up into Aribelle's tree, perching there as he watched his brothers.
Horton cornered the one with the clover, but one of the little birds, deciding to get in on the action, took the clover in her beak and flew off, passing it off to another of the Wickershams.
The monkeys ran off, leading Horton out of Aribelle's sight.
This was too good to miss! She jumped down from the tree and followed them. Horton left a pretty clear trail.
The noise they were making attracted all of the other Nool residents - all eager to get in on the action.
Up out of the jungle, and into the sky, up over the mountains ten-thousand feet high (Aribelle opted not to follow) , then down from the mountain (right back past Aribelle) and into the news, went Horton the elephant, chasing the Whos.
Aribelle smirked slightly as they all rushed past. Horton still hadn't given up, running as best he could after the much faster Wickershams.
She took to a tree again to see better as they hurried off again.
Then over the desert - the Desert of Dreeze, and into the forest with thousands of trees, past Sneeches on beaches and sour kangaroos went Horton the elephant chasing the Whos.
As she watched them run past her again, Aribelle couldn't help but wonder if Horton realized that the Wickersham brothers were leading him in circles.
The leader dropped down from the tree in front of Horton. "Still chasing your dust?" he teased, waving it just within Horton's reach before tossing it to his brother, "Why it's safe as can be"
"We're monkeys to trust," the second said, twirling the clover in his fingers, "Or well don't you agree?"
Aribelle smirked slightly at that. She adored the Wickershams, but wouldn't exactly call them trustworthy.
The third monkey took the clover, "well just to be sure, we are handing it off..."
He held his paw high up in the air.
The way the other two monkeys were looking upwards made Aribelle raise her eyes skyward as well. She saw a dark shadow, rapidly growing closer.
It grew larger until she could make out the form of a large black bird.
The monkeys all gathered together, "To a black-bottomed eagle named..."
With perfect timing, the eagle swooped down and plucked the clover from the Wickersham's outstretched paws.
"Vlad Valadakoff!" the eagle laughed, beating his great wings and launching himself higher into the air.
Aribelle settled down. There was no way that Horton could keep up with an eagle. This had to end now.
"No!" Horton shouted, "Stop! Wait!" He chased after.
All that late afternoon and far into the night, that black bottomed bird flapped his wings in fast flight, and he paid no attention to Horton's loud call.
"A person's a person no matter how small!"
On Horton traveled and on that bird flew. That black bottomed eagle was cruel as could be.
At six fifty-six, Vlad Vladakoff dropped it. The clover went tumbling and nobody stopped it.
"that bird let the clover drop somewhere inside of a whole patch of clover - one hundred miles wide!" the lead Wickersham reported to Aribelle.
She laughed at that. "Good!" she said, "That will be the end of this nonsense!"
Here, the monkey paused, "Well... that's not quite true... Horton did follow him."
"But when he saw all the clovers, he gave up right?" Aribelle asked, and then smiled, "Oh I wish I could have seen it."
"Horton is... still there."
Aribelle blinked, "You mean he picked up a new clover and started over?"
"No..." he said slowly, "He's... looking for the old one."
She blinked again, "You're kidding."
Aribelle had to see this for herself. She made her way over towards the gigantic clover patch
Sure enough, Horton was sitting on the edge of the patch, next to a small pile of clovers.
As Aribelle watched, he picked one up and called "Are you there?" then lifted it to his ear to listen.
She shook her head. Insane. Horton had to be insane.
Still... she wondered just how long it would take until he gave up.
Aribelle was just getting bored with watching Horton when she saw someone approaching. She shaded her eyes and blinked, trying to figure out who this new bird was.
Aribelle had never seen a bird with that many feathers before.
No... wait... could it be? Could that really be plain little Gertrude McFuzz?
It certainly was. Gertrude walked carefully along the ground, occasionally picking up part of her long tail as it got tangled.
She neared Horton and took a deep breath. It was now or never. Gertrude was the most beautiful bird in all of the jungle - Horton just *had* to notice her now!
"It's taken all my courage to approach you - not to mention all my stamina to follow you across the hills and deserts, but I feel as if I'm ready to express to you the feels that I've hidden with great diligence and labor," the words all tumbled out in a rush, "Behind the facade of your odd little next door neighbor."
Gertrude came a bit closer, "My eyes are too small," she admitted, "I have very large feet... and I'm not very fond of my pitiful tweet." She made a face and took a breath, "Tweet" she sang out, sounding a little better.
She twirled for Horton, showing off her tail, "But I've now got a tail which is something to see..."
Horton did not look up, tossing another clover aside, "One hundred and two..." he picked up another and listened, then tossed it aside, "One hundred and three"
Gertrude sighed and moved around in front of him, draping her tail gracefully across his path, "Oh notice me Horton! Feather by feather, this is your next door neighbor calling!" she sang, "Notice me Horton!" she leaned down in front of him, "Horton together, we could be great!"
He still didn't look up and she huffed, moving closer to him, and draping her tail across him, "Oh notice me Horton - put down the clover!" she called, "This is your next door neighbor calling! There's a new leaf your neighbor's turned over..."
"Over and over," Horton sang to himself, "Clover by clover"
Gertrude gazed down at Horton longingly. Horton gazed down at the clover patch longingly.
"I was just a no one only yesterday - you showed up and showed me something more. Now I've become a someone who has someone to believe in and to be there for."
Gertrude sighed sadly, and then a look of determination crossed her face. "I will not give up hope," she decided, "I was hooked from the start - when I noticed your kind and your powerful heart!"
She moved in closer to him, "So notice me Horton!"
"Oh the world would be something new," Horton said, gently picking another clover.
"Notice me Horton!" Gertrude pleaded, going closer.
"If they noticed a thing or two..." he continued
"Notice me Horton..." she sang softly, swishing her tail in front of him.
Horton reached out and got a hand ful of feathers. Gertrude gasped and waited for him to look up at her.
He simply moved her tail out of the way.
Her face fell about a mile.
"The way I notice you..." Horton and Gertrude sang sadly.
Gertrude sighed and flopped down in front of him to wait for him to notice her.
He didn't.
Time passed and she flapped her wings, landing on her back, waiting for him to notice.
He didn't.
More time passed, Gertrude dozed, stretching out full length on his back, draping his tail across his head, waiting for him to notice.
He didn't.
Finally, she gave up and trudged off sadly, trying to think of something else.
Aribelle dozed in her spot in the tree, growing bored with watching Gertrude attempting to be noticed. It was amusing at first, but as it dragged on, like Gertrude she was going to give up.
Through half closed eyes she watched Gertrude leave, her tail dragging on the ground behind her.
Aribelle closed her eyes again, the sound of Horton's counting lulling her to sleep.
When she woke up, she rubbed her eyes and stretched. Horton was still there. Had he been awake searching all night?
"Two million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine..." Horton counted wearily.
Aribelle smirked slightly. Apparently he had been.
Horton threw down the clover and looked at all of the others in the patch, then sighed, "Oh it's hopeless..."
"You said it kid."
Both Horton and Aribelle's heads whipped towards the sound of the voice.
Aribelle's sharp eyes spotted the feathered form of Mayze la Bird, perched on a tree... in a nest?
"Who said that?" Horton called, looking around, "Who's there?"
"It's me Mayze!" she called, waving a wing at Horton, "Up here!"
Horton got to his feet and lumbered over to the base of the tree, looking up. "Mayze?"
She smiled down at him and nodded.
He blinked, "Mayze... are you on a nest?"
Mayze's smile vanished, "Yeah - ya wanna make somethin' of it?" she snapped.
"No!" Horton replied quickly, "I just... never thought I'd see you on a nest"
That makes two of us, thought Aribelle somewhat amused. She added Mayze settling down to the list of odd things that were happening this week.
"Neither did I Hort," Mayze replied with a sigh, "Neither did I."
She ruffled her feathers and resettled herself. "I was down in Fort Worth - just a girl on the wing when I met Tweet McFurth," she sighed happily, "Oh could that night owl sing!" She preened herself dreamily, "Tell yourself how lucky you are..."
She spread her wings and glided down, "It was three weeks of bliss, then the usual segue - he flew off to San Juan, leaving me with this egg!"
Mayze pointed up at the red and white egg perched in her nest and then sighed, "Now I'm bored and I'm cranky and tired, sitting day after day." She fluffed her feathers, "Who knew so much work was required? I'd much rather play... I need a vacation, I'm due for some rest..."
As Aribelle watched, an odd look flitted across Mayze's eyes, and then she turned on her charm.
"Hey Horton, would ya maybe like to sit on my nest?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
He blinked and gaped at her, then took a step back away from her, "Why Mayze... I couldn't... of all silly things! Why... I haven't got feathers, I haven't got wings..."
He shook his head firmly, "And not only that, but I'm here on a search, I just couldn't leave my poor Who's in a lurch."
Mayze dismissed that with a flick of her wing. "I won't be gone long kid - I give you my word!" She gave him a charming smile and set a hand on his shoulder, "I'll hurry right 'cuz I'm that sort of a bird."
He sighed, and shrugged off her touch.
"Oh Horton, I promise I'll fly back real soon," she begged, "I'll only be gone for say... one afternoon."
"Well..." he wavered, "we all need vacations..." The elephant sighed, "Alright... go on... take it. I'll sit on your egg and I'll try not to break it."
A huge smile spread across Mayze's face.
"But please come back quickly," Horton added, "One hour, maybe two. I've got to find Jojo, I've got to save Who!"
"Thanks a million!" Mayze exclaimed, taking to the sky.
In a matter of minutes, she was gone.
Aribelle shook her head. That Mayze... She almost felt sorry for the poor little egg. And Horton? Elephants certainly did not sit on eggs.
Mayze would not be back. Aribelle knew that. Everybody knew that. Horton really wasn't the brightest animal in the jungle.
So carefully, tenderly, gently Horton crept up the trunk to the nest where the little egg slept.
Then Horton the elephant sighed, "Well that's that."
And he sat.
And he sat
and he sat
and he sat.
Aribelle fell asleep watching him sit there.
The cold wind woke her several hours later. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, looking around. The sun was setting, but ominous looking dark clouds were rolling in.
Horton was still sitting there, a dark shape huddled against the cold.
She jumped down from the tree and headed off home, hoping that Horton would have the sense to do the same.