The Fairy

Chapter 6 - The Feelings

The night continued across other parts of Elmore...

The Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds found sleep beyond their reach. Their minds were dominated by everything that has been happening in the past two days. The attack on Daisyland, the new foe who wanted the young fairy, the drama created between her and her close friend, the fact that they were now in prison, all of it.

"So hungry," moaned Richard. "The food here tastes like a molten doll"

"Richard, you know this isn't your first time being locked behind bars, right?" reminded Nicole,

"No wonder your son is a nuisance to my daughter" whispered Patrick in irritation, focused on the scenario playing out in his head depicting what he thought his daughter and her friend could be getting themselves into.

Nicole inhaled deeply, restraining her anger from getting them into even more (and this time justified) trouble. The brief silence that followed was broken by a sigh from the mother feline. "This really wasn't the life I wanted"

The words caught Patrick's interest.

Nicole continued. "The day I met you, Richard, in the park, I had many choices for my future. Some were easy, some were hard. And you know which one I chose. Sometimes I ask myself if I was thinking that day; a life of taking responsibility for continuous damage to property, struggling to pay for the house and the bills because most my salary gets spent on usually delayed debts, earning town-wide disapproving glares, continuous stress and worry about what the kids could be getting into. To tell the truth, I kind of knew what I was getting myself into"

Another silence.

Nicole gave Richard a smile upon noticing his clearly offended expression. "But it was all worth it" she resumed. "From the very day I met you, I had a feeling my life would be heading uphill. And it did. I now have a wonderful family that I wouldn't trade for the world" she made this point clear by giving Richard a smooch on the cheek and giving him a good hug.

"What are you saying?" asked Judith.

"I guess choices are almost like groceries," said Nicole. "They come at a cost. The key difference between them is that it's up to you if you can afford to pay it"

"I wish candy were like choices," said Richard. "That way, I would be able to give the entire family a large gingerbread house to live in"

"I'm sure you would, honey" chuckled Nicole.

Patrick made a little scoff at how corny those past few seconds were. But after a few minutes of his train of thought keeping his mind on loop, he focused on the words that sounded important for some reason. Choices are almost like groceries. They come at a cost. The key difference between them is that it's up to you if you can afford to pay it.

He had not clue as to why, but he felt that it related perfectly to his daughter.

In the Forest of Doom, just around the Elmore City Limits, the light of another dawn marched across the land over the horizon.

The light of the morning gave Gumball and Penny the urge to awaken from their sleep. For some reason, they felt surprisingly warm and cozy despite the lack of blankets and covers. "Morning, Penny" yawned Gumball, slowly opening his eyes.

"Morning, Gumball" yawned Penny, before she noticed that they were still locked in a tight embrace which explained why they weren't bothered by the cold. "Gumball, tell me we weren't spending the entire night sleeping like this"

"Sleeping like this?" said Gumball before he noticed that his arms were wrapped around Penny and vice versa. They both released each other from their arms, blushing at how awkward this was (Gumball was glad he wasn't doing this with Hot Dog Guy) before Gumball noticed Penny's downcast expression, triggering a memory from the previous night when Penny suddenly woke up again. "Another rough sleep?"