News and Old Tales (Geronimo Stilton fanfiction)

5

"That's good to hear, girls," Bernadette smiled back at them, "We'll think it through, and then we'll see what happens."

***

A few days later, all four Stiltons found themselves back at the orphanage. Seeing G sitting there, reading aloud to little Theodora from a picture book, warmed all of their hearts. They had been told that G was quite shy and did not interact with his peers a lot, but they had also heard that the little boy was incredibly gentle and patient with his baby sister.

Upon approaching the two little mice, Alice was immediately drawn to Theodora, while Thalia engaged in a conversation with G.

"How come your name is G? Is it nickname?" she inquired, whereupon the little mouse merely shrugged.

"The lady always called me G," he then offered.

"The lady?" Thalia furrowed her brows, trying to work out who the little boy was referring to.

"His mother," the social worker who was supervising their visit mouthed from behind G's back.

Thalia's eyes widened in realization as she let out a little "oh", whereafter she turned her attention back to G.

"Did you like the lady? Was she nice to you?" she questioned.

G shook his head in response.

"Not really," he mumbled then. "She was angry quite often. She used to yell at both me and Theodora".

"Well, that was really rude of her," Thalia stated with an angry grimace. "Don't ever let anyone bring you down by yelling at you, okay?"

G looked back up at her with wide eyes, and Thalia could almost feel her soul disappear into that emerald depth.

"So, do you want to be called G, or would you like to find another name that you can use?" she then asked, averting her gaze from G's searching eyes.

The little boy gave a shrug before replying: "The lady's name's Geraldine. I don't want a name like that. But I like the letter G, so I think... I dunno," he concluded.

"How about I look up some names that start with a G and don't sound like 'Geraldine' for when we meet next time? Would you like that?" Thalia offered.

G tilted his head to the side, chewing at his lower lip.

"Yeah," he then answered quietly, "I'd like that."

***

During the next few days, Thalia spent a significant amount of time browsing through books containing a wide array of baby names, that she had borrowed from the library.

"Gabriel, Graham, George, Grant, Gordon, Gary, Gilbert... Ugh!" she exclaimed in exasperation, "Why do all of them sound so- Argh!"

Even finding the right word to describe what she didn't like about these names proved to be a challenge.

"None of them sounds like him!" she finally said with a grimace.

Then, a few days later, she and Alice were sitting on top of the jungle gym in the school yard during recess.

"I'm gonna jump," Alice declared.

"From here?! You're crazy," Thalia crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking unimpressed.

However, being the daredevil that she was, Alice did it anyway. She stood up slowly, spreading her arms out for balance, then bounced on her feet to prepare for the jump.

"Geronimo!" she shouted as she took off.

Thalia's eyes widened at that peculiar phrase that quite frankly sounded like some gibberish to her, and she hurried to climb down to join her sister on the ground.

"What did you say?" she then inquired.

"That I'm gonna jump," Alice shrugged. "And I did. Duh".

Thalia scoffed at her while rolling her eyes. "No, not that! What was it that you shouted?" she pressed.

"Oh, that?" Alice smiled, "Geronimo. We learned about it in history class. It's a battle cry that paratroopers used during World War II, when they jumped from their planes. Miss Wheatwhisker said that some rodents still use it today, especially when jumping down from a big height".

"No way! I didn't get to learn fun things like that in history class when I was in sixth grade," Thalia grumbled in response.

However, her expression soon turned thoughtful.

"Geronimo," she repeated the phrase, her eyes lighting up. "That's bloody perfect!" she grinned.

***

"Hey there!" Thalia greeted G when their next encounter took place. "I've found a name that I think you might like. It's 'Geronimo'," she stated proudly.

G's features melted into a contemplative frown as he processed the word.

"Geronimo?" he then repeated, "Does it mean something?".

Now, Thalia had done her research. Plenty of it, actually. She was not the studious type normally, as she found much more joy in creating self-made jewelry, and in different art projects, but looking up the etymology of 'Geronimo' had been surprisingly engulfing.

"You bet it does," she therefore nodded. "It has a really cool meaning. It's a battle cry that soldiers used when jumping out of planes with a parachute back in the day. Saying 'Geronimo' basically means that you are brave and about to jump into something new and conquer your fears".

G looked up at Thalia with those big emerald eyes again.

"I don't think I'm brave. I'm afraid of a lot of things," he mumbled, whereupon Thalia flashed him a reassuring smile.

"I think you are very brave," she said.

She did not want to evaluate on how she herself never could have survived for six years in an environment that was less than ideal to say the least, taken care of another being for the last two of those six years, and still remained such a cool person as she felt that G was. Right then, she just wanted to be in the present and perhaps look into the future, not lament about G's past.

"Alright then," Thalia continued upon sensing that G was far from convinced, "'Geronimo' has another meaning as well. There was a medicine mouse named Geronimo who lived more than hundred years ago. He was the leader of a native rodent tribe".

Alice, who had been playing with Theodora while this conversation had taken place, turned to roll her eyes at her sister.

"Thalia, G's six years old. I don't think he knows what 'native rodent' means," she said.

G looked up at her incredulously.

"I know what 'native rodent' means," he stated. "It means the mice and rats who lived here on Mouse Island before us. Then, Christofur Colomouse sailed here from overseas and found the island, but he thought that he was somewhere else. Later, other rodents from overseas came here, and they took the native rodents' lands".

Thalia and Alice exchanged a wide-eyed glance upon hearing this.

"Damn, G," Thalia muttered, "You're a smart kid".

G tilted his head to the side, brows furrowed, not knowing how to respond to that statement.

"Actually, I think Geronimo sounds good," he finally offered.

"Cheers," Thalia smiled, "Geronimo, The Leap of Faith. Geronimo Stilton".

"Stilton? What's that supposed to mean?" Geronimo asked.

"That's mine and Alice's last name," Thalia explained, "And yours and Theodora's too, if you want it to be. Would like to come home with us and Grandma and Grandpa Shortpaws? To be mine and Alice's brother?"

Geronimo looked quite thoughtful. "I'm Theodora's brother," he finally replied, whereupon Thalia felt compelled to let out a small chuckle.

"Of course, you are," she acknowledged, "But you can be both."