Finding Gerald

Chapter One

"Eww!" "Get him away from me!" "He's so ugly!"

These are the only comments Gerald ever heard in his life.

For as long as he could ever remember, he was rejected by every sea lion he had ever known.

The other baby sea lions in his colony learned how to capture fish and swim away from sharks. But, they also learned how to swim away from him.

Gerald was different. He wasn't like the other sea lions in his community... no matter how hard he tried...

The only sea lion that would ever talked to Gerald with such caring kindness was his mother, Tabitha.

She knew what had happened in Gerald's childhood, and she wasn't ever going to let Gerald get hurt. Not like his father...

"I can't," Gerald would say, "I just can't do it."

Tabitha was the only sea creature he ever talked to. He wasn't exactly sure why this was the case, though.

"Of course you can, Gerald." His mom said, sitting next to him from the side of the ice, as the other baby sea lions swam into the water, catching the most juiciest fish they could possibly soak their teeth into.

One of the baby sea lions swam out of the icy cold water, with a huge fish struggling to break free in his mouth.

"Wow, son. You caught a big one! I'm so proud of you!" His father said, congratulating his son on his first catch of fish.

"Thanks dad!" His son said back to him, smiling brightly. Catching the first fish was a symbolism of growing up to the sea lions.

Gerald looked next to the father and son to see a group of sea lions around his age. "Look at me, I'm Gerald and I can't do anything!" They would say, flopping onto themselves, tripping over-dramatically.

The other sea lions laughed, clapping their fins together.

"I'm Gerald too! Look at my eyebrows!" Another sea lion said, making their eyebrows bushy. They tripped on-top of the first fake Gerald.

The sea lions were laughing uncontrollably, all trying to make themselves look stupid. Or, as they called it, "pulling a Gerald."

Gerald watched with sadness in his eyes.

His mother noticed this, feeling a sorrowful pain inside her heart. She wrapped a fin around her son, but he pushed her fin away.

Gerald wanted to cry, but confidence filled in the little sea lion, as he held his urge to give up. He looked into the water bravely.

"I'm gonna catch one, Mommy..." He said, as he started to move his tail fins towards the ocean. He wanted to show the other sea lions that he was more then what they thought.

"Gerald..." Her mom said, worry filling her eyes. She knew that she couldn't stop her son from proving himself. Hopefully, he'll be alright, she muttered to herself.

But our young little Gerald was far from alright.

A/N: Hello everyone! So, I was watching Finding Dory with my English class a little while ago, and I always wondered that Gerald's past was, and how he got to be himself. So, I decided to make a possible theory story on this! I'm not sure if I'll continue this, so if you want me to keep going with this story, make sure to give a vote and to let me know in the comments!
- Emma