The Gift: A TAWOG Story

Chapter 26: The List

As soon as Gumball complied with Nicole's plea not to talk about the room anymore, he woke up standing in the living room with Nicole right beside him. While now very confused as he felt he just got woken up ten minutes prior on the sidewalk by his mother, the little blue cat was rather stunned to see his mother standing there in front of him, almost as if he simply blinked.

"I forgot to take my pills, didn't I?" said Gumball, which triggered instant yet ambiguous deja vu within him.

"Yes, you did," replied Nicole. "But I guess its for the better because tonight we are going to make that list. Whataya say?"

"The list?" said Gumball slightly perplexed. "At one in the morning? Um..."

"And I know just where we can make it." She went into the kitchen and grabbed the pad of paper, mechanical pencils, and stuffed them into Gumball's backpack, handing it to Gumball soon after. "Strap this on," said Nicole. Because where we're going, we are gonna run- like cats."

"What?" said Gumball. "But how are we gonna..."

"Think about the humiliation you felt right before you were pushed over your limit at school," Nicole abruptly said. Suddenly, memories started flooding back to Gumball. He remembered the humiliation and overall horrific day he had before he attacked the school. This was enough to get him into a rage that turned his eyes yellow and constricted his pupils. Nicole thought back to the events that pushed her over her limit at the supermarket, changing her eyes and pupils as well. Gumball was astonished that he was able to turn feral much faster than the first time. Then, Darwin came walking down the stairs in his dragon's feet slippers.

"What's all the ruckus down here?" Gumball savagely hissed at his adopted goldfish brother, which made him cower. He started shaking when he saw that his adoptive brother's and mother's eyes were yellow with constricted pupils.

"It's okay, Darwin," said Nicole, looking at him with her yellow eyes. "We haven't been pushed over our limits. We're just being cats."

"You like my hiss?" said Gumball. "I've been working on it."

"Well, you certainly scared me," said Darwin, still on edge.

"Oh, I'm sorry buddy," said Gumball. "We're just on our way to make our list."

"Gumball, let's go," said Nicole, down on all fours with the front door wide open. "Darwin, go back to bed, honey." Gumball got down on all fours as well with his backpack strapped on.

"List? What list?" said Darwin, slightly less on edge but still confused.

"It's hard to explain, Darwin," Gumball replied. "I'll see you tomorrow!" With that, he ran out the door.

"Gumball, wait!" Darwin ran out the door and onto the street. With that, Gumball and Nicole had vanished into the fog. Darwin was now rather sad that he could not join them or even know what they were up to, where they were going. He felt jealous that he was not a cat like his adoptive brother and mother were. At this moment, he did not feel proud to be a goldfish.

Gumball and Nicole have made it to the park on all fours, and Nicole sat up on her legs with her front paws and arms providing frontal support for her to sit like a domesticated cat. Gumball sat in the same posture. Their eyes remained yellow and their pupils remained constricted.

"Now, let's start crafting that list," Nicole said as she unzipped and reached into Gumball's backpack and got out the mechanical pencils and pad of paper. "I guess I should ask, have you thought of any moments we shared in the past."

"I'm kinda frustrated, Mom," replied Gumball. "Because when I was pushed over my limit, you snapped me out of it with all the wonderful memories you triggered inside of me, but now I can't remember any of them-" Suddenly, memories started flooding back. "Wait a second! I do remember when you took me to the supermarket early in the morning once to try to make me a 'winner.'" They both laughed at this memory as Nicole jotted it down. "And I do remember a couple of times when you made me that soup when I was sick in bed."