by cheetah the furry (Jade Griffin)

1-9-97 to ???- not finished yet..

Augustus Gummi awoke with a start. He’d been dreaming about her again… No chance getting back to sleep now. Gusto glanced over at Artie, asleep on a convenient roost, before getting up quietly. He left the darkness of his wrecked-ship home to see the stars outside. With a deep sigh, he grabbed up a lantern and went into the thick jungle foliage.

He was still painting when Artie found him that morning.

"So there you are!" the toucan said as he winged over and landed on the gummie’s shoulder.

"Hey, Artie."

"I’ve been looking all over for you. Since when do you come out here to paint?"

"Since I started this one." Gusto paused, brush poised, then stopped for a moment to look the picture over.

Artie also looked the finished painting over. It was a portrait of an orange-furred gummi lady. "Hey, who’s she?"

"My mother. Her name was Galli."

"’Was’? I thought she’d still be around."

"She is. It’s just that… It’s been four years, Artie. I’m never gonna see her again."

"Not when you talk like that!" the toucan paused. "You were close, huh?"

"Yeah. She was the best Boatmaster in Gumport. Mom didn’t know anything about art but she understood me. I think today’s her birthday. I wanted to do something special."

Gusto was really down today. Artie never liked to see his companion so miserable. He looked back at the portrait. "Hmm… Sad, yet strong. I like it. She’d be proud."

"She always was." Gusto got up and started collecting his things.

"Gonna work on the dragon?" the black-feathered bird guessed.

"Yeah. I have to stay focused on the present. I just wish… I want her to know I’m okay. The sea didn’t swallow me up. It just trapped me a little. But what I really wanna know is why she stopped looking for me. She had to have. She was the best. If anybody would have found me, it would have been her." He sighed again, then shook off his mood. "That boat’s long gone, Gusto. Live in the now! I can’t work if I dwell in the past, and I can’t keep going if I can’t create. C’mon, Artie; let’s go start that dragon a set a’ wings."

The toucan remained on Gusto’s shoulder as he made for the volcano. He seemed his usual artistic self again but Artie knew he was doing it this time to take his mind off the past. The funny thing was, his art did a better job of that than Artie ever could; or so the bird felt. Maybe there was something—

"Hey, whaddaya think, Artie? Feathers or no?"

The toucan looked up from his thinking, into the clearing and toward the mountainous volcano where the carved dragon guarded watch. "Ahhh… None. It’s a dragon, not a cockatrice."

"Yeah. That might be a little much."

Gusto entered the scaffolding lift, pulled, and up they went.

The gummi sighed wistfully as he paused inside the dragon’s mouth, looking into the throat. "It’ll be spectacular, outrageous, monumental! One of a kind. Ya know, I just might be a genius."

The artist took the goggles from their place and put them on, grabbed a chisel and started away. "Yep. You may just be living with a genius, Artie."

The black-feathered bird winged over to a more stable perch. Boy, was he down! Artie wouldn’t dare make a bad comment about that. Gusto would occasionally close up when he did, and sometimes even stop working all together to go sulk in the ship, or some remote part of the island. The toucan only wanted to cheer him up, but sometimes joking just didn’t work.

"What, no comment?" Gusto asked, smiling over at him.

Huh. Maybe he wasn’t just putting on a good mood. Artie decided to rib him. "I didn’t want to offend you, Great One." he replied graciously, bowing low, wings spread.

Gusto actually smiled and then got full into his work, forgetting all else.

Gusto’s mood got worse that evening when they returned to the beached ship he used as a house. His little boat had been completely destroyed but he’d found this other and made use of it. Now, everything in it reminded him of where he was—Alone.

He didn’t eat much that night and kept staring at his mother’s portrait, which he’d put by his bed. At one point, the gummi left the boat and came back with an island lily, setting it by the picture.

"I always brought her a flower on her birthday." he explained before returning to silence.

"How far away is Gumport?" Artie asked. It was rare for Gusto to talk about his home. The toucan took this opportunity.

"About half a day’s sailing I think. Hard to tell now."

* * *

Again, bouncers. That be all I gots. I hope to finish this one soon:)

meleslie@hotmail.com