Waiting 01.02.16
Note: Happy New Year, everyone! My resolution is to try and find più time to write and get things published. We’ll see how that works out for me. And, to kick off this new year, here’s a Skilene ficlet for your entertainment. Enjoy!
— § —
“Hey, Skipper,” Marlene said, walking up to the pinguino leader with a smile. “Are te excited? We only have a couple più hours!”
“Copy that, Marlene,” Skipper replied. “It feels like 2012 just flew right by. No pun intended.”
Marlene smiled. “I agree. It seems to feel that way every New Year’s,” she noted.
“Yeah,” Skipper agreed. “I guess our busy lives make us forget how short time is.”
Marlene sighed. “I hear that.” There was a moment of silence before she added, “Can I ask something of you, Skipper?”
“Anything, Marlene,” Skipper replied, arching a curious brow. “What’s on your mind?”
“I was just wondering . . . This past year, I finally got my feral side under control, and now that I have, I was hoping maybe te could . . . take me to see the ball drop?”
“You mean up close, then? Rather than watching it from a distance on the clock tower?” Skipper asked.
Marlene nodded.
Skipper smiled. “Of course, dollface. I tell ya, it is a sight to see. Wish we could take the whole zoo, but there’s one serious complication to that,” he mused.
“The fact that people may get suspicious if a horde of animali trapsed through Times Square?” Marlene suggested.
“Well, actually, I was talking about how horrible the traffic would be, but te may have a point with that too,” Skipper replied. Marlene rolled her eyes. “Well,” Skipper continued, “we’d better get going if te want to find a good spot.”
Marlene’s brow furrowed. “We’re not bringing the rest of your team?”
Skipper waved a flipper. “Nah. They’ve seen the ball drop up close and personal before. We can go just the two of us. Would that be okay with you?”
Marlene shrugged indifferently. “Sure. I don’t see why not,” she detto with a smile.
And so, the two of them headed to the pinguino box auto, garage and hopped in the rosa car, Skipper at the wheel. He pulled onto 5th Avenue. After a moment, he looked over at Marlene, who was fidgeting with her fingers.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“No,” Marlene said, shaking her head. “I’m just anxious.”
Skipper smiled at her. “You have nothing to worry about, Marlene. I’ll be with te the whole time,” he assured her.
Marlene smiled back. Then she laughed. “How do te do that?”
Skipper furrowed his brow. “Do what?”
“Make me feel better without even trying,” she replied, looking down at her paws.
Skipper smiled again. “Because te trust me,” he responded, looking over at her.
Marlene smiled back. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
Skipper turned back to the sidewalk in front of him. “I’m going to pull into an alley in a minute. The crowd has to be reaching its peak da now. We won’t be able to get through da car.”
As he’d said, he pulled into an alley about six blocks from Times Square and hid it behind a dumpster. After covering it with newspaper, the two headed for the cuore of Times Square on foot.
“How much time do we have?” Marlene asked.
“About an hour,” Skipper replied without hesitation.
“How do te know that?” Marlene asked. “You didn’t even look at a clock.”
“Call it intuition,” Skipper said, glancing back at her while they were stopped at a corner. “Trust me, if you’d ever been in a situation where you’re locked up for hours, you’d know how to keep an internal clock.”
Marlene became intrigued. “I get the feeling the story behind that is classified,” she detto disappointedly.
Skipper smiled. “Maybe one giorno I can tell you.” He looked around the corner. “The humans are distracted. Stay low,” he said, taking her paw and pulling her forward.
After sneaking past the humans all crowded together in Times Square, Skipper and Marlene scaled a building using the grappling hook Skipper brought and found a spot with the perfect view of the Ball Drop on the roof. There was a large billboard sign with a clock counting down from twenty minutes.
“Wow,” Marlene detto breathlessly. “Everything looks so amazing.”
“It’s New York, dollface,” Skipper agreed. “Of course it’s amazing.”
Marlene smiled at him. “Thanks for doing this, Skipper.”
Skipper smiled back. “Anytime, dollface.”
Marlene arched an eyebrow. “Why do te always call me that?”
Skipper blinked as if he was surprised da the question. “Um . . . I’m sorry. I didn’t know it bothered you.”
“No, it doesn’t bother me,” Marlene replied. “I was just curious why te do it.”
Skipper pressed his beak shut for a moment and shrugged. “It’s . . . just a pet name. No specific reason,” he said, looking back over at her.
Marlene watched him carefully. “Okay,” she said, dropping the matter.
After anxiously waiting another seventeen minutes, Skipper and Marlene got to their feet for the final countdown.
“Here we go,” Skipper detto eagerly. When the clock hit sixty seconds, he and Marlene started counting down together along with the rest of the crowd.
“Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six—”
In the midst of their counting, Marlene gripped Skipper’s flipper and vice-versa in anticipation.
“Forty-three, forty-two, forty-one, forty—”
Marlene watched as the humans prepared the ball for its descent and looked at Skipper as their excitement grew.
“Thirty-two, thirty-one, thirty, twenty-nine—”
Marlene leaned inoltrare, avanti and Skipper had to hold her back before she fell. They laughed as they continued to count.
“Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen—”
Marlene started to hop up and down impatiently and tried to get Skipper to unisciti her, but he shook his head with a laugh.
“Four, three, two one—”
The crowd erupted as the ball dropped and confetti rained from the sky. Fireworks popped and exploded overhead and Marlene watched in awe. Then she squealed with delight and jumped into Skipper’s flippers. He laughed and twirled her around before he set her down.
For a moment, they locked eyes as the fireworks illuminated them in different colori and confetti landed on their heads, still holding each other. Then Marlene smiled.
“Happy New Year, Skipper.”
Skipper smiled back. “Happy New Year, dollface.”
— § —
Note: I used the anno 2012 because that was the anno Littlefoot aired, which is the episode in which Marlene overcame her feral side.
Note: Happy New Year, everyone! My resolution is to try and find più time to write and get things published. We’ll see how that works out for me. And, to kick off this new year, here’s a Skilene ficlet for your entertainment. Enjoy!
— § —
“Hey, Skipper,” Marlene said, walking up to the pinguino leader with a smile. “Are te excited? We only have a couple più hours!”
“Copy that, Marlene,” Skipper replied. “It feels like 2012 just flew right by. No pun intended.”
Marlene smiled. “I agree. It seems to feel that way every New Year’s,” she noted.
“Yeah,” Skipper agreed. “I guess our busy lives make us forget how short time is.”
Marlene sighed. “I hear that.” There was a moment of silence before she added, “Can I ask something of you, Skipper?”
“Anything, Marlene,” Skipper replied, arching a curious brow. “What’s on your mind?”
“I was just wondering . . . This past year, I finally got my feral side under control, and now that I have, I was hoping maybe te could . . . take me to see the ball drop?”
“You mean up close, then? Rather than watching it from a distance on the clock tower?” Skipper asked.
Marlene nodded.
Skipper smiled. “Of course, dollface. I tell ya, it is a sight to see. Wish we could take the whole zoo, but there’s one serious complication to that,” he mused.
“The fact that people may get suspicious if a horde of animali trapsed through Times Square?” Marlene suggested.
“Well, actually, I was talking about how horrible the traffic would be, but te may have a point with that too,” Skipper replied. Marlene rolled her eyes. “Well,” Skipper continued, “we’d better get going if te want to find a good spot.”
Marlene’s brow furrowed. “We’re not bringing the rest of your team?”
Skipper waved a flipper. “Nah. They’ve seen the ball drop up close and personal before. We can go just the two of us. Would that be okay with you?”
Marlene shrugged indifferently. “Sure. I don’t see why not,” she detto with a smile.
And so, the two of them headed to the pinguino box auto, garage and hopped in the rosa car, Skipper at the wheel. He pulled onto 5th Avenue. After a moment, he looked over at Marlene, who was fidgeting with her fingers.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“No,” Marlene said, shaking her head. “I’m just anxious.”
Skipper smiled at her. “You have nothing to worry about, Marlene. I’ll be with te the whole time,” he assured her.
Marlene smiled back. Then she laughed. “How do te do that?”
Skipper furrowed his brow. “Do what?”
“Make me feel better without even trying,” she replied, looking down at her paws.
Skipper smiled again. “Because te trust me,” he responded, looking over at her.
Marlene smiled back. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
Skipper turned back to the sidewalk in front of him. “I’m going to pull into an alley in a minute. The crowd has to be reaching its peak da now. We won’t be able to get through da car.”
As he’d said, he pulled into an alley about six blocks from Times Square and hid it behind a dumpster. After covering it with newspaper, the two headed for the cuore of Times Square on foot.
“How much time do we have?” Marlene asked.
“About an hour,” Skipper replied without hesitation.
“How do te know that?” Marlene asked. “You didn’t even look at a clock.”
“Call it intuition,” Skipper said, glancing back at her while they were stopped at a corner. “Trust me, if you’d ever been in a situation where you’re locked up for hours, you’d know how to keep an internal clock.”
Marlene became intrigued. “I get the feeling the story behind that is classified,” she detto disappointedly.
Skipper smiled. “Maybe one giorno I can tell you.” He looked around the corner. “The humans are distracted. Stay low,” he said, taking her paw and pulling her forward.
After sneaking past the humans all crowded together in Times Square, Skipper and Marlene scaled a building using the grappling hook Skipper brought and found a spot with the perfect view of the Ball Drop on the roof. There was a large billboard sign with a clock counting down from twenty minutes.
“Wow,” Marlene detto breathlessly. “Everything looks so amazing.”
“It’s New York, dollface,” Skipper agreed. “Of course it’s amazing.”
Marlene smiled at him. “Thanks for doing this, Skipper.”
Skipper smiled back. “Anytime, dollface.”
Marlene arched an eyebrow. “Why do te always call me that?”
Skipper blinked as if he was surprised da the question. “Um . . . I’m sorry. I didn’t know it bothered you.”
“No, it doesn’t bother me,” Marlene replied. “I was just curious why te do it.”
Skipper pressed his beak shut for a moment and shrugged. “It’s . . . just a pet name. No specific reason,” he said, looking back over at her.
Marlene watched him carefully. “Okay,” she said, dropping the matter.
After anxiously waiting another seventeen minutes, Skipper and Marlene got to their feet for the final countdown.
“Here we go,” Skipper detto eagerly. When the clock hit sixty seconds, he and Marlene started counting down together along with the rest of the crowd.
“Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six—”
In the midst of their counting, Marlene gripped Skipper’s flipper and vice-versa in anticipation.
“Forty-three, forty-two, forty-one, forty—”
Marlene watched as the humans prepared the ball for its descent and looked at Skipper as their excitement grew.
“Thirty-two, thirty-one, thirty, twenty-nine—”
Marlene leaned inoltrare, avanti and Skipper had to hold her back before she fell. They laughed as they continued to count.
“Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen—”
Marlene started to hop up and down impatiently and tried to get Skipper to unisciti her, but he shook his head with a laugh.
“Four, three, two one—”
The crowd erupted as the ball dropped and confetti rained from the sky. Fireworks popped and exploded overhead and Marlene watched in awe. Then she squealed with delight and jumped into Skipper’s flippers. He laughed and twirled her around before he set her down.
For a moment, they locked eyes as the fireworks illuminated them in different colori and confetti landed on their heads, still holding each other. Then Marlene smiled.
“Happy New Year, Skipper.”
Skipper smiled back. “Happy New Year, dollface.”
— § —
Note: I used the anno 2012 because that was the anno Littlefoot aired, which is the episode in which Marlene overcame her feral side.
