Starting New: A World Apart

Chapter 10: Small Talk

Gumball emerged from the bathroom still partly wet from his shower. He made his way to his room, before closing the door and changing into something else. He thought it would be best if he didn't have his tear soaked shirt and pants on when he saw his mom again, for her sake. He put on a light blue T-shirt along with some gray shorts. After a few moments of letting his body dry off, he laid down on his bed.

'Now what?' He thought to himself. He felt too energetic to just lie there.

After about an hour of doing this, he couldn't stand it. He got up and decided to go downstairs and outside. He breathed in the fresh air and glanced up at the clear blue sky. Gumball thought of a few things to do...but none seemed too interesting.

'Hmm, I could walk around the house? Nah, too boring. I could...play in the grass? Come on brain! I'm not a child anymore...'

Gumball slumped down on the pavement before suddenly getting an idea. He could try those exercises that Nicole had somewhat taught him all those years ago. It was worth a shot...

Nicole woke up after taking a quick nap. She felt a little better, but still felt a tinge of stress still lingering in her system. She decided to get up and grab something from the fridge to help take her mind off it. She opened her door and was about to make her way downstairs, when she passed Gumball's open door. She quickly peered in and checked to see if he was in there, but found it empty.

'Huh, maybe he's downstairs too.' Nicole thought.

She made her way into the kitchen downstairs but was also met with an empty room. Nicole decided to head for the window and gazed out. Just beyond the lawn was Gumball on the pavement...doing her stretches. Although his techniques were...well, quite stiff and amateur in nature, it still brought a small smile to her lips.

'After all this time...he still remembered.'

Nicole made her way outside and onto the porch. She watched silently as Gumball continued his "stretches". Eventually, she walked over near Gumball.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked, drawing Gumball's attention to her.

He stopped for a second, before nodding.

"Sure mom. I wouldn't mind."

Nicole gave a warm smile before loosening her body and stretching out wide with her legs and arms. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gumball admiring her stance, and attempted to copy it. Nicole was loving this. She truly missed this. It felt good to experience it again...

After a few stretches and a few small mishaps on Gumball's part, they decided to stop it there. Gumball took a few deep breaths before turning towards Nicole.

"So, now what?"

Nicole hadn't really planned what to do after their stretches, but after a moment, an idea came to her.

"Well, I was planning on starting a garden out back. Sure we have plenty of fruits and veggies in the fridge, but I thought it would be something fun to do; not to mention rewarding."

This seemed to grab Gumball's attention.

"Can we plant like, corn and potatoes? Ooo, can we plant tomatoes too?"

Nicole chuckled at this.

"Yes sweetie, we can plant those."

"Nice! So, what do we need to start it?" Gumball asked following her back towards the house.

"We need to mark out the garden then plow or overturn the soil. After we do that we can work on the planting of the seeds."

"How do we plow or flip the soil though? We don't have any tools."