The Trait: A TAWOG Story

Chapter 1: The Push

Anais found herself inside the black void, the same void Gumball and Nicole use to see into the family's dreams. Alone she walked, her little footsteps echoing throughout. She could not see in front of her, yet somehow knew where she was walking.

A giant glowing pink archway suddenly rose from the floor and towered over the little pink bunny, as she gazed up in astonishment with her jaw dropped. Nervous as to where it would lead to, she took in a deep breath as she carefully took each step into the archway.

The little pink bunny found herself in the middle of bustling Piccadilly Circus in London. Not knowing how she got there or where she was supposed to be, she became more frightened as she was the smallest in the crowd, not being able to see anything beyond five feet. Nevertheless, she trudged her way through the forest of legs of passersby as she eventually reached a wide set of stairs in the sidewalk with mammals trickling out of them. The symbol above them looked familiar to Anais, a rounded consisting of a red ring and a blue bar, with the word "UNDERGROUND" engraved on it. She became hopeful as she could hopefully make it home somehow, even though it required getting across the pond and the continental United States somehow.

She made her way down the steps navigating through the loads of mammals making their way back up the steps until she reached the circular mezzanine and ticketing hall below the street. Sleek tile lined the flooring and walls with lights illuminating as far she could see. She ran as fast as her little legs could run to the turnstiles, tripping and falling briefly as she made her way. When she reached them, she realized she was going to need to buy a fare card.

Anais reached into her little pockets on her orange dress to see if she had any money on her, but instead she picked out an Underground fare card. Perplexed as to how it got there, she proceeded to the turnstiles, though she immediately ran into a problem. She was too small for them, struggling to jump as high as she could to tap her card against the reader but to avail. She turned to the security box for help. That is when gasped and her jaw dropped.

She saw her mother inside there, wearing an Underground staff uniform, and watching security monitors as she sipped her coffee, seemingly struggle to stay awake for the night shift. Anais knocked on the glass to get her mother's attention, but Nicole did not hear her. She climbed up a box next to the security box and waved her little arms in front of her mother, but still to no avail.

"Mom!! Mom!!!" She desperately shouted, but Nicole did not even raise her eyes. They were just glued to the monitors. If she was paying no attention to Anais, the little pink bunny realized she could easily slip past the turnstiles without having to tap her card. Even better, now that she was standing on top, about at level with the reader, she could just hop over. She then realized again she was at level with the card reader, so she tapped her card out of courtesy and let the turnstile spin though.

On the other side, she made her way to the escalators, still perplexed as to why her mother was acting like that. Bustles of Londoners emerged from the up escalators as she carefully tried to merge with traffic going down. She gingerly stepped on a plate and tried to keep completely still as she began her descent, still not being able to see much in front of her. She did look up and saw the advertisements along the tubular walls passing by one by one.

About halfway down the escalator, Anais heard a piano start to play. It got louder and louder as she got closer to the bottom. When she finally did and disembarked, she saw her father, who appeared severely impoverished with ragged clothing, play a smooth jazz tune on an a keyboard. Anais then noticed a little fedora he had upside down off to the side filled with money, and every once in a while a passerby would drop in coins or pounds into it. Richard just kept playing as if he was alone as his daughter approached him.

"Dad? Dad?" Anais called, but just like Nicole up in the security box, Richard ignored her. He continued to play without acknowledging his daughter for a second. To her, he seemed like he was really into it, so she figured she would let him have his fun with his instrument. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a British pound and threw it into his fedora, still wishing he would at least acknowledge her.

Anais sighed and carried on down the corridor through the bustle of commuters. At some point, she came across the map, and she realized that to make it to the airport, she must take the Piccadilly Line on the Underground. She followed the signs for the Piccadilly Line platform, down one more set of stairs. The little pink bunny felt kind of grossed out by the smell and the griminess of the floor and walls.

It was fairly quiet on the platform, with very few commuters talking. Most were reading their newspapers or staring at their phones. The little pink bunny waited patiently for the next Piccadilly Line train to come. That's when she noticed two very familiar commuters a little further down the platform. They were her older brothers, Gumball and Darwin! She eagerly ran up to the blue kitten and goldfish with legs.

"Gumball! Darwin!" Anais yelled. "Can you tell me what's going on here?! Gumball?! Darwin?!" She poked at them, trying desperately to get their attention. She tried waving her arms in front of their faces, giving them little shoved, and even slapping their faces, but nothing worked. Just like her parents, not even a bat of an eye. The little pink bunny was now beyond frustrated. "Gosh darn it, you guys!! Why won't anyone listen to me?!?!"

Just then, she began feel the ground shake slightly and hear rumbling. The next Piccadilly train was about to arrive, but Anais was so mad that her family was not acknowledging her that she did not care. She was so mad, she could not think straight. She was so mad that... that... an entity formed within her. It was sort of an empty feeling within her, empty of... good.

That was when she formed the face. The familiar Pennywise-like face she used to make as an infant back when she had evil tendencies and a resentment towards her brothers. It was that very face that formed on hers as she creeped towards her brothers waiting for the train to arrive. As the train pulled into the station, the little pink bunny did the unthinkable. She shoved her brothers from the platform down onto the tracks.

The blue kitten and the goldfish with legs both made a hard thud and yowled in pain. The train pulling into the station suddenly blared its horn as soon as the driver saw Gumball and Darwin on the tracks. Anais kept the evil grin as she looked down at her brothers, who finally looked up and acknowledged her.

"Y-you monster," Gumball said with a raspy voice.

The train kept blaring its horn as it threw on its breaks as quick as it could, but it could not stop in time. Anais just watched in satisfaction as the train barreled right up to her brothers.

The little pink bunny bursted awake and gasped for air, taking deep breaths as she looked around. She was in her pajamas, on the top bunk of a bunk bed, in the dark, drenched in sweat. She took a moment to process the dream she just had.

She was confused. She began wondering why she would have a dream like that, one where she deliberately tried to kill her brothers. She peaked over the railing and looked down to see her older brothers fast asleep, Gumball in his t-shirt with a red stripe and boxer shorts without the covers in the lower bunk, and Darwin exhaling bubbles soundly in his fishbowl on the nightstand.

As relieved as she was that the whole thing was a dream and she was safe and sound in Elmore with her family, she nevertheless felt scared and confused. The notion kept bouncing around her. Why did she feel delight and smiles in trying to kill her brothers in the dream? She felt awful thinking of that. Not knowing what to make of the dream she just had, she laid in her bed in guilt, not being able to fall back asleep.