Wilbur and Gulliver's First Meeting

-6-

The first thing Wilbur notices is the morning light peeking through the window. It was as if the night only lasted a minute. Wow, I slept like a baby, he thinks to himself, letting out a yawn. He doesn't remember having any dreams either.

As he comes to his senses, he can feel something close to him. He gazes at a sleeping Gulliver, snuggled up next to him and mostly covered with the blankets. The sailor is breathing deeply and appears to be snoring. Wilbur smiles to himself as the events of last night come back to him: their chill evening, their scheduled date, even Gulliver's mumbling and screaming in the night.

He briefly rolls over to check the time on his nightstand, and is surprised to see that it is already ten a.m. He doesn't remember the last time he's slept in this late; he always finds himself getting up early to fly somewhere. He almost reaches for his phone, but he decides against it before rolling back to face Gulliver.

He listens to the sailor's slow breathing, wondering if he should wake him up. After all, the crew may be waiting outside. He realizes now that this is the second time he's seeing Gulliver wake up, and it's already much more pleasant than the first. It has now been twenty-four hours since they met, but to him it seems like much longer.

He already feels guilty for interrupting Gulliver's beauty sleep, so he decides to try to wake him up gently. He reaches out a wing and strokes the sailor's forehead, smoothing out part of the slight bedhead. He then tries tapping him on the shoulder a few times. To his surprise, there is still no response.

"Gully?" he whispers. "It's time to get up."

He tries the tapping again, and then goes back to smoothing the feathers. Although it's not the same thing, he is still reminded of when he found Gulliver passed out on the beach. He figures the sailor must be a heavy sleeper.

"Hey there, Gully," he tries again, raising his voice slightly. "Wake up, sleepyhead. Your crew should be here."

He waits a few seconds, but Gulliver still doesn't budge.

"C'mon, please wake up."

Finally, Gulliver begins to stir. His eyes flutter open, and he softly gazes at Wilbur.

"Good morning, laddie." Wilbur says. "You slept well, I can see."

"Yeah...I did." Gulliver mumbles, yawning. "What time is it...?"

"It's after ten. Soon, I'm gonna have to lead you to the ol' crew."

"Oh...not yet...I'm too cozy here."

"I know you are." Wilbur replies. "Well, I suppose the crew can wait a little...right?"

"Yeah, for sure. Mrmph...I need five more minutes."

Wilbur obeys, realizing he doesn't want to get out of bed either. He sighs as he watches Gulliver, making sure the sailor doesn't fall back asleep. He figures they could stay put for a while before they go outside to find the ship.

A few minutes later, his phone starts ringing. Upon picking it up, he notices it's from Mia. He sits up in bed and holds it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he asks. "What do you need?"

"Hi, sorry to disturb you," she replies, her voice muffled through the phone. "I don't wanna rush you, but Gulliver's ship is here."

"Oh really? Well, thanks for letting me know. I'll be out with him in a minute."

"Alright, but take your time...they're not in a hurry. How's Gulliver?"

"He's doing great." He glances at the sailor, who's still lying in bed. "A little sleepy, but he got a good night's rest."

"Oh, that's good to hear. So, uh...when you're ready, go to the front beach."