How Mia Met Gulliver

-4-

The ship is different now without Gulliver. The others still take turns steering, and their daily routine seems to go on, but something is missing. They all know why: Gulliver always manages to keep them entertained, with his funny anecdotes and tendency to be a chatterbox. Now, the afternoon drags on, with one less crewmate on their team.

Chip has just finished steering for a while, and he lets Filbert take over before going to find Lily. She has been a bit down in the dumps today, which makes sense to him; she and Gulliver usually spend a lot of time together. He heads over to the cabins and spots her sitting on Gulliver's bed, rifling through his piles of clothes. Upon noticing Chip, she looks up and smiles softly.

"Hello there, Chippy. Any news on Gulliver? Is he alright?"

"Yes, he is. I got a message from him, saying he's at Rep. McAllister's town. We know where to go now, so he'll be back with us soon."

"Oh, thank goodness." She lets out a sigh of relief. "I was so worried...How long will it take?"

"I don't know yet. We must have been somewhere near there last night, and we've pretty much been going straight since then...Filbert's turning around now, so...I would say probably tomorrow morning."

"Really? That long? I hope he's okay over there...Hopefully someone at that town's giving him sleeping arrangements for tonight."

"Lily, I'm sure they are," he assures her. "Don't stress about it, okay? He's fine."

"Alright, I guess so. Thank you for telling me this."

"No problem, laddie."

They exchange a quick goodbye, before Chip turns and walks away. He enters his own cabin, which is much tidier than Gulliver's, and closes the door behind him. After plopping down on the bed with a sigh, he opens his phone to check his messages.

The group chat looks the same, with Gulliver's most recent message at the bottom. Chip could easily compose a reply, and he is fully aware of this...but he had decided not to.

He did the same thing with the call; he listened to the voicemail in full, but never bothered to call his friend back. When Gulliver returns tomorrow, he plans to tell him that he tried to reply, but the signal wasn't connected. In fact, the signal is a little weak but still working.

Fortunately for him, Lily believes that Gulliver fell off the ship. It would be the most obvious explanation; they were on the deck and Chip went to bed, leaving Gulliver alone. Then the next morning, he was gone. What else could have happened?

Chip chuckles to himself, grinning from ear to ear. His plan had worked.

...

April 18

A good while after dinner, Chip and Gulliver have just finished doing the dishes. It is getting late, so Chip realizes he has to ask his question...before they all turn in for the night.

"Well, I guess we're done here," he declares. "Hey, uh...sorry if this is, like, last minute or anything...but do you wanna hang out on the deck together?"

"Oh, wow!" Gulliver exclaims. "Um...yeah, sure!" Chip sighs in relief at his response; it would be pathetic if he had said no.

"Alright, laddie. Just give me a minute, alright? You can go out there, and I'll follow."

Gulliver agrees, and Chip watches him slowly walk out of the room. When he is out of sight, Chip's heart skips a beat. It's time to put it all together.

First, he pours them each a glass of root beer, since he knows that is Gulliver's favorite soda. Then he opens the cabinet under the sink and reaches to the back, where he had hidden a small jar of fruity gummies. As he pulls it out, he studies the gummies closely: they look totally normal, so Gulliver won't know the truth. While they were in their hometown last weekend, Chip had bought over-the-counter sleep gummies. He smiles as he slips the jar in his pocket, grabs the sodas, and makes his way over to the deck.

He runs over his plan again: first, he will let Gulliver eat the gummies, then wait until he gets super tired, and then leave. The latter he will do only briefly, just so Gulliver won't suspect anything from them being alone together. When Gulliver is fast asleep, Chip will tiptoe back to the deck, grab him, and toss him overboard. Yes, this is perfect. It's even better knowing that Filbert is in on this; right now he is steering the ship close to Rep. McAllister's beach.

When he reaches the deck, Gulliver is there waiting for him, sitting on a pink flowery sleeping bag. Part of him wants to feel bad for what he's about to do, but he can't find an ounce of sympathy in himself. All I want to do is make this guy's life miserable. Then I'll be happy.

So he gives his friend the soda, followed by the gummies, and it all begins.

...

It is nearly eleven by the time Gulliver falls asleep. Chip had left like he planned, but instead of heading all the way to his cabin, he decided to just stand by the door leading downstairs. He messaged Filbert in private earlier, and now the ship is stopped right in front of the beach. From there he has a decent view of Gulliver, who he realizes isn't moving. All right, good. This is the perfect time.

Slowly, he creeps over to the sleeping bag, trying not to make any loud noises. Luckily, Gulliver seems to be in a deep sleep; those gummies must have done the trick. Chip stands over him, only a few feet from the railing, and another couple yards from the shoreline. He quickly realizes there is one thing he hadn't thought through...how he is going to pick up someone who's almost his weight. Shoot. If he was a little smarter, maybe he could have had Filbert come and help him...but then there would be no one at the helm.

He peels the top of the sleeping bag off Gulliver's body, realizing he has to figure this out. He could throw him over the railing like he planned...but he worries that he wouldn't be able to. The last thing he wants is for Gulliver to get badly injured, by hitting the top of the railing or landing back on the hard deck. Hmm...this should really be a two-person job... He pauses his thought as the railing catches his eye. It is made up of only vertical rails, and the space between each one seems just wide enough for someone to fit through. Yes! This could work.

To start, he grabs Gulliver's feet and drags them toward the railing, until they are slightly dangling overboard. Next he walks around and starts pushing on his shoulders. It doesn't take long until his whole body has made it through the rail, and soon he flops into the water with a splash. Chip jumps up excitedly, briefly throwing his wings in the air. He had done it without someone else's assistance.

Gulliver floats out on the water, and within a few minutes he is washed up on the shore. His eyes are closed, and he seems to be breathing normally.

After making sure Gulliver is alright, Chip turns around and starts walking toward the helm. He wants to tell Filbert about his job well done. Soon they will start the ship again, and Gulliver will spend the night on that beach, with nobody around to find him. All Chip has to do is wait, and see how it plays out.

...

April 19

Chip remains in his cabin, still looking at his phone. The ship doesn't seem to be very close to a town, so the signal is weak. He makes a mental note to open NookChat when it gets better, and to search up Rep. McAllister. Maybe he could learn her first name, and see what she looks like. He doesn't even know her age; she could be anywhere from a young lady in her twenties to a sixty-five year old grandma. The former makes more sense to him; he imagines an older man like Tom Nook hiring a younger, inexperienced woman to work with him.

Now that it seems like he'll get away with this, all he has to do is keep it secret. He figures private text messaging with Filbert, like he's been doing, is the most effective method. That way he won't risk Gulliver overhearing their conversations, for the last thing he wants is to get caught. He doesn't even want to think about it; Gulliver would be furious, and the others would surely kick both him and Filbert out.

For now, he is glad that Gulliver is out in a strange, unfamiliar town, probably with Rep. McAllister or whoever else found him. It pleases him to think of the sailor suffering, and part of him knows that is a terrible thought. The other part, though, thinks that Gulliver deserves all this. Ever since the two met, Gulliver has just been irking him the wrong way. He doesn't entirely know why; maybe he is jealous, or he thinks Gulliver is too annoying...either way, he has no regrets for what he has just done.