Gerald's Story

Chapter 13

"I'm not going to describe my bath. I'm just not." Gerald said, shaking his head.

May hadn't asked him to, but now she was curious. "What happened?"

"The lady tried to cut my hair!!" Gerald said emotionally.

"And what would have been so bad about that?" She muttered as she crossed her legs.

"It's my hair! It's sparkling and beautiful!" Gerald said, running his hands through it and fluffing it. Then he paused and gave her a look "Don't you like my hair?"

May considered him. "It's growing on me. You'd certainly look different without it."

Gerald scowled. "If I cut it I'd look like a boy scout. No one would take me seriously."

"But you might be a cute boy scout!" May teased.

He groaned in response.

She laughed and scooted closer to him, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It was growing cool inside the skating rink but next to him she felt warm and comfy. "Continue your story." She said as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm interested in hearing about Selma." Her face was suddenly uneasy. "I barely knew her when she died."

"Selma was a really nice person..." Gerald said softly. "After my bath she said...

"You can stay the night if you want to." Selma's soft voice said through the crack in the door as she handed Gerald an old shirt of hers to wear.

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

Gerald shrugged on the "Supernatural" shirt and pulled the door open the rest of the way. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

She nodded. "You can sleep on the couch, Nana's putting some blankets down for you."

Gerald pushed his wet bangs off his forehead and followed her into the living room, where her Nana was fluffing a pillow. She turned to them and smiled. "Sleep good, Harold! I'm off to rest myself!" Then she went down the hall and disappeared.

Gerald went and sat down on the old brown couch, bouncing a bit to test its sturdiness.

"There's breakfast cereal in the cupboard if you get hungry." Selma offered.

Gerald nodded, expecting Selma to leave then, but she didn't.

"Why are you going to Seattle?" She asked as she sat down on one of the recliners.

Gerald thought for a moment. "You know Willy Wonka right?"

"Yeah, the guy who started this war."

"Yeah well...he's not really the one that started it. Poisoning the chocolate supply? That was all the Oompa Loompas, they overthrew Wonka and tried to kill him. He's actually on our side."

Selma studied him hard. "Bullshit."

"No, I swear it's not." Gerald said, shaking his head. "It's the truth."

"And how would you know all this?" She asked suspiciously.

"Because I went into The Factory, I met Willy Wonka and fought with him. He and I escaped together and...well we got split up, and I'm going to meet back up with him."

"You met Willy Wonka? You're a liar." She shook her head at him disapprovingly.

Gerald groaned and tried to think of something to prove to her that he was telling the truth. He could think of nothing. "I have nothing more solid than my word." He said plainly.