The Gift: A TAWOG Story

Chapter 18: The Aftermath

As Gumball drifted off to sleep, the camera panned out away from his bed, then out from his window. The scene focused on a leaf resting on Gumball's windowsill.

[For those of you who own "Calling All Angels" by Train, press play]

Suddenly, the leaf was swept up in the wind. It hovered higher and higher and blew in circles and loops, making its way one block over to the FitzGerald's house. Inside, a heartbroken Penny, now with bandages on her face, was tearfully going through all the photos she had with Gumball in her phone. Patrick came in, sat down next to her, and gave her a hug. Patrick suggested to Penny that she write Gumball a little 'get-well' card to show him that she truly cares about and forgives him.

The leaf blew across the street to the Wilsons' house. Rachel Wilson checked on her younger brother Tobias, who was still hiding under his bed curled up in a ball. Despite being commended by his snobbish parents amidst their feud against the Wattersons, Tobias had been sobbing from the grasp of wrathful guilt. He felt immense regret for what he did to trigger Gumball. Rachel finally got him to come out and gave him a hug. This was the first hug the two siblings had ever shared. The two decided to write a little get-well card for Gumball, which on Tobias' half doubled as an apology letter for the way he treated Gumball.

Next, the leaf blew to Jamie's house, where Jamie kept whamming on her punching bag with Gumball's face taped on it. After tiring herself out from so much punching, she ripped off the picture and broke down in tears, proceeding to plop herself right down on her bed. She looked over at her cluttered desk and saw some paper and pencils. After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to write a get-well card for Gumball, which doubled as an apology letter as well.

The leaf continued onward past Sarah's house, where Sarah was up in her room staring tearfully at a photo of Gumball. She felt heartbroken that her hero, her idol, went berserk and attacked the school. She attempted to cheer herself up the way she usually did, by writing fan fiction, but she could not think of anything due to this incident dominating her thoughts. She decided to take a break from writing stories and write Gumball a get-well card from his biggest fan instead.

The leaf then blew past the Hot Dog Guy's house. Even he, despite all his awkward interactions with the young blue cat, felt shock about the attack. The incident that had just occurred at school made him realize Gumball had had such a big impact on his life. He felt it was rather weird that he shared awkward hugs with a cat who would end up being the most ferocious kid in school. This thought alone gave him chills. Nevertheless, he felt great remorse for the blue cat, so he decided to do the right thing and write a get-well card for him.

The leaf blew continued its journey past the Bananas' household, where Banana Joe finished making a little 'get-well' card for Gumball. He sealed in an envelope and rushed out of his house to deliver it to the Wattersons.

As the wind carried the leaf past homes all around Elmore, the students residing in these homes wrote get-well cards. From Carrie Krueger, to Teri, to Alan Keane, to Bobert, to Leslie, to Carmen, to Ocho, to Idaho, to Molly, even Tina Rex, all writing and making and signing get-well cards for their classmate, all of them placing their cards in the Wattersons' mailbox at different times.

Having made a journey around Elmore past many students' homes, the leaf finally returned to the Watterson house, landing right on top of their mailbox, which was now crammed with get-well cards and letters. Train's "Calling All Angels" faded out to an end.

It was now dusk in Elmore. The Wattersons has just finished their dinner without Gumball, who was still resting up in his bed. Nicole went outside to check the mail. When she opened the mailbox and loads of cards spilled out in front of her onto the ground, she was over hit with emotion. At first, she was crying tears of joy that all of her son's classmates were willing to show their remorse, sympathy, and support for him. However, by the time she reached the front door with the loads of envelopes in her arms, her tears morphed into sadness and pity. She entered the house and tearfully dropped the envelopes in a bin before retreating to her and Richard's room.