Over the fence ch. 10

by

Mastermindhunter

As soon as they left the top of the rock, they made their way to the Guggenheim. It was fairly large, and quite bizarre shaped. Still Gwyneth and Rico were pretty bizzare themselves. When they entered, it was pretty mind blowing for Rico. Kowalski made a great choice. Inside the floors looped about. Gwyneth looke d straight up at it, and slowly turned around. She started spinning counter clockwise, and stopped after a bunch of spins. She held her fingers up to her forehead, and smiled, closing her eyes. "Whoah" Rico caught her as she dizziley fumbled a bit. What a fun place to get lost in.

They started walking toward the first level of floors. People all around had hight of fashion clothes. It wasn't apparent to them, until later, that there was a great amount of artists in the museum today. They had come in the middle of an artists convention. It was no wonder that there were so many pieces on display. The pieces were actually quite wonderful. Some were paintings of bizarre wierd things. Others looked extremely old fashioned, and regal. There was one that showed a woman who was standing on country porch. Rico looked at it, and smiled. It made him think of a life with Gwyneth. Gwyneth walked over to the next one. THey strutted all throughout the museum. There was a large statue that was a sculpture of an American Revolution captain looking out as if he were on a ship. Gwyneth smiled, and turned towards Rico.

"It's sort of a wierd comparison, but for some reason, this statue makes me think of you." Gwyneth chuckled. Rico looked up at the ten foot sculpture, and smiled. He ran over to it, and stood in the same pose that the captain stood. He tried looking serious and stood there, with his hand over his eyes. Gwyneth laughed, and hugged Rico around the waist. Rico blushed, and smiled, as returned the hug. They walked a little further. The painting and sculptures were marvelous. Ricos favorites were the ones of angels. Gwyneth liked the ones which were very abstract. They had spent a good amount of time there. Gwyneth was going to go to the bathroom, then head out. She walked out, brushing her top downwards.

"Uhmm excuse me?" A tall man walked up to the couple. He had neat dark thick hair, and looked rather young, but were older than both of them. "What are these little people doing here? I thought we had this place secure." A museum staff member walked up, and nodded. She was tall, and had a smug look upon her face. Her face looked like it had a permanent frown plastered on it. She looked like the type of person that had been rude plenty of times before. Her hair was an extreme dark red color, and was cut short, and close to her head.

She looked back to the young adults. "Yes quite. Sorry you two, but you must go." She grabbed the two by the arms, firmly, and quite painfully and dragged them towards the doors. Gwyneth had trouble standing, and was slipping under her foot. Rico was concerned, and tried by holding her other hand. Regardles of the worker's glance to her false leg, she didn't slow down. She simply sneered a disgusted look, and resumed pulling her closer to the doors.

"STOP!" The three were halted by a rather tall slanky man, with white fashionable hair. "Don't throw these people out. They're just here to appreciate art, and are not causing any trouble, and to thro . . . umm pardon me, but can I have some time alone with these two people, if you don't mind ma'am" The angry lady looked at the obvious artist, and glared at the two people she was about to throw out. They looked at her, hoping they would have their hands let free of this womans grasp. She looked particularly mad, and let their wrists go. They smiled at each other as she stomped away.

The man was about twenty or so. He was also very tall, rivaling Rico human height. He was very fine boned, with long legs. He wore red wine colored pants. His shirt a grey color, with a green scarf. His hair was a snowy white color. He stared at the couple. It was sort of unnerving. "Oh my golly I've fallen in love with inspiration. Look at the two of you. That scar! That leg! Pure beauty! I couldn't imagine getting better models." He took a simple snapshot of the two. Then out of nowhere, many more artists clamoured around them, taking pictures of the two. They were getting a bit dizzy from the flashes. It was as if they were now the latest models. "They are so flawed, yet so amazing! Wow I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful people. I mean look at that scar. It's so prominent, yet it makes him look so handsome. Same thing for the girl. It's simply perfect."

Wow Rico was just a human for a few days, and already he's an inspiration for a model.

"Well that's quite flattering, but we have someplace to go. Goodbye, artists." Gwyneth smiled. Rico grabbed her hands, and they slowly trotted out of the meuseum, hold each others hand warmly. They walked slowly out of the museum, and walked down to central park. When they arrived, Rico had thought that Gwyneth should get a chance to be off her feet. He rented a rowboat, to take out on the pond. It was easy for him to row, being the muscle of the four boys. He was rowing while gwyneth sat on the other side. Rico saw her dip her fingers in the pond. He had never felt water against his bare flesh as a penguin. She yawned, and leaned her head against his heart. It was times like this that he wished his heart rate wasn't so fast paced. After a while on the water, Rico heard Gwyneth groan. "Hmm I feel lazy. I feel like we've been on the pond long enough. Want to go walking on the trail?" That seemed wonderfull to Rico. If she was willing to go out on a trail, he was too. He rowed them both to shore. Along the trail, Rico spotted an apple tree above his head. He thought that if she liked the quarter trick, she would love this. He plucked three off of the branches. Two apples were in his right hand, while one was in his left. In one swift move, they were being juggled, their hollow thuds were heard when they fell in his hands. Gwyneth couldn't help, but be enchanted. Rico juggled them in every way, including behind his back every few tosses. In one swift move, he opened his mouth, and swallowed all three. This srprised Gwyneth greatly. She didn't exactly know what to say. Rico smiled, but then looked worried, when Gwyneth was limping a bit. He grabbd both of her arms, and sat her down on a park bench. She shifted, and unlocked her right leg carefully. A light sigh escaped her lips. "Thank you Rico!" She giggled. She laid it down on the bench between her and Rico. Rico looked at it, and picked it up. Gwyneth smiled lazily at it, but her smile didn't last. It suddenly dropped to her leg.

"I wish that woman hadn't given me that dirty look. I hate it when people make rude faces. Most of the time, I just shrug it off, and continue on my way." She twirled her only real foot in circles. They were quite for a while. "It bothers them a bit, doesn't it?" She looked up at Rico with the saddest imaginable eyes. Rico didn't understand. He looked at her confused. "My leg. I think your brothers are bothered by it. I mean, I thought it was just my imagination, but I watched them out of the corners of my eyes." She looked away grabbing a strand of her long hair, and twisting it around in her fingers. Rico wanted to say that they weren't bothered at all, but he wouldn't lie to her, so he let out a deep groan, and nodded to her. It was true that the boys did find it rather different. She let out a deep breath, and chuckled a bit. "Well I guess it is rather out of the ordinary for normal footed people. Would you like to know why I'm like this?"

Rico had remembered what Kowalski said. 'I'm not the perfect romantic, but I just wanted to tell you, don't ask her. It will make her feel pressure, and that's something someone as busy and stressed as her doesn't need.' He knew it was the wrong thing to do, but he had to know what awful disaster had caused her so much pain. He nodded his head biting his lip. She smiled and hugged his head. She had pulled her scally cap off, and and swept her hair back in her hat.

"Thank you for telling the truth. I appreciate that. You see, it wasn't ripped off by a dog, or anything crazy like that." She picked the foot back up, and fastened it back on. "As a matter of fact, I was born this way. Well not born this way. It was actually much worse. In the womb, my leg was sort of crush, and beyond repair. When I was born, they rushed me to the surgery room, to amputate. It got to keep my upper half of my foreleg, and it was rounded of quite well." She looked own, and traced the end. "As the years went on, my leg had grown longer. I would get a prosthesis, when my little one was out of date, and usually I like varieties, so sometimes I wear runner plates, if I'm excercising. When I'm out on dates, I wear this one, mainly beacause you can barely tell." It was true. You could barely tell. Rico, then noticed her voice had gotten softer, and sadder.

"People in elementary sometimes made fun of it, when they knew the teachers weren't looking. They called me things like captain ahab, or hopper. I remember there was an awful girl that pushed me once, when I had gotten a new prosthesis. It was the first day, and I was getting used to it. When I went into the restrooms, she followed me in, and I was shoved down, and called a freak. It took so long to get back up. I was crying in the stall after getting up." Her eyes were getting glittery. " The next time I went to go get a new prosthesis, I remembered a boy that was a little older than I was, then I wondered how bad he got teased. His whole left leg was gone. It made me feel so upset. i just . . . I wish I was pretty like the long leg girls." She looked down so her scally cap was hiding her feyes. "I know that the boys don't mean to stare, and I don't blame them. I don't blame anyone. I just wish that for one day I felt like a normal girl." Her eyes were hidden, but Rico saw tears gliding down greeting at her chin. It broke Rico's heart. He was feeling tears coming close. he just starting crying for her.

Rico felt like he could only do one thing. It felt like it was either now or never. He put his hands on the sides of her jaw carefully, and swiped a tear away. She smiled at his caring act. "Don't cry." He whispered out ruggedly through his own tears. She breathed out with a smile. he smiled back, and kissed her carefully. He doubted he was ever so gentle in his life. Rico could barely believe this was happening. He was kissing the girl of his dreams, and was actually a human for his first kiss. How could he be missing out on something so amazing? For some unknow reason, he reached around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. When she put her arms over his shoulders, Rico had felt like his heart had lifted into the stars overhead. She pulled away, staring into his eyes.

A large smile formed on her lips. "My first kiss." She whispered. Rico smiled back, as it was his first kiss as well. She smiled, and hugged him closely. He returned the hug, ruffling her black hair. She looked down, and giggled. "I never thought that would ever happen. I guess everyone gets their first kiss at some point. Thank you." She laid her head in his shoulder. Rico smiled, and picked her up bridal style. She yawned, and nestled into his chest. Well Skipper didn't like it, but Gwyneth sure did. "Wow. top of the rock, Guggenheim museum, the brooklyn bridge, central park. For once I feel like an actual girl. Actually I feel like a princess. So are we headed home?" He nodded, and pointed over to the street.

Gwyneth's mouth dropped open. Before her she saw a white horse, pulling a carriage. Rico smirked and sat her down in the carriage. She looked at Rico, still surprised by the luxurious carriage. He jumped in, and paid the carriage man enough to go to her home. With a slight jerk, the carriage started up, carefully taking her home. She smiled into his eyes, as Rico held her close in his grasp. Rico could never had been happier. He was officially the happiest penguin in the world. She looked a bit worn out. He couldn't blame her. She rested her eyes a bit. "Rico?" She shifted her drowsey gaze up to him. He looked down raising his eyebrows. "I'm so glad you and your three other brothers came to New York." He blushed, from hearing his voice from her lips. After a long ride, they finally pulled up to Gwyneth's house.

Rico was surprised at what he saw. He expected a luxurious house like Mr. Wiltshire's. It was a tiny little, one story, hovel of a home. He could have swore that it was smaller than the lemur habitat, but then again, he had a small habit, of exagerrating. Inside Rico saw Bill, the taxi driver asleep, covered by a afghan. The television was on infront of Bill. He saw baseball on the television. Gwyneth looked through the window, and smirked. "Dad fell asleep watching baseball again." She smiled up at him. "You can come inside, if you want. You just have to quiet. Dad doesn't like late night guests." Rico noded. Gwyneth slowly opened the door. They tiptoed past Gwyneth's father. She walked over to turn off the television, and tugged the chain hanging from a old looking lamp. Rico followed Gwyneth to her room.

The house was a bit more spacey tha Rico thought. Rico noticed that each room was open, and clean swept. He didn't want to think that it might have been because she couldn't afford anything to fill it with. It was still a nice house though. They walked into Gwyneth's room. Her room was quite pretty. Yet it was different from other human rooms Rico had seen on television. It had a large dresser, with a few items on it. A jewelry box, a small teddy bear, a lamp, and a picture of a much older looking Gwyneth, leaning against a tree. She looked like she was laughing heartedly. Rico guessed it was proably her mother. Her mirror on the dresser was huge, and a bit scrathed along the rim. On the corners at th top, were two long poles. One on each side. One spire held her Sweet cream factory visor, while she slung her scally cap on the other. A small waste basket was next to the dresser. In one corner, there was a box that said. Gwyneth's box! Don not open! Above it were shelves, with different supplies. Some of them were very thick socks. Others were thin socks. A large hollow tube sat on the lowest shelf. It had a thick layer of foam inside. It said padding on the shelf's label. Everything was labeled on the shelf. Socks were put in categories. Cushions liners, seals, sleeves, lock ins. Everything set up the way it was supposed to be.

Gwyneth yawned, so Rico thought he should head back home, and let het get her rest. She noticed he was leaving, and reached up to kiss him. When she pulled back, she stared at him, and said something Rico didn't know she would say. "You can tell them about this." She tapped two fingers against her leg. She walked on over to her big chest that said not to open. Rico didn't dare go near it. She looked behind herself, and raised an eyebrow. "You can look at it, if you want. It's just my different prosthesis's." Rico looked in, and didn't realize that there were so many different types of prosthetic feet she had. They all had lebels on them. Some were for sport, while others were for casual days. The foot she wore, was put in a spot that said Sure-flex. A bottle of rubbing alcohol and water was put at the top shelf.

She took off her socks from her leg, and laid them in their desired spots on the shelves. Her leg was like a knob underneath. Rico never saw it bare before. He smiled warmly, as she put lotion on it. He reached down, and kissed her. "Oh how can I sleep with you running around town?" She whispered. He grinned, and slid out throught the window. She stretched, and plopped down on her bed. Rico had reached through the window, and grabbed the sheets covering her up. She smiled while her eyes were closed. "Goodnight, Rico. See you tomorow."