Chapter Text
Gangle storms out of the circus, tears running down her face. How dumb was she to think anyone would look at her drawing? Thoughts begin to swarm her mind. What if they don’t like her at all? What if nobody likes her drawings? What if?
She feels her ribbons growing heavier, and more thoughts flood her head. Her eyes quickly scan the room, searching for a way to escape, even if just for now. As she scans the space more, she spots the exit of the circus tent and begins walking toward the grounds.
Once she steps onto the grounds, she feels the rush of air pass by her. She stops for a second and closes her eyes. The breeze begins to calm her. But as soon as she opens her eyes, the flood of thoughts starts to return. She turns toward the lake.
The trees sway as she walks closer to the water. She feels the spirals of her sketchbook tug at her ribbons. When she gets close enough to the lake, she stops, standing still and staring at the water.
Her head slowly lowers to look at the lake. She sees the tears still streaming down her face, dripping into the lake. Her eyes focus on her sketchbook. The page of her OC is ruined with teardrops.
Her ribbons fall slowly to the ground as she holds the sketchbook close to her chest. She should have never come with Zooble to meet the others. She looks back at the sketchbook, at the page of her OC.
She examines the cartoon eyes, the poor anatomy, the weird chin. The more she stares at the character, the more hatred she feels for her drawings. In a burst of frustration, she rips the drawing from the book and crumples it up. All she can think about is the loathing she feels for her own art.
She looks at the crumpled paper in her hand, and tears begin to form again. She places her sketchbook on the ground and stares at the paper in her hand. Then, with a deep breath, she pulls her arm back, squeezing the paper. She releases it, throwing the crumpled paper towards the lake.
She looks at the paper as it slowly sinks into the lake. She brings her legs up to her chest. The only thing she can hear is the movement of the water. She hugs her legs closer as her head slowly lowers.
She feels the breeze brush against the back of her mask. As the tears flow down her mask and onto the ground, she can feel the grass brush against her back. Slowly, her mind starts to clear as she lifts her head.
The sun shines down on her as she looks at the lake again. The obnoxiously big slide blocks her view of the sky a little. She releases a deep sigh to herself and lowers her head, looking to the right.
As she gazes into the distance, she hears movement. “Eep!” she says, fixing her posture. I hope it’s not Caine, she thinks to herself, before looking to the left, only to see a figure with a triangular head. She sighs in relief as she realizes it's Zooble and looks back at the lake.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” the pink-headed person asks, pointing to the ground. Gangle glances at them. She shakes her head, keeping eye contact. Zooble sits down next to Gangle, still leaving some space between them.
“It’s nice out here, isn’t it?” they say, observing the landscape.
“Yeah, it is pretty out here,” Gangle replies, touching the grass beneath her. She notices her sketchbook next to Zooble and pushes it toward them, hoping they didn’t see it. “Sorry I stormed out,” she adds, pulling her legs closer to her. “I guess I wasn’t feeling it.” Tears start to form again as she thinks about what happened.
She feels Zooble put a hand on her before responding “Hey, it’s fine,” Zooble says, looking at her. She weakly smiles at Zooble before they continue speaking. “Nobody was looking at you, and I guess you just got embarrassed.” They chuckle a little before looking back onto the lake
Gangle stares at Zooble’s eyes as they keep talking. She tunes out their words and just looks at them, examining their mismatched body parts. One of their feet is a wheel—that’s not safe, Gangle thinks to herself. She looks up at their head and notices the blue swirly thing and a yellow arrow pointing up.
“Anyways, what were you drawing in that sketchbook of yours?” Zooble asks, pointing to the sketchbook next to Gangle. Gangle glances down at her closed sketchbook, picking it up and looking at the cover.
“I was just drawing my own original character. She was supposed to be for my manga-inspired webcomic,” Gangle explains, flipping through the pages. “But I never made the webcomic because I got trapped here, sadly,” she adds, gazing at the mini comics she made of her characters. “It was a fantasy, slice-of-life webcomic with some romance.” She glances back at Zooble, who is watching her intently. “I-I um… f—f—but it’s not important anyway,” she says, stumbling over her words as she quickly shuts the book.
“Sounds interesting,” Zooble says, looking back at the lake. Gangle feels the same feeling she had earlier. She looks at the lake as well, hoping it will go away. She places the sketchbook down, keeping it close.
She can feel her “cheeks” heat up as they both gaze at the water. Why is she feeling this way? Why now? Her mind races with thoughts until she hears Zooble’s voice again.
“We should get going now,” Zooble says as they slowly stand up. “It’s getting late, and you know that Caine doesn’t like it when anybody is out here late.” They say as they brush their knees before extending a hand to Gangle.
Gangle hesitates for a moment before taking their hand. “Thank you, Zooble,” she says as she stands up. “Thank you for being so kind to me.” A weak smile forms on her face.
Zooble chuckles. “I’m just trying to be a good friend,” they reply, holding Gangle’s hand. Right, friends, Gangle thinks as she glances down at her sketchbook.
“Oh!” she says, crouching down. “Can’t forget this.” She reaches for the sketchbook. “Wouldn’t want to lose it,” she adds, smiling. Zooble chuckles a little, making her feel even happier.
“Well, let’s go,” Zooble says as they begin walking with Gangle. “Wouldn’t want Caine to rip the f[&@$%]ing circus apart to look out for us.”
Gangle smiles even wider as they walk together toward the circus. She wouldn’t mind if life stayed like this forever.