21. Bartleby Saves The Day (Part 2)

"Who's there?!" Came a frightened, old, male voice from the shadows. The voice sounded familiar.

"Me!" Shouted Bartleby, inching towards the voice.

"Me who?!" Cried the frightened voice again. Bartleby wasn't sure, but thought he knew the voice.

"Me, Bartleby."

"Bartleby!? Bartleby the penguin?!" Yes, it was definitely a voice Bartleby knew.

"Yes, grandpa, it's me!"

Grandpa and Bartleby's two sisters and two brothers came running out from the pile of fish bones that they were hiding behind and grabbed up Bartleby in a big hug.

"How? Why? What? Who?" They had so many questions that Bartleby couldn't answer them all.

"Okay, okay. We can talk about all that later. First thing's first. We need to get out of here."

The penguin family all thought and thought, and couldn't come up with an answer. Finally, Grandpa asked if Bartleby had brought any food. "We've been here for a couple days now with nothing to eat."

Bartleby pulled out his fishheads, and handed them out to his family who gobbled them all up lightning quick. "Wow, guys. I didn't even get you any pepper yet." And then an idea occurred to Bartleby. "Wait, that's it. The pepper! That's how we will get out of here."

His family was confused, but he handed everyone a clothes pin for their noses, and went to town on the pepper barrel. He opened the top and shook it hard into the air. He shook and shook with all his might. And then he shook it some more. He kept shaking until they were surrounded by a big brown cloud of pepper.

"Get ready! This is going to be one crazy ride." Bartleby strapped on his pack and waited. First there was a great big, deep snuffling noise. The walrus huffed a little. Then he puffed a little. Then he sneezed a sneeze SO big that Bartleby and his whole family went flying through the air. They flew so far, that they landed smack in the middle of the penguin village.

"Look everyone! It's Bartleby! He saved Grandpa! Grandpa is back!" Everyone celebrated, and grabbed up Bartleby and paraded him around on their shoulders. They were lost without Grandpa's guidance, and were over-joyed to have him back. There was feasting, and parties and Bartleby was the toast of the village for a few days.

But then something strange happened. Just as quickly as he had become popular, Bartleby was right back to being picked on and nothing was different. The other penguins made fun of his bow tie, and teased him about his pepper all over again. He was hurt and confused, and wanted it to stop, but he didn't know what to do. With nobody else to turn to, he went to Grandpa for advice.

"I don't get it." Bartleby wailed. "I was a hero. I saved the day. They paraded me around. And now they hate me again. Why, Grandpa? Why?"

Grandpa looked at Bartleby with a fond, and patient smile. "Bartleby, my boy, let me answer your question with a question. Did you go on your journey to find us because you thought it would make you popular?"

"No, of course not. I did it because I missed you guys, and it was the right thing to do."

"Exactly. You did what was right for you, and they just so happened to love you for it. For a little while. But folks is fickle. They will think what they want to think, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"So, there's nothing I can do to make them like me?"

"Nothing at all. So, there's really no point in trying. The best thing to do is to just be yourself, and not worry about it. Do you think I got to be where I am by caring about what other folks think? No sir! I don't give a whale's tooth what they think."

After a little thought, Bartleby understood and thanked his grandpa. It wasn't really happy news, but it made sense to Bartleby. "I am who I am, and I like who I am."

The next day he went to school with his head held high. He smiled to himself at lunch time as he opened his brown paper bag, and pulled out his pepper barrel. Everyone scooted away from him, but he didn't care. He was just about to let the tasty black powder fly, when there was a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me. Could I borrow some of your pepper for my fish heads?" Bartleby turned to see the source of the voice and was struck to see the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. "Hi, I'm Violet. I'm new here."

His eyeballs turned into cartoon hearts and he was smitten instantly. He tried to say that she could definitely have some pepper, but his tongue was not cooperating. All he could do was nod and hand over the barrel. His grin stretched from ear to ear as he she filled the room with a spicy, brown cloud that made everyone sneeze.