Past and Present

Dear Diary.
I know I don’t write in you hardly at all, I’m sorry. Heh, I can’t believe I’m apologizing to a book! But this is something real important. I may need this one day, and if I don’t write it down, then I know I’ll forget it. This is the story of Gosalyn’s, Drake’s and mine past. I can’t tell them now, but maybe one day...Anyway, this is how the story goes.
Drake took Gos on a camping trip, to teach her to be a true outdoorsman. As Gos is a girl, I didn’t think that it was really necessary, but when Drake makes up his mind about something, he sticks to it(mostly).
I’d been thinking a lot lately. Gosalyn always reminds me of someone, and she’s so much like Drake it’s uncanny. I wanted to see where she’s from. Drake doesn’t care, and probably never will, and I guess he thinks it could raise the question of his own past. He never talks about it, his past I mean. Maybe he thinks it isn’t important. But I think that kind of thing is interesting. I have a feeling I’m what’s called “a good listener”. But I’m getting of track.
The point I’m trying to make is, I was curious. And curiosity finally got the better of me. I figured that with Drake and Gos gone, I could, well, snoop.
Almost straight after they left, I went to the orphanage. When we got Gos out of there, we didn’t take any of her things in storage. She said she didn’t need them, Drake just wanted to go home(he hated orphanages, always wondered why. Never got the guts up to ask, of course.) and I’d just knocked over half the orphanage. BY ACCIDENT! Let’s just say that we weren’t on the best of terms with the place’s staff. Which consequently meant that all of Gosalyn’s former belongings, bar what she’d taken to Darkwing Tower and what she’d been using at the orphanage, were not seen by Drake or myself. I doubt if Gosalyn had seen it all, some of it was her parents, looking at all the little bits could have hurt too much.
It’s not well known, but I am actually a rather good detective. Of course, DW’s the hero, so I don’t do much on those cases, just support him and give backup if necessary. But I have a good eye for detail, and I just like knowing stuff. I’ve found that being a superhero’s sidekick has a hidden bonus. Just ask for restricted files, say it’s for a case, and they give it too you. It’s great! Orphanage files on children and the like are normally hard for even the child or parent to see, but all I did was go up to the receptionist, say that I was Darkwing’s sidekick, that I needed their files, and they gave it too me straight away. I wonder how much DW would be able to see.
I looked up Gosalyn Waddlemyer in the files. There she was, Gosalyn Waddlemyer, age 9, room 10, bed 2. Her file number was 1563, and it appeared to be the storage number for her belongings too. I’d hoped they’d kept them, and they had. I took down a box labeled G.Waddlemyer 1563 from a shelf full of the former children’s items. I found a chair, and sat down.
I looked in. There were two photo albums, some little knickknacks like ivory letter openers, a jewelry box with some necklaces and a small gold diamond ring, and an envelope.
The knickknacks were obviously not going to help me much, so I put them back in the box, and put the box on the ground. I sat down on the cement floor and opened the older picture album. The pictures were very old, in black and white. They were mostly pictures of two children growing up, named Matthew and Melody. The people had Gosalyn’s face, but not her hair. There seemed to be more pictures of the boy, a lot of them of prize giving ceremonies. I saw one of who I assumed to be the children's parents. I then saw all four together, They looked very happy, all smiling. But after that, the girl looked sadder. She put on weight. These pictures were all in the same space of time, only a few months. I turned another page and there she and a man were standing. Melody was looking happily at the other duck. The other duck was quite handsome, with a very big bill. I gasped. It was Drake’s bill! I’d recognize that beak anywhere! It’s not the kind you forget in a hurry. I figured it out in a flash. She was pregnant! Probably to the man with the bill. But there had been no wedding photos. Oh. Suddenly the girl was slim again, and she and the billed duck were married. But where was the baby? Having children before you were married was looked down upon then. Had they given it away? I kept flicking through. I saw the other child, Matthew, marry a girl I didn’t know. She reminded me of no one. I put the album down. I was about to look at the other photos, when I remembered the envelope.
I found the envelope and opened it. It had not been sealed. The paper was only a few years old, maybe two at the most. I spread the letter out, and read it. This is what it said:

To Gosalyn’s new parents, or to Gosalyn herself.
I have been working on the Waddlemyer Ram Rod for some months now, making many breakthroughs. I have been uneasy though, I felt that someone is watching me. I am writing this because I know that many people would stoop to nothing to get the Ram Rod. I have given a password to it, and have told no one what the password is, except in a rhyme. If anyone can figure out the connection, they will have to treat Gosalyn with care, and be smart. If they are smart enough to do these things, then they are the right person to hold the key to the Ram Rod.
But I digress. This letter is in case I don’t live to tell Gosalyn her history. A background is important to you when you get older, and I’m sure Gosalyn will want hers. Here is our family story from my parents, Gosalyn’s great-grandparents.
My mother was named Sarah. Her maiden name was Pintail. She was a very determined and spirited lady, and she is where I’m sure Gosalyn gets it from.
My father was a quiet man named Mark Waddlemyer. He was just average, average height, job, looks, ambitions, everything. But he was a hard worker, and always made sure that my family never went without.
I was the oldest of two children. I was the bright one in the family, very studious. I stank at anything remotely physical. I was called “dependable”.
My sister was anything but. She was also spirited, our family trait is seems. But where my mother used her will to help others, Melody used it to get her own way. Melody was always flittering from one thing to the next. She was pretty awful at school, the truth be told. But she was beautiful, and a rather good actress. I loved my dramatic sister, she was always very likeable and popular.
So Melody and I went through school. I was two years older than her, and the nerd. She was the vibrant butterfly. Unfortunately, butterflies have a habit of living for today. While I was at university, getting a degree in quantum physics, she was at home painting her nails.
While at Uni, I met my future wife. What can I say about Avery? She was the nicest, gentlest, quietest, prettiest girl I ever met. Her full name was Avery Widgeon and she was doing music. She had the best voice on campus. We dated and married. I went on to work at a government lab, and she sang at the local theater and raised our children. We did this till the kids grew up and Avery died, 20 years later.
When I was dating Avery, Melody met Max Mallard. It was my first year at university, and as I had finished school young, Melody was only 16. Max was 22. They dated for ages. Mother disapproved. She disapproved even more when Melody fell pregnant. She hit the roof! She ordered Melody to get rid of the baby. She refused to abort it, but agreed to give it up for adoption. She had the baby. It was a boy. She named him simply Drake, to keep from getting too attached. It didn’t work.
Drake Mallard was very advanced, and was always into something. He walked when he was only one month old, which is really meant to be impossible. Of course, he never got very far. He didn’t talk though. Melody loved Drake, and I was quite fond of him, but mother and Max both told her to get rid of him, so she gave him to the orphanage. After that, Max and Melody married. They never had anymore kids. They were both killed on their honeymoon in an airline crash. My mother was devastated. She died soon after.
My father had been fairly quiet through all this drama. He died himself soon after mother. Consequently, it was a very difficult time, as you can imagine. I am forever in Avery’s debt, as she carried me through this rough patch.
Drake was my only living blood relative. Even after Avery and I were married and had kids, I secretly checked on him at the orphanage. But when Drake was 19, he disappeared. I know he wasn’t adopted, because I had become friends with the staff there. They had no idea what had happened to him either. He had never been a very emotional child, but he wasn’t the type to run away. He had his mother’s and grandmother’s spirit. I wonder what happened to him too this day.
Avery and I had one son, Sam. Sam was average in everything, just like my father, but in mechanics he shone. He loved anything with an engine, particularly aircraft.
One of his school mates, Launchpad McQuack was also into flying. They took flying lessons together. One day Launchpad’s sister came to get Launchpad. Sam was smitten. It was obvious that Lucy felt the same way. Launchpad went off to work for a man in Duckburg, and he lost contact with his family, as they moved out of St Canard. Lucy stayed and married Sam. They had one child, a girl called Gosalyn. She had just as much spirit as anyone in the family.
Sam and Lucy died when Gosalyn was three. I don’t know how. The police came to my door and gave me Gosalyn. They never said what had happened. According to Gosalyn, alien zombies from Mars had taken them. I tried to get in touch with AnneMaree and Lance, Lucy’s parents, but they had moved again. I didn’t mind too much, as raising Gosalyn was not a duty, but a joy. Yes, corny I know.
Well, this isn’t where the story ends. I know Gosalyn while have her own tail to tell. Gosalyn, sweetie, I love you. No matter what happens always remember that someone loves you. I feel that you will never be alone. You have love to share Gosalyn, and those with love get what they give back.
Your’s Truly, Matthew Waddlemyer.

I just sat in thought for a few minutes. Drake, me and Gosalyn, all related. I’m Gosalyn’s uncle! Though not by blood. And Drake is her second-cousin, by blood. That would explain the red hair, my sister had the same hair as me, both like our father. I’d forgotten all about Lucy and my parents. I felt real guilty. To forget my family! But Mr McDee, and the others were just like family, and Drake and Gosalyn surely WERE my family. I sighed. They were all probably dead now.
I’m ashamed to say that I was sorry, but not all that sad. I hadn’t even thought about them for years, they were like strangers in my memories.
I turned my attention to Gosalyn’s side. I wondered what had happened to Gos’s parents, my sister. Was Gosalyn telling the truth? Nah...altough, she HAS been right on these occasions before. Did Gosalyn remember them? I bet she did. Matthew was right, she loved a lot, she’d remember.
Poor Drake. It was certainly him in the story. I guess that his disappearance was the start of Darkwing Duck. But what made him start? I’d never have the nerve to ask. I bet he just wanted to get out. You couldn’t keep Drake cooped up for so long. I think he’d be like one of those wild creatures, if you put them in a cage, they wither. The orphanage has big fences.
I packed the things back into the box. I didn’t take it with me, I didn’t want Gos or Drake to find it. On a impulse, before I went home, I checked the name Drake Mallard in the storage files. I found his box in the “missing” section. It was creepy how many names were actually there. I found the box, took it down, and opened it.
It was empty.

Story Copyright Rachel “Thlayli” Baker ‘98. Some characters copyright Disney, and used without permission. Other characters copyright me. I think you know which are which.

To the next segment-Flashbacks

Back to Fiction

Back to the Main Page

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page