The wind roared with malice and the sea tossed Gulliver's boat with a vengeance. No matter how many times they tried to destroy him, he always came back to them. Gulliver shivered as he held on to the edge of his tiny vessel, hoping that this time, maybe this time, he would be able to stay aboard. Just a vacation. A simple vacation! He thought as the water sprayed his face; but he knew it was more than that. He enjoyed the countries he went to. Loved the culture. Absorbed his surroundings like an eager little sponge. Still. It was more than a simple vacation: it was his quest to find himself. A box collided with his head as the boat turned in another direction, teetering on some unseen tightrope.

"You'll have to do better than that, Lizzy!" He shouted at the hurricane responsible for his current predicament. Lizzy paid him no mind and continued on with her little display of mayhem. Maybe I shouldn't taunt her. Women hate that. He tried to pull himself to the steering wheel and regain control of his boat. Control. I just need control. He grasped the side of the wheel for only a moment before the boat toppled over, sending him into the cold, dark water below. He floated there, suspended in the watery expanse for all of a few seconds before he came back up, coughing and gasping for air. Every time. Why does this happen every time? It seemed as though each time he went on a new journey to discover who he was, the sea gladly stole that information from his head. He had vague, incomplete memories of the food, culture, and architecture of the places he went, but not that one thing he wished for the most—a sense of who he was. Why was it that the storm always took that from him? Why not the camel rides (or was it a zebra?) or spicy curry (or was it wasabi?) or, Heaven forbid, even the mermaid statues? (Yeah, there were definitely mermaid statues). He sighed and gave in to the inevitable, letting the sea carry him wherever it wished.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

He always showed up there, washed up on her beach. Sally sighed, feeling both sorry for the poor seagull and delighted at his presence, knowing that, should she guess correctly, he would reward her with a souvenir from his travels. She always guessed correctly, for she had read about his destinations in her many, many travel books. Wonderful, exotic places—and even ones not so exotic—that she would never be able to visit. Each time he showed up, she wanted to cling to his leg and beg him to take her with him. She knew, as did all the mayors who discovered him lying on their beaches, that storms awaited him each and every single time. She knew that they had the potential to steal her memory, as they always did to him, but she didn't care. Just to be able to be out there, out there in the great big world exploring new places, was worth the risk of amnesia. She knew, though, that her place was here. Here in this town, leading her citizens and being the best mayor she could be. She loved being a leader. Loved being mayor. Loved her citizens and all their little quirks. Still, she wished that she could, at least once, go somewhere she had never been and see new things, even if there was no need for new things, as she already knew who she was and what she wanted out of life. She looked over at the boat and the snoozing Kappa inside it. At least I have the island. And that, she knew, was all she would ever have.

"Mmm. . .don't do that. . .my beak isn't a can opener. . ." Gulliver said as she poked him. It always took a few tries to wake him up, as using the megaphone seemed rude to her. She poked him over and over until his eyes finally opened and he stood up.

"Ack! Who are you?! Who am I?! Am I Gulliver?!" Yes. You are Gulliver. Pleased to meet you again. "Hey! I remembered my name! But. . .that's all I remember." Yes, yes. I know. You were headed somewhere. Just get to the trivia already, please. But he didn't. He did something entirely different. He walked silently to the edge of the dock and sat, letting his feet dangle over the side. Huh. That's new. Sally walked quietly, making sure not to wake Kapp'n as she sat next to Gulliver.

"Funny, isn't it?" The bird said, not looking at her but out at the open ocean, "No matter how hard I look, I never seem to find what I'm looking for. Oh, sure, I get to know for a little while, but then that blasted sea goes and takes it away before I can get home!" He placed his wings to his cheeks and sighed. "I should stop, you know? That's what I'll do. The first chance I get, I'm putting this nonsense behind me. First time I can get home, wherever that is, with that sense of myself in tact, I'm staying." He threw himself back and lay on the dock, bumping his head from the impact. "Ow!"

You're kidding, right? She wished she could say. The animals didn't seem to understand her one-hundred-percent of the time, so she wasn't sure she would be able to communicate with him. Darn bebebese! Why can't I just speak animalese like everyone else? Still. Despite this, she knew she could let him just give up the life she would pay anything for.

"You've got the world at your wingtips!" She shouted, "why would you give that up?"

He looked up at her. "Sorry. I know you're probably saying something important, but I have no idea what it is."

She smacked her forehead. There must be something I can do. She suddenly had an idea. She had no finger to give him the "wait here" gesture, so she put both hands out in front of her.

"What? Stay away?" He guessed. She shook her head. "Um. . .a box! You're in a box!" She shook her head again, more furiously this time. She pointed toward the slope, then her, then him, then at the dock. "Oh! You want me to wait here?" She shook her head up and down enthusiastically and he nodded. "Well, okay then. Are you going to get something to help me reme—" she ran back to her house, not giving him time to finish his sentence.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She came back a few minutes later. What a strange person. Gulliver thought as the human girl ran back down the slope. She plopped herself next to him again and took something out of her pocket. A bowl of some strange dish he didn't looked at the food a little closer. Samgyetang. It smelled delicious. The smell brought back a memory of some far off place. Images of himself learning Tai Kwon Do and visiting beautiful temples. Breathtaking mountains and himself hiking up one of them. Himself enjoying a bowl of samgyetang, albeit modified. She took out something else from her pocket. A doll with beautifully tanned skin and a grass skirt. It swayed back and forth in her hand, as if it was dancing. A hula doll. Another memory. Warm beaches. Fire jugglers. Hula dancers. He himself trying to hula dance and failing miserably, yet still enjoying himself to the fullest. Friendly, happy faces. She pulled out another object. Then another. Then another. Each one she showed him brought back another memory, each one vivid and colorful. Japan. England. Australia. America. Germany. So many, many more countries that he had apparently visited and had, at least partially, forgotten. He had made friends with the locals. He had enjoyed their culture. He had made a fool of himself more than once, but it hadn't mattered. He had felt so alive, like he needed nothing else in the world than to just be there. His head shot up. That's it!

"That's it!" He shouted. "That's who I am!" He looked down at the human, who gave him a confused expression. "Oh, sorry. What I meant to say was, thank you. I know I already said this but" He stuck out a wing, "my name's Gulliver!" He smiled a wide grin that reach to his eyes. "And I'm a traveler."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sally prepared to say goodbye to her wandering acquaintance. Kapp'n had agreed to take Gulliver to his next destination. Maybe he won't lose his memory this time. She lifted a hand to wave goodbye, but then had another idea.

"Are you in a box?" He asked. She rolled her eyes and didn't bother explaining. She ran up the slope and returned shortly after, carrying a suitcase. Thanks, Isabelle. I owe you one. She hopped in the boat beside him, hoping he got the message.

"Alright, but what if we go overboard?"

She shrugged.

"Good point. Take us away, Kapp'n."

I apologize for any cultural errors I may or may not have made.