Ryan's drawing skills were only average, with sketching being slightly better. After setting up the easel, he ignored the others who were still chatting and took out his colored pencils, slowly outlining the lion from his memory onto the drawing paper.
"What's Ryan doing? I want to go take a look," Taylor moved her short little legs and was about to walk toward the boy. Natalie quickly picked her up and said, "Taylor, don't disturb Ryan. How about I play a game with you instead…"
Time ticked by, and only when dusk fell did Ryan finally put down his pencil. Seeing that he was done, everyone gathered around in a flurry.
On the paper was a majestic lion standing tall with its head held high. Its long, reddish-brown mane formed an unusual, voluminous hairstyle. Even though it was rendered in a completely cartoonish style, it still gave off a powerful and commanding presence.
"This is Simba. What do you think?" Ryan asked.
"It looks weird… It's not like the ones we saw at the zoo~" Taylor bit her finger.
"Darling, looks like you're about to get busy again," Nicole remarked. How could she not understand? This meant Ryan was about to start a new creative project—perhaps a month, or even several months of work.
Natalie pouted and looked away from the drawing. "Ryan, could you be any more childish? You're clearly capable of creating deeper, more meaningful work. Why are you always focused on children's themes?"
"My dear Nat, this is not a children's story. Like I said before, it's just Hamlet reimagined. Or do you think Shakespeare's works lack depth?" Ryan handed the drawing to George and began to argue. "This isn't a children's story—it's an all-ages story. Works like this have more market appeal."
"Market appeal? Ryan, you're only eleven, but I can already smell the stench of money on you!"
"Hey, Nat—without money, art is just a dead leaf floating on the surface of water!"
Nicole tugged on the Swifts and decisively left the space to the arguing duo. She knew well that once these two started debating, it wouldn't end anytime soon.
Life during the wilderness retreat was joyful and relaxing. Even the occasional argument with Natalie couldn't spoil the mood. There were no journalists or paparazzi, no overwhelming media hype. Ryan finally had a rare moment of peace. As for The Lion King, it was only 1991, so there was no rush. Besides, he didn't plan to shoot any movies this year—Terminator 2 alone was enough. He had plenty of time.
Of course, life would be even better without a certain little rascal messing things up.
"Don't forget, Ryan, you still owe me two robins. Daddy and I heard robins chirping in the woods just now. You have to catch them for me," Taylor tugged forcefully at the boy's shirt, and even her speech had become more fluent.
Ryan made a defeated face, packed up his violin, and gave Natalie a helpless shrug. "The Hungarian Rhapsody ends here for now. Rain check?"
"Fine," Natalie said as she sat on a low tree branch and stretched with a little yawn. "Compared to the guitar, your violin playing is really terrible."
"Can't help it—haven't practiced enough," Ryan shrugged. It was true. Compared to his professional-level guitar and piano skills, his violin playing was barely at beginner level.
"Ryan!" Taylor, likely feeling ignored, suddenly pouted, opened her eyes wide, and looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"Don't cry, please!"
Ryan quickly scooped the little girl up and said, "No problem, we'll go catch the robins right now!"
Damn robins! Ryan scratched his head hard. This was a protected area—how the heck was he supposed to catch birds? It's not like he could use a gun. George had a legal firearms license, but if Ryan even touched a gun, Nicole Kidman would drag him back to L.A. that very second and lock him in the villa for the entire summer.
Still, this wasn't too much of a challenge for him. After all, he had lived a previous life in a nation full of industrious and clever people—where the creativity of the working class was truly boundless.
He snapped his fingers at George and whispered a few words when the bodyguard came over. George then took them back to the cabin area and soon returned with the necessary tools.
"This is gonna work?" Natalie asked skeptically.
"You got a better idea?" Ryan looked at the bamboo basket and rope in his hand with a wry smile. This stuff only really worked in freezing weather, didn't it? He was going crazy—driven mad by this little devil who could cry at the drop of a hat.
Taylor, held in George's arms, beamed with joy and randomly pointed the way. They returned to the small forest. Ryan tilted his head and listened; there were indeed birds chirping. Whether they were robins or not—only God knew.
They found a flat area. Ryan propped up the bamboo basket and scattered breadcrumbs underneath, then held the string and hid behind a tree.
"This is such a dumb method," Natalie leaned against the tree, giving him no slack whatsoever.
"Do you have a better method?" Ryan shot back. Natalie pouted but said nothing more.
It really was a dumb method. And the season wasn't right either. Ten minutes passed, then half an hour… Though the chirping of birds was all around them, not a single one approached the trap. Taylor's lips were starting to tremble again, like she could cry at any moment.
I hate robins! Ryan muttered under his breath, drawing a light chuckle from Natalie.
Perhaps God took pity on them—suddenly, a bird with a black back and yellow chest flew down from a tree and landed on the grass, its beady eyes darting around as it cautiously surveyed its surroundings.
"Yay~" Taylor clearly recognized the bird and pointed excitedly. She was about to shout, but Ryan was fast enough to rush over and cover her mouth.
"Shhh~" Ryan held a finger to his lips. That was definitely a robin.
All four of them—one big, three small—held their breath like manhole cover thieves, peeking out cautiously as the robin hopped forward step by step, getting closer and closer to the basket.
"Pull!"
The robin couldn't resist the breadcrumb bait and finally stepped under the basket. Natalie called out in time.
Thunk!
Ryan gave a gentle tug, and the bamboo basket fell, trapping the robin inside.
"Yes~!"
Ryan and Natalie high-fived hard, then ran over. With practiced hands, he reached under the basket and pulled the bird out. It was a typical adult North American robin, about eight inches long. To prevent it from flying away, Ryan took a piece of the rope and tied it to the bird's leg.
"Mine! Mine! This… is mine!" Taylor wriggled out of George's arms, grabbing the string with the bird attached as fast as she could.
The little girl was overjoyed, and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. But just as they left the woods and were nearing the cabin they'd rented, trouble found them.
"Sir, are you the guardian of these children?" a staff member asked George sternly, glancing at the little girl clutching the bird. "Your actions have violated park regulations."
"What's going on?" Nicole and the others walked over at that moment. When they saw the bird fluttering but unable to fly, they all instinctively covered their faces.
Robins weren't rare birds—no one would care if you caught one somewhere else. But this was a national park, and the staffer seemed like a stickler. If he happened to be a member of some animal protection group, things could get even messier.
"Nicole… Nicole Kidman?" the staffer suddenly changed his tone. "You're Ms. Kidman?"
His transformation from conservation warrior to crazed fan was so fast that everyone was caught off guard. Like a magician, the guy pulled a notepad and pen from his pocket—though judging by the state of the notepad, it probably wasn't originally meant for autographs.
"You are? Eric Larson? Alright then." Nicole scribbled quickly on the pad. "Eric Larson—may your sky be as beautiful as Yosemite National Park."
"Then, may I take the bird now?"
"Of course," Nicole nodded.
"Nooo~ I don't want to!" Taylor absolutely refused, even though Mrs. Andrea kept trying to persuade her. In the end, they had no choice but to forcibly untie the rope.
"Waaah~" The girl's piercing cry seemed to shake the entire sky.
Ryan pursed his lips and, before anyone could notice him, pulled Natalie along to slip away. Say what you will, but no one knew whether that little girl would come after him again once she finished crying. Kids that age were practically a privileged class—he couldn't afford to mess with her, but he could definitely avoid her.
What he didn't expect, though, was to return to the cabin and find an unexpected visitor.
"Pat?" Ryan was a bit surprised. What was his agent doing here?
"Oh Ryan, your voice…" Pat Kingsley was clearly shocked—it had only been a week since they'd last met.
"It's nothing," Ryan smiled. He now had a classic duck voice, and Natalie hadn't let him hear the end of it these past few days. "What's going on? What brings you all the way out here?"
"A few things," Kingsley glanced at Natalie. After Ryan signaled it was fine, she continued, "A Few Good Men is in pre-production—Nicole needs to return early. The Bodyguard deal with Warner is finalized. You and Nicole need to sign. And…"
She sighed. "Disney wants you to continue writing the script for Home Alone 2. James asked me to remind you not to forget the premiere of Doodly Day. Johnson & Johnson wants you as their spokesperson for their children's bath products."
Ryan paced around the room and said, "Try to decline Disney's offer. Don't rush, Pat—just tell them I'm focusing on an animated script. As for Johnson & Johnson…"
He tapped his head, then suddenly smiled. "You can go ahead and talk to them. I'm okay with being a spokesperson, but it can't take up too much of my time. Tell them I can write a special song for their children's line—but only after my voice finishes changing."