Belonging by Omar Syed
Many thanks to karly05 and Safi Kittykat
“Woody, honey, are you alright?”
It was Bo. It was always Bo. Woody smiled in his sleep
“Woody come on, we’re going to try to sneak into the living room and watch TV” Jessie woke Woody from his slumber. Bonnie had gone to school for the day and the house was silent.
“Huh, oh Hey Jessie” Woody opened one eye, and then the other, squinting at the sunlight pouring through the window, “Sure sure, let me find my hat first”
“Ok, I’ll see you in the living room,” she turned back to Buzz and the two walked hand in hand out of the room.
Seeing the two of them together made Woody both smile and frown at the same time. Jessie was like a sister to him, and he was glad she and Buzz were happy together, but his mind fell back to the time they had been a foursome, when she was with them, with him.
“You coming?” Buttercup motioned towards the open door with his horn. Woody nodded, sitting up. He fished under the bed for his hat, finally finding it near the headboard. He put it on, noticing the ripped seam, now mended, that Andy had fixed years ago. “I like it, makes you look tough” she had told him then. She always had known just what to say
“Woody, are you feeling ok?”
Woody looked up, Dolly stood before him, “Everyone’s there already. Buzz managed to get the parental controls off”
“Oh, ok I’ll be there,” Woody smiled weakly
“I’ll be waiting” Dolly looked back before she left the room
It had been like that for a few weeks now. Maybe it was all in his mind. Ever since that day, oh how could he forget; Bonnie had been watching cartoons with all her toys around her. Snow White was flickering onscreen, dead asleep in the coffin that the seven dwarves had made for her. Prince Charming bent over her sleeping body and kissed her. Snow White awoke with a start, and soon everything was happily ever after. Bonnie grinned as she shut off the television. She grabbed Woody and pulled his string, “Someone’s poisoned the waterhole.”, “Oh no,” Bonnie held up Dolly, “the witch has poisoned Buzz!” She hovered Dolly over Buzz, “Ha ha ha, now nothing can help you Buzz Lightyear! Nothing!” she dropped Dolly and picked up Jessie, “I’ll save you Buzz! I know what we need” Bonnie fished out a fuchsia pipe cleaner from her overall’s pocket. She pressed the pipe cleaner’s end to Buzz’s chest, “No no, the power cord isn’t working!” She opened Buzz’s helmet, “He’s not breathing! Quick, do something!” Mashing Jessie’s face against Buzz’s, Bonnie made a loud smacking sound with her lips. Dropping Buzz, she grabbed Woody, “Is it working?” “We’ll know in a minute” she lifted Jessie higher. Woody fell from her hand and she pressed Buzz’s chest buttons, “To Infinity and Beyond!” barked Buzz’s voice chip, “Oh he’s alive” Bonnie waved Jessie about, “Thanks Jessie” she held Buzz with Jessie now, “You saved me!”
“Bonnie, its lunch time!” Mum called. Dropped her toys, Bonnie raced to the dining room. Woody looked up to see Buzz and Jessie smiling at each other. Trixie and Rex were giving each other sidelong glances. Woody remembered how the two plastic dinosaurs had found a connection over the family’s computer. What he couldn’t shake though, was how Dolly was staring at him with soulful bedroom eyes. Something was off, but Woody couldn’t figure it out. Perhaps it was a fleeting moment.
It hadn’t been momentary though, as today, a full week later; Woody couldn’t help seeing Dolly’s sidelong glances and hints of something or another. Was he just imagining things or was her independent persona just an act? Was she just trying too hard, and if so, why? The thoughts made Woody’s vinyl head hurt. Reluctantly he stood up, dusted himself off and made his way towards the living room. All the other toys were there. Pricklepants was fending off the Aliens and Peas in a Pod for a place to sit, while the Potato Heads were holding hands. Buttercup, Slinky, Rex and Trixie were off to one side, perusing the TV Guide, while Buzz and Jessie had leaned against the ottoman and were making fun of the commercials onscreen.
Woody sauntered over to where Bullseye sat; the cloth horse exhaled seeing his rider coming closer. “How you doing boy?” Woody rubbed Bullseye’s head and sat next to him. Looking up, Woody saw Dolly on top of the TV, swapping two cables on the set top box. “Almost got it” she jammed the cable into its socket and slid down the other cable to the floor.
Suddenly, Chuckles’ voice could be heard from the kitchen, “Mum’s pulling into the driveway!”
“Everybody, back to your places!” Woody stood with a jerk. Toys rushed over themselves to get back to Bonnie’s room.
The keys jangled in the front door’s lock.
Rex and Trixie fell on the floor under Bonnie’s side table. The Potato Heads rolled over to a corner against some blocks. Slinky’s tail end came through the doorway as his head and forelegs raced under the bed. Buttercup pushed the Peas, Aliens and a very fussy Mr. Pricklepants across the hardwood floor so that they all slid across and came to a halt at various places against the far wall.
“I don’t know why they gave a half day on the first day of school?” Bonnie’s Mum could be heard in the hallway, “But at least you didn’t have to wait in the front office,”
Buzz and Jessie fell against the wicker hamper. Woody and Dolly pushed Bullseye up the bed and then climbed the bed’s cover; Dolly lay on the edge of bed, while Woody slumped against bed’s pillows with one arm slung over Bullseye’s back.
Just in time.
Tiny footsteps came running down the hallway. The yellow backpack flew in the air and hit the far wall, dispersing the Peas, Aliens and Mr Pricklepants. “We had a half day today!” Bonnie picked up Dolly and Woody, “The school is a lot bigger than Sunnyside, and I wasn’t scared at all!” she held Woody’s ear close to her mouth, “Well, maybe a little bit scared” She pulled Woody’s string, “I’d like to join your posse boys, but first I’m gonna sing a little song”
“A song? That’s a great idea! Then nobody will be scared!” Bonnie set Woody, Jessie, Buzz, Dolly, Mr Pricklepants and Hamm on the table where the tea party had been a few weeks ago. “Welcome to Idle Contest! Let’s see who’s the best singer!”
“Bonnie, somebody wants to talk to you!” it was Mum
“Ok Mummy!”
“It’s Andy!” she called as Bonnie headed for the door
“Oh wait,” she grabbed Woody, “He’ll want to talk to you. You’re his pal!” Woody smiled to himself
Bonnie ran down the hallway, “We’re here Mummy!”
“Here you go baby,” she handed Bonnie the phone
“Hi Andy!” Bonnie pressed the phone against her ear
“Tell him thank you for the toys,” Mum reminded her
“Thank you for the toys Andy! They’re all playing together” she looked down at Woody in her hand, “Woody wants to talk to you,” Before Andy could reply, Bonnie pushed Woody against the receiver and pulled his string, “You’re my favorite deputy” the voice box drawled. Though she couldn’t see it, Andy smiled on his end of the line, “I miss you too buddy” Bonnie came back, “Woody wanted to tell you he misses you”
“Yeah, I could tell,”Andy looked at his watch, “I’ve got to go. Tell your Mum thanks for calling. I’m sure her and my Mum will talk later on or something,”
“Ok, bye Andy” Bonnie put down the receiver and raced off back to her room before her mother could say anything else
“Did you enjoy talking with Andy?” Bonnie put Woody’s face to her ear, “Yeah I bet he misses you too,” Bonnie saw her toys lined up on the table and remembered, “Oh yeah, it’s the Idle Contest! Let’s see who’s the best singer,” She picked up Buzz and pressed his chest buttons, “This is a secret mission in uncharted space- let’s go!” barked the toy spaceman.
“Good job!” Bonnie patted Buzz’s head; next she held Jessie and pulled the string, “Yodel-a-e-o” she sang.
“Wow! You were great!” Bonnie hugged Jessie. Placing the cowgirl doll back on the table, Bonnie glanced at Hamm and Dolly, “Oh no, it’s a trap! The witch and Evil Dr Porkchop have made a trap to catch everyone in the studio!”
Bonnie picked up Buzz and Woody, “Don’t worry! We’ll stop them!” She pressed Buzz’s chest button, “Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!” Buzz’s voicechip barked. “We have to get everyone in the spaceship” She held up Buzz, “Woody, grab the Aliens and Peas and get everyone into the ship so we can escape!” Bonnie loaded all her and Andy’s toys in the spaceship box and picked it up, leaving Dolly and Hamm on the floor. “Hurry, they’re following us” She lifted the box over her head, “We have to make an emergency landing!” Bonnie sent the box flying onto her bed, “Hurray! Woody and Buzz Lightyear saved everybody” She picked up Jessie and mashed her face against Buzz’s, “My hero!” She held Buzz and Jessie up and danced them across the bedspread.
Night had fallen, and Bonnie was being tucked in, “But Mummy, it’s dark here!”
“I know baby, but the nightlight burned out and you don’t have a lamp here now,”
“What do we do?”
“Well maybe tomorrow we can look for something else. Right now I can leave the door open for you; how’s that sound?”
“Great! Thanks Mummy!”
By the time Bonnie was asleep, all the toys were lined up on Bonnie’s bed, some under the covers; others on the bedspread. Jessie snuggled against Buzz, while the Potato Heads held hands, and Bullseye and Buttercup were asleep back to back against each other, snoring softly. Slinky, the Aliens and Peas were curled up against the other pillow on Bonnie’s bed. Woody stirred in his sleep. Opening one eye, he saw Dolly sitting up, “Can’t sleep either, Cowboy?” she smiled at him.
“Something like that. Look Dolly, to be honest, I got to ask you something,”
“Shoot”
“Ha ha. No really, what’s with all this goo goo eyes thing. If you’re feeling something, just tell me,”
“Goo goo eyes?”
“Come on Dolly, I wasn’t just manufactured yesterday. This isn’t easy for me,”
“And I suppose it’s easy for me, with the only guys around being Pricklepants and Buttercup, neither of which make particularly good dates,”
“So you are looking for a date!” Woody accused her
“No no. It’s just. Oh you wouldn’t understand”
“Try me”
“Oh come on, you wouldn’t know what it’s like to lose somebody”
“Wouldn’t know what it’s like to lose someone? I’ll have you know I’ve lost someone very dear to me,”
“Yeah yeah I know, you’re upset about Andy”
“Yes Andy, but that’s not all”
“Then who?”
“I don’t want to talk about it” he turned away from her and crossed his arms
“She must be really something,”
“How did you know?” he didn’t turn around
“Come on, I wasn’t stitched together yesterday” she smiled, “A Barbie, right?”
“No” he turned towards her slowly, still looking down, not making eye contact, “she was a porcelain figure, part of a nursery lamp,”
“What was her name?”
“Bo” Woody was barely audible
“A Bond girl, eh?”
“No, she was Little Bo Peep. You know, Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and doesn’t know where to find them- leave them alone and they’ll come home, wagging their tails behind them,”
“Mm-hmm”
“What?”
“Nothing- just thinking,” Dolly gave a sidelong glance towards the door, “Come with me,”
“Almost got it. Hit that one”
“Ok, got it. Now that one”
“Yes!”
“High five!” The two plastic dinosaurs high fived
“Having fun guys?” Dolly pushed open the door
“Oh hey,” Trixie gave a sheepish smile, “You need to use the computer?”
“Unless you two are using it,” Woody peeked into the room
“No Woody, we can go do something else” Rex grinned
“Alright then” Dolly jumped onto the computer table. Woody followed her; “Now let’s see if we can find your—friend,” she started typing as the Internet browser came onscreen.
“What’s Google?”
“You have been away for a long time, haven’t you Cowboy?”
Woody rubbed his vinyl head
“Never mind, I think I’ve found something. Is this her?”
Woody stared at the screen; it was Bo, but something was off, “This is Ebay, why would someone sell her? And she wouldn’t have her lamp. Molly broke that years ago,” he pointed at the screen, which showed Bo with not only her sheep but the molded lamp.
“Hmm,” Dolly turned back to Woody, “You’re familiar with the idea of mass produced items?”
“Of course I am!” he almost shouted, remembering the fight between the two Buzzes while trying to rescue him from Stinky Pete.
“Maybe—maybe you could warm up to another one?”
“I’m not Daisy,” he slid off the table onto the floor
“That wasn’t fair,”
“Fine, it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair when I lost her; it wasn’t fair when everything I ever knew got taken away from me; none of it was fair. How are you or anyone else going to fix that?”
“I thought you were happy here?”
“Of course I’m happy here. I’ve got my friends here and you’re all here and its great- getting played with every day. I couldn’t ask for more,”
“Then what’s your problem?”
Woody remained silent
“What did someone rip out your pull string?” Dolly crossed her arms
“What do you think?” he began storming off
“Tell me!”
“Ok fine, you want to know what’s been bothering me?” he glared at her, “You! For some unfathomable reason, you’ve seemed to set your sights on me as some kind of potential boyfriend. I don’t need nor do I want to be anyone else’s boyfriend. I have someone,”
“Like you had a kid,”
“What is with you tonight?”
“I tried to help you and you’re getting all over me!”
“Getting all over you; now who’s calling the kettle black?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Bonnie was right- you are a witch,”
“No you didn’t”
Woody glared at her, “Yes. I did” he stormed out of the room
Several streets away, someone else was having a bad night, “I want to ride the pony”, and adult Sid rolled over in bed. The recurring dream had been happening since he was a boy; always the same- he was riding in the car with his father, who always had a beer in hand. They passed Kiddie Wonder Land, a low budget amusement park that had boat rides, a merry go around, and best of all, pony rides. “I want to ride Jack!” little Sid tugged his father’s shirt
“Not now boy,” Sid’s father looked down momentarily, “Your Ma’s in the hospital, remember
“Oh yeah, with my baby brother! I’m going to teach him everything!”
“Yeah,” his father grunted
But things hadn’t gone well. The baby brother had never appeared, leaving only Hannah, a squalling red-faced infant. The fact was made worse, when the baby came home.
“No, not my crib!” Sid stamped his canvas-sneakered feet
“Sid, she needs it. Besides, you have a big boy bed,” his mother stroked his head
“And you don’t need this sissy thing,” his father plucked the pink teddy bear off Sid’s bed
“That’s my Lotso!” Sid pummeled his father’s legs
“Yer too big for a stinkin’ teddy bear!” his father’s voice was like a foghorn
“Sid, we don’t have the money now for new toys for Hannah. Don’t you want to share with her?”
Sid crossed his arms and pouted. His father’s slap against the face took care of that. The door closed and his parents left, along with his Lotso bear. Sid could hear his parents down the hallway, “Look at his teeth,” his father grumbled, “He’ll need braces in no time. Where are we gonna get the money for that?”
That night, little Sid had creeped into his sister’s room, newly wallpapered pink. Seeing his old baby toys strewn about, waiting for his sister to play with them, instead of him. He got angry. Very angry. Grabbing the Melody Push toy, he slammed it against the wall. The noise woke Hannah, who began crying. Sid didn’t stop bashing the toy into the wall, until the wallpaper tore and the toy’s roller had broken off the push handle.
His parents rushed in, to find Sid with Lotso clutched in his arms. His mother ran to console the crying infant, while his father wrestled with the boy for the bear, “Give it here, you baby!”
“I hate you!”
“Good, I got stuck with you too because yer mother wanted a family!” the copious drinks had had an adverse effect on the man.
There was a loud rip as the pink bear’s head separated from his body; Sid held the body in his hands while his father’s hand had the bear’s head in it. Sid looked down at his headless friend, and then at his father,
“I hate you!” he threw the bear’s body on the floor, storming back to his room, “You never let me ride the pony! I wanted to ride the pony!”
“I want to ride the pony,” adult Sid mumbled, rolling in his bed. The alarm clock woke him from his sleep, and he sleepily woke up for another day of garbage duty. He knew he’d feel better once he pumped some tunes on his headphones.
Meanwhile, Woody slumped against Bonnie’s bed, as he had been before, but with a sour expression on his face. Of course, it would be wiped off as soon as Bonnie awoke in a few hours, but for now, it remained as Woody thought of Bo and how strange Dolly was being. Bonnie stirred in her sleep and her arm fell over Buzz’s chest, “To infinity and beyond!” the voice box squawked. Bonnie rolled over, “Shhh, we have to be quiet so Mummy doesn’t get angry” she closed her eyes again sleepily
Morning came, and with it, came the sounds of Bonnie getting ready, “No I don’t want to wear this!” she struggled against her mother’s hands
“You can’t wear your tutu to school baby; we’ll put it on when you get home in the afternoon,”
“Can I take my toys with me?”
“What if they get lost?”
“Oh yeah; but we have show and tell today!”
“Fine, you can take something. But don’t lose it,”
“I won’t” she bounced off the bed and looked at all her toys lying there. “Buzz Lightyear is the coolest toy ever,” she pressed Buzz’s chest button, “I come in peace!” barked Buzz’s chest speaker
“And Jessie’s the roughest cowgirl,” she fingered Jessie’s face
“And then there’s the evil witch!” she picked up Dolly
“But who’s the best of all?” she gazed at Trixie and Rex standing side by side, then to Mr and Mrs Potato Head next to each other, then to Mr Pricklepants, the Aliens, the Peas in a Pod, Bullseye, Buttercup, and finally Woody.
“You’re my favorite deputy” she sang as she picked up Woody, “You’ll love my school. It’s not so scary with a friend”
“What are we doing now Mummy?” Bonnie looked out the window as cars whizzed by. Woody lay next to her
“We’re just looking around, unless you want to go straight home and write your numbers and letters?”
“No no, not yet!”
“Oh there’s a garage sale” Bonnie’s Mum noticed the sign on the lawn
“Can we go?” Bonnie hopped in her seat, “Can we? Can we?”
“Sure, it’s Friday, and the weekend is ahead of us,”
“Hurray!” Bonnie jumped out of the car, leaving Woody on the empty seat
“Wow! What’s that Mummy?”
“That’s a race car bed. But you’ve got a bed at home, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” she put her head down
“Oh Mummy, look at this!” Bonnie picked up a red teddy bear. Squeezing it, the bear let out a soft growl
“Hmm,” Bonnie’s Mum picked it up, “Too much, and you have a lot of stuffed animals now,”
“Oh, But she’s so pretty!”
“I know she is, but we need something else. Remember you don’t like being in the dark?”
“Yeah, we needed something to scare away the shadow monsters!”
“Then let’s look for that first. Then we can look for other things afterwards,” she scanned the tables for something like a table lamp suitable for a young child, “See Bonnie, this looks nice,” she held out the nursery lamp
“Oh you’re interested in that?”
“Why, is anything wrong?”
“No no; its just they also come with some figures I’ve kept aside. Would your daughter want them?”
“I’m not really sure. You might have to ask her,” she turned to Bonnie, “Bonnie, come over here a minute. I want to show you something,”
The lady removed the two figures from a box, “See, this is Bo Peep and this is her sheep,”
“Oh! Mummy they’re so neat!” she grabbed Bo Peep in one hand and the sheep in the other hand, “My sheep my sheep! Someone’s stolen them! I bet it was Evil Dr Porkchop!”
“I guess she likes them,” Bonnie’s Mum grinned
A few streets away, the garbage crew was hauling away their loads. Two garbagemen stood by the truck, a battered pink bear between them,
“I remembered why my parents gave away my Lotso” he passed the stuffed toy r to Sid, “I was allergic to whatever made him smell so good” the garbage man’s rotund body was covered in severe hives.
“Oh, ok,” Sid took the bear from him. He looked down at the filthy pink bear, “Let’s go home and play,” he grinned evilly.
“Woody look, Mummy got me a new toy!”
“And a lamp,”
“And a lamp!” she held up Bo. Woody could scarcely contain the grin which rumbled within him. She was here, against all odds. She was here, with him. Bonnie picked up Woody, “Hello, I’m Woody, how do you do?”
“I’m Little Bo Peep” she picked up Bo, “My sheep have been stolen. Can you help me find them again Woody?”
“Of course” Bonnie picked up Woody’s hand and made him tip his hat, “Oh no, they’ve been vaporized by Evil Dr Porkchop! We’ve got to find them before he takes them away forever!”
As Bonnie played with her new toy and her recently new toy, both Woody and Bo realized what they had known all along, that they belonged together.
