"Got any aces?" Hamm asked Woody as he looked over the cards he was holding in his hooves.
Woody smiled as he looked at his own deck. "Go fish."
The piggy bank sighed as he drew yet another card and added it to his very full deck.
Right now, the toys' owner Bonnie had not yet arrived home from daycare, and all the toys were enjoying the last few minutes they had before she arrived. Most of the toys were watching a card game between Hamm and Woody.
"Do you have a seven?" Woody asked.
Another groan escaped Hamm as he took out one of his cards and handed it to Woody. "Yes I do."
"Woohoo! I win! Four sevens!" Woody yelled, putting his remaining three cards next to Hamm.
"Ahhh, game's rigged," Hamm said, setting his cards on the ground.
Choruses of, "Good job, Woody!", "Great game, Woody!", or "Nice one, Woody!" rang through the room as the cowboy began to put the cards back into a pile.
"Great job, Cowboy," Dolly said to him as she walked up.
"Just doin' my job," Woody slyly replied to the toy. "Would you care to join me for a game?"
Before the doll could say yes, both heard a door open and slam shut form downstairs. This was followed by the sound of footsteps running up the stairs.
"Places!" Woody quickly called out.
Within seconds, all the toys had run back to the spots where Bonnie had previously placed them. They were ready in the nick of time, for their 5-year old owner burst through the door.
"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" Bonnie screamed excitedly to her toys as she jumped up and down. "I get to see my uncle at his ranch tomorrow!"
All of the toys mentally high-fived each other. As much as they loved Bonnie, sometimes they needed a break from their normal routine.
"I'm gonna take you, and you, and you," Bonnie playfully yelled, grabbing one toy after another and then pulling them close to her. Before long, all twenty-one of her toys were in a gigantic pile in front of her.
At this, the toys let out another silent burst of joy. Trips were just as fun as vacations, possibly even more. The only toy who wasn't quite as excited about the news was Woody.
Last time Bonnie had gone on a vacation, she had taken Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr. Pricklepants, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, and Trixie to her grandma's house. Just the thought of not being at home to help Dolly take care of all the other toys had scared him. Then, to make it worse, there car had gotten a flat tire and they were forced to stop at a motel where a creepy manager had tried to sell them all on easybid! All in all, Woody had not enjoyed the experience.
Just then Bonnie's mom walked into the room.
"Come on Bonnie, let's go ahead and pack. We need to leave very early tomorrow, so our suitcases need to be ready to go in the car tonight," she told her daughter as she walked over to Bonnie's closet.
"Can I take my toys, Mommy?" Bonnie asked her mom with an exciting yet pleading tone.
Her mom turned to her. "I don't know honey, what if one of them got lost? I wouldn't want you to get upset."
"Bonnie pouted and stuck out her lower lip as far as it could go. "Pleeeeaasse!" She said with her best puppy-dog face.
Woody prayed she would say no, but Eve just laughed. "OK, but you can only take five small toys," she finally said.
"Great," thought Woody.
"Thanks Mommy!" Bonnie yelled. She turned around so she could look at her pile of toys. She put her hand on her chin dramatically and acted as if she was thinking very hard.
"I know! Since we're going to a ranch, we'll have to take Cowboy Woody!" Bonnie suddenly declared, picking up Woody setting, more like tossing, him next to her.
Woody mentally groaned. Today was not his day. The only hope that remained in Woody was that he could count on his co-leader Dolly to take care of the toys that were staying home.
Bonnie returned to her thinking position after Woody was on the floor. Again, she randomly jumped up. "I've got the perfect idea!" she yelled. She grabbed the three peas in the pile and zipped them up in their pod. She then held it up high in the air as if it was a trophy that she had just won. "Now it's one toy!"
Bonnie's mother turned around from folding shirts to see what Bonnie was talking about. She smiled at her daughter's idea. It was like her to come up with a creative way to take more toys.
Woody, on the other hand, was not very happy with Bonnie's "idea". The peas were a handful, and chances of them getting lost were high to certain. Plus, that meant that Woody would have to watch over six other toys instead of four.
Dolly, despite the happy smile painted on Woody's face, knew that the cowboy was troubled. She desperately wanted to send the Sheriff some signal of reassurance, but knew with two humans in the room it would be too dangerous.
After the peas were placed next to Woody, Bonnie only waited a few seconds before grabbing Jessie, Bullseye, and Buttercup.
"A ranch needs, Cowgirls and horses too!" she said.
Bonnie set the seven…err… five toys in front of her. She was about to go help her mother finish packing when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
"Dolly! I forgot I promised you could come on the next trip! Plus Uncle Eric might want to see you again since he gave you to me for my first birthday!" she exclaimed. "Jessie will have to stay behind this time." She picked up Jessie from her spot next to Woody and put Dolly in her place. Satisfied, she finally went to go help her mom.
Woody was not satisfied, oh he was far from it. He felt sick to his stomach. He shared a very nervous glance with Dolly.
On all the trips Bonnie had gone on, she had either taken Woody or Dolly, but never had she taken them both. Woody wanted to jump up and sort the whole thing out right away. Instead, he painfully waited for the next ten minutes as Bonnie and her mom packed for the trip just a few feet away.
After what seemed like hours, the two finally emerged from the closet with a suitcase in Bonnie's hands. Her mom picked up Woody, Dolly, the peas, Bullseye, and Buttercup, and took the suitcase from her daughter. She then walked toward the door.
"I have to go ahead and put your toys in the car, but you can play with your others for an hour until it's time to eat supper, OK Sweetie?" she told her.
"OK. By guys! See you tomorrow!" She said, at first talking to her mom and then her toys. She waved good bye to them.
"Wait, what! I won't even be able to talk with Buzz about what to do while I'm gone, or be able to say good bye!" Woody thought panicking. He almost had a mental breakdown, but at the last second remembered he was in a human's arms.
Mrs. Anderson took the toys and the suitcase outside to where her car was. She first placed the toys in the backseat. The toys then waited impatiently as she set Bonnie's suitcase in the trunk and walked inside.
As soon as the front door was shut, Woody jumped up. "No, no ,no ,no! This cannot be happening! We have to find a way to get back with the others!" he said extremely worried. He moved his arms around in big circles to express his stress.
Dolly frowned and grabbed at one of his hands. "Woody, calm down. I'm not the happiest person in the world that Bonnie selected both of us to go on the trip. We just have to trust that Buzz and Jessie will be able to keep the other toys in check. I'm sure Buzz had to take care of the toys back at Andy's house multiple times. Why is that any different than now?" Dolly tried to make her voice sound reassuring, in order to make Woody settle down.
Woody relaxed a little, but he was still somewhat flustered. "Yes, but that was a long time ago! Last time Buzz was in charge of the toys he got turned to Demo Mode. He locked all the toys in cages at the Sunny Side Daycare. That was only in three days! Who knows how long we'll be gone!"
Snickers came from across the seat. The two dolls turned around. They had both forgotten they weren't alone.
"Buzz must be really stupid!" one of the peas said.
Woody managed to let out a small chuckle. "At least she agrees with me."
Apparently the pea wasn't done talking yet. "At least he's not as stupid as you," she said to her sister and brother.
"Look who's talking!" her brother yelled.
In an instant the peas had squeezed out of there pod and were in a full out war. Dolly and Woody instantly jumped up to try and brake up the fight. Bullseye too got to his feet and dashed over to help, but instead he accidently managed to knock down the peas, Woody, Dolly, and himself to the car floor.
The only one who had managed to stay in the seat was Buttercup. "Uhhh, I'm just going to go stand over here," he said, backing away slowly.
The toys hardly noticed. The peas were too busy shouting insults at each other, Bullseye was still trying to help catch the peas but continuing to get in the way, and Dolly and Woody were desperately trying to grab hold of Peaty, Peatrice, and Peanelope. After a minute or so, Dolly was clutching one Peaty to her chest while Woody was squeezing the girls in each hand. They sat there for twenty seconds, all six of them trying to catch their breath.
"Now," Woody finally said, "Who's going to be apologizing first."
Before anything else could be done Buttercup randomly blurted out, "Human!"
The toys sprang into action. Woody grabbed the 3rd pea from dolly and scrambled up the seat. He shoved them in their pod and quickly zipped them up. When he turned around, he saw that Bullseye had already got up the seat, but Dolly was having trouble. He quickly helped pull her up. At the last second, they were in their places.
Eve Anderson opened the car door. She placed a coloring book and some crayons in a small bag in the car. She also put her suitcase in the trunk. Then she locked the car with her keys and went back inside the house.
This time, the toys there slowly got up. The peas all stayed in their pod, not wanting to have to deal with Woody. Dolly was the first one to speak.
"Looks like you need even more help here, Sherriff," she said to Woody in an amused tone.
Woody sighed and chuckled. You're right, I deserved that."