I do not own these characters.

It was a long day for nine-year-old Calvin. He had just got his first C, the highest grade he had got ever in school so far. He was running down the block of his house, smiling and chanting it to himself. He was so excited to tell Hobbes and his mom. When he opened the door...

POW! Then came Hobbes.

"Woo-hoo!" Hobbes exclaimed. "That was the best pounce in years!"

Calvin rolled his eyes. "Now get off of me! I have something to tell you!"

"I know."

"Huh?"

"I heard you chanting outside."

Calvin really wanted to tell it to someone. So he went inside and told his mom.

"Hey, mom!" Calvin yelled. "I got a C!"

It might have been just a C, but Ms. Watterson was impressed. Calvin gave his math to her.

"Wow, honey. That's great." She commented.

Calvin was waiting for money. But sadly, she didn't give any. He didn't ask for it, but he said this;

"Hobbes helped me. He told me about imaginary numbers."

Calvin was now nine. His mom really wanted to take Hobbes away from him.

"Calvin... we need to talk. Let's go to your room."

So they walked away to Calvin's room.

But it was different.

So he got a C. So he got a loving pounce. So he was commented on his work. Either than that, he felt everything was a little different. Perhaps he wasn't used to all of this.

"Calvin..." She said.

"You are nine. And Hobbes is a toy. You really need to give him up." She left the room.

Calvin started to cry. Would he give up Hobbes today? Was he even real? He thought up lots of questions. All he wanted was to keep Hobbes. Hobbes came in. He was listening to Ms. Watterson the whole time.

"Yes," explained Hobbes. "I am a toy. But if you talk to me more, I will be more real. You see, there was this place(where I lived), you see. If you are born there, you get sent to a specific place in a shop, where you will have to make friends with a child and play with them using imagination. If you use it highly enough, all your dreams will come true. So if you want me back, you have to play with me more and forget that I am a toy."

Calvin thought about this for a while. A hour later, he finally figured it out. He rushed out to Hobbes.

"WHAT?" Hobbes yelled. "What's the plan?!"

"To run away."

Calvin and Hobbes packed their stuff up and went. Calvin brought cookies and his new 'Be prepared' kit(now added a stick collection, because you never know)and Hobbes brought a lifetime supply of fried swordfish steak. And salmon, as well.

They never knew where they were going to go. They just walked. And walked. And walked. Calvin was thinking about where they would go when they suddenly fell into a manhole.

"Are you okay, Hobbes?" Calvin asked.

"Yes," Hobbes answered. "But we're in the sewers!"

Calvin noticed the ladder. It still the dirtiest thing he had ever seen, but still a ladder. He climbed up.