Cheering Up A Friend
A.N. Before the story starts, I'd like to point a few things:
1. The radio station mentioned in this story is FAKE
2. The DJ at the radio station, Jimmy Wigg, is based off of me.
3. The phone number of the radio station is also fake.
Now that things have hopefully been cleared up, let's jump in!
One day, in California's Yellowstone National Park, Ranger Kitty was taking a group of kids on a hike. They were all enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery the region had in store.
"Thanks for taking us on this hike, Ranger Kitty!" one of the kids said.
"Yeah, thanks!" said another.
"No problem." said Kitty. "You know, it's nice to be outside enjoying the great outdoors, but there are also some important tools and essentials you need to remember to bring when you're outside on a hike. Who can name one?"
"I can!" said a male cougar. "A first aid kit in case you get hurt!"
"Good job, Bruce!" said Kitty. "Who else?"
A male rabbit spoke up.
"Food for energy." he said.
"Nice, Clark!" said Kitty.
"I have one!" said a third kid, a male mole. "Water to stay hydrated."
"That's right, Hal!" said Kitty. "Anyone else?"
"Hiking boots like we have on right now to keep your feet warm and dry." said a female frog.
"That's great, Diane!" said Kitty.
"A map and compass in case you get lost so you can find your way back to trail much easier." said a male bear.
"A flashlight and lots of spare batteries in case it gets dark so you can see where you're going." said a male skunk.
"A fire-starter or a book of matches." said a male fox.
"Spot on, Barry, Arthur, and John." said Kitty. "And why is having those things important, John?"
"In case you get lost, you can start a fire to keep you or others warm until help arrives." said John, the fox.
"Correct." said Kitty. "Wow, you kids must've really paid attention when the other Rangers and I gave that outdoor safety speech at your school."
"Yup." said Hal.
"I have another one." said a male beaver. "Rain gear in case it rains."
"Good job, Simon." said Kitty.
"I have another one, too!" said a female turtle. "A knife or some kind of multi-tool so you can fix a piece of broken equipment or cut a piece of moleskin to put over a blister."
"Nice one, Karen." said Kitty.
Just then, a female raccoon smelled a very strange smell.
"Um, Ranger Kitty?" she asked.
"Yes, Linda?" Kitty responded.
"I smell something funny." Linda said.
The other kids and Kitty all sniffed the air. Kitty immediately recognized it.
"It smells like smoke." said Kitty, who then turned to the kids. "Alright, everyone, single file. We're going back to the picnic grounds. I think there might be a forest fire."
Although slightly scared, the kids listened and formed a single file line. Then, Kitty led the kids out of the forest and to the picnic grounds. However, unknown to her, one of the kids, a male porcupine named Wally, had wandered away from the group to use an outhouse that wasn't too far away from where they were. Of course, that all changed when Bruce discovered they were short one kid.
"Ranger Kitty!" he said.
"What is it, Bruce?" Kitty asked.
"Wally's not with us!" Bruce said.
Kitty's eyes shot wide open.
"What?!" she asked.
The next kid to notice something was Clark.
"Look!" Clark said. "I see smoke!"
Kitty saw the smoke too.
"Oh no!" Kitty gasped.
Kitty then spoke to the kids.
"I'd like one of you to go to the ranger station and alert the park rangers." said Kitty. "The rest of you, stay here. I'm going to look for Wally."
"I'll go." said Hal. "One of the rangers is my uncle."
"Okay, Hal." said Kitty.
With that, Kitty and Hal parted ways, and Kitty plunged into the forest, looking for Wally and calling out his name. While she was doing so, she saw more smoke, which caused her to worry.
"Oh, Wally, where are you?!" she asked.
"Ranger Kitty?" a voice asked.
It was Wally.
"Wally!" Ranger Kitty said. "Thank God you're safe! Where were you?"
"I had to go to the bathroom." Wally said.
Kitty blushed deeply.
"Ranger Kitty?" Wally asked. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, Wally, I'm fine." said Kitty. "Let's go meet with your friends."
With that, Kitty and Wally went back to the other kids, who were all elated to see their friend.
"Wally!" said Hal. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
"Yeah." said Wally. "I just had to use the outhouse, that's all."
Just then, a ranger pulled up in a jeep and stepped out.
"We checked out the spot where you saw the smoke, and as it turns out, it was nothing more than some Boy Scouts practicing smoke signals." the ranger said.
The kids all breathed a sigh of relief, but Kitty only blushed out of embarrassment.
"So, I guess we bothered you for nothing." said Hal.
"No, it's alright." said the ranger. "We're just doing our job. Plus, you did the right thing in coming to us after seeing smoke. Though, next time you see smoke, try to get a good idea as to what's really going on before you do something about it. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" said the kids.
But Kitty said nothing. She just went back to the Hovercraft. Barry noticed this.
"Hey, where's Ranger Kitty going?" he asked.
"I don't know." said Bruce.
"Probably back to the other Danger Rangers." said Clark.
"Yeah, maybe." said Hal.
Meanwhile, Kitty arrived back at Danger Ranger HQ. The other Rangers were quick to greet her.
"Hiya, Kitty!" said Squeeky.
"How was your hike?" asked Burble.
Kitty sighed.
"It was pretty good, I guess." Kitty said sadly.
The other Rangers were concerned.
"Kitty, are you okay?" asked Gabriela.
"Yes, I am." said Kitty.
"Are you sure?" asked Burt. "Because you look like something happened."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" asked Sully.
"No thank you." said Kitty.
"Oh, okay." said Sully.
Kitty then went to her room and sat down on her bed. She then opened a drawer and took out a photo of her deceased father, Oliver, who was killed in a car accident when she was eight, and sighed.
"Hi, Dad." Kitty said sadly. "I messed up big today. I was taking some kids on a hike in Yellowstone National Park, and one of them saw smoke. We thought it was a fire, but it turned out to be Boys Scouts practicing smoke signals. And to make matters worse, one of the kids went away from the group, and I panicked, but it turned out he was just using the bathroom."
Tears then began forming in Kitty's eyes.
"I just don't know of I'm even cut out to be a Danger Ranger anymore after this." Kitty said in a choked-up voice. "I feel so stupid!"
Kitty then put the photo back where she found it, collapsed on her bed, and started to cry. Unknown to her, Sully was listening at the door and heard her crying.
"Poor Kitty." Sully said to himself. "She must feel really bad."
Sully went to the other Rangers and relayed the news.
"¡Ay, caramba!" said Gabriela. "She must feel terrible!"
"Yeah, she must." said Burble.
"I haven't seen her this upset before." said Fallbot.
"None of us have." said Burt.
"That's my point." said Fallbot.
"And this is mine." said Sully. "We need to show her how much we care for her and that she just made an honest mistake."
"Maybe I could bake her favorite triple chocolate cake." said Burble. "That oughta cheer her up."
"And maybe me, Fallbot, GB, and Squeeky could buy her "cheer-up" cards." said Burt.
"Yeah, good ideas." said Sully.
"What about you, Sully?" asked Gabriela.
"I don't know." said Sully. "I need time to think."
"Alright." said Burt. "Well, we'll see ya when we see ya."
With that, Burt, Gabriela, Fallbot, and Squeeky left in the Hovercraft while Burble went to the kitchen to make the cake. This left Sully alone, and he went to his room to brainstorm ideas for what he could do.
"Now, let's see." he said. "Box of candy shaped like a heart? Nope, it's way past Valentine's Day. Besides, Burble's already making that cake. Bouquet of flowers? Nah, again, way past Valentine's Day for that. Plus, it's too cliché. Doing a comedy act? No, that's not good enough. Oh, what can I do?!"
Just then, he saw his radio, which was set to his favorite station, J-WIG 103.5 FM.
"Maybe that might help." said Sully.
He turned on the station, where he heard The Doors' "Light My Fire" just finishing up. Once it was over, the voice of the deejay at the station, Jimmy Wigg, who was also a famous teenage pop singer, was heard.
"Yo, you're listening to Jimmy Wigg's Flashback Favorites on J-WIG 103.5 FM." said Jimmy. "And that was The Doors with "Light My Fire". You know, there's a very interesting yet somewhat unpleasant story about that song. Back when The Doors were about to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show on the 12th of September 1967, a producer from the show came by to inform the band that they needed to change the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl, we couldn't get much better" when performing "Light My Fire," ostensibly because the line might be construed as referring to drugs. However, when the band sang the song during the actual performance, lead singer Jim Morrison sang the original lyric instead of making the suggested change. After the show, producers said they had hoped to book them six more times, but had decided instead to ban the Doors from the show in the future. Morrison reportedly replied, "Hey, man, we just did the Sullivan show.". Anyways, it's time once again for "Song Requests & What's On Your Mind?", where I, Jimmy Wigg, allow you listening at home to call my station to request songs or chat with me about anything. I hope you have your phones ready, because the number will be coming in a few moments."
"Perfect!" Sully said as he got out his phone. "Alright, Jimmy, lay that number on me."
"Alright, here's the number." said Jimmy. "The number is 554-2745. Again, it's 554-2745."
Sully dialed each number carefully.
"Alright, callers, I'm all yours." Jimmy said.
As soon as Jimmy said that, Sully smashed the "Call" button, and Jimmy answered after only one ring.
"Hello, you're on the air." said Jimmy.
"Hi, Jimmy, it's Ranger Sully from the Danger Rangers." said Sully.
"Hi, Sully." said Jimmy. "What can I do for you?"
Sully explained.
"Oh, gee, that's tough." said Jimmy.
"Yeah." said Sully. "She's really upset. So, I was wondering if you can play a song that'll boost her spirit."
"Can do, pal." said James. "I'll see if I can find one during my commercial break."
"Sounds good." said Sully. "Thanks, Jimmy."
"No probs." said Jimmy. "Well, gotta go. I've got some chicken quesadillas that are calling my name."
At that moment, Sully heard Burt announce that the other Rangers had return.
"Perfect timing." Sully said to himself as he hung up.
He then went to greet the other Rangers. They had also bought two extra cards for Sully and Burble to sign. Just as Sully signed his, Burble came out of the kitchen, carrying the finished cake, which had "We Love You, Kitty!" written on top with pink icing.
"Perfect." said Sully.
Burble put the cake aside and signed his card. Soon, everything was ready.
"Shall I get Kitty?" Burt asked.
"Yup." said Sully.
"Alright, here I go." said Burt.
Meanwhile, Kitty was still sniffling in her room when there came a knock at the door.
"Come in." Kitty said in a shaky voice.
The door opened and Burt entered.
"Hey, Kitty, the others want you to meet them in the briefing room." said Burt.
"Okay." said Kitty after she blew her nose.
With that, after instructing Kitty to cover her eyes, which she did, Burt led her to the briefing room.
"Can I open my eyes now?" Kitty asked.
"Yup." said Sully.
Kitty opened her eyes and saw everything.
"SURPRISE!" the other Rangers yelled.
Kitty was surprised and happy.
"A surprise party?! For me?!" she asked.
"Yup." said Sully.
Kitty beamed from cheek to cheek.
"Thanks!" she said.
Burble then brought out the cake, and when Kitty saw it, she beamed even more.
"Triple chocolate, my favorite!" she said.
"And that's not all." said Burt. "Each of us have a "Cheer Up" card for you."
"Aww, that's sweet." said Kitty.
Fallbot then gave Kitty the cards, and she read them. All of the other cards had simple little sentences like "Cheer up, Kitty!" or "Don't feel bad!", but Sully's had a little note that read:
"Kitty,
I heard what you went through in Yellowstone, and I wanted to say that it was not your fault, and you just made an honest mistake. Don't beat yourself up over that. We all make mistakes, even me. And don't think you're not cut out for the team just because of a little thing like that. We all love having you on our team. Without you, I just don't know what we'd do. We love you, Kitty, and we hope you feel better soon.
-Sully"
Kitty was tearing up as she read it, and before anyone knew it, she had thrown her arms round Sully and was sobbing onto his shoulder.
"Aw, there, there." the seal said as he comforted her.
"Hey, Squeeky, how about some music?" asked Burble.
"You got it!" said Squeeky.
Squeeky turned on the radio and tuned it to J-WIG 103.5 FM, where "Senses Working Overtime" by XTC had finished playing.
"And that was XTC with "Senses Working Overtime"." said Jimmy as he spoke again. "Now, before I play the next song on tonight's broadcast, I'd like to say that I was asked by Ranger Sully of the Danger Rangers to find an uplifting song for his friend, Kitty, who is going through a rough time. After a while, I found one. This one was by Tom Petty and was written after an unknown assailant firebombed his house, destroying most of his most prized possessions in the process, on May 17, 1987. After that, he built a new house made of more flame-retardant materials to show that he wasn't afraid. The song is called "I Won't Back Down". And here it is right now."
With that being said, the song started playing, and Kitty fangirled when it did.
"I love Tom Petty!" she said.
As the song went on, the Rangers all enjoyed having cake and partying the night away, and Kitty was pleased to have such amazing friends to support her in times of trouble.
The End