Don't Say Good-Bye
"Come on, Flippy!" the redheaded girl called down from a branch. "The view up here is amazing!" A young boy with green hair stood on the ground, staring up at her with wide emerald eyes. Worry flashed within them.
"Flaky!" he called up nervously. "Come down from there! You could get hurt!" Flaky just rolled her eyes and continued to climb higher up the tree. Flippy whimpered slightly and continued to watch his best friend since birth climb up the tree, but the only thing he could think about was that her life could be at stake. He looked around nervously, hoping neither of their parents would pass by and see what Flaky was up too.
We'd both be in big trouble if they saw us.
A scream interrupted his thoughts and he looked up to make sure Flaky was okay. Relief rushed through him as he saw her smiling, and he realized that it had been just an excited shriek. When he saw the look on her face, a feeling crept up inside him, a feeling that he often got when he was around the redhead. He loved her smile, her adventurous personality, and he'd do anything to see her happy.
"F-Flippy?" Flaky stammered from a branch. "Flippy! Something's coming!" Flippy looked up at the sky and, far in the distance, were planes. Unfortunately, he recognized them as bombing planes, and they were heading right for Happy Tree Town.
"Flaky!" he shouted. "Get down from there! The planes are back again!" Flaky looked quickly at the planes, and then started jumping back down the tree as quickly as possible. Suddenly, the earth shook slightly from a bomb that had fallen from one of the planes. Flippy was able to steady himself, but Flaky had lost her balance on one of the branches. As she screamed, plummeting to the ground, Flippy spread out his arms and caught her. She didn't have time to thank him, however, as they saw that the planes were coming closer and closer to the town.
"Come on!" Flippy grabbed Flaky's hand and led her back to his house. All over the town, people were screaming and running to get into their bomb shelters. Gripping her hand tightly so they didn't get separated, Flippy and Flaky ran through the streets as the sound of the planes became louder and louder.
We're running out of time! Flippy thought to himself. Don't worry, Flaky. I'll get you home safely. As they rounded a bend and approached a house with a white picket fence, a crowd of people ran between Flippy and Flaky. Separated by a stampeding crowd, Flippy couldn't see his friend anywhere. "Flaky!" he called out. "Flaky, can you hear me?" He'd be surprised if Flaky could hear his small voice over the sound of people, planes, and bombs.
Flippy stood there, calling out Flaky's name as loud as he could. His house was right behind him, but he wasn't going inside without his best friend. Finally, the crowd passed and he saw Flaky on the other side, lying still on the concrete sidewalk. He quickly rushed over to her; the sound of the planes was getting louder and the dropping of bombs increased. He gasped when he saw some blood on her head, but picked her up in his arms and ran toward his house. Jumping the fence in a single bound, he ran into his backyard where his mother was waiting for him in the bomb shelter. He felt the earth below him shake as bombs dropped and exploded around him, but he kept running with Flaky still in his arms. He dived through the door of the bomb shelter and landed on the bed. As his mom closed the small door, an explosion was heard right outside.
Flippy woke up after what felt like hours later with Flaky still in his arms. He blushed slightly, knowing his mother was there, but decided to ignore her. He sat up and gently nudged Flaky. She opened her eyes and stared at Flippy with terrified brown orbs.
"Wh-what happened?" she asked, still shaken from what had happened earlier. "The last thing I remember was being separated from you. The crowd of people pushed me back until I fell and hit my head on the sidewalk." An explosion was heard outside, shaking the shelter. Flaky flinched and dug herself deeper into Flippy's side. He stared down at her in amazement.
I've never seen her this scared before. It's almost… Painful to see her like this. Stroking Flaky's hair, Flippy explained everything that had happened while she had been unconscious. Flaky stared at him with admiration as she listened to how brave he had been while saving her life.
"Thank you, Flippy," she said sweetly. "I think that's the bravest thing I've ever heard." The boy blushed and turned his head away. Seeing this, his mother changed the subject.
"I can't believe those stupid planes are bombing Happy Tree Town again. What did we ever do?" Flippy just looked at his mother before he spoke up.
"This war has been going on for two years now," he pointed out. "I think General Tiger has gotten to the point of bombing anywhere he wants." Flaky squeezed his hand as he mentioned this.
"Well, he's putting innocent lives at jeopardy," his mother muttered.
"It's war," Flippy continued. "They don't care who gets in the way. Especially General Tiger."
About an hour later, the noises outside had stopped. Timidly, Flippy's mother opened the shelter door and stared around to make sure everything was safe. When she saw that it was, she went out into the yard with Flippy and Flaky following. The planes had done massive damage to the town, almost completely destroying all of the buildings. Flippy whimpered a bit, reverting back to his nervous self, when he saw two figures walk towards them.
One of the men was dressed in a green suit that was littered with stars and ribbons. The other was wearing green camouflage and was carrying a gun, which made Flippy take a tiny step back. Flaky gently grabbed his hand to comfort him as the more professional looking one stepped forward to speak.
"My name is General Wolf. I saw what you did to help your friend. You had some true bravery. What is your name?" The man seemed kind enough, but Flippy couldn't help but stammer as he introduced himself. "Flippy, I am the leader of the Weaponized Animal Regiment. Do you know what that is?"
"Uh-uh." Flippy shook his head.
"We are the forces that are fighting against General Tiger's army. You see, we have learned that he is planning to do something terrible in the near future, but we're not quite sure what it is yet. All we know is that it'll be catastrophic. Unfortunately, we don't have nearly as many men as we should to be able to defeat him. My men are going from town to town to recruit new officers." He leaned down to look Flippy in the eye. "Would you like to join the Weaponized Animal Regiment?" Flippy's green eyes widened in horror.
"Absolutely not!" his mother and Flaky yelled at the same time. General Wolf was a bit taken aback by this, but he continued to keep his cool as he stared at Flippy's mother.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we're desperate. I've noticed that there is no man of the house, and we need as many people as possible. Your son showed immense bravery while in a critical situation, and that's exactly the kind of person we need in this war."
"Flippy is only ten years old!" his mother yelled again. "You can't make a ten-year-old fight in a war!" The general raised his hand up calmly.
"Well, you see, he wouldn't actually be fighting in the war at this age. He would have training, and wouldn't go into battle until he was at least sixteen. The bottom line is that we need men to fight." Flippy's mother sighed and turned to look at her son.
"It's up to you, Flippy," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "They need you to fight with them. Do you want to?" Flippy looked down sadly, not sure how to respond to the question. Before he could say anything, though, Flaky spoke up.
"I will volunteer to fight in Flippy's place," she said boldly, not taking her eyes off of General Wolf. Flippy looked at Flaky with fear, hoping that she wasn't serious.
"Flaky, you can't! You could be killed!" he said worriedly. He wasn't ready to lose his best friend like that. Flaky turned to him, her hand still gripped tightly in his.
"Flippy," she whispered. "No offense, but you're not exactly brave all the time. You know I could survive better than you could." Tears were forming in her eyes, but she said it without having her voice shake. Flippy sighed, knowing she spoke the truth.
"All right," he finally said after a long pause. "I've made up my mind." Flaky tried to step forward to walk toward the general, but was pulled back by Flippy's hand. "I'm going."
Flaky gasped as he let go of her hand and stepped in front of her. General Wolf smiled slightly.
"You're making a good decision. You'll be able to defend all of the people you love." Flippy turned around to look at his mother and Flaky for the last time, and before he left gave them both a hug. As he hugged Flaky, her grip tightened around him, a sign that she didn't want him to leave.
"I'm sorry, Flaky," he whispered in her ear. "I'll be back, though. I promise." As they parted, the children took one last long look into the other's eyes, to make sure they remembered everything for years to come. But as Flippy turned around to follow General Wolf away from the house, some part of him wished that he would never remember the look on Flaky's face as he was leaving her.
