Standard Fanfic Disclaimer that wouldn't last ten seconds in a court of law: these aren't my characters, nor my setting. The characters, except for Darby, were created by A. A. Milne, and are based on the Disney cartoon My Friends Tigger and Pooh. I borrow them only, and shall return them unharmed when I am done with them. No financial profit has been made from the writing of this story. It has not been printed in any fanzine; it is debuting as 'netfic. e-books-tree-dot-com, I'll thank you not to repost this story on your website, and I'll thank you to delete those of my stories which you have already reposted at your site without my permission.
Dinosaur Tracks
by Susan M. M.
a My Friends Tigger and Pooh story
for Caitlin
One summer day in the Hundred Acre Woods, Piglet wanted to paint a picture. He got a bucket and went to the river to get some water for his watercolors. When he got there, he saw something that sc-scared him. He saw something that t-t-terrified him.
Piglet ran at once to sound the alarm.
Winnie the Pooh was having a little smackeral of bread and honey. When he heard the alarm, he gobbled his snack and hurried to the Changing Tree, still chewing.
Tigger was practicing his bouncing. When he heard the alarm, he rushed to the Changing Tree.
Darby was tossing a ball for Buster to fetch. When they heard the alarm, they dashed to the Changing Tree.
Pooh and Tigger changed into their Super Sleuth costumes. Darby slapped her cap. Buster shook his dog collar until his tag flipped over, revealing a question mark.
"Any time," Pooh promised.
"Any place," Tigger pledged.
"The Super Sleuths," Darby chimed in.
"Are on the case!" the three declared in unison. Buster barked his agreement.
They looked at the Finder Flag to see where the trouble was.
"To the river!" Tigger shouted.
The Super Sleuths jumped on their scooters. Pooh and Tigger jumped on the blue scooter, Darby and Buster on the purple scooter. They went to the river as quickly as they could.
"Super Sleuths, thank goodness you're here!" Piglet exclaimed.
"What's the matter?" Pooh asked.
"What's wrong?" asked Darby.
"It was t-t-terrible. It was horrible," Piglet replied.
"What was?" Tigger demanded.
"D-d-dinosaur tracks!"
"Dinosaurs," Pooh repeated.
"That's imposserable." Tigger waved a paw dismissively. "Dinosaurs are extinctical."
"Dinosaurs died out a long time ago," Darby explained. "The only dinosaurs now are fossils in museums."
"But I saw the dinosaur tracks," Piglet persisted.
"Maybe they were squirrel tracks?" Pooh suggested.
"Or moose tracks?" Tigger said.
Piglet shook his head. "Look!" He pointed to the sand along the river bank.
There in the sand were teeny-tiny footprints. Written in the sand were the words: dinasor trax.
"Dinosaur tracks," Pooh agreed.
"Kind of on the small side," Tigger said. "I thought dinosaurs were gigantical."
"Some dinosaurs were big, like T-rex and brontosaurus, but some were smaller than you are, Piglet," Darby explained.
The Super Sleuths, with Piglet trailing nervously behind them, followed the tracks. They followed the tracks up the hill. They followed the tracks down the hill. They followed the tracks around the bend.
And what did they see when they got around the bend?
Christopher Robin, playing with his toy dinosaurs!
Christopher Robin looked up. "Hullo. Would you like to play dinosaurs with me?"
"You thought Christopher Robin's toys were real dinosaurs?" Tigger laughed at Piglet's mistake.
"Toy dinosaurs?" Piglet giggled nervously. He blushed even pinker than usual, embarrassed by his mistake. "I'm not afraid of toy dinosaurs."
Darby laid a comforting hand on Piglet's shoulder. "It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes." Her blue eyes glanced sharply at Tigger. "Everyone."
"You're right, Dar-buddy. Sorry, Pigoletto," Tigger apologized. "I shouldn't have laughed at you. This mystery," he announced, "is history!"
Piglet and the Super Sleuths played dinosaurs with Christopher Robin for a bit. Then they went to the bridge and played Pooh-sticks.
Then Piglet remembered why he had gone to the river in the first place. He went back to get his bucket and carefully filled it with water. Then he went home, got out his brushes and his watercolors, and painted a picture of a dinosaur.
The End