Reunited
"I have a bad feeling about this, Woody! Oh, I just hate all this uncertainty – I don't think I can take much more of this! I'm sure all this insecurity is bad for my nerves!"
These words came from a very anxious looking green dinosaur, who was twiddling his hands in a rapid circular motion, whilst his fretful eyes darted about the room restlessly.
The objects of Rex's concern consisted of several medium-sized cardboard boxes that had been dumped on the floor of Bonnie's bedroom.
"What if we're all going to be sold at a yard sale, and get separated from each other?" Rex continued in a panic-stricken tone.
"Will you shut up, you overgrown lizard?" retorted Mr Potato Head in his usual impatient manner, as a swipe of Rex's large tail had knocked him over and scattered some of his body parts over the floor.
"Oh, my poor darling!" cried Mrs Potato Head, as she ran over to assist her husband.
"Hey, guys, calm down!" said Woody, ever the leader and peacemaker in such doubtful and unsettling times like these. "We won't get separated – I promise you, we'll all stay together!" he said, in a more confident and reassuring tone than he actually felt inside.
"Woody's right," agreed Buzz, stepping forward. "This is no time to panic!"
"I'd say this is a perfect time to panic," argued Hamm, as he looked upon the unhappy scene from his dusty perch on the shelf. "Empty cardboard boxes aren't just put there for decoration, ya know – they're there for filling up unwanted stuff with, and you bet we'll be the ones that get filled in there, now that Bonnie's growing up and she doesn't play with us anymore."
"It certainly seems that way, Woody," agreed Slinky, who was beginning to resign himself to the inevitable fate that seemed to await them.
"Oh, Buzz!" exclaimed Jessie, looking into his eyes with the deepest concern and desperation. "We won't get separated from each other, will we?"
Buzz smiled at Jessie and placed a loving hand on her arm to soothe away her fears. "Don't worry, Jessie," he said. "Nothing and no one will ever part us."
"But it seems such a hopeless situation!" said Trixie, as she approached Rex who was beginning to feel overwhelmed with the intensity of the situation. This was the first time Trixie had ever faced losing an owner, as she had always been with Bonnie from the very beginning. The thought of being parted from her first and only owner and facing an uncertain future was a totally new and disquieting experience for her, and it was beginning to trouble her. "Bonnie hasn't played with us for several years – we're lucky she's even kept us this long, even though we have been squashed and abandoned in the chest. But now she's fifteen, and Mum is constantly getting at Bonnie to sort out her cupboards and chuck out the stuff she no longer uses! Bonnie's bound to throw us out!"
At this Rex took a wild look at his fellow toys and let out a terrified scream, "Argghhhh!"
Woody ran over to Rex in a frantic attempt to quieten his nerves. "Calm down, buddy!" he said, in a kind but firm and authoritative voice. "Everything will be fine – just stop panicking!"
"Now is the winter of our discontent!" came the dramatic voice of Mr Pricklepants.
"What?" cried Mr Potato Head in bewilderment, and with a hint of disdain in his tone.
Mr Pricklepants shot a proud and scornful look in Potato Head's direction. "Shakespeare," he said, in a pompous tone, "I thought it was a rather fitting quote, considering our present predicament."
"Well that's just great," muttered Mr Potato Head sarcastically.
"Okay, guys," said Woody, who was doing his utmost to remain positive and diffuse the tense situation as best he could. "We can work this out. We've been in tight spots before, and we've always got through them together, and we can work this out together if we will only stay calm and think things out logically." Bullseye whinnied his approval and nudged his pal lovingly, which earned him an appreciative pat from Woody.
"Woody's right," said Buzz, in an attempt to back up his friend, no matter how bleak the future looked. "We can stick together if we work together!"
"Wait . . . .someone's coming!" cried Dolly suddenly.
There was a whirl of movement and confusion as all the toys hurried and scattered to get back into their original places back into the chest.
It was dark and crowded in the chest, and almost stifling with so many packed inside. Woody strained his ears forward to try and ascertain who was coming, and what was going on.
Suddenly a shaft of light streamed in on the toys as the lid of the chest was opened, and a delicate, soft tanned hand arrested each of the toys and began piling them into one of the cardboard boxes. Once the chest was emptied of its contents, fifteen-year-old Bonnie picked up Hamm from his place on the shelf, and then heaved up the box into her arms, and carefully left the room, which now looked very different to the once childish room that had existed in years gone by. The drawings of Bonnie's beloved toys and companions that had once adorned the walls had now been replaced with posters of favourite movie stars and singers; a television stood on the cabinet opposite the bed and a dressing table neatly stacked with make-up, jewellery and hair accessories ornamented the bedroom. Not a single plaything was in sight. No, this was definitely the room belonging to a teenage girl, and not a child anymore.
The sound of Mum's voice met Woody's ears as Bonnie slowly descended the stairs carrying the precious load. "You'd better hurry, honey! Andy Philips will be here in any minute!"
Woody had to restrain himself from sitting upright at these words. Andy? He thought with puzzlement. Who does she mean? Woody shook himself inwardly and remonstrated with himself. I must be hearing things! Get a grip, Woody!
A few moments later, the doorbell rang, and Bonnie, who had now laid the box on the floor in the hallway, ran to answer it. A tall, good-looking man in his late twenties stood at the door, and was smiling brightly. He had brown hair, and his facial features very much resembled those of someone Woody knew very well once upon a time, but he couldn't see very clearly, as Bonnie's profile obstructed his view.
"Hi!" said Bonnie
"Well, hi there," returned the man's friendly voice. "Surely you can't be Bonnie? My goodness, how you've changed since I last saw you!"
Something in this guy's voice caused something inside of Woody to jump suddenly and his brow to furrow in faint recognition. A queer sensation was settling over him. He knew that voice from somewhere, although it seemed to have changed just ever so slightly. It seemed a little deeper and . . . . more manly somehow.
"It's been a long time," Bonnie rejoined. "Here – I've got them all here in this box for you, plus a few extra of my own. I kept my promise to you – I've taken real good care of them, and now I'm returning them to you!"
"Thanks, Bonnie. I can see you have! They all seem the same as when I left them here with you all that time ago; and now my own two little twins can have the joy of playing with them just as I did when I was a kid. When I bumped into your Mum yesterday she said that you still had them and were going to get rid of them, and asked if I wanted them for my kids; so I thought I would take them back off your hands for you, and give them to Josh and Jenny."
There was no doubt about it now. It was Andy! They were all being returned to their original owner! It was all Woody could do to keep himself from jumping out of the box and exclaiming in his famous, cowboy way, "Well, howdy partner! You're my favourite deputy!" He could hardly believe that he was being restored to Andy after all these years – it was truly a dream come true!
Once Andy had said his thanks and good-byes to Bonnie, he picked up the box and headed out to the car. He opened up the door to the car and placed them down on the back seat, but before turning away he stretched out his hand and picked up his old pal Woody in a fond grasp, and smiled down at the cowboy doll in his hands with an affectionate smile on his face. Then reaching out his other hand to Woody's back, he gently pulled the drawstring whilst grinning with remembrance as the once familiar words floated to his ears: "There's a snake in my boot!"
Andy let out a low, short chuckle of delight as he began to reminisce in all the cheerful memories of the old days when he was a young boy, playing out his adventure stories with all his old toys. Ah! How sweet it was to have them back once again!
As for Woody and the gang, they were on cloud nine! As Andy began driving away, Woody and Buzz exchanged a mutual look of glowing joy and contentment, ecstatic that they would all be staying together, and also had the pleasure of being reunited with Andy and would be played with by his children. They could think of nothing better, nor of a happier ending; and yet this was just the beginning! Andy was not the only one they were being reunited with. Another greater treasure lay in wait for them, and especially for Woody!
The ride to Andy's home was one of complete bliss and gratification. Everyone's nerves had totally disintegrated, including Rex's! Now they were being driven to a new home where they had never been before, but it wouldn't be completely strange to them, for they were being reclaimed by Andy and would have him as their owner once again.
It wasn't long before the toys were being lifted out of the car, and were being carried into the house and up the stairs into a spacious bedroom, where a small bed with pink covers lay over against the wall on the left, and another done up in blue covers stood to the right. In between the beds was a large window which faced the east, and a roomy wooden chest stood underneath it. Next to each bed stood a bedside table – one with a pink lamp which had some sort of ornamentation, and the other held a blue one.
Andy set the box down on the wooden floor, and spoke one final word before parting, "Josh and Jenny aren't here yet – they've gone out shopping with their Mum, but when they get back they're gonna love you guys, and I'm pretty sure you'll like them, too. It's great to have you all back." And with one final loving smile, Andy quitted the room.
This was the toy's cue to spring back to life, which they did in silent wonder at their sudden good fortune. It was Jessie's habitual excitable nature that roused them all into a buzz and state of animation. "YeeeHAH! Can you believe it, Bullseye?"
Bullseye let out a neigh of extreme happiness, whilst shoving Woody onto his back he began to gallop around the room in his ecstasy, which produced a jovial laugh from Woody as his trusty steed raced him around the delighted circle of toys, who were beaming and chatting excitedly.
It was a soft, faraway voice that brought the loud and animated voices to a hushed standstill. "Woody? Is that really you?"
All eyes turned as the slight figure of a pretty toy dressed in a pink cap and petticoats, and carrying a blue staff slowly approached them timidly and tentatively at first, and then more confidently as doubt began to give way to recognition. Woody deliberately dismounted from the saddle, and began to approach the delicate figure in silent amazement and his face clouded with disbelief. "Bo?"
At once both faces of Woody and Bo lit up, and they ran towards each other, enveloping each other in a warm embrace. "Woody! I can hardly believe it's you! How did you get here? And with everyone else, too! Why, you're all here!"
Woody began to laugh in his felicity. "I can hardly believe it's you, either! After all these years!"
"Oh, Woody, I've missed you so!"
"And I've missed you, too, Bo! But how did you come to be here?" exclaimed Woody, hardly able to believe the incredible day he was having.
"Andy found me at a yard sale," explained Bo. "I've been through a few different owners over the years, but Andy found me and brought me back for his daughter, Jenny. I've been here barely a week myself, but I'm so happy here. Jenny and Josh are the sweetest little kids – I know you'll love them , Woody. They've just turned four, so they'll practically grow up with us, just like Andy did!"
Woody's happiness was now complete – he had been reunited with his beloved owner, Andy, and now with his sweetheart of bygone days. The only thing that Woody managed to say at this joyful occasion was a large and hearty, "YEEEEEEHAAAH!" And then Bo did something which brought back the old days, and completed the happy scene. She curled her staff around Woody's neck and pulled him towards her, and stepping on tiptoe she gave him the biggest kiss that made up for all the years that they had been separated from each other.
At this, the other toys began to crowd around the happy couple, all eager to greet Bo and welcome her back into the family, as well as introduce her to the new additions to their company, such as Dolly, Mr Pricklepants and Trixie.
"Oh, Buzz!" sighed Woody happily, once the initial noise and questions had begun to die down. "Isn't it wonderful to be all back together again? Just think – we're all one big family again!"
"Sure thing, cowboy," agreed Buzz as he patted his pal on the back. "We're one big family again – for infinity and beyond!"
The End
A note to all Toy Story fans: I hope you enjoyed this story! Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought of it! I'm a HUGE lover of Toy Story and this is how I've liked to imagine what would have happened when Bonnie finally grows out of the toys. I'd appreciate all of your comments – the more the merrier! Many thanks x