Hey all. I recently was watching All Dogs go to Heaven and the sequel (ADGTH2) and I didn't like the second one. So I'm mixing it with another sequel I wasn't entirely happy about, taking out and adding characters, messing with the vortex of time and space and being a general fan-writer pain in the butt. Heheh.

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Man I'm so weird. Review if you want another chapter. Seriously unless I get 2 reviews I'm not continuing.

-:-

A black haired girl, her hair in its usual swing, approached the dilapidated old building, checking and rechecking the address in her hand. She stood at the end of the walk and released a resigned sigh. She might have been living with Sharon and Benjamin Wallop for 10 years, but her heart was still searching for her family. The family she said goodbye to all that time ago…

"…Where are you, Charlie?" her brilliant blue eyes began tearing at the memories of the last time she saw her dearest and oldest friend. She had assumed, long ago, that he'd died. But recent events led her to believe otherwise.

Before a few weeks ago, Charlie had been the last animal she'd talked to. She had heard Itchy for a long time afterward, but he soon understood that her gift wasn't the same without Charlie to share it with and didn't press her, only speaking to her in an emergency. Soon, he quit speaking to her at all. After that, she began to forget about her gift. But she never forgot about Charlie B. Barken. Then Itchy had gotten a hold of that chicken bone… Now she didn't even have the comfort of his presence.

She looked back at the place in front of her, finding it difficult to believe that this was really the place her birth mother lived. She couldn't help but laugh nervously as she remembered why she was here. A dream that she prayed to be a premonition had come to her. And then she saw the newspaper…

She pushed a stray piece of hair off her forehead only for it to resume its natural position as she bravely approached the building and began knocking on the door. She could hear rattling inside before someone slid the door open, it suddenly stopped, as if it where begin pulled back toward the outside.

Anne Marie peered into the gloom of the house versus the light of the afternoon and couldn't see much. She decided to go ahead and speak her peace.

"Um… Hello? I'm Anne Marie…"

"Yes! I know!" A deep raspy voice snarled. "You're the little girl of Darlene. The one she couldn't take care of. What do you want?" She snapped angrily. She put her hand on the doorframe, revealing withered and aged hands.

"Um… I was wondering if I could speak to her…"

The old woman snorted. "Hmph! You want to talk to her? Well, so do I! The problem is, she died! Two weeks ago! And she left all her debt behind!"

"O-oh…" Anne Marie stuttered. "I'm sorry… Then maybe you could answer a few questions for me?"

The old woman eyed her as if sizing up a tuna. "What's the answers worth to yah?"

Anne Marie began checking her pockets, remembering that she only had a little on her at the moment, but wondering how much was enough for the woman. "Umm… I only have a twenty…"

The woman looked at the money hungrily, then shut the door. Anne Marie listened as she began undoing the chain that held the door in place and opened it wider. "That'll do for now. Come on in. We can talk in my kitchen." Anne Marie realized, then, the reason the room had seemed so dark. The room was foggy with incense, which seemed to be stationed in every corner of the house. She watched the slumped over old woman hobble through a beaded curtain in a doorway and followed cautiously.

When she got in, the woman had already sat at a checker cloth-covered table and set out a plate of cookies. "These are for paying customers, but I guess you can have some." Anne Marie took one to nibble on, and to keep her hands busy, but didn't mention that she had, in fact, paid the woman.

"Umm… about my mother… she lived here? All this time?"

"No. She did, but only until about five years ago, when she got married to some hoity-toity New England man. Bless her soul, she had her work cut out for her. I told her she was too frail, that her body couldn't take it, but she insisted that it would be alright and went through with the marriage, and eventually, the birth of her second child."

Anne Marie dropped the cookie. "…A second child?"

The old woman nodded sagely. "Yup. A boy. About 5 years younger than you. His name was David. After he was born, your mother's health continued to deteriorate. She had a disease, you see. One the doctors don't know much about. It made her very weak and she sometimes would have nosebleeds. That's why she was staying with me. I took care of her for a long time. We had to spend a lot of money on medications for her, most of which didn't really do anything."

Anne Marie folded her hands on the table, "So that's why you were in debt?"

"Were? I still am! That hoity-toity New Englander didn't even pay for the funeral. It was like all he wanted was the kid so he could marry his hoity-toity mistress. I don't doubt that that really was the case."

"So what happened to David?"

"I don't rightly know. He's still with his daddy, I'd reckon. I didn't really have the say to argue for custody. If you're looking for him, you're about 100 miles south of where you should be. He's in Connecticut; under the name Wincey." With that the woman turned to the clock. "If you take the 5 O'clock out of here, you should reach it by morning." She began rummaging around in a kitchen drawer.

"If you're still looking for answers, you might try these." She tossed a packed of letters, tied together with a yellowing ribbon. "Them's all the letters I've got since she left. I always keep letters when people bother to send 'em." She folded her arms and closed her eyes. "If that's all…"

Anne Marie stood awkwardly. "Thank you, madam. Thank you very much." She began towards the door.

-A little later-

Anne Marie had made it all the way to the train station before she'd realized she'd given the woman all of her money. She sat down on a bench, dejectedly and began rummaging threw the letters. On top was one from right after her mother had moved.

Dear Madam Lulu,

I can't thank you enough for all your help, first with little Anne Marie, then with the sickness. I know you don't want the thanks, but thank you for slipping the money into my pocket. I didn't even notice it until I'd gotten to Jim's house. It was a dream come true. It's not a big house, but it's quite and comfortable. The perfect place to start a real family.

I wish Anne Marie was here. I know I only had her for a short time before we had to give her up, but I wish I knew where to find her so I could bring her here. Jim and I have room. It's not like we can't afford a few girl's things.

I know this talk of my lost daughter saddens you, so I'll stop. Thank you so much for all you've given me, Lulu. You're the only family, besides Jim, David and Anne Marie, I've ever known.

Yours Forever,

Darlene Wincey

Anne Marie wiped her eyes before reaching into her coat pocket for a handkerchief to blow her nose. That's when she felt the twenty. The one she'd given the old lady; folded and slipped into the very edge of her pocket. A fresh set of tears layered her eyes.

"…Thank you, Madam Lulu…"