It was a normal day in Toontown. The sun was shining, Toons all over were waking up and going about their daily task which were either work, school, or whatever they did everyday or so. In the country, things aren't that different. Or, the parts that were close to the main part of Toontown. In a few, some Toons around didn't know that some of the gags they used or did, were used to fight a menace that were constantly trying to take all of it away from them.
One home stood out like a sore thumb from others. It looked like any two story country house with dark green walls and a brown tiled roof, planters all around it with many flowers growing in them. There were plenty of trees around, shading the house from the heat of the sun and added a bit more privacy. Some of the trees looked strange however, as some appeared to be growing actual, fully baked pies and cakes, some having actual whistles in them. From the front door of the house, a young Toon was just walking out as she closed the front door behind her. They were a tall tan colored duck with dark sea green legs and had tan colored wings on their back that were a bit small. She wore a long knee length yellow dress with white daisies printed on and blue clouds as well, with a straw summer hat that had a pink bow tied around it.
"Bye Mom! Have a good day!" The tan duck said, her voice a bit high pitched and had a slight quack sound to it as she walked over to a indigo colored bike with a wicker basket on the front, she turned the bike towards a dirt road and got on.
"Bye Zane! And don't try to flirt with any boys, and girls either. I know how you are." A voice said from inside the house.
"I'm 15 Mom!" The tan duck, Zane, laughed.
"I know. Just be careful. I don't want sketchy Toons around my family is all." The voice said.
"Got it. Bye Ma!" Zane said and then began pedaling down the road, giggling.
The Toon that the voice belonged to in the house was a duck Toon. She appeared to be in her mid 30s and medium-ish in height, about 5'2 unlike her daughter being a total 6'1 in height. Her head was a light green, her arms a dark sea green and her legs a lime green. She had a pair of wings on her back that were a lime green, the right a bit torn at the bottom, a permanent but healed scar could be seen. She was wearing a short sleeved teal shirt that had two T's cut on the back for her wings, and a long yellow and citrine striped skirt. She began walking to some stairs, then up them, her footsteps could be heard through the quiet, semi-dark house. The sun shining brightly throughout much of the house due to many windows around, but they were all small.
The green duck opened the door as quietly as she could and tiptoed towards a window, opening the blinds that were at first closed, letting the sun enter the room. The room was a child's bedroom, the walls a bright purple with bluebirds, redbirds, and canaries painted on the wall. The floor was a light lilac carpet as well, the room had a bit of furniture in it with a bed, nightstand, and other things. A small emerald colored mouse whined softly, laying in the bed and tried to pull the covers over her head, wanting a few minutes of sleep, also to just stay at home.
Today was the first day of school.
"Flint? Aren't you excited for your first day at school today? To meet new toons, make friends, everything?" The duck asked, her tone gentle and she cooed a bit. She smiled softly as she walked over to the child's bed. She carefully lifted the covers to show the small child underneath, who looked a bit grumpy.
"No...not really.." the child mumbled, pouting as she sat up. She didn't like the ideal of going to school. At all. She never really left the neighborhood or anything and rarely talked to any of the local children around. She found them too rowdy and such for her own liking, plus she heard from her older sister that school was boring and horrible.
"I know it will be hard to talk to your classmates at first, just remember to be yourself." The duck said, smiling. "Don't worry, I know you'll do great. Remember, 'Even in the dark, your light will shine forever.'" She gently brushed the little mouse's hair, which was the same color as her fur, with her fingers for a bit and then stopped, heading to the door.
"Now, go and get washed up and dressed, I'll make some breakfast since your sister and daddy already ate it all earlier. Take all the time you need, alright?" The duck gave the child a warm, motherly smile and then left the room.
Flint sighed and slipped out of bed. She was short in others eyes, but she was the proper height for a normal mouse Toon child. She was about 3'6 currently, which was normal for a child her age, which was 5. She was wearing a pink and orange shirt, it being a size too big for her. She was comfortable this way however. She walked out her room and to the bathroom. Flint brushed her teeth and washed her face, having taken a bath the night before and it was pretty late since she was grumpy and didn't go to bed until 12.
she headed back to her room and then picked out her outfit, which was her favorite outfit. A cream shirt with a light blue denim jacket a size too big for her, and a cream skirt with a few maroon stripes on the bottom with some white lines. She then quickly pulled on some brown boots, then headed down stairs.
She quickly walked down the steps, more or less, hopping down them. After reaching the last step and her feet touched the floor, she ran to the kitchen, slowing down on the way there as she watched a bird fly by a nearby window as she walked into the kitchen. The kitchen was like any other and doubled as a dining room as well. There was a stove, refrigerator, and such. It looked to be out of the 50s, but only in design and the style of the furniture. It was all brightly and mismatched colored, which made Flint giddy every time she came into the kitchen as it reminded her of the books she read, one called 'Harry Potter,' which was some sort of human book. She looked around a bit as she sat at her usual spot at the table, and then turned her attention to her mother.
Something that always somewhat bugged her is how she was a mouse and her mom was a duck. Her sister was a duck toon as well. Her father was a human, it bugged her a bit at how they didn't look alike but she could care less. She loved her family and they loved her back.
Her mother soon walked over, placing a stack of blueberry banana nutmeg pancakes in front of her, Flint's favorite. Her mother thought the combination was a bit strange like, but her daughter absolutely loves them, so she paid no mind to it, just happy that Flint was happy. The child smiled and sat on her legs, grabbing her fork and dug in eagerly into her breakfast. Her mother chuckled at the young child and placed everything that she cooked with into the sink to clean later.
"Are you sure you aren't excited for school?" Her mother asked, a look of concern in her eyes.
"...Kinda. But I'm just nervous. What if kids make fun of me?" Flint asked with her mouth full.
"No talking with a full mouth." Her mother scolded lightly. "And, don't worry. And if it does happen, someone will get a talking to." her mother said, her feathers ruffling a bit at the thought. Flint smiled a bit.
"And why isn't your hair combed..?" Her mother asked, frowning a bit.
"Cause, you said I only had to wash up. Nothin' else." Flint said in a matter-of-factly way. An amused twinkle was seen in her mother's eyes as well as a slight look of disapprovement.
"Alright. You got me." The duck giggled. She looked over at the clock mounted on the wall and her eyes widened. "Oh my goodness! We're going to be late!" She quickly got up. Flint had shoved the last bite of her pancakes in her mouth and began running to the stairs to go get her backpack.
"Flint! It's by the door! Hurry, hurry!" The duck said as she quickly grabbed her keys. Flint stopped and ran down the stairs and to the front door, grabbing her backpack. The front door slammed open loudly as the child practically tackled it open and ran to the car. Her mother was a few steps behind her and closed the front door, locking it behind her.
"Mommy! Hurry!" Flint said as she yanked the passenger side door open and quickly climbed in.
"Slow down or else you'll break the door!" The duck said, unable to not smile at her child's antics. She walked to the drivers side and opened the door, getting in. She made sure the doors were locked and then turned the car on, driving back out of the dark dirt driveway and then down the dirt path, towards town.
~a-
Flint watched the scenery that consisted of lush, large clusters of trees and woods, ponds, lakes, and farmland as they drove down the dirt road that led to the elementary school.
"Momma, why do I have to go to school? Zane said school is boring.." Flint frowned, looking up at her mother with curiosity and slightly mad at having to go.
"Well, first, it's important for you to learn things, like your ABCs, Math, about our world and others, and a whole lot more." Her mother said as she kept her eyes on the road.
"But why? And I know my ABCs already! And what 1 plus 1 is!" Flint argued.
"That is true, but learning can be fun." Her mother smiled. "And don't you wanna grow up to be like mommy and daddy? We went to school also and that's how we know everything we do now."
"It ain't fair." Flint said, crossing her arms and pouting. Her mother sighed a bit.
"My word, you're just as stubborn as your daddy." Her mother giggled a bit. She then noticed the school up ahead and quickly pulled up in front of it.
"Oh! We're here." Her mother pulled into a nearby parking spot and parked the car. Flint reluctantly got out, her backpack on her back. Her mother looked at her watch and sighed.
"We're about 5 minutes late, but better now then even later." Flint's mother said as she turned the car off and got out, closing the door as well as the passenger seat door since Flint had walked up to the front doors and left it open. Her mother led her inside and to the principal's office, she apologized for being so late and all, thankfully the principal understood.
"Alright. I gotta go to work now, alright?" Flint's mother asked as she crouched to Flint's eye level, which was her sitting on her legs. Flint frowned.
"Mommy I don't wanna stay here.." Flint whined.
"It'll be fine. If anything bad happens, you know you can tell the principal or the teachers, alright?" Her mother said, her tone gentle. She brushed Flint's hair and lightly gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I have to go, alright? Be good." She stood up and left. Flint followed shortly and to the front doors, pressing her face against the glass doors.
Flint watched as her mother's car disappeared into the distance and down the dirt road. She turned and looked around. The school looked a bit small but somehow big at the same time to her. It was strange. The principal asked if she needed help in getting to her class, but she declined and walked away, down the hall. She looked around for a classroom, any classroom as she didn't know where she was supposed to go. She should have accepted the principal's help.
"Dang it." Flint mumbled, frowning. To her mother, she would have cursed and huffed slightly.
She heard shouting and laughing and quickly walked in the direction of the noise. It was a classroom, the door was decorated colorfully with paper flowers and encouraging words. The door was slightly open and she stepped closer to the door.
She peered into the classroom and saw many children her age, some younger or older by a year, running around and playing with each other. The classroom looked like any other classroom except there were round tables with all sorts of toys, paper, crayons, and such on them. A desk was by the wall and a chalkboard was behind it, with some words written out in red chalk: "Welcome to Ms. Gigglemuffins' class" and behind the desk was a very tall, skinny, blue dog. Her blue hair was in a bun at the top, the rest hanging freely and ending just past her shoulders in wavy curls. She wore a bright green dress with lily petals printed on. She was typing away on a laptop.
Flint opened the door a bit, and door squeaked as she did. The teacher heard this and turned her head towards her and smiled. "Hi there sweetie. Are you a new student here at school?" Ms. Gigglemuffin asked and Flint nodded.
"What's your name sweetie?" Gigglemuffin asked in a gentle tone with a similar smile.
"F-flint Honeysprocket.." Flint murmured a bit quietly and shyly, messing with her backpack straps a bit.
"Let me see if you're in my class or in another teachers." She said, turning her attention to her laptop and began typing away. Her eyes flickered back and forth a couple times and then she frowned.
"I'm sorry flint.. you aren't not in my class. you're in Mr. Brights' class." Gigglemuffin said. Flint signed at this. "I'll take you there if you want" the teacher said, her tone still gentle, almost comforting as she held out a hand towards the mouse.
Flint frowned lightly at the news of not being in Ms. Gigglemuffins' class, but the teachers comforting tone eased her a bit and she nodded, giving a small smile and took the tall blue dogs hand.
After announcing she was leaving for a bit, Gigglemuffin guided Flint down the hallway until they stopped at a door just a few doors down from her own classroom. The door was like any boring old in any regular old school, brown and dull. She gently knocked a few times and waited. After a bit, a cat as tall as her opened it, just a few inches shorter, he looked a bit rugged but friendly and smiled at the two. Flint hid behind Gigglemuffin, immediately not liking the cat as she felt something was off, peeking out from behind the tall blue dog. The cat had light orange fur with a few darker streaks and wore a tan shirt with a red jacket and dark blue pants with a gold buckled belt.
"Mr. Bright, this is Flint Honeysprocket, your new student. She got lost while trying to find your class." Gigglemuffin said. She stepped to the side revealing the small emerald mouse and looked down smiling at them.
"I need to go back to my classroom now, be good, ok?" Gigglemuffin said and patted Flint's head gently and walked back to her room until she disappeared into it.
Flint frowned once again. She huffed slightly and shook the feeling off, she had to be a brave girl. And how could she already judge someone? Her mother always told her to never judge a book by it's cover, but she couldn't shake the feeling off..
She couldn't be told she had poor behavior on the first day of school! She looked up at the cat and gave a tiny smile at him.
"Hello Flint. Come inside and we'll get you settled in, alright?" Mr. Bright asked as he stepped aside for the small child. Flint nodded and walked inside the classroom. The classroom looked colorful, the walls were a bright yellow like Ms. Gigglemuffins' but her sister said all the rooms had the same colored walls when she went here.
"Alright. There are a few rules you need to know first, alright? Every teacher here has their own rules so ask, alright?" Mr. Bright asked, the rest of the class were talking and being utterly rambunctious. Throwing things, and even one window was shattered. Flint was uneasy about this but Mr. Brights' friendly attitude calmed her down somewhat.
1. No talking back to anyone in my room. If someone is being mean or even bullying you, notify me at once.
2. No hitting or biting students.
"Some students here are like that. Just tell me if it happens, alright?" Mr. Bright asked and Flint nodded.
3. If there's an emergency, or if your parents will pick you up at sometime, then tell me, alright?
"You can trust all the teachers here, alright? Don't be shy." Mr. Bright said and Flint nodded, feeling much better.
"Alright. Now, do you see that little Aqua blue cat in the pretty pink dress?" Mr. Bright asked, pointing to the Toon he was speaking of, and Flint nodded. "Her names Lilia. You may sit with her and her friends. That will be your seat now."
Flint nodded and walked, almost skipping, over to the table and sat next to Lilia herself, smiling wide. Maybe school wasn't so bad after all?