I don't own the cover image.

Honestly, I really liked how this one turned out!

Anyways, enjoy!

Crush. It's one of those words Penny was familiar with. Of course she did, because she had one, or did she? It was that smart boy with the glasses, whose hair seems to always stand up at the end. It was her best friend, Sherman, and yes, she did have a secret crush on the boy. Ever since the WABAC incident, when the boy was brave enough to actually come back for her when the Trojan Horse they were in was going to fall into the sea, she developed these feelings for him. Even if it actually was Mr. Peabody who saved them, she couldn't help but feel so giddy and happy inside when Sherman came to her. Weeks later, they were still there.

Sherman and Penny were both in the living room of the penthouse where Mr. Peabody and the boy lived in, playing video games on a large TV screen. They sat on the sofa that was pretty soft and comfortable. They were playing a co-op game that was all about platforming. Sherman was playing as the boy protagonist, while Penny was playing as a girl, who was the boy's traveling companion. They finally reached the end of the level, and after that, a cutscene played. The characters were talking about something.

"This is probably the best view we can get for watching a sunset!" The boy told the girl. They were both on the top of a hill.

"Yeah, it sure is." The girl was deep in thought. 'It's even better when you're here.'

The two sat down, and the boy spoke. "You know, it's better when you're here!" The girl blushed. Did he just read her mind?

"R-really?!" She looked at him.

"Well yeah, I mean, it's always better when your friend is around to be there for you, and you won't feel alone too." The girl somehow felt disappointed and sad, but she tried her best to hide these emotions.

"Oh… o-of course." She said in a soft voice.

"We'll always be best friends, right?" the boy smiled at her. She responded by giving an embarrassed smile and saying, "Forever."

Sherman paused the game. Penny found the cutscene touching and kinda sad, while Sherman found it awesome.

The boy spoke first. "Whoa! That looked so real! Why can't they make the graphics of the WHOLE game like that, not just the cutscenes? Anyways, those explosions were so cool!"

Penny was confused. Where in that cutscene were the explosions? She thought that Sherman was talking about an earlier cutscene that involved said explosions. She asked Sherman to make sure.

"Umm Sherman, I think that was the sunset, not an explosion." She looked at the boy, who was located at her right.

"Really? I'm pretty sure that was an explosion, well… they are both bright… I guess it was just the sun then." The confusion finally ended.

"Hey Penny, before we go to the next level, can we have a snack first? I'm getting hungry." They've been playing for some time already, so it's no surprise that they would finally eat something.

"Sure Sherman." They proceeded to the kitchen and opened the fridge to get something to eat. Sherman also got two glasses for the orange juice. They went back to the living room and set their food and drinks on the table. They started consuming their snacks.

Penny wanted to ask Sherman something. It was about that thing. Now's the time to ask him Penny. She swallowed the small bite she got from her food, and decided to cut off the silence. "Hey Sherman, c-can I ask you something?" Sherman, who was munching on his food, nodded, but signaled her to wait until he can swallow it so he can talk.

"Sure Penny, what is it?" Penny felt nervous all of a sudden, and sweat started to form on her forehead.

"Umm… you see I... uhh..." she couldn't talk straight, but she gathered up her courage and continued talking. "D-do you h-have… a c-crush?" She looked away from Sherman for awhile and blushed.

Sherman was thinking about it, then he said, "Umm Penny, what's 'a crush'"? Penny was dumbfounded. How could he not know what a crush is? Since they were only seven years of age, it's not much of a surprise for Sherman to not know what a crush is. So why did Penny already have a crush? It was because of Sherman's heroic acts to save her and the city, that's why. She was swooned over by him.

"Oh! You mean when you crush things? Is that what you're talking about?" Penny couldn't believe what she was hearing right now. The master of obliviousness was right in front of her. But she decided to continue telling him about it.

"No, what I mean is, when you like a person… you have a crush on them…" her voice became softer as she talked. She blushed harder and tried her best to look away from his cute little face. Sherman was still able to hear it, but felt confused. Crush has another meaning? Oh well, you learn something new every day Sherman…

Sherman thought about it more. Someone that he likes means he has a crush on them? Well, I think the answer's pretty obvious! "Oh I think I know who I have a crush on." Sherman gave her a suggestive smile.

Penny's face lit up a little, but at the same time, she felt scared, afraid that he might have a crush on someone else. "W-who is it Sherman?"

"Who else? You of course!" Sherman grinned at her. Penny blushed so hard. A little part of her expected this would be his answer, but she was still surprised. Her eyes widened.

"W-what? R-really?!" the blush never left her face. She was so filled with happiness inside that she couldn't think of anything else but Sherman. Butterflies started to form in her stomach. She wanted to squeal so badly, but she might end up hugging and kissing him because of her overflowing emotions.

"Of course! I like you a lot Penny! I mean you're my best friend after all!" the butterflies suddenly started to disappear one by one. Disappointment and sadness slowly overcame her overflowing happiness.

"So 'crush' must be another word for friend or best friend then, right?"

"R-right..." She was so devastated. She looked down as she sighed sadly, though she didn't make it obvious for Sherman to notice. She didn't quite understand, they've been friends for many weeks already, with all the things she did for him, isn't he supposed to like her back, as more than a friend? What about the Trojan horse incident? Didn't Sherman come back for her because he had feelings for her, or was it because he didn't want to lose his only best friend? Well, figuratively speaking, Mr. Peabody is also his best friend, but that's not what matters right now. Of course, Penny was too young to understand how it really works.

The two continued to finish their food and drinks.

Sherman, who was unaware of how Penny was feeling right now, decided not to prolong the short silence any further and said, "Hey Penny, wanna continue the game?" he looked at her.

"S-sure, Sherman." She spoke in a not so happy tone that she has been displaying until awhile ago.

Sherman noticed this and was concerned about her. "Hey Penny, you okay?" He was wondering why Penny started acting different all of a sudden. "Umm was there something in the food? I-I'm sorry about that, sometimes Mr. Peabody and I forget to eat the stored food in the fridge."

"No, I'm okay Sherman. Don't worry about me okay?" She gave him a reassuring smile. "Now let's go beat the bad guys in this game!" she said in a happy tone, but inside, she was feeling the total opposite.

"Yeah! Now that's the spirit Penny!" Sherman pressed the Start button on the controller.

Maybe next time, I'll be able to tell him… Penny would make sure that will happen in the future.

The last few seconds of the cutscene played. Penny was very shocked to see it, and became very confused. There really was no sunset at all. It was all a bright explosion in the distance. The setting was not a peaceful hill top either. On the hill were the two main characters, and the boss, who was lying down, after being defeated by the two. The two ran to the right side of the screen and disappeared, ending the cutscene which faded out in black.

The majority of the cutscene she saw earlier were all in her imagination, oblivious to what actually happened.

I hope you enjoyed reading "Oblivious Imagination"!