When I woke up the next day, I was in bed with Bonnie, who was stroking the top of my head. I hadn't moved at all, but she still grinned when I woke up. "G'morning!" The child chirped. "Where'd your hat go?" Bonnie's words were awkward, and there was a bit of a whistle from the space between two of her upper front teeth. She'd just lost her first tooth three days ago.

At first it had scared her, but now she was a little proud of herself. She wanted to lose another tooth, mostly because she wanted the twenty five cents she got in exchange for her tooth. I still remember when Andy lost his first tooth, he and Bonnie reacted in almost the same way. The memories were bittersweet. I wasn't thinking anything then, though. Just that my head hurt, and I couldn't do anything about it. I could only stare and smile at the girl.

Nearly a year had gone by since Andy had left for college and summer was just starting. I hadn't seen him since the day he left. Even though it was summer, Bonnie was still in daycare on most days. This meant she had to be up early.

Most of the time, she brought me to daycare with her, after dragging me around with her all morning. I was looking forwards to the day. My groggy mind was beginning to clear, and I was slowly starting to remember last night. Daycare was just what I needed to keep my mind in enough of a jumble that I could continue to conveniently not remember anything. At Daycare, I would just have to focus on her, and the other kids.

Today would be different, apparently.

Bonnie carried me with her for breakfast, and brushing her teeth, but just before placing me in her knapsack, she turned to the other toys. "Hm…" She hummed. "I fink today is a special day." Her index finger rested on her bottom lip as she thought. She lifted her hand, pointing at the ceiling as she stood up. "I know! Today is a special dinosaur day!" She declared, swapping me for Rex and Trixie.

The two exchanged looks. I could tell they were thrilled, but they froze again when Bonnie looked down at them and began struggling to get them into her bag. She ended up having to carry Rex. She still didn't go back on her decision, though, and I was abandoned on the bed.

I was devastated.


I spent the entire morning sulking.

It wasn't the thought that Bonnie had picked Rex and Trixie over me that bothered me, it was more that she picked today of all days to switch us. I was astounded with my luck. I couldn't help but wonder why these things happened to me.

I was on my feet again by noon, though. I could never let myself sulk over something so small for that long, especially if it might cause a misunderstanding. I'd had enough of those for a lifetime. I'd planned a hearing for today, which meant I had to speak to everyone today. Bonnie's toys didn't know to make plans for safety. They weren't much for plotting, and this was a new place for everyone who did know how, which meant there was a lot of work to be done, but it was nice, having the leadership role again. I knew better than they did, and I was necessary.

Even though I was on my feet again, and had pulled myself out of a half daze, I still avoided Buzz. My mind was constantly wandering, and I could hardly focus for long enough to express myself. It was a little more than noticeable, that much I knew. I just couldn't help it. I couldn't look at Buzz, and he was right there all day. I was making a point to avoid him. I didn't consider that just that might give others the wrong idea. It wasn't until near mid afternoon that I realized it.

Jessie came and gave me a pat on the back just before Bonnie was supposed to return from daycare. "Oh, don't worry about it, Woody. Bonnie loves you, none of us will ever take your place." She offered a reassuring smile.

I was surprised that she would say that, or more that she would think that. I opened my mouth to protest, but I ended up just laughing, and smiling in return. "You're right I didn't mean to worry you." It was better that she assume that, than know the truth. That way, only I, and possibly Buzz would know what was really bothering me. I just hoped he wouldn't tell anyone what he'd done last night. I couldn't say why it bothered me so much. Why I thought that it was wrong. I'd watched, we'd all watched Andy grow up, heard what his friends had to say, and what issues a boy had to go through growing up. I'd heard a lot in my days, and I was pretty sure that what Buzz and I had done was gay, and that gay was wrong. I wasn't sure why it was wrong, but it was.

When Bonnie returned from daycare that day, she apologized to me profusely for leaving me behind. Apparently she felt bad about it all day, and thought I might be lonely and sad that she'd left me behind. She made it up to me by taking me with her to the diner her and her mom frequented that evening, where she sat on the bench and quietly played with me before she got her food, and after she'd finished. It more than made it up to me, but to make even more of a point, I was the only toy in her bed that night.


Weeks went by, and I still couldn't get Buzz off my mind. It was the middle of July and the events of that night in late June were still driving me mad. I could hardly look at Buzz, even after nearly a month had passed; he, and everyone else had long since begun to notice. He'd confronted me about it on a few occasions, and each time I had a different excuse. Either I didn't feel good that day, I was tired, or even something more ridiculous, like I had a bad dream about him where his face was warped, and I was just afraid to look at him. Sometimes he bought it, other times he didn't.

I couldn't stand it. Buzz and I were best friends. We were supposed to be best friends, and I hated that I couldn't even look at him. I hated that I didn't know what had happened, and why he'd done that. I tried to work up the courage to confront him about it, but I couldn't find the right words. I didn't know what I should ask him.

Too much time had gone on like this, so late one evening, after Bonnie was in bed, I pulled Buzz away from the others.

Everyone was turning in for the night at that point, so I felt it was the perfect time to pull Buzz underneath the bed and confront him. I doubted that anybody would notice, or come looking for us. It was the perfect time, and I'd already talked myself into this, so I thought I better get the whole ordeal over with fast, before I changed my mind.

"Woody? What's going on, Woody?" Buzz questioned as I roughly pulled him aside and shoved him into a makeshift chair, that was really just an old sponge.

I shushed him, glancing back and forth to be sure nobody was listening. "Alright Buzz, tell me what happened. What were you thinking?" I hissed. I hadn't thought this through very well. I still had no idea what to ask him. I wasn't making any sense, and I knew it.

Of course Buzz would be confused, he looked baffled. "What are you talking about? What's this all about?" He sounded a bit irritated with me, and I reached up, index fingers rubbing between my brows as I began to think.

"That night, when we had wine instead of tea…" I trailed off, considering backing down. "That night, what was that all about?"

Buzz only looked more confused, and irritated. "Woody, I don't remember anything that happened that night!" He exclaimed, standing up. "I was drunk!" Buzz shoved me away, then stormed off, and I was left alone to take all this in.

Could Buzz really have been drunk? No, that was impossible. The wine was fake, invisible, and even if we really had been drinking anything, it was just wine! I shook my head furiously. Why was I even considering it a possibility? Maybe because I wanted it to be true. I was really hoping that Buzz had actually been drunk, that he was out of his mind when it happened.

That was it, I was sure of it. He was out of his mind, a completely different person then. Even if he wasn't drunk, he really believed he was. It was a good thing, and it only got better:

He didn't remember any of it.

None of it at all. I was relieved. It seemed a little unfair, that I had to think of him constantly when he just forgot, but when I thought about it more, it was better this way. Now that I knew that Buzz had forgotten everything, I could do the same. I would forget everything, and that would be that.