Welcome back! Enjoy part 3!
Mr. Potato Head watched as the waiting room disappeared around him. He felt himself levitate above the ground, and shot through what felt like another vortex.
As soon as they landed, Potato Head swayed, trying to keep his balance.
"If you think I'm gonna go along with just being popped around everywhere, you're running a dangerous game! At this point, I'd rather walk, until my parts fall off!" He said, waving his hands in Carl's face.
"Shhh! Be quiet!" Carl said, covering the spud's blabbering mouth with his paw, and ducking behind a box full of CDs.
"Yeah classes are going great, Mom." A boy said, entering the room, talking on his cellphone.
Potato Head recognized the college boy.
"Andy? How is his life any different?" Potato Head whispered.
"Oh, he's not the one we came to see." Carl informed him.
"Kay I've gotta go, I'm meeting up with some friends to study. Love you too." Andy put his phone in his pocket, grabbed his knapsack, and left, closing the door behind him.
"What does this have to do with anything? Andy didn't take any toys to college, he gave us all to Bonnie." Mr. Potato Head said, putting his hands on his sides.
"Not in this life, he didn't."
"Will you stop saying that!?"
"Andy never gave any of his toys to Bonnie. How many times do I have to tell you? This is all because you never existed."
"Fine…who are we here to see?"
Nearly a second later, Potato Head heard the window open, and a familiar voice.
"Okay, coast is clear!"
Potato Head looked towards the dorm room's window to see Woody and a couple of unfamiliar toys, enter."
"Wait, so me not existing means Andy brought Woody to college in the end?" Potato Head asked Carl.
"Now you're getting the hand of it!"
"But, doesn't that mean that all the other toys are in the attic?"
"Not in this-"
"You say that again, and you'll regret it, fur ball!" Potato Head warned the bear, clenching his fist.
He then looked towards Woody, who was having a conversation with all these random toys, he's never met.
"Who are they?"
"Andy isn't the only one who wanted to bring their favourite childhood toy to college," Carl explained. "They've all joined together as a group, and don't really care about their owners anymore. Especially Woody, who has been bitter from the beginning."
"Bitter? Hey! That's my title! Woody isn't bitter."
"Yes he is, because ever since he accidentally knocked Buzz out the window and didn't do anything about it, that experience only pried Woody to become a non-caring, selfish toy. It even damaged his relationship with Bo Peep. And why didn't he ever help Buzz? Because as I recall, Woody was never blamed for being a murderer by a certain toy. Sound familiar?
Potato Head was in awe. Woody not caring? The spud couldn't go a day without rolling his eyes at one of Woody's big leadership speeches.
"So, you're saying that Woody never helped Buzz get home, making him a jerk, all because I was never there to call him a murderer?"
"You've got it…" Carl finished.
Potato Head hesitated for a minute, before shaking his head.
"Bah! What do you know? I'll believe when I see it!"
"Then why don't you talk to him now?"
"Maybe, I will! Hey, Woody!" Potato Head called out to the sheriff doll.
Woody turned to see Potato Head, and developed a smug smirk on his face.
"Wow, who invited the county fair prize?" He joked, crossing his arms. A bunch of the toys behind him, started to laugh.
Mr. Potato Head felt discouraged by the cowboy's remark. That really wasn't Woody, at all. But, he wouldn't let a lame insult get to him.
"County fair prize!? Listen, sheriff! I don't care who you think you are in this life, but where I come from, I'm the one who cracks the offensive jokes, and you take the hit!"
"Wow, pretty feisty for a little midget." A toy ankylosaurus dinosaur said, coming to stand by Woody.
"You're one to talk, spike brain!" Potato Head said, mocking the dinosaur.
"Are you looking for a fight? Because we'll give you one, shorty!
"Call me that again, and you'll wish those spikes of yours worked half as hard as my fists do!" Potato Head said, putting his fists up, challenging the obnoxious toy.
"Bring it, short stuff!" Woody said, shoving Potato Head back.
Just before Potato Head could take a swing at Woody's face, he and his new friend group disappeared. The next thing he knew, he was back in the grassy field, that he was transported to in the first place.
"Hey! I was about to teach that cowboy a lesson!" Potato Head said, looking at Carl.
"Are you kidding? They were all about to gang up on you. You should be eternally grateful for me saving your life."
"Not the first time I've heard that before…" Mr. Potato Head mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"Well, we might as well move on. Let's go."
"Wait! But how did Woody end up at college? I thought Andy decided to keep him with everyone else?"
"Well, with Buzz out of the picture, Andy didn't ponder over which toy to keep, and which to bring with him. So, he put some of the others in the attic, and Woody with the rest of his college stuff. So time wise, Andy put the toys in the attic before stopping to help Molly with her stuff, avoiding that whole daycare mess that they never got into." The bear carefully explained.
"So, no one ever went to Sunnyside?"
Carl stayed silent for a moment, and Potato Head arched an eyebrow at his hesitation. He could sense that something wasn't right.
"Nope, no one ever went to Sunnyside," Carl finally said. "Come on, theres still more to see."
Before Potato Head could open his mouth to further question the angel, they were already transported to an entirely new place.
It was cold, and dark. It looked like a basement, with a bunch of stacked boxes, dusty chairs, old lamps. The place was a mess, and looked like it hadn't been touched in years.
"What is this, some sort of storage place?" Potato Head asked, looking around.
"Bingo." Responded Carl.
The two of them jumped down from the table they had appeared on, and onto the ground. Bad mistake. As soon as their feet hit the floor, a cloud of dust washed over them. They started to cough and wheeze.
"Helloooo? Who has come?" A strange voice asked.
Potato Head looked towards where the voice came from. He didn't see anything, until he spotted a familiar red hat, leaning against a cardboard box.
Potato Head looked at Carl, who responded by motioning towards the box. The two of them cautiously approached the hat, and turned the corner.
There was a cowgirl with red yarn hair, and covered head to toe in dust. She cradled her knees up to her chest, and rocked back and forth, mumbling to herself.
"Jessie…?" Potato Head barely recognized her. She didn't seem at all like the happy yodelling cowgirl, and looked like a crazy, obsessed, sad loner. She looked like someone who belonged in an insane asylum.
"Shhh! The voices of these walls! They speak to us! Can't you hear them…?" Jessie asked, her eyes growing wide, continuing to rock back and forth.
"What happened to you? You look crazy!" He said eyeing the cowgirl doll.
"Hush your face! These walls are what keep us locked inside! Storage…storage! That is where we belong! That is where where we stay…"
Potato Head looked to Carl for answers. Carl looked back at him, eyes full of sadness for the crazy toy.
"Tragic isn't it?" He spoke.
"What happened to her? And keep it on a down low, she'll freak if she finds out you know her whole life story." Potato Head said, warning the bear.
"Potato Head, she's insane. She won't understand a word I'm saying. Just look at her, she's gone mad."
Potato Head was at a loss of words. He knew that Jessie had a phobia of storage and boxes, but he'd never thought this would happen.
"That's what happens when you're put in an environment of your greatest fear, all by yourself. Know one to rescue you, to comfort you, nothing.
"Just tell me what happened…" Potato head said, his voice now slightly concerned.
"Jessie and Bullseye were put into this basement storage, because Al the toy collector never found the Woody doll to complete the Round Up collection. The museum in Japan wouldn't take the collection without Woody. They were put down here, along with the prospector. But, he escaped after a year within storage, leaving them behind.
"No, Al stole Woody. Jessie and Bullseye were brought back with him, and we got rid of-"
"Haven't you've been listening, Potato Head?" Carl asked, cutting him off. "Woody never broke his arm, or tried rescuing Wheezy from the yard sale. All because Buzz was never there to have been played with by Andy, and to have accidentally teared Woody's shoulder. All this never happened, because Buzz was never there to begin with, because you were never there, either. Everything you've seen so far, leads back to you. You are the cause of everything." Carl said, slightly exasperated with the plastic spud.
For the second time that day, the potato was at a loss for words. He looked back at Jessie again, with hint of sympathy in his eyes. Does his existence really have that huge of an impact on all of this? Without him, Buzz still thinks he's a space ranger after all these years, Woody is a complete jerk, and Jessie has gone completely insane.
He looked up again at Jessie, who was still rocking in place, talking to herself.
"I'm sorry…" He slightly whispered, since he's never been one to apologize before. He never knew that being teared away from this world, would give her such a tragic, sad life.
Besides the faint mumbles of Jessie, he also heard a faint whimper coming from the corner. He looked to see Bullseye, curled in a ball. He was afraid. Afraid for Jessie, or of the basement storage unit? Who knows. But he was scared.
Potato Head felt guilty. One of Jessie's worst fears had come true. She was locked away in storage, forever. And that evil Stinky Pete left her and Bullseye behind. No one could help her, and the spud felt as though it was his fault.
"We have to go." Carl said, breaking the silence.
"Are you stupid? We can't leave them here!" Potato Head said, pointing towards his friends.
"Theres nothing we can do. I came here to show you what their lives have become, we're not here to fix it. Besides, you couldn't talk to her if you tried."
If this is what happened to Jessie, Mr. Potato Head couldn't even imagine what happened to the others. But, he was ready to find out.
Potato Head looked at the two one last time, and turned to Carl.
"Ok, then now what…?" He asked.
Carl took a deep breath and looked at Potato Head.
"We've got some little green aliens to visit." And with that, he slapped his paws together.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to come back next time for part 4!
