FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY EDS

Chapter 4

After changing out of their pajamas and into their regular clothes, the Eds headed out to the front yard. As they stood on the porch, they saw many people and imaginary friends hanging out and conversing with each other. There were balloons and folding tables set up at various places and a huge banner at the front gate that said "Adopt-A-Thought Saturday" on it.

"Cool party!" Ed said excitedly. "When do we get adopted?"

"Ed, for the last time, we're not getting adopted," Eddy reminded.

"I thought that was why we came out here,"

"No. We're only doin' this so we don't get kicked out. It's a rule,"

"Speaking of rules, it's a shame we can't hide in the house all day," Edd said in disappointment.

"We can find a way around that later," Eddy replied. "For now, let's just hang out for a while and then, we'll go back inside and put Plan B into action."

"Wouldn't it be easier to do that now?"

"Yeah, but we gotta show up and get Frankie and Herriman off our backs first,"

The Eds spent the next half hour searching the front yard and the backyard for a game or activity to participate in. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do except walk around and talk to people. During that time, the Eds were able to avoid being adopted. They were easily ignored since they were human and the visitors were only interested in the imaginary friends. When the Eds gave up on their search, they ended up back on the porch.

"I'm bored, guys," Ed complained.

"I knew it'd be a waste of time to come out here," Eddy complained. "We were better off hidin' in the house. At least, we had more stuff to do."

"Look on the bright side, Eddy. At least, no one wants to adopt us," Edd pointed out.

"All the more reason for us to be inside," Eddy argued. "I don't wanna come to this shindig every Saturday."

"It's possible we might have to," Edd replied. "Perhaps you should've considered the repercussions of your scam beforehand."

"Look what I found!" Ed exclaimed, pointing to a snack table that had a large plate of cupcakes, a pitcher of lemonade and some plastic cups on it. Edd and Eddy noticed the snack table too.

"It's a snack table,"

"Might as well get some grub," Eddy said.

The Eds walked off the porch and over to the snack table. Ed and Eddy began scarfing down the cupcakes while Edd poured himself a cup of lemonade.

"Don't eat all that, you two. Save some for everyone else," Edd instructed.

"I gotta admit these cupcakes are to die for. They should sell 'em," Eddy commented. His mind sparked an idea. "Scratch that. We should sell 'em."

"Foster's is a nonprofit organization, Eddy. They're meant to be free," Edd argued.

"No profit? How do they afford all this stuff then?" Eddy wondered.

"They earn money through donations and events such as this one," Edd explained.

"We can tell people to donate money," Eddy suggested. "We just won't tell 'em who it's for."

"Excuse me," a voice called out. The Eds turned towards the voice and saw a man walking towards them.

"Here comes our first customer," Eddy whispered to Edd.

"Do you kids work here?" the man asked. "I need some help finding an imaginary friend for my son."

"We're imaginary," Ed blurted out, startling Edd and Eddy.

Luckily for them, the man didn't believe that. "Yeah, right," he replied sarcastically. "I'm not buyin' that."

"We are! Honest! Our creator imagined us to be human. He made our tongues weird colors," Ed explained.

"Even if that was true, why would I want an imaginary kid when I already have a human one?"

"Don't listen to him," Eddy interrupted. "He drank some lemonade and put too much sugar in it."

The man gave the Eds a look of suspicion. "I hope you guys aren't one of those teenagers who fake being imaginary just so they can live here and goof off all the time. They don't realize what they're doing is wrong and that they're being unfair to the genuine imaginary friends who actually need this place," the man said before walking off.

Ed was disappointed that the man didn't want to adopt him while Edd and Eddy were relieved. Eddy was upset with Ed for telling the man they were imaginary.

"That man is right, you know," Edd commented.

"Way to go, Ed. You scared him off," Eddy scolded. "You can't tell anyone we're imaginary."

"But we are imaginary," Ed protested.

"No, we're just pretending so we can live here. Thanks to you, we almost got adopted,"

"I am so confused,"

"I can understand Ed's confusion, Eddy," Edd admitted. "This is becoming very complicated. We need the residents to believe we're imaginary so we can live here and we need the visitors to believe we're human so they won't adopt us."

"Just follow my lead," Eddy instructed. "Once we get through the day, we'll have a whole week to figure out another plan."

"Excuse me," another voice called out. The Eds turned towards the voice and saw another man walking towards them.

"That guy doesn't count. Here comes our real first customer," Eddy whispered to Edd.

"Do you kids work here?" the man asked.

"Yeah, we work part-time on the weekends," Eddy lied. "We're...uh...what's the word, Double-D?"

"Volunteers, Eddy," Edd answered.

"What he said," Eddy confirmed, gesturing towards Edd. "What can we do you for?"

"I'd like a cupcake," the man informed.

"That'll be 25 cents,"

"I thought they were free,"

"Not anymore. We're tryin' to raise money for the home so we put a price on 'em," Eddy informed.

"Alright," the man replied. He pulled a quarter out of his pocket and handed it to Eddy. "Can I have some lemonade too?"

"That'll be another 25 cents,"

The man pulled another quarter out of his pocket and handed it to Eddy. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Eddy replied. He handed the man a cupcake and a cup of lemonade. "Here you go."

"Is there anything else we can assist you with?" Edd asked.

"No, I'm just here for the food. Thanks for the cupcake and lemonade," the man said before walking off.

"Hook, line and sinker," Eddy said greedily as he held the two quarters he earned in his hands and stared at them.

"Don't tell me you plan on keeping those quarters for yourself," Edd said suspiciously.

Eddy stared at Edd for a moment. "Okay, I won't."

The Eds continued their business until they ran out of cupcakes and lemonade. When that time came, they counted all the money they made but before they could do anything with it, Mr. Herriman showed up and told them that one of their customers informed him of their business. He confiscated their money, reminded the Eds that Foster's is a nonprofit organization and ordered them to stop charging money for the cupcakes and lemonade.

"I told you the cupcakes and lemonade were meant to be free, Eddy," Edd reminded after Herriman left.

"Whatever," Eddy grumbled. "We've been out here long enough. Let's go back inside."

The Eds left the snack table and began walking back to the porch. Before they could reach it, they ran into Goo.

"Hi, I'm Goo," Goo greeted.

Eddy stared at her awkwardly. "Seriously? Your name is Goo?"

"Cool," Ed said.

"Welcome to Foster's," Goo said.

"Thank you. I'm Eddward but I normally go by 'Double-D' and this is Ed and Eddy," Edd introduced.

"Wow! You guys are all named Ed? That's really cool! I know someone else named Ed. His name's Eduardo. He's not a kid though; he's an imaginary friend. Speaking of imaginary friends, do you guys wanna adopt one?"

"No, we actually-" Eddy began.

"I'm an expert on imaginary friends and I can help you find one," Goo offered.

"As generous as that may be-" Edd began.

"Eduardo, the imaginary friend I just mentioned, is a big, strong, purple, scary monster. He's not that scary though; he's really nice. He speaks Spanish and he likes potatoes too. He's scared of a lotta stuff though which is kinda weird considering he looks like a monster but he doesn't act like one. Do you wanna adopt him?"

"You talk too fast," Eddy commented, annoyed with Goo's hyperness.

"What about Wilt? He's tall, red and super great at basketball. He only has one eye and one arm though. What about Coco? She's part bird, part tree, part airplane and she lays colorful eggs with prizes inside of 'em. She can only say 'coco' though,"

"Can you please slow down?" Edd asked, also annoyed with Goo's hyperness.

"I know another imaginary friend named Bloo. He's a short, blue blob. You can't adopt him though 'cause he already belongs to my friend, Mac-"

Eddy was fed up. "SHUT UP ALREADY!" he interrupted. "We're not here for an imaginary friend! Go bug someone else, why don'tcha?"

Goo was taken aback. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she commented before walking off.

"What a motormouth,"

"That was very rude, Eddy," Edd scolded.

"Ask me if I care, Double-D," Eddy retorted.

"What a funny name. I wish I could talk that fast," Ed laughed.

The Eds walked onto the porch and entered the house. Goo was the only one who noticed them.

If they're not here for an imaginary friend, Goo thought suspiciously. Then, why are they here?


The Eds were now in the foyer. Eddy looked around to make sure no one else was there.

"I know I'll regret asking this, Eddy, but how do you plan on ending Adopt-A-Thought Saturday?" Edd asked.

"Are we gonna let the Extremosaur out?" Ed guessed. Edd and Eddy were shocked that Ed would suggest something like that.

"That would be cruel, Ed,"

"Yeah, Ed," Eddy agreed. "We don't wanna hurt the people. We just want them to leave. I got a better idea anyway. You guys remember the El Mongo Stink Bomb?"

"I remember that. It smelled good," Ed mentioned.

"Not that thing again, Eddy," Edd complained. "Don't you remember what happened the last time we built that monstrosity?"

"Yeah, yeah. It was so big we couldn't get it past the garage door," Eddy replied. "No problem. We'll just make the bomb smaller this time."

"How do we do that, Eddy?" Ed asked.

"Double-D's the smart guy. He'll figure it out. Let's get to work,"


After getting all the supplies they needed from the house, the Eds headed over to the garage and recreated the El Mongo Stink Bomb. The bomb was filled with a bright green liquid and was floating above the ground, supported by several balloons.

"This is so perfect," Eddy said evilly. He grabbed a jar of fish heads and a bottle of bean juice. Then, he walked over to a machine and poured them into a funnel. The fish heads and bean juice traveled through a hose and into the bomb. "Just one more ingredient and it'll be finished," Eddy continued. He took Ed's shoe and sock off (which made Ed laugh since he was ticklish) and threw the sock onto a pole that Edd was holding. "Easy now."

"Smelly, smelly, smelly," Edd said, regarding Ed's sock. He maneuvered the pole over the bomb. Then, the sock fell into the bomb and dissolved once it hit the liquid.

"Double-D, activate the sequence. Open the door, Ed," Eddy ordered.

Ed opened the garage door while Edd pulled the lever on a remote control. The hose disconnected itself from the bomb and a propeller at the rear started rotating.

"Let's get stinky," Eddy announced as he used a pair of scissors to cut a rope, thus releasing the bomb and allowing it to travel forward.

"Bye bye, sock," Ed said as he waved at the bomb.

Since it was smaller this time, the El Mongo Stink Bomb successfully made its way outside the garage.

"Yes! It worked!" Eddy cheered. "How much time, Double-D?"

"The stink bomb should explode in approximately thirty seconds," Edd answered.

"Good. Close the door, Ed," Eddy instructed. Ed closed the door in order to prevent the odor from the stink bomb from traveling into the garage. Eddy ran over to a window so he could watch the chaos the stink bomb would create. "Mission accomplished, guys. We'll never get adopted now."

"Neither will anyone else," Edd grumbled.


Back in the front yard, everyone was still enjoying Adopt-A-Thought Saturday. They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a propeller, which kept getting louder and louder. Everyone turned towards the noise and saw the El Mongo Stink Bomb flying in their direction. Some stared in shock while others stared in amazement.

"My word!" Herriman exclaimed. "What on Earth is that monstrosity?"

"It looks like a giant water balloon," Wilt commented.

"Why is the water green?" Eduardo wondered.

"It's not a water balloon, it's a stink bomb!" Frankie panicked. "We need to get everyone inside before it-"

Just then, the El Mongo Stink Bomb exploded loudly. A wave of stink was sent across the residence, causing everyone to groan in disgust. Wilt, Eduardo, Coco, Goo, Frankie, Herriman & all the other imaginary friends rushed inside the house while all the guests rushed out of the yard, entered their cars and drove off. As soon as the last person entered the house, the front door was slammed shut so the odor from the bomb wouldn't travel inside.

"Is everyone okay?" Frankie asked. Everyone else answered "yes" except for Coco, who answered "coco".

"Who in their right mind would set off a stink bomb and ruin our festivity?" Herriman complained.

Bloo came downstairs before anyone could reply. "Hey, what're you all doin' inside? Is Adopt-A-Thought Saturday over?" he asked. Frankie and Herriman glared at Bloo. He was their prime suspect. "Why're you starin' at me like that?"