- Chapter 5 -

'Making Friends'

"What was that all about? I know it was quite an experience for all of us, but... how did this happen in such a short span of time?" Calvin muttered to himself, trying to recollect his surroundings. "Uh... can you'll repeat your names once again for me...? I, um... didn't get it properly when Laa-Laa called you out. So... is that okay?" he inquired.

"No problem, Cavin!" they loudly answered in chorus like excited young schoolchildren on a field trip to a water/amusement park.

"The Teletubbies then introduced themselves through their 'signature' poses, one by one to Calvin," the Narrator continued.

"Oh no, are they really going to do this right now? I don't have the time for-" he cringed but was struck by their somewhat graceful and brazen poses.

"Tinky Winky!"

"Dipsy!"

"Laa-Laa!"

"Po!"

"And we're the Teletubbies! Eh-oh!" they cheered and laughed once again, waving their hands up like sorority cheerleaders.

He already knew that everything was about to go downhill from there before they finished posing.

"Okay... let's get into the semantics here. What I can extract out of all of this, is that something's amiss... I still can't fathom why they're so utterly thrilled to meet me. WHY!? There has to be a reason why they're behaving like this...! Well... there's no other choice but to keep going with the flow before something even crazier happens," he thought. "So, um... hold on, I'm just gonna repeat your names once again, alright? Tinky Winky... Dipsy... Laa-Laa, I know that name for sure... and Po. Did I get it correct...?" he asked while pointing to each of them, with Laa-Laa getting more enthusiastic.

"Yes! Your naming skills are pretty good! You can say that it's better than mine, to be honest!" Laa-Laa congratulated.

"Yaaay!" they happily cried out in unison.

"Uh... alright, then... that's one off the list. Hope I'll still remember it after I-" he nervously said to himself and froze again, but then he thought of something that'll rectify his past. "I, um... I kinda mean it by saying this, but..."

"What's is it, Cavin?" they asked while gradually creeping closer to him, flashing out their big pointy receptors as he was about to speak, which weirded him out a bit, but he continued nonetheless.

"You can tell us anything you can think of, we're always there for you!" Laa-Laa reminded.

"Um... let's... be... friends..." he revealed. "I mean... I didn't want to turn this into a suspenseful situation, but... what do you think about it?"

"REALLY?!" they gasped and covered their mouths in astonishment because in reality, they have never encountered or befriended any living being outside of their natural habitat.

Because of that, he stuttered this:

"Yeah. You know... I never thought I would say this, but... I actually want to spend time more with all of you. And I also... want to explore everything you have over here - starting with this beautiful landscape. So... one of the ways this could possibly happen... is to be friends with each other, right? I mean... we would enjoy a lot more than what we did just a while ago. And, um... frankly... you are the only reliable pals I have, and I'm not kidding! You see, in my world... nobody ever wanted to be close to me, even if I've tried my best to make myself acceptable to their laws of society as they call it... and it all started because of some stupid events that happened in school and college that I still don't remember up to this day. To put it into another perspective... I was ragged and bullied since junior kindergarten. That's almost 16 years... and judging by your age which I'm assuming that you're probably very young, imagining that long of a time period is just... way too much to endure in one go. I know it's a little bit too serious for you guys, but let's put all of that aside. What I'm saying is... you guys are the only ones through friendship, adventure and discovery that can and will support me... in my journey of a li- no! Never mind what I just said, please forget all that...! But, yeah... let's be friends. Friends 'til the end."

It's kind of hard to forget his experience with the real world, but when he narrated this story, the Teletubbies first comforted him, then held another discussion with each other on whether to welcome him to the 'Tubby family, and that particular term made them ecstatic and instantly agreed to be friends with him for the rest of his life!

"HURRAAAY! Friends with Cavin!" they joyously cried out with glee while jumping and holding their hands and danced in a circular formation around him.

"Welp, it looks like I'm stuck here forever now. There's no going back after what I just told them..." he thought, even when the portal to his home had already disappeared.

"The Teletubbies love each other very much," interrupted the Narrator after a few seconds.

"Big hug!" they cried out loudly and extended their hands to hug each other, which made him move out of the way after they've finished jumping and dancing.

"You know what...? Is it okay that we can be "BFF"s – best friends forever? I mean, um..." he timidly asked and somehow made his encounter slightly better when the Narrator cued this:

"The Teletubbies love having Calvin as their personal companion and best friend... and the Teletubbies love Calvin very, very much!"

"W-wha- why did you say 'very' twice!?" he impulsively looked upwards at the sky and somehow replied back to him without knowing where he was the whole time.

"Because I was waiting since the time you came here through that portal, to see what they'd think of you as a person from a different world. And somehow, they all love you because of your bashful behaviour! Also, the Teletubbies love slapstick comedy, and they love seeing a being who attempts to comprehend different things that are happening around him but fails to register it anyway. It's gonna be pretty funny watching you react to all of this, and that is just the beginning, my friend!" replied the Narrator, and clasped his hands together like some sort of evil mastermind.

"Best... friends... FOREVER! BIG HUG, Caviiin! We love you sooo much! Awwwwww!" they lovingly cried out once again with hands stretched wide open and formed a closing circular barricade around him, ready to cuddle at once.

"Uh-oh. I should brace myself for this..." he said to himself and shuddered.

And those were his words before he got the biggest hug of his life... YET.

All four Teletubbies clasped him from every possible corner, so tight that they're about to squeeze him off into the air like bathing soap. They then kissed all over his cheeks, which is what he and the Narrator had envisioned after his encounter with Laa-Laa, because she already told the rest of them during the name pronunciation debate how nice, friendly, honest and sincere he was. He had become inanimate like a totem pole for a while, even when he was supposed to feel unparalleled comfort from all sides. And with so much noise too, since multiple wind chimes from their tummies rang around him.

They still continued to embrace him more after he fell backwards like a domino because of their sheer weight and height acting directly on his body. Normally, a Teletubby group hug lasts a couple of seconds, but they loved him so much that 5 whole minutes have passed by...

...until finally, a farmhouse-style windmill started spinning clockwise faster and faster with some glitter thrown all over the place, hence commencing an event the program calls 'Tummy Tales'.

"Uh-oh!" they chortled and squeezed him one last time for good measure when they heard the sound of the windmill.

Since he earlier wanted to learn and explore more about Teletubbyland in general, they've decided to give him a tour showing its main landmarks. So they've tugged him along to the first one called the Spotlight - a small circular plateau on top of one of the hills placed in front of the windmill, where 'Tummy Tales' usually takes place.

It was Po's turn to show her video of young children partaking in various activities across different places in the real world. At first, watching the video on her tummy along with the others supporting him left him baffled, because of the placement and the fact that it's a bridge between two completely different dimensions through a simple preview, but it also gave him a reminder of the events he had missed in the present world, yet he preferred staying in Teletubbyland along with them, no matter what happened there. Everybody enjoyed watching the video after a few minutes, after which Po excitedly proposed...

"Oooh, let's watch it again, again, again!" she decided on watching it one more time.

And just like that, they've agreed to it in a snap. Now they're awaiting Calvin's response for the same thing!

"Huh...? Why are you'll staring at me? Did I do something wrong?" he worriedly exclaimed when he saw all of them staring directly at him.

"No, silly Cavin!" they laughed. "Can you watch the video with us again?" Laa-Laa and Po asked.

"Wha- uhhh... nah, I'm good with watching it once. Sorry about that..." he declined.

"Nawww...! Come on, Cavin... please watch with us! Pleeease!" they begged so much that they jiggled him simultaneously, which made him giddy.

"Ulgbhurlghgcfgbh... again with the sh- okay, okay, OKAY! STAHP!" he shouted. "Fine! I'll watch it one more time... on one condition!"

"Which is?" they asked in unison and crept closer to him.

"Please... don't repeat the video a third time! Understood?" he said imperatively, even though he had no idea that according to the programme, a Teletubby can never show the same video more than twice.

They happily cheered in harmony, and together, watched the video on Po's tummy once again.

A few minutes later, right after the video finished previewing...

"Hey, um... I needed to ask you something - can I explore the rest of Teletubbyland... on my own? I wanted to see what else you have over there as well..." he inquired. "And I thought you were continuing with the tour, right...?"

"Sure thing! You can visit our home over here - we'll show you everything inside!" said Tinky Winky, pointing towards the Home Hill.

"Or go for a walk along the hills with us! It's good exercise for everyone!" said Dipsy, pointing towards a cluster of big hills in Teletubbyland, one of which has a flower bed.

"Or explore our forests with us! It's right over there, and now that you're with us, it'll be a very exciting adventure for sure! Hahaha... I can imagine yourself being Indiana Jones, and us being the researchers!" Laa-Laa giggled, pointing towards the forest, which intimidated him because of its density.

"Uhhh... okay. First of all, how in the name of cinema... do you know Indiana Jones of all people?! Second of all, don't you have a normal TV instead of what's on your tummies? If so, please watch the trilogy before mentioning that character! Lastly, I didn't know that Teletubbyland has forests of any kind... and what you have over there is the size of my nearby national park! How in the world do you manage to keep it that way?! I just hope it doesn't have dangerous animals over there...!" he interrupted. "Even after watching many episodes, I still couldn't believe that you guys have all of this!" he shouted with a wheeze.

"Or... you can stay right here and play some games with us! Laa-Laa already told us about having lots of fun playing volleyball with you, so we'll all play together!" said Po.

"Phew. Okay... that's better. Still, I would rather not risk myself going into this jungle at all!" he thought and was filled with relief.

"You can do anything you want!" they sang a short happy tune.

"Thanks a lot, but um... I'll go check around by myself. See you soon, then... I guess..." he nervously waved.

"Bye-bye, Cavin! Stay safe and always be happy!" they expressed their goodbyes by clinging to him once again and then left him to freely explore the wide world of Teletubbyland.