- Chapter 9 -

'Eerie Events'

Calvin first glanced at the Teletubbies' Tubby Toasts being chomped and guzzled, with them being fully satisfied and imprinted with smiles all over. He then contemplated his Toast contributed by them - slowly, magically turning into a smooth chocolate brown texture and a greeting smile, albeit broken, carved in such a way that it's glaring at him. Temptation had already started to settle in, which made him take a bite of it, and found out that it tasted quite similar to that of a foodstuff he had in the real world a long time ago before being dragged to Teletubbyland.

Something... quite irresistible.

"Oh mayh goodnesh..." he attempted to speak with his mouth full.

"Look! Hey, Cavin... now that you've tasted your first ever Tubby Toast, what do you think of it?" Laa-Laa asked and tapped him.

"It's... flippin'... AMAZING!" he screamed with absolute euphoria and continued to gobble his Toast.

"YES! We did it! Our first ever chocolate chip Tubby Toast! It's a grand success!" she celebrated with the others by giving her companions a high five.

"Are you serious? It tastes exactly like that... no way!" he exclaimed with surprise and finished his Tubby Toast in no time.

"Aaand...?" they excitedly continued as they inched closer and closer to Calvin's face, waiting for his review.

"I would go to such lengths to say..." he teased. "...that this is by far, the best chocolate cookie/toast I've ever had."

"HURRRAAAY! Thank you so much, Cavin!" they joyously showed their appreciation by squeezing him from every corner like a press. "BIIIG HUUUG, Caaavin!"

"Oomf... ack! Stop... crushing me! Ahagh!" he tried to talk during their intense hug.

"Sorry!" they giggled.

"It's okay..." he panted. "I gotta tell you this though... imagining that delicacy coming out from you guys, I feel like all of you deserve something extra special. Unfortunately... I didn't bring any stuff to give you guys, so..." he declared, which prompted them to embrace him again because they knew what he would say next - giving his love instead. "Aaargh, ick... aw, come on... WHY?!" he howled in vain.

After a few minutes of cuddling him entirely, the windmill then spun faster once again, this time in the anti-clockwise direction, somehow counteracting the wind which usually propels it, and emitted a wind sound effect in reverse in real-time, with its glitter getting sucked inside the flaps of the wooden panels instead of it being flung all over the place... hence putting an abrupt end to that day's Tubby Meal.

"Huh? What is that? Why am I hearing reversed sounds? I swear I've never heard these kinds of sounds before in my life! What's happening?!" he shouted.

"I don't know. Something's definitely happening out of the blue here. We'll have to wait and see, that's our only option!" replied the Narrator, without any idea what's happening outside.

"Uh-oh!" they laughed.

"Cavin, I need you to do one more favour for us, okay?" Laa-Laa instructed the human. "You need to stay here inside this house and not go outside, trust me! What's happening right now and what you're seeing right there..." she pointed to the windmill. "At any moment the windmill spins in the opposite direction, it shows that a very important event is imminent. And that requires only the Teletubbies to be outside and nobody else! You got it?"

"Understood. So, um... I'll stay right here... in the same place as usual... on the table, doing probably nothing..." he muttered.

"You have Noo-Noo by your side to play some games, maybe explore and make conversations with!" Po suggested.

"We'll see you in a few hours, alright? Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it!" Laa-Laa lovingly said while clutching his shoulders.

"Bye-bye, Cavin... we all love you sooo much!" they expressed their goodbyes by giving him another set of hugs and kisses for good luck and then dashed outside to the Spotlight.

Everything became awkwardly silent once they exited Home Hill, except the sound of Noo-Noo rolling towards him.

"Uhhh... that was... weird. Do you have any idea what's happening right now?" he questioned to the machine.

*Even after searching through my database, I couldn't find any information about it. This is the first instance I've detected the windmill spinning in an unnatural state, and it's probably because of you...?* read the message and pointed the trunk to him with *bleep*, *bloop* and *buzz* sounds emitted from the machine.

"Hey! Don't blame everything on me - I barely did anything to Teletubbyland or the Teletubbies from the time I came here!" he roared. "Blame Laa-Laa for that; she must have seen something special inside me that I still don't know, and I wanted to find out what it is from the start! Moreover, I'm surprised that you've still not finished with the tour of Home Hill... now that we've got the rest of the day in our hands, probably even longer!"

*You've made your point, but... hold on, I've detected something in my database. Executing search...* displayed the message.

"Welp, looks like I've won the argument... and that with an impossibly smart machine with its own A.I., that can soon replace us. Maybe there's hope for us humans after all..." he thought to himself.

A bundle of strange mechanical and electronic printing sounds were being heard from inside Noo-Noo's chassis, which rendered the object unresponsive for a moment.

*I've managed to get a snippet of information about this new event. However, it might be sourced from thin air, so listen...* *...what I do know, is that the "process" will be completed tomorrow morning. And that's it.*

"WHAT!? TOMORROW MORNING?! Wait... what time is it right now!? Damn it... of all the days I carry a watch all the time, this is the one I didn't!" he yelled to himself.

*We... don't have a specific time frame in Teletubbyland here. It's basically freeform. Like I showed you, anything that happens, happens. You'll just have to bear and live with it.*

"Story of my life..." he said sarcastically. "So... does that mean some events would go on and on for... literally, forever?"

*Correct. But as of now, you currently have a lot of time to yourself, maybe spend some time and do some activities with me like Po said, until the Teletubbies come back with a special surprise for you.*

"And... what is that "special" surprise, you presume? Can you give me a hint at least? No?" he asked, but Noo-Noo remained silent. "Alright, you wouldn't show me your memo. I mean... I have no problems with that. It's all a waiting game at this point. So, um... hey, let's continue with the tour. I want to see how this Tubby Custard machine works..." he awkwardly commented.

*Let's proceed, then. Also, are you interested in facts and statistics?*

"Sometimes. I guess I like things that trigger the sensation "The More You Know" nowadays. Hit me."

*Did you know that there are biometric scanners and sensors installed in the buttons of both machines to determine who's serving Tubby Toast and Tubby Custard: a Teletubby or a human?* read the message while approaching towards the custard-making machine along with him.

"Now you're suddenly creeping me out. Yeeeah, I think that's enough of the daily dose of facts for today... maybe for the future, too."

He then took a look at the 3 mechanical parts on the Tubby Custard machine - a blue springy button, a red electrical switch and a heavy yellow lever. Each of these colourful interfaces has to be used in a certain sequence in order to properly serve the custard.

"Okay. Let's see what this machine has to offer."

When he slammed the button, a squiggly and empty plastic cup with a long spiral transparent straw entwined in such a way that it functioned as its body, slowly emerged from the left side of the machine by a small industrial-use belt. He then pressed the red switch, and a long spout extended from a hidden flap at the right side of the machine, till the faucet had reached above the cup. Finally, when he yanked the yellow lever, peach-coloured and gooey Tubby Custard emerged from the spout and filled it to the brim in short bursts.

"Here we go, I'm tasting the Tubby Custard for the first time. Bottoms up..." he said to himself and drank the liquid, which gave him an experience similar to having Tubby Toast; reminding him of something he had tasted in the real world once again.

"Oh, wow!" he said with his mouth full of Tubby Custard. "It... definitely tastes like caramel-flavoured custard, that's for sure! Whaddaya know... the Teletubbies do have a superior sense of taste compared to mine! I wonder what other incredible qualities they have next..." he commented and contemplated its strong flavour, but since it looked different than what was displayed in the machine, it made him slightly drowsy.

"Hey, uh... Noo-Noo, is there night time in Teletubbyland? I'm just curious..." he continued the conversation with Noo-Noo.

*Not really, because the Sun Baby usually stays up in the sky most of the time,* read the message.

"Is that so? Because I've seen the sun set on the horizon at the end of every episode. Why not now, or maybe later?"

*Do I need to remind you of this every time? You're in a completely different dimension, away from the real world as you would call it...* *...a different kind of Teletubbyland you've never seen before in an actual episode. So I'd advise you to proceed with caution and be prepared for anything unexpected.*

This message had prompted him to believe that many more new and unseen events other than this one, will ultimately happen in front of his very eyes. But instead of exploring the ramifications that come along with it, he then decided to take a nap on one of the beds reserved for the Teletubbies.

"Is it justch me shomehow, or ish the Tubby Cushtard making me schleepy right now? I need to find a place to rest here..." he yawned when he continued examining more of the Home Hill along with Noo-Noo but was exhausted since he had a hectic day from the instant he came out of that portal.

When he had almost sleepwalked to one of the Tubby Beds, he fell straight down like a domino to the pillow and the mattress and finally slept.

"Good day, or night... or whatever it is, Noo-Noo and Narrator..." he mumbled and covered himself with a soft, small and reflective silver blanket.

"Good day, Calvin. Sleep tight," replied the Narrator while the vacuum cleaner displayed the same words on the memo.