Over on a dime store shelf, an old prospector doll watched with contempt as he saw every single toy be sold, except for him.

"There they go..." He growled to himself. "Looking at me with those dumb smirks on their faces, just cause they're getting adopted."

Nobody would so much as to even look at the prospector, all they were interested in were cute plushes and space toys. He had never even been out of his box.

"Space toys, stuffed animals, they think they're so great..." He thought. "They're not great at all! I'll show them! Just you wait..."

Unfortunately, that day had never come. When somebody finally did notice him, he found out it was just one of the dime store employees.

The very next day, while the prospector was sleeping, when all of a sudden, he felt something grab his box.

"What? Huh?" He woke up. "What's going on?"

He saw that a large man was taking him to the checkout

Somewhere, in a donation box, a forlorn cowgirl was sitting all alone surrounded by a bunch of old cowgirl merchandise.

"Emily, how could she do this to me?" She thought to herself. "I thought she loved me."

Jessie had been Emily's only doll and her favorite one at that. Unfortunately, the years went by and when Emily had fully grown up, she gave Jessie away.

For months, Jessie was stuck in a box with her tie-in Woody's Roundup merchandise in the back of a thrift store. Nobody to comfort her or talk to her. Jessie was all alone. But, all of that was about to change.

One day, she heard some guys come walking by.

"Alright Joe, time to unload this box." said one of the guys. "I totally forgot that we had these."

"Huh? What's going on?" Jessie thought.

Jessie peaked through the handle hole in the box and saw that she was being carried through the store. She had never seen what it looked like before; there were tons of old, donated toys and clothes and videos all over the shelves. The men then brought the boxes to man with a beard and glasses.

"Listen pal, that box had better be full of what I think it is!" the man snapped. "Otherwise, I'm suing ya!"

"You don't have to yell, sir." the store worker deadpanned.

The man opened up the box and saw the Jessie doll and merchandise.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The man cheered. "At last! I found it! I found it!"

"Okay, sir." said the cashier. "That'll be thirty bucks."

Jessie was so woozy with excitement and hope. She was finally getting a new home and would no longer be stuck in a scary old box.

Sometime later, Al went to another thrift store and bought something else. It was a brown horsey doll. He put it in Jessie's box.

"I can't believe it!" Jessie said as she saw the horse. "Bullseye! It's you! It's really you!"

"Neigh!!!" The horse whinnied.

Jessie hugged Bullseye and pet him on the head. Bullseye then licked Jessie's face in return.

"Can you believe it? I'm getting a new home and I've got a new best friend!" Jessie said excitedly.

Bullseye nodded excitedly. It had been so long since he had seen another toy besides himself. He couldn't wait.

Eventually, they all arrived at Al's apartment, where they were placed on a some kind of dresser drawer.

"There!" He said as he looked at Jessie, Bullseye and Prospector. "Now all I need is the Woody doll and my collection is complete!"

Al went into his office to look up Woody online. At that same time, the roundup gang had started to get to know each other.

"I can't believe it, the whole Woody's Roundup gang!" Jessie squealed. "Bullseye, Prospector, it's really you!"

"Indeed it is my dear, Jessie." Prospector nodded. "And it is great to meet you too, Bullseye."

"Neigh..." Bullseye whinnied.

"I wonder what that man wants with us, though." Jessie said. "He's not a kid and he doesn't look like he wants to play with us. Maybe he has a niece or something that he wants to give us to."

"Don't be ridiculous, Jessie." Prospector chuckled. "He's a collector and is going to sell us to a famous toy museum in Tokyo, Japan."

"A museum? For toys?" Jessie asked. "Is there even such a thing?"

"Why of course, there is, Jessie." Prospector said. "Families will come from all over the country to get a look at us."

"I guess, but I won't have a kid to play with." Jessie pet Bullseye's head. "I always thought I'd find a new owner who'd love me."

"Don't be sad, Jessie." Prospector said. "This is a great opportunity for us. You, me, and Bullseye."

"Is it?" asked Jessie.

"Of course." Prospector nodded. "If you don't have an owner and live in a museum, you'll never get damaged or broken. You'll be preserved and admired forever."

"Admired and preserved, forever?" Jessie gasped. "No damage? No abandonment?"

"None." Prospector smiled.

"Yee-haw!" Jessie clicked her heels. "I'm all in! How about you, Bullseye?"

"Neigh..." Bullseye galloped his hooves.

Just then, the toys heard Al mumbling to himself and coming back to the living room. The Roundup Gang then went back into toy mode before he opened the door.

"Stupid Woody doll..." Al grumbled. "Why do they gotta be so rare and hard to find? Guess, it's back to square one."

Al picked up his cell phone and called someone.

"What's he doing?" asked Jessie.

"I have no idea." Prospector said. "But whatever it's for, it can't be good."

Soon enough, Jessie, Bullseye and Stinky Pete were trapped inside of boxes with the rest of the Woody's Roundup merchandise.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Jessie panicked.

"I don't know, but I don't like the looks of it!" Prospector concurred.

The trio peeked out the window and saw Al putting the boxes into a storage unit. They were going to be trapped in there for a long time. Bullseye held onto Jessie and she pet his head.

"It's okay, Bullseye." Jessie stuttered. "We'll be okay...I think."

"Our only hope is that someday that Al will find Woody." Prospector said. "Once he finds him, the whole Roundup gang will be together again and we'll be off to the museum, immortalized and adored for generations."

Jessie believed Pete's words, but was very petrified by the confines of the boxes and the darkness of the storage unit. Thankfully, Bullseye was there to comfort her.

Little did Jessie know that despite her claustrophobia and fear of the dark, their wait would pay off very, very soon.

Author's Note:

Well, we've got the newest chapter and guess what? The next one will tell us how the Sunnyside Daycare dictatorship came to be.