Groundhog Day
At the age of 6…
Abby had seen it, she was sure of it. It was only there for a second before retreating behind that snowbank but she was certain she'd seen its yellow mop of hair. 'Was that the groundhog?'
"Abby, why are you looking that way? The groundhog will be over there by the men in tall hats." Her mother, Petunia said and gently guided her to look forward.
As usual, Groundhog Day in Splatticus was celebrated in the central park. The city had one tame groundhog called Wally Whiskers who was allegedly over forty years old and looked after by a gentlemen club called the Order of the Groundhog. Every year they brought their famous critter to the park in special container constructed to look like an old oak stump.
"When will Wally come out, mom?" Abby asked, wearing a thick purple winter jacket and a pair of lavender coloured ear-warmers, positioned in front of her carmine red pig-tails.
"Soon, dear, soon." Her mother replied.
Her little brother Ty sat atop her father's shoulders, thou with both a blue hoodie and a scarf wrapped around his head, one could only discern his tiny little eyes.
Abby kept her eyes on the stump with the men in penguin suits and top hats gathered around it for a few seconds before turning to look at the snowbanks again. She was pretty certain that the groundhog would see its shadow anyway since the winter weather was still clinging on.
Then she saw it again. A head covered in yellow hair emerging and disappearing from behind the snowbank. 'What if that's the groundhog and he's too afraid of his shadow to come here.' Abby wondered before turning to her mother. "Mom, can I go play for a bit?"
Petunia blinked. "Abby, if you go away you're going to miss Wally."
"Awe, come on, honey. I am sure they will announce when they're ready to release the woodchuck. You can go get Abby then." Abby's father, Harvey proposed.
"What do you mean with 'release', dad? Is the woodchuck stuck in there?" Little Ty asked.
"Did I say release, I meant when he's ready to come out." Harvey quickly covered up his slip up.
Petunia sighed before crouching in front of her daughter. She adjusted her wholly ear-warmers and her jacket. "Promise me you don't go so far that you can't see us, okay?"
The little redhead nodded. "I won't. Thanks mom."
With that, Abby ran off towards the snowbanks. As it turned out, there wasn't just snowbanks but also a multitude of snowmen and snow forts made earlier by playing children. The little redhead anxiously looked around for the groundhog.
"Hello! You don't have to hide. I'm sure your shadow isn't dangerous." Abby called out. She knew everyone else thought the groundhog would emerge out of the stump but what if they were wrong. Her father had once told her that just because everyone thought something was right didn't make it true.
Abby suddenly heard something ruffling and when she turned around she spotted a small snow cave carved into the base of the snowbank. She scuttled towards the cave and crouched down to peer into it. However, there wasn't any groundhog in there.
Instead there was a girl, a small tanned skinned girl no older than herself with messy blonde hair reaching down to her shoulders. Wearing a brown jacket, the girl was curled up against the cave wall with her arms clutching her chest.
Amused, Abby smiled. "You're no groundhog."
"No, I'm not." The girl responded, slightly annoyed.
Like an owl, Abby tilted her head. "What are you doing in there?"
"I came to see Wally Whiskers."
Abby blinked. "Is he in there with you?"
"Of course not. I will see him from atop this snow pile."
"Why? Wouldn't it be easier to see him if you stood over there like everyone else?" Abby asked, gesturing to the gathering of people.
"Yeah but the other kids are often mean to me."
Abby sunk down on her knees. 'So it's not her shadow she's afraid of. Its people. That's no good.'
She thought back to last summer. She and her mother was feeding ducks at a pond. While the birds had no problems eating out of her mother's hand, they all scurried when Abby tried to feed them.
"Mom, why won't they eat when I try to feed them?"
"They're scared of you, honey. You're being too pushy but if you have a bit of patience with them they will learn that they got nothing to fear from you."
Abby smiled a bit and turned her attention back to the kid in the cave. "Well, I'm a kid and I won't be mean to you."
The blonde raised her head a little. "Really?"
The redhead nodded. "Say, do you want to play with me till Wally Whiskers comes out to see his shadow?"
The girl in the snow cave seemed surprised. "You-you want t-to p-play wi-with me?"
Again, Abby nodded. "But first we have to tell each other our names cause my mom has told me not to talk to strangers." She straightened her posture a little and placed a hand to her chest. "I am Abby. Abby Archer."
The other girl blinked. "Your name is Abby-Abby Archer?"
Abby frowned. "No, just Abby Archer. What's your name?"
"Chester Ferris." The blonde replied.
'Chester? What a weird name for a girl.' Abby though to herself but choose not to ask about it. "Nice meeting you, Chester. So, what do you-
The redhead went quiet when the blonde abruptly emerged out of the cave, their faces suddenly only inches apart. The unexpected proximity caused both children to freeze. Abby's sky blue eyes stared right into Chester's warm brown ones.
"Your eyes are beautiful." Chester breathed out.
Abby smiled and leaned back a bit. "Thanks." She bashfully stroked one of her pig-tails. "Yours pretty too."
Chester blinked. "Wait, did I say that out loud?"
"Yep." Abby replied as she rose up and dusted the snow off her pants.
The blonde's cheeks quickly turned crimson. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Sometimes I say things I know I shouldn't."
Abby's smile faltered. "So you don't think my eyes are beautiful?"
"I-I do! O-of course I-I do but I know most people don't like it when I say such things." Chester replied, getting even more flustered.
"They don't like it when you compliment their eyes? How weird. I certainly like it." The redhead exclaimed with a mega-watt smile.
For a moment, Chester seemed shocked but then he smiled brightly. 'She isn't put off by the way I talk and she says she wants to play with me. Is this it? Do I finally have a friend?'
"I got an idea. We can have a snowball fight." Abby suggested.
Chester tapped his chin. "Okay but let's make it a bit more interesting. I've seen others kids play it in a way that I want to try out."
Abby blinked. "There's more than one way to have a snowball fight?"
Chester nodded. "First of, only one of us is allowed to throw snowballs and the other one has to try to dodge behind the snow fort. It's a bit like king of the mountain. What do you say?"
Abby pouted a bit. "I don't know…"
"You can be the thrower and I can be the dodger." Chester said and climbed up to the top of the snowbank.
"But what if you fall and get a boo-boo?" The concerned girl asked.
"Trust me, I won't."
As it turned out, Abby was concerned for nothing as Chester proved to be impressively fast and nimble. After sometime passed, she had already lost count on the number of snowballs she's thrown without hitting her new playmate.
Chester kept jumping atop of the snowbank and the nearby snow fort but always managed to hide as soon as a snowball was hurled his way.
"Dammit, can you stay still for a second?!" Abby yelled, her competitive side taking over.
As a response, Chester simple sat down atop the snowbank and smirked at her.
Abby turned around and bent down to gather more snow when a snowball suddenly hit her in the butt. "Hey!" She spun around and glared at the blonde girl. "I thought you said only I could throw snowballs."
"New rule; the dodger can throw snowballs too if the thrower is taking too long." Chester said, mischievously.
"Oh, so that's how it is, is it? Okay, here's another new rule;" Abby exclaimed and started running towards an increasingly nervous Chester, "the thrower can use their hands to catch cheaters!" She rushed up the snowbank, leaped at the blonde and the two kids tumbled all the way down until Chester laid flat on the ground with Abby atop of him.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, cheeks flushed before they both burst out laughing. "Okay, I think you win." Chester said in-between his laughs.
"Hope I didn't hurt you." Abby exclaimed as she got off her playmate.
"Nah, just somewhat surprised. I didn't know girls could play that rough." Chester replied as he sat up.
"Hey, we girls can play just as rough as the boys do if we got the guts. And let no one tell you differently."
Chester raised an eyebrow. 'What does she mean by "we"?'
"ABBY!" The children turned to the loud yet feminine call. It was Petunia. "WALLY IS ABOUT TO COME OUT NOW! YOU HAVE TO COME BACK!"
Both kids rose up and dusted the snow off their clothes. Abby then clutched Chester's hand. "Come see the groundhog with me."
Chester blinked. "But what if the other kids start picking on me again?"
"If that happens I'll kick their butts. You can count it."
A smile spread across the blonde's face and he nodded. "Okay."
A while later, Chester was standing with the Archer family as they waited for the famous groundhog to make his appearance. Chester was relieved that Abby's family was so accepting of him.
One of the men in suits, a rather short man with a big, oblong head with a clear bald spot stepped in front of the fake stump and addressed the audience. "Thank you all for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. We, the Order of the Groundhog has just been given words that Wally Whiskers is ready to step out of his den and give his prognosis! We ask for your silence as we introduce Wally Whiskers!"
Another member of the order reached down to open up a small door in the face of the artificial stump. It did not take long for Wally to poke his fuzzy head out of his hiding spot. The groundhog had a charcoal black scalp and tail with the rest of his fur being brown-red.
"Awww." Abby quietly cooed at the cute animal, as did many others.
The woodchuck nervously looked around before leaving its makeshift burrow completely. He seemed to be calming down when suddenly…
"Hey, Wally! Where's your shadow!" Someone in the audience shouted and the groundhog froze up for a moment before scurrying back to the fake stump.
Abby sneered. 'Disrespectful jerk.'
The Order of the Groundhog whispered among themselves for a bit before the same balding man stepped up to the audience. "People of Splatticus, Wally Whiskers has spoken! His shadow have been seen and six more weeks of winters are to come!"
The response from the audience was mixed. Some cheered (either out of respect for the tradition or cause they genuinely wanted more snow) others booed cause they wanted warmer weather. The crowed then started to disperse now that the spectacle was over.
"He didn't see his shadow." Chester stated, earning him a puzzled look from Abby.
"Huh?"
"It wasn't his shadow that scared him. It was that guy yelling at him." The tanned blonde explained. "Spring will arrive early, you'll see."
Abby smiled at him and he smiled back.
Bashfully, Chester scratched the back of his neck. "S-say Abby, wh-whi-which s-s-school d-do you go to?"
"Oh, my family just moved here but I start Ringworm elementary next week." Abby replied.
Chester's smiled brighter than the sun. "No way, I go there too!"
"You do? That's awesome." Abby replied.
"Yeah." Chester laughed. "D-do you think we can p-play t-t-together du-during re-recess?"
"I sure hope so." Abby replied, smiling so brightly that Chester felt like a snowman slowly melting in her sunshine.
Petunia approached the duo. "Alright Abby, it's time to leave."
"Mom, mom!" Abby grabbed Chester's wrist and pulled him closer. "Chester and I are going to go to the same school soon."
"Really?" Petunia cooed. "Then I guess you two will see a lot of each another. Promise me you look after her, Chester."
"Sure will, Mrs. Archer." The blonde responded.
Petunia took her daughter's hand and started leading her towards the family's car where her husband and son were waiting.
The little redhead looked over her shoulder and waved at her new friend. "Bye Chester!"
"Bye Abby!" Chester called out and waved back to her.
Petunia made sure Abby got into the car and strapped in her safety belt before sitting down in one of the front seats. As the car left the parking lot, Petunia could see Chester in the side view mirror. He looked so happy.
"That was fun, wasn't it kids?" Harvey Archer asked out loud.
"Yeah!" Ty and Abby simultaneously cheered.
"Yeah, you both got to see Wally Whiskers,"
"Yeah!" Ty cheered.
"and you Abby seem have gotten a new friend." Harvey exclaimed.
Abby nodded. "Yeah, Chester. She's awesome."
Petunia shot her daughter a smile before leaning closer to her husband. "I was certain Chester was a boy."
Author's Note:
At first this was supposed to be a one-shot for Unconditional titled Holidays but as I kept working on it, each holiday segment became longer and more elaborate so in the end I decided to turn this into a fanfic all by itself, partly inspired by a Naruto fanfic titled For Every Season by Shawny Wong.
Each chapter will cover a specific American holiday but each will take place a few years apart, allowing the two leads to grow closer together over time.
This is an AU story with no bureau of Grossology or supervillains. Only normal, everyday activities.
Something you may have noticed is that the city in this story is called Splatticus (as oppose to Ringworm City like in all my other fanfics). The original series never gave the city a name so I've always called it Ringworm City cause Ty & Abby's school was called Ringworm Junior High but lately I've come to believe that Splatticus is actually a more likely name for it as the villain prison is called Splatticus State Prison. From this I gather that either the city or the state the city is in is called Splatticus (it would also suggest that Grossology takes place in USA rather than Canada).
Speaking the Americas, I have never been there (as most of you have already guessed) and I am not too familiar with some of these holidays (Groundhog Day included) but I can assure you that I do my research before writing so if something seems amiss then you know why. Feel free to correct me by leaving a review or you can leave a review telling me what you liked or disliked about this story. It does not have to be long and it does not have to be positive. Any feedback is welcomed.