It was the year of 1925, and nothing could go wrong. In a quaint little town in the middle of nature, there was nothing but quaint little joys. Things were perfectly average, and there was nothing much for anyone there to worry about besides the mundanities of life. The only thing remarkable about it all was the large, mysterious, misshapen building on the other side of the hill. But no one cared much about that. The residents never visited them much at all, so who's to say one should have an opinion on it or not. That was the general consensus.

In the town, there was a little object named Steaky. He was 10 years old, with reddish meaty hair, ruffled messy clothes from all the play, and a very pleasant smile. On top of all that, he was a rather curious little mite. He had a nice family in his mother, and that was all he really needed in that regard. Steaky had a sizable group of friends who he'd go out with every day after school to explore the are around his hometown. Of course, they always stayed away from that one building in particular.

It loomed to the southeast of town, over a line of hills behind which was a river. Across the river was the large, dark building. It was three stories high, more round than angular, and had steam pumping out of it at all times from various chimneys. The elders of the town always said to stay away from the building because dangerous people might live there. Supposedly. The kids started rumors that if you went inside, you'd never come back out. How exciting!

Unfortunately, in the summer of 1925, Steaky broke the rules.

...

Steaky and his gaggle of friends made their way towards the hills, checking behind themselves at all times to make sure no adults were following them. It appeared that the trek through the town square had been unassuming enough that no one caught on. This bet would be the most wonderous thing ever to their little fourth grader brains.

"Shh, stop making so much noise Tile! We'll be caught!"

"Come now, we'll be alright! If everyone agrees with the excuse then they won't suspect a thing!"

The gathering of schoolchildren lined themselves up on the top of the hills to get a peek at the steampunk-esque building. To their surprise, it was FAR taller than they imagined, stretching high into the sky and casting an ominous shadow.

Everyone awkwardly glanced back and forth at each other, unsure of who to send first. The prospect of scouting out the building had been so enticing right until they actually caught sight of it. The children simply muttered between themselves and gestured to each other as a show of "politeness." Oh, but wouldn't it be best if you went first? Oh, I couldn't possibly. After a few more moments, Steaky sighed and raised his inky arm.

"I suppose I'll go first..."

The children erupted into excitement at his volunteer and in the chaos, shunted him forward. He tumbled down the hill, barely avoiding the fracture of bones, and splashed into the river. Everyone froze and stared at him floating down the current. After a few more seconds, panic replaced the excitement as they all scattered back into town! Ohhh, they'd get into such terrible trouble for this; who even thought this was a good idea? Unfortunately for Steaky, they would not think to tell anyone about him until several minutes after the fact.

Meanwhile, back at the bottom of the hill, Steaky was struggling against the river. It wasn't too terribly strong, but enough to be disorienting to his short child body. He couldn't seem to get ahold of either shore, and felt a shot of fear enter his brain at the thought of getting swept under the waves! The water lashed at him and suctioned onto his arm, jolting his head below the surface. He let out a muffled scream before feeling an arm pulling on the back of his shirt. In hindsight, he wished he'd drowned that day.

Steaky found himself back on land, on the other side of the river. Chastising himself for screaming while he was still underwater, he shivered and tried to shake off some of the water. He whipped his head around to get a look at his savior-

Standing before him was a tall, one armed object with a strange look in her eyes but a smile on her face. She had some sort of fruity hair tied back in a low bun, and a beautiful poofy-skirted dress.

"Uh... Oh! Th- thank you for saving me miss!"

"It was no problem. No problem at all..."

Steaky felt a sudden warmth in his chest at the sound of her voice. It was like honey mixed into tea. He stood up and took a careless step towards this strange girl.

Ah, he was forgetting his manners. "Er... My name is Steaky! What's- what's your name? If I may ask of course."

She straightened herself and adjusted her hair slightly. "My name is Penny the Pineapple."

"Penny? Is that not a human name?" He felt a shiver in his spine, but he wasn't quite sure why.

"Not necessarily. Plenty of objects are gifted what you would call human names. It is just not common in your town. But where I'm from, most objects have 'human' names! It is not wise to make assumptions, silly boy," she teased.

"Ah- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend," the boy quickly apologized.

"Oh think nothing of it, I'm just teaching you a lesson," she smiled. It was rather addicting, that expression. He'd never seen something like that, even from his own mother. Steaky paused in thought; he wanted to keep speaking to this girl!

"Where are you from then?"

"Why, I live in there silly!" She pointed at the tall building behind them.

"Oh, I see..." At the moment of his hesitation, he could have sworn he saw her eyes darken, but it was so fleeting that he must have imagined it. "Erm... what's it like in there? My mother always told me it was dangerous..."

Penny snickered to herself. "It's not dangerous at all! In there, our family is dedicated to being as healthy as possible! How can that be dangerous?"

Steaky shifted his feet. "What exactly does THAT mean? 'Healthy as possible'?" He was surprised by the eagerness in his voice.

"Hmm. Mostly food related health. Most of us in there are food objects after all, although there are some other kinds and even a few humans! Our family is extremely inclusive." She flashed him another quick smile. "Tell me, what does your mother tell you about eating healthy?" Just like that, Penny managed to turn the conversation in her favor.

"She... she says I have to eat my carrots and string beans. But I don't like to. It makes my mouth feel gross..."

"Mm, that's a common mistake. Soil foods aren't ACTUALLY good for you, dear Steaky."

"They aren't?! Then why would my mom tell me to eat them?"

"Because she doesn't actually know what's best for you..." Steaky gasped and Penny had to hide a satisfied smirk. "It's true. Many parents don't. She lied about to you about my home being dangerous after all. Would it really be a stretch that she lied about what you should eat? Even if she didn't know better, it was still a lie."

Steaky hung his head. That felt... weird, hearing that his mother was wrong. Especially from such a nice, pleasant lady. He hadn't even known her for 20 minutes and she was already turning his world upside down. Adults weren't supposed to be wrong like that. But the way she spoke, the words she chose, the way she said them all made him believe her without question.

Penny pressed a finger to her cheek as if she was deep in thought before finally speaking again. "Hmm, do you want to know more about being healthy? The truth about it? It would be very good for you!"

"Why do you care so much about my health?" He knew it was a rude question, and he regretted it as soon as he saw her saddened face.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression we were friends! I was just trying to be nice after all."

"Ah- I'm sorry, I'm sorry! In that case, yes, yes I do want to learn more!" He found himself bouncing up and down on the river's shore.

"Well... I think you should meet my family for that. We are friends after all, and friends should meet each other's families! And they ARE the leading authority on this sort of thing!"

"Really!? May I go see them right now?"

Penny sighed and kneeled down to Steaky's level. "No, not yet. But I'll tell them all about you and we can see them tomorrow! Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Oh that IS wonderful! I can't wait!"

"There is one condition though," Penny grabbed his arm and jerked him towards her, "You can't tell anyone about us, or me, or what you heard here. Alright darling? We don't want anyone to get mad at you." She augmented that statement with a concerned look.

"Of course!" Steaky replied without hesitation. He whipped around and hopped across some stepping stones to cross back over.

As Penny the Pineapple watched Steaky crawl up the hill back home, she hummed to herself.

...

The rat comes out to play- to play

The rat comes out today...

I get to walk away- away

But you will have to stay...