Two weeks had passed since Yamato, Takeru, and the other children had met their Digimon. All five of the Digimon who were staying with the brothers had evolved to their Child forms – Gabumon, Patamon, Lopmon, Hawkmon, and Wormmon. The boys' parents thought the Digimon were all dolls on loan from other kids. During the day, when everyone was out, the Digimon were free to do as they pleased.
One day, Wormmon was staring into the long mirror that hung on the wall in Yamato and Takeru's parents' room.
"Pathetic," he thought. "That's what it is. Pathetic."
In the mirror, he saw someone else enter the room. It was Gabumon.
"Good morning, Wormmon," said Gabumon.
"Good morning, Gabumon," Wormmon replied gloomily. "If it is a good morning, that is."
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Some people do, and some don't. That's all there is to it."
"Don't what?"
"Celebration. Gaiety. Song-and-dance."
"Huh?"
"You don't have to waste your time here. Go on and enjoy yourself."
"What are you so sad about, Wormmon?"
"Why should I be sad? It's my birthday."
"It is?" Gabumon was very surprised.
"It is. See all the presents and cake I have?"
"No."
"Well, there you are. Nobody cares."
"Stay here," said Gabumon. "I'll be back," and he hurried off.
In the children's room, Patamon was building something with blocks. "Hello, Gabumon!" he said when Gabumon came in.
"Hello, Patamon," said Gabumon. "Did you know today is Wormmon's birthday?"
"Is it? Great! Let's give him presents!"
"That is a very good idea, Patamon. Wormmon is very sad because he doesn't have any presents yet."
"Oh. Well, I know what to give him, then. A balloon will cheer him up. What about you?"
"I think I'll give him a box of cookies. I'll go and get it now." Gabumon went.
Patamon searched through the toy box until he found a balloon. Fortunately, he had a special technique for blowing them up: "Air Shot!" He tied the end shut and went to give it to Wormmon.
The balloon was as big as he was, so while he was carrying it, he couldn't see anything but balloon. He failed to see the blocks on the floor, and tripped over them.
BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lying face down, Patamon wondered what had happened. (i)It sounded like something blew up,(/I) he thought. (i)Maybe it was the whole building. Or maybe it was only me. Maybe now I'm all alone back in the Digital World or somewhere and I'll never see Takeru or Yamato or Gabumon or Wormmon ever again.(/I)
Slowly, Patamon got up.
He was still in the apartment!
(i)I guess I didn't blow up,(/I) thought Patamon. (i)But if I didn't, then what was that awful noise? And where did I get this torn piece of rag?
Oh, dear.(/I)
Patamon sat there, wondering whether to go on and give Wormmon the balloon anyway, or find another present for him, or go and see what Gabumon thought about it. While he was thinking, Gabumon was eating cookies. On the way to give Wormmon his present, he had suddenly gotten the feeling that it was time for a little something, so he had sat down to eat the cookies. Now that he had finished them, it hit him. He'd eaten Wormmon's present!
(i)Oh, no!(/i) Gabumon thought. (i)Now what? I have to give Wormmon(/I) something.
He thought about this for a moment, and then had an idea: (i)If I can get someone to write "Happy Birthday" on this box, then it will be a useful box for keeping things in, and I can give it to Wormmon.(/I)
Pleased with the idea, Gabumon went to look for Hawkmon. He found his friend on the couch, writing something.
"Hello, Hawkmon!" said Gabumon.
"Hello, Gabumon," said Hawkmon.
"It's Wormmon's birthday today."
"Is it?"
"Yes. I'm going to give him this useful box to keep things in. Could you write 'Happy Birthday Wormmon' on it for me, please?"
"Certainly."
Gabumon gave Hawkmon the box. Hawkmon began to write. When he finished, the box read:
HAPI IPI BASUSADEI WAMUMON
"Here you are," said Hawkmon.
"Oh, thank you!" said Gabumon. "Wormmon will love it. Bye!"
"Goodbye, Gabumon."
On his way back to the place where Wormmon was, Gabumon found Patamon, just sitting there, holding the broken balloon.
"Patamon!" said Gabumon in surprise. "What's wrong?"
"My balloon broke," answered Patamon, holding it up. "What should I do now?"
Gabumon thought. "You should give it to Wormmon anyway," he said. "Even a broken balloon is better than no balloon at all."
So, Gabumon and Patamon entered the master bedroom again. "Hello, Wormmon!" said Patamon.
"Hello, Patamon," said Wormmon. "Hello, Gabumon."
"Happy birthday," said Patamon. "We brought you presents."
Wormmon turned. "Say that again."
"I said, happy birthday," repeated Patamon, "and that we brought you presents."
"Presents?"
"Yes."
"For my birthday?"
"Yes."
"Me, having a real birthday!"
"Yes!"
"What are the presents?"
"Here." Patamon gave him the broken balloon. "It (i)was(/I) a nice cheery balloon. I blew it up myself. Then it broke."
"It's my favorite color," said Wormmon.
"This is from me," said Gabumon, giving Wormmon the box. "It's a useful box for keeping things in. It says 'Happy Birthday Wormmon' on it."
Wormmon's eyes lit up. He picked up the broken balloon, put it in the box, and smiled.
"It works!" he said.
"So it does," said Gabumon.
"I'm going to keep my balloon in this useful box. Thank you for giving it to me, Gabumon. And thank you, Patamon, for giving me something to keep in it."
"You're welcome," said Gabumon.
"What are friends for?" said Patamon.
As Gabumon and Patamon watched Wormmon taking the balloon out of the
box and putting it back again, they realized that even though their presents
hadn't turned out quite as good as they'd hoped, they had made Wormmon
very happy.
Disclaimer: All things Digimon belong to Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation, Bandai, and Disney. The story idea really belongs to A.A. Milne, but then Disney got it, too. No money is being made off this; I write these things because it's fun, and because I like the two stories a lot. :-)
