Chapter 6-The Morning After (Or So It Would Seem)

Author's Note: Well, my Documents Manager here on is TOTALLY screwed up and will not allow me to edit my own chapters, so I'm having to do that on my harddrive and hope for the best. To my reviewers-many thanks! I am trying to keep this as close to the tv series as possible, and that includes those little references that little kids might not "get". If it seems as though Bloo is being too selfish, just wait-he will at least learn something, though will him it probably won't "stick", since it never does. Please keep the reviews coming, y'all! I apologize if this thing comes out in all-bold and all-italics; blame for that. I am unable to make any changes to any documents with the "edit" feature. Once again, the disclaimer applies: I do not own any of these characters; they belong to Cartoon Network.

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In those moments before waking, as sleep gradually began to release its hold on her, Frankie began to gain bits and pieces of awareness of sensations. First sensation-warmth; she was unusually warm and cozy. The next, though, seemed a bit out of sorts; it seemed that she was not oriented in the usual horizontal sleep position, but propped up against something soft, more or less vertically. She became aware of background sounds-voices and music, and changes in the light, its colors, and intensity, which, even in her semi-conscious state, registered with her brain as a television. Had she fallen asleep with the small tv set in her room left on again?

"Act NOW and we will send you not just one, but TWO amazing…"

"PsssssssshhhhhhhKK…"

It was this last sound which instigated the final assault on Frankie's sleep state, accompanied by what seemed to be an unusually bright flash from the tv. Groaning slightly, she began to stir at last from her slumbers, struggling to find the edge of the covers, her neck and shoulder muscles protesting at having to do so much work this early, and from such an unaccustomed position. Frankie opened her eyes, squinting around her at her surroundings, her disorientation increasing as they took in not the familiar sights of her room, but a much larger tv, chairs which were very different from those in her room, a hand-knit Afghan…and something red and velvet-furred, and it was NOT her old teddy bear! With sudden clarity, her brain leapt into gear, and she realized where she was, and WHO was with her, as the events of the previous night finally managed to manifest themselves.

Sitting straight up on the sofa, she assessed the situation. She was on the big sofa in the TV Room. She was covered partially with her grandmother's hand-knit giant Afghan. All four clocks visible to her in that room registered 5:40, presumably in the morning, which meant that soon, the rest of the house's denizens would be awakening to start their day, Mr. Herriman among the first. And, still peacefully lost in deep slumber beside her on the sofa, was last night's tv-watching partner, Wilt, the owner of the velvet-textured shoulder which had served as Frankie's pillow for the past several hours.

" Wilt! WILT!" Frankie hissed at him, shaking him as she did so to rouse him from sleep. Frowning slightly at this intrusion, Wilt began to stir, though much too slowly for Frankie's satisfaction. She shook him again, harder this time, "WILT! Wake UP…you have to wake up NOW!"

"Mmmmmrrrrr..Whaaahh?" intoned her companion as he opened his one good eye, his brain slowly coming back online and trying to make sense of where he was, and what Frankie was doing there, since this was clearly not the normal state of things that greeted him when he awoke each morning. The reality of the situation suddenly hit him full-force, jolting him upright in an instant-he had been sleeping on the sofa in the TV Room…with the granddaughter of the woman who owned the house he was graciously allowed to stay in right beside him!

"Frankie! What…HOW…I'm SORRY, but I…I mean, WE…"

Frankie cut him off mid-panic, "Just chill out, will you? I guess we musta fell asleep last night while watching that movie. It's still pretty early; looks like no one else is up yet, so let's just get this thing folded up over the back of the sofa, and get back to our rooms, alright?"

"I am really, really sorry about this, I TOTALLY did not mean to fall asleep like that! And I sure HOPE you're right about nobody else being awake-you KNOW how people like to talk, and if anyone came in and saw us like this, we will NEVER hear the end of it!" exclaimed Wilt as he stood up from the sofa, stretching his long legs and arm to get his circulation going about its job more efficiently. "I mean, I can get expelled for this sorta…"

Frankie interrupted him again, motioning with her hands for him to lower his voice, "Just keep it down, willya? Like I said, I'm sure no one saw us, so no one will be the wiser. We can just get on back to our rooms, act like nothing happened, right? 'Cause even if anyone DID see us, we got nothing to hide, right? I mean, we FELL ASLEEP while watching tv…happens all the time! It's not like we actually did anything, right?"

Wilt pondered this for a moment, while helping Frankie get the Afghan folded up and in its proper place over the back of the sofa, and collected the popcorn bowl from last night. "I guess you're right. We'll just go on back to our rooms, like you said, and play it cool, and nobody has to know. And of course nothin' happened; we just fell asleep, like you said, so uhm, no problem there, I guess." He turned and started quietly towards the door, then paused briefly, with the slightest hint of a mischievous smirk on his face, added, "And I'm pretty sure I woulda remembered if anything did happen!"

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An hour later, Frankie was back in her room, dressed, hair combed and pulled back in its accustomed pony tail, trying to put the night behind her. It was a simple thing, honestly-she and Wilt had fallen asleep on the sofa while watching a late-night movie. No biggie, as her friend Kathie would say. Sure, they'd take plenty of joking from others if they HAD been seen, but apparently she'd been correct in assuming that they'd been the only ones up at that hour, as the hallways were silent and dark as she'd made her way back to her room from the TV Room. She just hoped that Wilt made it back to HIS room before Eduardo woke up, otherwise the entire domicile would soon be awakened by Ed's panicked screams when he realized that his self-appointed protector from All Things Scary wasn't there in his usual spot underneath Ed and Bloo's bunk bed. No big deal, indeed-she'd just head on down to the kitchen and start preparing breakfast. One thing, though, kept nagging at Frankie's mind, not a major nagging, but enough that she couldn't quite dispel it. That sound…the one she'd been awakened by, and the flash of light…had it been on tv? It had seemed oddly out-of-place with the infomercials that had been airing when she finally did awaken fully, and it had also seemed vaguely familiar, though she couldn't quite place it. Maybe she'd dreamed it, and it wasn't even real. She'd have to make a point, though, to ask Wilt about it as they got breakfast ready for the residents, just to satisfy her curiosity if nothing else.

For a moment, Frankie's mind wandered back to the sensation of waking up next to the red Imaginary Friend in question, of feeling so warm and secure. It was almost…she shook her head, rebuking herself out loud, "Now girl, don't EVEN go there! Geesh, has it been THAT long since you had a date? SERIOUSLY!" Pushing any such silly notions from her mind, she opened the door and headed out for the kitchen. Nothing like work to take one's mind off of…such…ridiculous stuff.

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Upon returning to his room, Wilt had held his breath as he carefully opened the door, but much to his immense relief, had found that his roommates all appeared to be slumbering peacefully, unaware of his absence. All he had to do now was slide under the bunk bed, chill for an hour or so, then get up with the rest and act like nothing had happened, because, of course, it HADN'T. "So, WHY do ya haveta keep reminding yourself of that, huh?" his conscience nagged. Wilt knew that for him, at least, the stakes were pretty high if someone HAD seen them together like that on the sofa, underneath the covers. There were rules against Imaginary Friends having…uh, engaging in…doing THAT sorta thing with employees, strong rules. The sorta rules that could very well get him thrown out of the house, for good, and back out on his own…again. Just the thought of being…abandoned…once more, of having to perhaps go through something like THAT again, was enough to give him cold chills, pushing from his mind any pleasant memories he'd carried to his room of waking up on that sofa with a warm, soft body next to his.

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Frankie really wasn't even thinking about how her morning had started as she headed towards the kitchen. Her thoughts, at that moment, centered on getting breakfast ready for what was in excess of one-hundred residents, and she was already a few minutes behind. She would probably have to listen to one of the rabbit's lectures on the value of punctuality yet again. Oh, well…

In the hallway, she happened to pass by two female Imaginary Friends, who were engaged in some heated, hush-hush conversation outside one of the restrooms. As Frankie approached, they both suddenly ceased their chatter, and turned to stare at HER. Frankie walked past them, really needing to get to the kitchen, only to hear them both burst into a fit of giggling behind her back. What was THAT all about? I swear, some people can be soooo immature! They could have been giggling about anything, but for some reason, Frankie couldn't help but to feel that she was the object of their laughter. But WHY?

Some ten minutes later, cracking open eggs and pouring their contents into a large frying pan, Frankie had already pushed the hallway encounter out of her mind. She, after all, had a lot of hungry mouths to feed. It wasn't long before she heard the familiar sound of basketball shoes-very large basketball shoes-squeaking on the tile flooring, and the kitchen door swung open to let in her frequent breakfast-preparing assistant, Wilt. No one made him help out with preparing breakfast; he just often took it upon himself to volunteer for this sort of thing, NOT that Frankie minded, of course. She could always use all the help she could get.

Upon spying her, though, Wilt's eye seemed to have difficulty looking directly at her, as though he was still bugged with guilt about that morning. Poor guy, thought Frankie, he's so scared he'll do something to make someone mad and get himself thrown out!

"Well?" she queried, "how was everything back at your room? No problems?"

"Naw, no problems whatsoever," Wilt responded, loosening up a bit. "Everyone was sound asleep, still."

"See, I told you everything would be cool! There's nothing to worry about!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean, who else woulda been up at that time of the morning? Even Mr. H. doesn't get up THAT early!"

Behind her, Wilt had entered the large walk-in pantry. Frankie could hear him inside, whistling some old R&B tune, and felt glad that at least he seemed to have stopped worrying about the morning's start. It was then that she remembered what it was that she'd been meaning to ask him. As he strolled out of the pantry, and approached the counter next to the stove, carrying several loaves of bread in his hand, Frankie paused from scrambling eggs to ask him what had been on her mind.

"Uh, Wilt?"

"Yeah?"

"Like, right before I woke you up this morning, did you hear anything, like this unusual noise…you know, like this sorta hissing sound or something, or see a bright light?"

"I don't think so…why?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I dreamed it, or it was on tv, or what, but it seemed like this weird noise sorta woke ME up, right before I woke YOU up, but I guess if you didn't hear it, I must have dreamed it afterall."

Wilt shrugged. "I dunno, like I said, I don't remember hearing anything", he paused for a moment, then continued, "other than YOU snoring, anyways!"

Frankie stopped, mid-scramble, and turned to face him, her jaw dropping open in outrage. "I don't SNORE!"

Wilt continued placing bread slices on the toast rack, but shook his head and chuckled as he offered his rebuttal of THAT claim, "I'm sorry, but you TOTALLY snore! I thought at first I'd fallen asleep during one of those 'Biker Build-off' shows on the Discovery Channel or somethin'!"

"Ha! Just for THAT, Mr. Funny Guy, I'm half a mind to give YOUR breakfast to Duchess, so THERE!"

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Later, seated at his regular place at the breakfast table, finishing up his breakfast (which Frankie had NOT given to Duchess, after all), Wilt noted the arrival of one of his roommated, Bloo. Late, as usual.

"Mornin', Bloo," he spoke amicably as the short blue friend took the seat next to him.

"And good morning to YOU, Wilt! Sleep WELL last night, did we?"

Wilt couldn't help but notice something rather odd in the tone of voice Bloo was using, but chose to brush it off.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I did sleep well. Thanks for askin'!"

"Oh, I just BET you did sleep well, I just bet you DID! You must have been workin' REAL hard, so you woulda been ALL tired out, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, well…I mean, I guess…" Wilt decided to discontinue the conversation and turned back to what was left of his breakfast.

Just then a small group of Friends arrived at the table, talking among themselves. As they took their seats opposite of Wilt's, one of them, a gelatinous Friend known as "Shaky", grinned,

"Well, look who's here! Wilt, you lucky dog, you!"

Another Friend had walked up behind Wilt, and nudged his shoulder with his elbow, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Yeah, buddy! So… tell me, how WAS it, huh?"

Wilt glanced briefly at his now nearly-empty breakfast plate, then replied, "Well, it was pretty good, actually…"

"Hear that, guys…he says it was 'pretty good'!" proclaimed the Friend who'd just asked, prompting a bunch of whoops and cat-calls from some of the Friends-mostly male-seated around the table.

Wilt frowned slightly, puzzled. "I don't see what the big deal is, guys-I mean, I usually have some EVERY morning!"

THIS prompted a series of stunned gasps from his sudden audience, which in turn prompted Wilt to explain further, since it seemed as though his audience had not been prepared for that last statement. "It's not like this should be news to anybody, I mean, Frankie and me have been busy in that kitchen almost EVERY morning now for the past several years!"

At this particular piece of information, the entire ensemble virtually erupted into yells, more whoops, and exclamations, causing Wilt to get the uncomfortable feeling that he was the butt of some unknown joke, and that his words were being twisted, somehow, to have some other meanings besides what he'd intended. Surely they couldn't be talkin' about….THAT, could they? Surely none of the other residents KNEW, or DID they?

"What is the meaning of this uncivilized uproar? This is a BREAKFAST table, where patrons are expected to conduct themselves with proper DECORUM, not some…some…Redneck uhhm, establishment!"

The diners seated around the table fell silent, all eyes turning towards the head of the table, to a place occupied by six-foot tall rabbit, dressed in circa-early-Twentieth-Century gentleman's garb, complete with a top hat and a monocle: Mr. Herriman. Nodding approvingly at the silence, he took his seat. "Now, that's what I like to see-a group of civilized, well-mannered, and best of all, quiet diners! Very well, carry on with breakfast, everyone!"

Wilt's appetite for what was left of his scrambled eggs had vanished by this time, replaced with a gnawing sensation of worry. He pushed his chair back from the table, and picking up his plate, politely excused himself, apologizing for leaving the table so early. He left the dining room on the claimed pretense than he had a lot of work to do, though he didn't fail to notice a few snickers and comments on the subject of "work" from his dining companions. As he walked self-consciously past several of them, a roughly humanoid Friend called Chester, who was perpetually dressed in cowboy threads, turned to watch him leave.

"Every mornin', huh? DANG, and I can't even git that gal to fix ME a pot of GRITS!"