Author's Note: I'm tired. So very, very tired. I hate eight a.m. classes. And thus, let me just say, this is Dude13's chapter and I spent about an hour and a half (probably more, I forget at the moment) editing it. That turned a rather fluffy scene in the end...into a mundane one because I read through it so many times.
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends belongs to Craig McCracken and co.
Chapter Six
Tap tap tap.
At the sound of curt rapping from the hallway, Madame Foster gently placed her knitting down upon her lap and glanced up expectantly in the direction of the doorway.
"Come in!" she cried cheerfully.
"Er…Madame?" came the cautious inquiry as a familiar furry face glanced inside.
"Oh, it's only you." His creator teased him playfully. "Well, what is it?"
"Well…I…I…" Mr. Herriman stammered nervously as he took a wary step into the room. "I…"
"Oh come now, what is it?" the old woman asked in mock impatience, flashing him a reassuring smile. "C'mon Bunny, whatever it is, it can't be that bad."
At this Mr. Herriman took a nervous gulp. "Well…"
Completely unsure of what to say, he just stood there for a few minutes before his creator in dead silence. It was either now or never, but where could he possibly begin? He just had to say something; he had wrongfully kept this secret from her from so long. But how on earth was he going to tell her the truth now, about quite possibly the only thing he ever intentionally kept away from her knowledge?
"Madame I…" he tried to start again, but once more he found himself unable to say little more. Meanwhile, Madame Foster, hands clasped and nodding firmly in reassurance, continued to sit patiently in her chair,.
"Go on…" she whispered gently.
Mr. Herriman let loose a painful sigh as he slowly raised a shaking arm. He hoped fervently that it wouldn't have to come down to this, but then again, actions do always speak louder than words. He raised his arm to his collar, grabbed hold, and-
"Oh, you're not going to show me that nasty old scar, are you?" the old woman asked with a grimace.
"WHAT?" Mr. Herriman practically yelled in his shock.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me! You know very well the last thing I want to see is the remnant of what that nasty hound did to you." The old woman replied rather calmly as she set her knitting aside on a nearby table.
"I…I…" her imaginary friend struggled to find a somewhat suitable response, but found none.
"I mean, honestly! I don't go off flashing around that scar I got from that accident I had slicing the turkey at Thanksgiving one year, and it's not like we ask Frankie to show off what's left of her tricycle accident when we watch home movies." She rambled on as she reached for her cane and set herself down on the floor.
"I…I…well, I….what…" Mr. Herriman continued until the little old lady, waiting expectantly, stood before him,.
"Yes?" she inquired casually.
"How?" he asked in a stunned whisper.
Madame Foster broke out into a sly smile. "I'm not quite sure. Maybe because you rub that thing on your neck whenever someone so much as turns on "Lassie" on the TV. Then again, it could also be due to the fact that you developed this insane fear of canines rather suddenly after Frankie went off to college. Then again, what do I know?" she chuckled.
Mr. Herriman just stared at her dumbly for a few moments as the tears began to well up in his eyes. "Madame, I'm sorr-"
Before he had a chance to finish, Madame Foster threw her arms around his belly and snuggled close to him in a warm hug.
"Oh, as if you haven't been so the past four years?" she joked as she rubbed her cheek against his soothingly soft fur.
"Eleanor…" Mr. Herriman sniffled, dropping his formality.
"You're still here with us now, aren't you?" his creator asked, looking up with a warm grin.
"Well, yes, but…"
"Then, that's all that really matters in the end." Madame Foster laughed as she tightened her squeeze.
Mr. Herriman hummed cheerfully as he made his way across the Foster's foyer in his usual dignified hop towards his office. Well, now that he had all that out of the way, things were certainly looking up. With peace on the issue of his peculiar "experience" finally made with his creator and a nice stack of various forms and paperwork waiting for him on his desk, he thought rather smugly to himself that there was probably nothing that could possibly ruin his rather upbeat mood now-
"Yip!"
Oh, wait. Except that.
At the sound of the squeaky yap, he jumped a little in fright with a horrified gasp as he came to a dead halt. His heart thumping wildly in his chest, he turned his head slowly in the direction of what was to him one of the most terrifying sounds in the world. Visibly quaking and dreading the very worst, he slowly craned his neck…
And met the gaze of the single imaginary puppy, tail wagging furiously and drawn back into a playful crouch in the entrance to the dining room a few feet away. Immediately Mr. Herriman wiped the nervous sweat from his brow as he breathed an audible sigh of relief. It was okay, it was going to be alright. He could definitely handle just one little puppy, no sweat, and an imaginary puppy at that. Just as long as the little creature kept his distance, and-
Suddenly, the puppy sprung forward with a little bark…
And was promptly followed by nine or ten of its brothers and sisters, flooding into the foyer from within the dining room.
Mr. Herriman leapt a full foot in the air in his dumb shock. Unfortunately, he didn't even have the chance to do so much as flee the few yards into the refuge of his office before he found himself utterly surrounded by the pack. As they dashed back and forth beneath him, around his legs, leapt about, and even nipped playfully at his ankles, Mr. Herriman, normally the model of perfect composure, became a nervous wreck within an instant. Heart pounding furiously in his chest, entire body quivering like he was made of Jell-O, and brow soaked with sweat, he was reduced to a pitiful excuse of an imaginary friend in a matter of moments. His breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps, he shut his eyes tightly, trying with all his might not to faint in his terrified panic…
Thump!
At the sound of some object thudding hard against the hard tile floor of the foyer, every imaginary puppy present suddenly lost interest in Herriman. The terrified imaginary friend could feel their movement around him come to an abrupt halt as they all went dead silent.
Thump!
At the emission of another sound of impact, every puppy craned their little necks in the direction of the peculiar noise, as complete control over their meager attention spans was achieved. At this point, a very puzzled Mr. Herriman finally managed to compile enough composure about himself to crack one eyelid open to see exactly what had so expertly gained the focus of his furry little tormentors. As soon as he had one little peek however, his jaw dropped like a stone as both eyes bulged in total surprise at the scene before him, unable to comprehend who of all people had come to his rescue.
Rather than be taken aback by the rabbit's thunderstruck expression, Frankie only chose to giggle in the fashion of a naughty toddler at the ridiculous look of shock on her employer's face, a sight that was a rare treat for anyone. However, noticing how Mr. Herriman continued to shake violently in his fright, still being completely surrounded by dogs as he was, the girl quickly passed him a reassuring wink and a sly grin before swinging back into action. Taking the bright yellow tennis ball in her palm, she bounced it a third time upon the foyer and caught it again with almost careless ease.
That was it. The first two bounces had nabbed complete control of the puppies' attention, and with this last one they all immediately fled from the beleaguered Mr. Herriman in an instant and pushed him clear of their minds as they scrambled towards the girl at the base of the staircase. Moving as one unit, the pack surrounded Frankie in a little sea of small, over-energized balls of fur that barked furiously in their excitement.
"Huh? What's that?" Frankie cooed sweetly to the yipping little dogs.
"Do you want the ball? Huh? Do ya, huh? The ball? You want it?" she squealed enthusiastically, furiously waving the tennis ball back and forth. Her vivacity further fueled the puppies already overflowing excitement, causing some to start to nip impatiently at her shoelaces and sneakers. However, Frankie paid little attention to these minor irritations and instead just plastered a ridiculously goofy smile upon her face as she went along with the act.
"Huh? You guys want the ball? Do ya? Do ya? This ball, here? This ball? You guys want it? Huh? Huh, do ya?" she cooed in an outrageously squeaky tone of voice.
She was greeted in reply with a loud chorus of maddened yips and excited barks. As the pack writhed madly about her in impatience, Frankie let a sly grin take form upon her features.
"Well then, if you guys really want it so bad…"
Suddenly, the crafty young woman bolted off, the puppies naturally following her in close pursuit. Bounding across the foyer in a few long strides of her lanky frame, Frankie skidded to a halt next to the front doors and threw them wide open.
"…Then go get it!" she yelled enthusiastically, tossing the tennis ball out into the front yard. Never slowing down their mad scramble, the puppies, chasing after the bouncing ball like a pack of wolves on the hunt, spilled out onto the porch and down the staircase.. As soon as the last one had safely made it outside, Frankie, sighing in relief as the room became free once again of the clamor of overexcited little dogs, immediately slammed the doors shut.
"Hook, line, and sinker." She chuckled, locking the door and flashing another sly wink.
"M-Miss Franc-" a very stunned Mr. Herriman tried to stammer out unsuccessfully, right before he cut himself off in mid-sentence.
"Uh, wait, w-wait! Hold on…I mean, er…F-Frankie?" he stuttered apologetically.
"Yeah, Mr. H?" Frankie replied with a large grin.
"You…you…well, you…""Yep, dogs are all gone." The young woman chirped happily in agreement as she casually strolled across towards the badly stuttering rabbit.
"Well, yes, I know that." Mr. Herriman replied defensively in a flustered manner. "It's just that…I never expected you…wait, but-"
"Shhhhh." Frankie placed a finger to her lips and hushed him gently in the fashion of a mother shushing an overexcited toddler. Rather than protest this as a blatant show of disrespect, Mr. Herriman obediently silenced as the girl came to a halt before him. For the next few moments, the two just stared wordlessly at one another, Mr. Herriman wringing his gloved paws furiously in his anxiety, while Frankie just smiled from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat.
"Fra-"
Before he could get any further, Frankie threw her arms open wide and flung herself forward, wrapping Mr. Herriman tightly in a warm hug. Despite the fact that he was covered from head to toe in a fine layer of silvery-gray fur, he was almost positive that his whole body burned at the moment in a vibrant scarlet blush, one that must've matched the hair of the girl who held him close. While she tightened her squeeze around him, the stunned creature managed to raise a pair of badly shaking arms and gently wrap them around, returning the hug with an embrace of his own. As soon as he did so, he could feel Frankie gently nuzzle his shoulder in response with a warm sigh, causing the imaginary friend's heart to momentarily skip a beat. As the two embraced, the entire room actually seemed to spin a little for a few wonderfully dizzying moments as each one tightened their hold upon the other.
Suddenly, just as abruptly as it was initiated, Frankie suddenly withdrew her arms and stepped back a bit. The shock of the breakup took Mr. Herriman off guard completely, and he actually stumbled forward a little bit in his surprise. Fortunately, before he splattered against the floor in the most ungraceful manner, a quick-thinking Frankie reached forward and successfully steadied him back to his feet. As she held onto his arms, the two once again looked into each other's eyes, and the foyer was thrown into a deafening silence.
"Uh….Fr-Frankie?" Mr. Herriman stammered.
"Yeah?" Frankie replied casually, her ridiculously warm smile even larger than ever.
"I…er, well I…I…I…"
As he stuttered continuously in the manner of a broken record player, Frankie, sensing his obvious discomfort and embarrassment, chuckled as she put a finger up to his lips.
"Cut it out, will ya?" she giggled.
"Well…" Mr. Herriman, scuffing the floor with a large rabbit foot, grunted.
"Hey, c'mon." Frankie teased as she playfully flicked one of his ears. "How about we just think of that as a little something long overdue. Four years, to be exact." She announced matter-of-factly.
"Four years?" Mr. Herriman asked incredulously.
"Well, sure." Frankie laughed as she whirled around and began to make her way towards the staircase.
"I don't think that hug before I left for Montclair State counted, either." She turned back to state briefly, before resuming her exit with a giggle.
Mr. Herriman just stood there, dumbstruck as he watched the young woman stroll across the floor in a casual manner. Well actually, now that he looked at her closely, maybe a little too casual to be exact.
Actually, it seemed to carry a bit of a hint of cockiness more than anything.
As he pondered over this, an idea that was not at all in the way of his usual manner of thinking suddenly popped into his mind. As a fiendishly sly grin began to adorn his aged features, Mr. Herriman realized it was exactly what he needed at this moment.
"Frankie…" he called softly as he cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Mmm?" she answered, with a slow turn of her head.
It was then that the foyer momentarily reverberated with what sounded like the distinct gobble of a wild turkey.
"EEEEEEEK!" Frankie squealed in terror, obviously not expecting to hear that at all. In her shock she seemed to jump a full two feet in the air, a leap that was quickly followed by a landing that was far from something that could be considered graceful. With a squeak the girl tumbled forward and hit the floor belly first with an audible splat that seemed to echo throughout the room. Upon completing her comical landing, she quickly scrambled furiously into a sitting position and wiped away some loose strands of fiery-red hair from her eyes as she glanced about wildly.
"Where is it? Where'd it go? Wh-oh, it was only you." She huffed irritably as soon as she spotted Mr. Herriman shaking uncontrollably in his mirth.
"Oh, hee hee! Pardon me, but I know I shouldn't have, but I, I-" he tried to unsuccessfully apologize while struggling to stifle his laughter at the same time for the benefit of the badly shaken girl.
"Don't do that!" Frankie yelled angrily before wrapping her arms about her legs and curling up into a miserable little ball with a pitiful whimper. Wiping away tears of merriment from his eyes, Mr. Herriman, quickly hopping over to her side, dropped to his knees and embraced the distressed girl in a warm hug.
"There, there." He rocked her back and forth in his arm and tried to whisper reassuringly, all the while trying to hold down the laughter that was threatening to explode from within.
"I thought it was my second-grade field trip to the zoo all over again." Frankie whined like a toddler as she threw her arms around his neck with a pathetic groan.
The hallways of Foster's seemed to echo with Mr. Herriman's roaring laughter.
The End