Hi everybody, new author here. Yes, Arthur does indeed belong to Marc Brown, and the series belongs to PBS, a wonderful channel I believe more people should watch for its informative shows.
I wrote this little ditty as part of a much larger one that I hope to release as a fan manga sometime in the future…I don't think the Tough Customers have been given enough dimension as it is, and I like Molly the white rabbit.
October 1, 1995
A new girl appeared at the doors of Lakewood Elementary. She was a white rabbit with two innocent blue eyes and long cascades of hair that went down her back. Thick bangs went to her eyebrows. Today, she wore a simple yellow childrens' sundress with hibiscus patterns emblazoned on it.
"I'm scared," she said softly to her fat auntie who stood behind her. "Are the other kids gonna make fun of me?"
"Of course not. They won't know you. You should have a good time," her Auntie Clara assured. "Now, go inside so you can get to your class."
Molly shyly nodded, then went ahead, Clara pushing her along through the halls. The girl had just been taken from her Meth-addicted mother by the social workers and promptly taken to her closest relatives, preferably Auntie Clara and Uncle Tim.
The hallway appeared so large to Molly. Drawings from what would be her third-grade class covered the walls.
"We're here," Aunt Clara said, stopping next to a classroom door, which was open. "Have fun." Smiling tensely, Molly nodded. She hugged her Auntie closely, then approached the door. Realizing she had to take a chance to get anywhere in life, she went through it into the classroom, where the teacher greeted her.
Clara briefly observed what was going on with the new student. Seeing that everything was going the way it should, Clara left for the entrance.
Please enjoy your third-grade year, little one…
October 26, 1995OOF! Molly tripped, rudely falling into a mud puddle. She got herself up, only to see all the mud that was on her brand-new dress now.
Meanwhile, Arthur and his best friend Buster were coming down the same walkway. Buster smiled. Pointed.
"Look Arthur, Molly's ruined one of those dresses her auntie gets her," the rabbit whispered in the aardvark's high-set ears. Arthur laughed.
In fact, they both laughed at Molly's plight. They laughed. They pointed.
"A-haha-ha-haha!"
The rabbit girl furrowed her brow as rage and frustration bubbled up inside her, like heated air in molten metal. Crushing molten lead.
In an attempt to stand up for herself, she repeated something she remembered Dad yelling at Mum one night.
"Shut the hell up! You don't know what life's like for me!"
There was a momentary silence. A feeling of shock, for Arthur and his friends had only seen her as a shy girl.
Molly breathed hard, tensely.
Arthur chuckled again before he and Buster continued on their ways elsewhere. When they were a fair distance away from Molly, they still laughed.
She would grow to scorn Arthur Read and Buster Baxter more and more each day.
December 5, 1995
Later she was in Clara's kitchen at around 6:30, helping her Auntie with supper by making the salads. She was tearing up the little bits of baby spinach to put in the bowls.
"Sweetie, why don't I see you hanging out with anybody your own age?" Clara asked. Molly shrugged.
"No one likes me. All they do is laugh at me." Clara's face fell.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. But I've got an idea: let's go to the community center. Perhaps you could meet some kids there."
"Clara, I want friends at school, so I can see them all the time."
"Let's just give the community center a try, okay?"
"Okay."
January 10, 1995"The name's Slider. Well, the actual name's Ben, but my friends call me Slider. What's yours?" asked a grey pitbull with steely eyes.
"Molly," the rabbit replied.
"Pleased to meetcha," a cat said. "I'm really Stephen, but I prefer Rattles."
Another dog, a tan bulldog, pointed to himself. He was a heavy hulk of a kid, wearing a collared shirt tucked into his pants. "And I'm Binky."
"You're welcome to join us on the jungle gym. And you're already invited," Slider said.
For the first time in a long time, Molly felt included. She had been rejected by most everybody for this whole half of the schoolyear.
She smiled. "Sure."