"Look at that" Woody smiled, "Another happy kid" he glanced back at Bo.
"You always did care about kids" Bo nodded. They knelt under the table cover, under the games' table.
"Ka boom!" Duke Caboom grinned with bravado, "and good timing too, the carnival's moving on after today"
High up on near the rafters, Ducky and Bunny set another stuffed animal to be won.
"Hang on" Woody exclaimed, "I hear someone else coming"
Woody, Bo and Duke could see three pairs of sneakers coming their way. One was small, child sized, but two pairs were bigger.
"I want to play the rocket game!" a high pitched voice squealed
"Sure thing, Jackson" a grown up girl could be heard
"I can't believe it" a grown up boy voice sighed, "I kind of just wish someone had told me"
"It's ok" she replied, "Andy, I understand" there was a pause, "you told Jackson all those stories about how Woody was your best friend and you played all these games with him"
"Andy" Woody's eyes grew big
"Ok" Andy sounded like was a little sad, "It just hurt. You know what that's like, if you gave away your Barbie, the one your Dad gave you, you know, when you turned four, to some other child and then that kid lost her. Not because she was playing with your Barbie, but because she just forgot it when they were vacationing"
"It would hurt" the girl sounded like she understood, "She's safe on a shelf at home, though"
"Uh huh" Andy's voice was closer now. Woody pulled back the tarp that hung over the table and peeked out at Andy's sneakers.
"Get back here" Bo pulled on Woody's shoulder with her shepherd's crook. "Nobody's supposed to see us" she sighed, "Not even him" Woody lost his balance and fell over. His legs were sticking out of the tarp that covered the counter. Nobody realized that, yet.
"Your shoelace's untied, buddy" Andy noted
"Can you tie me?" Jackson piped up
Under the table, Bo and Duke pulled back as a little hand darted under the tarp
"Hey, what's this?" Jackson latched onto something. Woody felt himself being pulled out from under the table's tarp. Quickly, he pasted on a smile, his hat left on the grass under the tarp covered table.
"Look it! It A says A for Andy!" Jackon squealed and held Woody by the leg
"Jackson" the girl scolded, "Put that down. It doesn't belong to you. It's-"
"Mine" Andy sounded confused. He was still knelt down on the ground, having finished tying the little boy's sneakers, "Jackson" he began gently, "Could I please see that for a moment?"
Jackson stared at Woody, "Ok" he pushed the cowboy doll into the young adult's hands
Andy held the ragdoll in his hand, Gently, he pulled Woody's boot sole up to the sunlight. Bonnie's name was scratched up and the college student could make out the childish scrawl underneath that read his name, including the backwards letter N. "It is you" Andy sounded incredulous, "I don't believe it" he turned to the girl, "Gina, check it out, it's-"
"I know, it's Woody" she sounded just as surprised as he was, "I'm happy for you" she went on, "How did he end up there?"
"I don't know" Andy glanced around and slipped Woody partway into the superhero backpack he carried. It must've been Jackson's. "Let's try the game first, ok?"
Jackson stood up on his toes and aimed the toy rifle at the targets. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Bo grabbed Woody's hat while she and Duke got into position, not knowing what would happen to Woody.
Jackson fired the gun. Simultaneously, Bo pulled down one of the targets, and Ducky and Bunny snatched a stuffed animal from the rack and dropped him down onto the table.
"Another winner" the bored teenager running the booth mumbled.
Jackson hugged the furry monster toy he'd won.
"Look" Andy got the teen's attention, "This was lying under the stall, do you know if a little girl came around here, her name's Bonnie" he held up Woody, sans hat.
"I don't know, man. I just work here" the teenager shrugged, "We got a box of prizes in the back. I don't know" he motioned to a box that was just out of view, "It's not some lost and found"
"Uh, could I see it, please?" Andy had an idea, but he wasn't sure what might happen
"Andy" Gina tapped him on the shoulder, "You really don't have to do this for Jackson. You're doing it for Jackson, right? I mean, he's only three"
"I'll be four in two weeks!" Jackson shouted
"Gina, I promise we'll go on another ride, honest" Andy glanced back at her, "but, please, can you let just check something" he implored her, "You know how important this is, right?"
"Sure" she smiled at Andy. She took Jackson's hand, "Come on little brother. Let's get you an ice cream cone"
"Alright!" Jackson cheered and waved the furry toy in his other hand.
"The box- right" the teen attendant mumbled, "Back here, somewhere" he loped to the back of the stall
Under the mechanics of the game, Bo and Duke looked up to the rafters at Bunny and Ducky, and then slipped into the cardboard box of prizes. Bo dove in feet first while only Duke's feet could be seen sticking out of a pile of furry stuffed toys.
"Here" the attendant dropped the box on the counter.
Andy rifled through the box, but soon he pulled out some things that looked like they didn't belong with the mass produced stuffed animals.
"How'd those get in there?" the attendant scratched his head. He glanced up at the rack of prizes.
"Here" Andy pulled a couple of bills from his jeans, "let's just say I took a few more rounds, ok?"
"Uhhh" the teen looked confused. Andy grinned and shoved the toys in the backpack.
Andy ran to catch up to his girlfriend and her little brother.
"You know what we're doing tonight, right?" Bunny looked at Ducky
"Uh huh" he nodded, "Plush Rush!"
That night, Andy sat in his dorm room, staring at the toys on his desk. His homework was pushed aside.
"Weird" he ran his thumb over the stitching at Woody's back, "His pull string's gone" he sighed, "How did she ever manage that?" he placed Woody on the desk, his hat on his head. Then he picked up Bo
"Whoever fixed you did a good job" he picked at the tape on her arm. "I think I've got some super glue back here" he pulled open a desk drawer. "It did a great job on the lamp Gina and I found at the rummage sale"
Meanwhile, Duke Caboom stood proudly on the desk, his crash helmet and stunt cycle beside him. The laptop was on, and a page emblazoned with pictures of other children's vintage Duke Caboom figures and accessories splashed across the screen. Andy grinned at the toy, "Jackson's going to be over the moon with you" he eyed Canada's greatest stuntman, "Just in time for his birthday. Gina will love that, and me for being so thoughtful" he laughed
At the carnival, the rocket game booth was almost done for the night
"One more, grandpa, please?" two little girls begged the grizzly man
"Ok, sure" he laughed. "One, please" he paid the teenage attendant
Up in the rafters, Bunny and Ducky looked at each other, "ok, forget the Plush Rush" Bunny nodded, "new plan"
"Right" Ducky agreed, "Operation K-I-D"
They slowly made their way down the metal grid that lined the back of the booth until they were close to the mechanics of the game.
But they didn't have to worry about rigging the game. The grandfather held the toy rifle like he knew what he was doing and brought down three targets in rapid succession
"Another winner" the teen looked bored
Bunny and Ducky hopped up onto the counter quickly
"Here you go, girls" the grandfather smiled
"Thanks Grandpa Ellie"
"Sure" Elliot smiled, "anything for my favorite granddaughters"
"We're your only granddaughters" the taller girl winked.
The girls hugged their new cuddly toys, and Bunny and Ducky winked at each other, too.
Back at the dorm, Andy turned out the light and headed out to the common room. Bo's arms were repaired. Woody sat against Andy's open laptop, and Duke Caboom had been polished and shined with loving care.
"Later guys" Andy shut the door and locked it from the outside.
Woody sat up on the desk, "What do you know?" he looked at Bo
"What?" she looked at her cowboy, "what's going on in that vinyl head of yours"
"He wanted me, he missed me. He- " he gulped down some emotion, "He took me to college" he glanced around the single dorm room, "and I can't do anything, I don't even have my voice box anymore"
"You know why, don't you?" Bo smiled, "look under your boot"
"There's nothing under my boot" Woody sighed, "Just the -" he realized, "the name, Andy"
"And the boy who wrote that would take you with him with or without your voice box" she had a knowing look on her face.
"I guess we won't be getting a lot of playtime" Woody grinned, "but after what you've been through, maybe that's what we need. A little down time?" he looked at the locked door, "I don't know what Andy will do after college" he sighed, "I don't know where we'll end up"
"I think we'll be alright" she pulled him closer, "I've got my moving buddy" she kissed his cheek
END
