A Hundred Acre Charge
M.C. Deltat

Chapter 3: Old Memories, Old Friends

It wasn't bright anymore.

Well, I suppose that made sense; A failure like me wouldn't be taken away by the light. No, I suspect that there is nothing left but to simply wait for the darkness to drag me down. For there to be some sense of fair play in the world, men like me must be punished. I have been nothing but a leech for so long, only taking from others. Just need to wait; In the end, I got what I wanted.

Suddenly, a large shatter echoed into my ears. That must be it. My time is up.

"Christopher Robin, is that you?" a cheery voice asked.

What? Beyond the veil of darkness, I could vaguely feel fluffy paws on my face and soft excited breathes near my ears.

"It is you!" the voice cheered. "It has been ever so long since you last visited, hasn't it?"

I couldn't resist anymore. I opened my eyes, releasing myself from the prison with an opened gate. There he was. All my words caught on the back of my throat, as I stared at a truly cherished memory returned to me. A small golden bear, with an old red t-shirt hovered over me. I couldn't help it. A joyful smile unconsciously erupted on my face as I looked at the silly old bear. My face hurt, for I haven't had such a smile in a long time.

I launched myself into a sitting position as everything came crashing back. This wasn't where I was meant to be. How could I be seeing Pooh right now? "Oh, I must be cracked." I groaned.

"Hmm," Pooh muttered. He began to inspect me, paws lightly drawing my hair back. "I don't see any cracks." He thought out loud. "Well, maybe a few wrinkles."

Feeling Pooh's touch against my face left me speechless. It was kind and soft. I had not felt such a thing in many years; the concept was almost foreign in my mind. "Hang on." I motioned to Pooh. "Let me get up."

"Christopher?" Pooh asked confused as he took a step back.

With purpose, I got myself up, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the blurriness.

"OH!" Pooh exclaimed. "You're so tall now!" He paced around me inspecting.

I could barely hear him though. My head felt woozy. I shot my hands out to my knees, in search of stability, but nothing was found. I slowly collapsed over as my forehead pounded. I barely caught myself before my head could slam into the floor.

I suddenly felt a furry body press up against my head, doing its best to hug the pain away.

"Pooh, I…uh, thank you, but I don't think the hug is needed. I should be fine in a couple seconds." I groaned out.

"A hug is always needed Christopher." Pooh eventually stepped back. "There is no wrong time nor the wrong size."

A smile appeared on my face, despite everything else. At least, until I took a good look at Pooh. My vision was a little woozy before, but now that I was level with him, I noticed something that bothered me. "Pooh," I began. "Why is there stuffing leaking out of your body?"

Pooh looked down, towards the spot I stared at. He saw a line of stuffing leaving his person, creating a line that traced back to the trees. His shoulders slumped a bit. "Oh bother," he mumbled. "I seem to have a hole."

Worry rapidly displaced any sense of pain I might have felt. I fondly shook my head as I began forward, picking up stuffing as I went. Pooh followed, accepting it from me, before jamming it back into his slightly deflated belly. I continued down the trail of stuffing, up through a few bushes, over a rock or two, eventually ending around the backside of a tree. As I took those final steps, hands on the moss coated oak, I suddenly heard a few crunches underneath my shoes. "What?" I asked myself as I handed Pooh the final bits of himself.

"What's wrong Christopher?" Pooh asked as he finished patching his tear.

"Um, well," I hesitated for a moment. I positioned my feet carefully away and looked at the ground. The sound had come from a piece of ceramic crushed underneath my foot. I knelt down to inspect it. "I think its… I think it's a broken pot…" I theorized. "Why is it here?"

"That was my honey pot." Pooh sadly cried out.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, you see, when you appeared out of nowhere, I was caught in such a fright." Pooh explained. "I heard a thump hit the ground and I dropped my pot." Pooh looked from the shards to me. "I saw you so I just ran right over."

"I'm so sorry," I bit out. "I messed up…" I started.

"Don't be!" Pooh interjected. "There will always be more bees and honey. There is only one Christopher Robin. Why, seeing my dearest friend again, that most definitely filled up my heart. My, it was so full, that surely there was no more room in my tummy."

I almost took that at all at face value. Almost. Something niggled in my mind though. "Wait…" I paused. "I appeared?" I looked around. "How did I appear here? The Tree I remember was in the countryside back home in Britain. I was in … I was in France".

"Well maybe the Tree is not in any one place. Maybe the way to the Forest is wherever you need it to be." Pooh answered.

"But that makes no sense!" I exclaimed.

"Thank you," Pooh said, all proud of himself.

I sighed, slumping my shoulders as I took a few deep breathes. After a few seconds, I looked over the small bear. It appeared that he had patched up the hole well enough. I figured it happened enough that it no longer bothers him anymore. Although, something interesting caught my eye. "Pooh, why do you have a slingshot?"

"Owl asked me to bring it," Pooh answered. "It was for the party!"

"Party? Was the honey for the party too?" I asked.

"No, that was for me." Pooh answered not wasting a second. "Wait, well," he paused thinking about the question. "I suppose they could have had some."

I couldn't help it. I let out a hearty chuckle, bending backwards to let the sky hear as well. "Oh Pooh, never change."

"Why would I need to change? The things that make me me already make me me." Pooh thought out loud. "If I changed, I wouldn't be Pooh anymore. I'd be... someone else."."

I was about to respond, but then I saw something in the distance. Was that a lightning bolt? Pooh was still trapped in thought so I waited, counting out the beats of my heart.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight…

On the eight second, I heard it. It was still far away, so it was barely audible, but I heard it: A thundercrack. The storm was still a while away but it was definitely coming. Did Pooh know? "Say, Poohbear?"

"Poohbear," Pooh answered.

I chuckled again. "Pooh, did you know that there is a storm coming." I pointed to the clouds gathering far into the horizon. "It looks to be about eight kilometers away." I turned back. "That party might end up getting rained out.

"I wouldn't worry about such things." Pooh waved away. "There is no hurry. We will get to the beach someday, rain or shine. You are supposed to be wet at a beach anyway." He looked fondly into my eyes. "But you are here now, so you can join." He hopped in space, all excited. "Everyone will be oh so happy to see you again. Let's go!"

"That would be a first." I muttered. Pooh was already far enough away though; He didn't hear me. I followed after him, dodging through vines and branches that Pooh didn't have to bother with. He was half my height after all.

"Are we going straight to the beach then?" I asked.

"I don't know." Pooh answered.

"What do you mean you don't know? I followed up. "How will you get to the party then?"

Pooh raised a paw assertively… or at least as close to such a thing that a small cuddly bear could approach. "I always get to where I'm going by walking away from where I've been." He claimed.

I found myself sighing again. I gazed backwards to the storm. As long as we are walking away from that, we probably are going in the right direction anyway. I turned back to look at Pooh, still leading the way bravely. "Why are you having a party anyway? Anything special happen?" I asked.

"You don't need a reason to get together and have fun." Pooh said. "Any day with spent with friends is surely to be one of my favorite days. That alone is enough for a celebration."

"I can't argue with that I suppose," I responded, as I looked towards the sky. It was still clear, but who knew how long that would last. "Will be nice to see everyone again though. It has been a long while."

"They will certainly be overjoyed as well." Winnie agreed. There was a comfortable silence for a few moments, with the both of us just walking along the forest past. Although, I had to dodge significantly more than Pooh did. Eventually, Pooh decided to ask the question I was dreading. "Why did you wait so long to come back? We were scared that you would never return."

I hesitated for a second. "Well, I didn't want to leave, and I certainly didn't intend our last meeting to be our last."

"Then don't leave." Pooh offered. "You should have stayed with us"

"It wasn't as simple as that." Robin frowned. "My father decided it was time for me to leave for boarding school."

"Did this school for working with boards of wood really keep you so terribly busy you couldn't visit?" Pooh asked.

"No Pooh," I sighed, "you silly old bear." I took a second for a deep breath, dodging yet another low hanging vine. "Boarding School," I slowly enunciated, "is a special type of school that you have to live at. It is for when you get older and have to start learning more difficult stuff."

"That sounds awful," Pooh huffed, struggling as he climbed over a particularly prominent boulder. "I hope I never have to go to boarding school." Pooh said as he turned, pointing a paw at me. "You should have worked hard to not go too!"

"I didn't have much option, Pooh." I sighed yet again. "Besides, I couldn't just wait around waiting for life to pass by, doing nothing but nothing."

Pooh seemed proud for a moment. "You shouldn't think that way Christopher Robin. People say nothing is impossible. I manage to do nothing every day."

I double took that. "No Pooh, that's not…uh" I stopped for a second. This wouldn't be productive. I had to move the conversation forward. "It was simply my time Pooh; Nothing else to it. Once there, I was just so far away that I didn't know how to possibly come back."

"You are here now. So, you must have figured it out then." Pooh continued on. "Let's go, we are close to Eeyore's. Eeyore!" He marched forward calling for his friend.

I followed sulking. What I said was true. I didn't know how to get back when I went to London for boarding school. But I as followed Pooh, still trying to find a trace of Eeyore, one thought continually echoed in the back of my head. "I never tried to get back either… ever."

"Eeyore!" Pooh shouted. "Where are you?" He climbed up and over rocks, looking for his pal.

I helped searching, around branches, near rocks, basically anything that could have toppled over our unlucky friend. It was there I saw it. Not Eeyore, but another lightning bolt.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven…

This time the bolt strike took seven seconds to echo. Seven kilometers? How did the storm get closer that fast?

"Oh no." A resigned voice echoed near me. I started following it. "Looks like I might get rained in. Hopefully I can hold my breathe long enough."

In my last few paces, I could see grey fur. "Pooh, I think I found him," I said. "Right in the clearing, by the…" It looked like a lean-to that had fallen over. "by the collapsed pillow of sticks."

"Look at this stranger," Eeyore groaned. "Judging my home so harshly."

I got closer, Pooh only a few steps behind. It looked like Eeyore was stuck underneath all the logs. He couldn't move. "I don't know if that counts as a home anymore Eeyore." I offered as I pivoted in front of him.

"Thank you for noticing me, trapped as I am." Eeyore asked. "Who are you?"

Pooh had made it by this point. "Eeyore, this is Christopher Robin."

"Oh," Eeyore hesitated. "Well thank you for noticing me, Christopher Robin."

"It's my pleasure," I chuckled. That chuckling slowed once I noticed that Eeyore was taking a long glance up and down my body. "Eeyore?" I hesitated.

"Did you know that I happen to know someone who shares your exact name?" Eeyore asked matter-of-factly.

I couldn't help myself. I knelt down to match elevation with the trapped donkey. "Oh really?" I asked. I turned to look at Pooh, smile on my face, before I looked back at Eeyore. "Was he about a meter and bit tall, blond hair, black eyes?" I jokingly probed.

"He was also exhaustingly chipper and nosy." Eeyore added in before pausing. "How did you know?" The surprise wasn't clear, but I liked to imagine it was there.

"Eeyore, I am Christopher Robin." I replied, gesturing to my person. "Granted, it's been a little while, but it's me. I can promise you that."

"Mhhh," Eeyore thought out loud. His head pivoted in considering, looking down at his paws, then back to me. "Well…" He began, "I suppose I must have gotten smaller then."

"Or maybe I got bigger?" I offered.

Eeyore shrugged. Well… he tried to, but the timbers pressing upon him limited his range of motion. The shrug came out more as a subtle shudder. "That could also be it." He once more tried…failed… to move his person. "I would have preferred the first option though; I could have shimmied out if I were smaller."

I gazed at the impressive collection of sticks fallen over Eeyore's fluffy body. A large chunk of his body was completely encased in wood. The tip of his snout and his tail were the only exposed bits. "What happened, Eeyore?" I asked while beginning a rescue attempt.

His head shook side to side, best it could. "It was the strangest thing. There was a deep tremor, and then it all collapsed. Woke me right up." He frowned. "They're funny things, ya know, accidents. You never have them till you're busy having them." He finally noticed me removing sticks. "Thank you for taking apart my home."

I didn't stop. "Your home is broken Eeyore. It has fallen apart and you are trapped underneath." I motioned for Pooh to help. He didn't hesitate either. "Not much of a home left."

"It's protecting me, isn't it?" Eeyore asked. "It's warm and cozy, trapped in here." A log shifted by Pooh, suddenly fell out of his grip. "Ow." Eeyore groaned as it knocked him on the noggin.

"Sorry" Pooh mumbled. He stepped back, aware that the remaining logs where too heavy for him to deal with. He clearly felt a little awkward, standing there, doing nothing. Shuffling from one leg to the other, Pooh found himself inhaling every few seconds in an attempt to say something. After a few tries, he found his voice. "It's definitely nice to have Robin back again, isn't it Eeyore?" he asked.

"When did he leave?" Eeyore asked.

I found myself struggling as the remaining logs became large enough to be unwieldy. I had to move carefully so as to not launch any further pieces at Eeyore's head. "I've been gone for years Eeyore." I huffed out. "Did you really not notice?"

He tried shrugging again, which was moderately more successful now that some of the timbers had been removed. "I've been busy I suppose." Eeyore answered. "What with sleeping, rebuilding my house, finding my tail, more sleeping…" he paused for a second before continuing, "I suppose time just got away from me." He stopped talking, trapped in silence and deep thought.

Pooh didn't notice though. He kept talking. "You should have visited me more. We could have shared some honey!"

"I meant to, or at least I'm sure I did," Eeyore eventually muttered. "But sometimes I would wake up, and decide I wanted to go back to sleep. Sometimes, I didn't want to do much of anything."

"Are you still coming to the party?" Pooh asked quietly. "Do you still want to? We could just spend time here, together."

"I might as well…" Eeyore eventually said. "Although, I still am trapped." He tried struggling again only to find that not enough wood was removed yet. "Yep, still stuck." He confirmed.

"Yes, you've put yourself into quite the situation Eeyore," I mused.

"Could be worse Christopher Robin." Eeyore replied. "Not sure how, but it could be."

I didn't respond; Too busy struggling against each new log. After pulling yet another one off the donkey, I found myself quickly nearing exhaustion. "This used to be easier when I was young," I groaned doubling over in exhaustion. "I've gotten old."

"You could leave." Eeyore offered.

"Now why would you want me to do that Eeyore?" I asked.

"Didn't say I want you to do it." Eeyore explained. "Just that you could."

"I have an idea," Pooh suddenly chirped. "We could coat the sticks with honey, so that they just fall apart." He simulated the motion with his paws.

"With what honey Pooh," I laughed.

"I could find some." He replied.

"I wouldn't want you to waste your honey on me Pooh." Eeyore muttered.

"It wouldn't be a waste." Pooh interjected. "Nothing is a waste when it's for friends."

"Don't worry, I almost got this done." I returned to collapsing the sticks away from Eeyore's body. "Not as full as boundless energy, but I am a little stronger than I used to be." I added.

"You certain take up a lot more room than you used to." Eeyore agreed. He started wiggling his body, little bit by little bit. "I think it's close." After a few heartbeats, the remaining logs clattered to the ground as Eeyore found himself no longer as trapped as he was moments ago.

"Little bit more." I brushed a few sticks stuck in his fur away. He slowly trundled out of his former spot, inspecting himself. "Your fur is really matted and dull." I said as I starting combing this his body with my fingers. "The timbers really did a number on you."

"It is what it is, I suppose." Eeyore agreed. He turned around to look at the spot that once held his home. "My home is gone, yet again."

"Don't worry about that Eeyore." Pooh cheered. "You can live with me."

"Joy." Eeyore deadpanned. He slowly began trotting away.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I still have to get something for the party." Eeyore answered, not breaking his stride.

"Are you alright?" I hesitated.

This time Eeyore stopped. He turned around, his fluffy head gazing at me. "It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine Christopher Robin, however much you have to look." Before I could say anything, he turned around and continued on.

"Alright then." Pooh began, "Time for us to move on."

"Wait what?" I stammered. "We aren't going to wait for Eeyore?"

"He knows where the party is," Pooh explained. "And there are still so many for you to catch up with."

I shrugged. "If you say so," I followed after Pooh, who was already bravely trekking onwards.

"I do say so." Pooh agreed.

I chuckled. Although, I did take a second to glance at the collapsed remains of Eeyore's home. Something about it…it felt familiar.

I moved on, discarding the thought. "So, how has Eeyore been?" I eventually asked.

"What do you mean?" Pooh pondered. "He said how he has been."

"I haven't seen him in a while and he felt… off." I explained. I paused in front of Pooh, and looked down at him. He paused too. "How do you think he been doing?"

"Huh, think think think." Pooh said, tapping his forehead for emphasis. "Sleeping a lot." He eventually came up with.

"Sleeping a lot?" I asked incredulously. "Well, I gathered that much from Eeyore. Was that it?"

Pooh resumed walking. "He hasn't been coming around that often. He must be really sleepy." Very difficult getting him to come over for anything."

"That…" I didn't know quite what to say. I swallowed. "Well, he seemed willing to move just now."

Pooh nodded. "He hasn't joined me for playtime in a long while; Hasn't joined much of anything."

"Oh," I dimly nodded.

"BUT he has agreed to join now!" Pooh cheered.

"That's good." I agreed.

We both walked comfortable to leave it on that for a bit. However, I could see Pooh's ears twitching at a minute or two. He clearly had something else on his mind.

"Christopher," Pooh eventually put it out. "How was that school board?"

"Boarding school." I corrected once more. "I went to boarding school."

"Yes, school for wood," Pooh agreed. "How was it? Did you enjoy?"

I sighed as I moved a lone vine to the side. "School was… difficult to be honest." I bit out.

"How so?" Pooh asked.

I thought about that for a while. How much did I want to tell Pooh? Do I need to tell him about the constant bullies and the constant mockery? Did he need to that people saw me as weak? The kindness that he so carefully cultivated was seen as abhorrent? "It was…" I eventually began, "It was difficult to adjust to my new surroundings. The city had a different type of energy than home had. I didn't really fit in."

"You didn't fit in?" Pooh's head tilted a tad in confusion. "Yes, I do suppose you are a tad bigger than you use to be. Did you eat too much honey over there?" His hand gestured vaguely at my head before comparing to his own head. "I am sure they could find room for you though."

Not even the teachers defended me. I was told to shut up multiple times in class. "Well, you know, sometimes different is scary. It's easy to cast out the different, only to take comfort within the like."

"Alright, that makes sense." Pooh slowly responded.

I could tell he had no idea what I had just said.

"Did you make more friends, at least?" Pooh continued. "After all, not much to complain about when you have your friends."

No. "Eventually, I found my rhythm which lowered the tension among my fellows and I significantly." I shut up and everyone left me alone.

"That's good." Pooh smiled. "Sometimes, if you find problems speaking to someone, like they might not be listening, it's important to be patient. They might just be that they have a small piece of fluff blocking their ear."

With that we stopped talking. Pooh happily trotted onwards, while I stewed behind, slowly pacing behind. It was trapped within that stupor, I saw it. A lightning strike, on the horizon.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six…

On the sixth second, I heard it. Before I could update Pooh though, we heard another sound piece the air. It was a scream. I frantically turned to Pooh who was already turning to me.

"Rabbit" he exclaimed. "Something must be wrong." He began to run, but I waved him down.

"Something is wrong, but the scream sounds more of one caused by annoyance, not strife." I explained at his questioning eyes.

"How do you know?" Pooh asked.

"I am familiar with screams Pooh." I answered.

With that we exited this section of the woods, entering a decent bit of flat land. A few steps away, was a house along with some plowed fields. Although, by eye, I could tell it had been a while. As Pooh assumed, the screaming was coming from there.

"To the garden." I directed Pooh. We both made our way there, crossing that familiar white fence gate. We entered a field of dirt; barren save for the holes. Although, out of the corner of my eye, I could tell one didn't match the others. "This way," I directed my friend. We both made our way to a hole with a fluffy pair of legs pointing straight to the sky. And if that wasn't enough to clue me in, the loud griping definitely was.

"Oh, why me? Why me?" a muffled voice whined. "First those accursed gophers stole all my carrots. Then, I fall into one of their burrows."

As we approached, I found myself chuckling at the fluffy legs kicking the air in fury.

"When I get my hands on them ohhhh, I promise." The voice continued. "The moment I get out of here, they are mine!"

"Rabbit, are you alright?" Pooh asked while poking the legs.

"Yes Pooh, I am just trying a new farming technique!" Rabbit snarked. "As you can see, it's going fabulously.

"Oh alright," Pooh sighed. "I thought something was wrong."

"OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING IS WRONG YOU… YOU…!" Rabbit yelled. His legs flexed emphasizing his rage.

I decided to interrupt. "Now Rabbit, be nice." I laughed. "Say you are sorry to Pooh."

"Who is that?!" Rabbit yelled.

"It's Christopher Robin," Pooh cheered. "He has returned!"

"Christopher Robin?" Rabbit asked. "Here? Now?" The legs resumed kicking. "WHERE WERE YOU! YOU WERE GONE FOR SO LONG!"

I knelt down, doing my best to dodge the kicks. "Calm down," I tapped on Rabbit's person. "One thing at a time." I grabbed onto Rabbits legs. Pooh leaped forward to help as well. "Let's get you out of here first."

"Finally," Rabbit grumbled. "Get me out of this hole. My arms are getting tired of holding me up."

"Ya ya, don't lose your head Rabbit." I said.

"How would Rabbit lose his head," Pooh asked. "It's attached to his body?"

"Oh, just pull." Rabbit griped.

I obeyed. Pooh and I pulled on Rabbits legs. Unfoundedly, the ground seemed quite resistant to releasing its prisoner. Every centimeter gained, caused the soil to lock more firmly into Rabbits furry body.

"Ow, ow, ow, stop." Rabbit cried. We both stopped. "You are going to rip me in half if you just mindlessly pull."

I leaned in to inspect Rabbits body and the dirt. "Well, you haven't ripped anywhere, but the dirt doesn't seem to want to give you up." I explained.

"Just my luck. Clingy dirt." Rabbit complained. "Just my luck."

"What if we cover your body in honey?" Pooh asked. "You would slip right out."

"Slip out how Pooh," Rabbit asked. "I am in the middle of falling into a hole, not out."

"Oh," Poo said.

"Even if I felt like being covered in Honey," Rabbit paused, "Which I don't!" he exclaimed. "Even if I felt like it, the hole is to dirt. None of the honey would even make it down into the part of my body that's stuck. There isn't enough leeway."

There it was. The idea suddenly became clear. "Oh, I'm so stupid," my hand launched to my forehead. "We are on a farm." I muttered as a walked away.

"Christopher?" Pooh asked. "Where are you going?"

"Going!" Rabbit cried. "Are you leaving us again? Don't leave me in here!"

I found what I was looking for relatively quickly. We were in a garden after all. "Don't worry," I waved placatingly. "I just remembered where we are." I held up the shovel. "We will get you out quickly Rabbit." I walked over to Rabbits buried torso and knelt down. I began troweling on one side of Rabbit's body; careful not to hurt him.

Rabbit sputtered as dirt particles settled into his face. "What are you doing?"

"Just making some room, don't worry about it." I replied. "There, we are ready." The soil was looser, but only on one side; Didn't want the hole to collapse onto poor Rabbit after all. "Alright Pooh, come over here, we are going to try again."

"Don't rip me in half!" Rabbit cried.

"Don't worry," I tried placating. I pivoted over to Pooh, who was at eye level with me, now that I was bending down. I handed him over the shovel. "Pooh, I will pull on Rabbit. I loosened up the dirt a bit, but I need you to be watchful. If the dirt looks like its tight again, I need you to re-loosen it." I explained. "Can you do that?"

Pooh grabbed the shovel. "Yes, I can." He affirmed.

"Alright then." I took my position. "Here we go again." With a firm grip on his legs, I once more began pulling on Rabbit. At first everything went more or less smoothly; the soil slowly yielded its grip on Rabbit. "I think we are getting it." I grunted. "Rabbit are you alright?"

"Ahhhhh!" Rabbit's shouting was muffled. I wasn't to bothered.

"Fantastic. Pooh, is the dirt collapsing anywhere?" I asked.

"Not that I can tell." Pooh answered.

"Fantastic."

After a few more heartbeat's worth of pulling, I eventually got Rabbit out of the dirt. Unfortunately, I may have overextended my back a little while moving. I lost my balance when the resistance ceased. I collapsed onto my back, while Rabbit landed right onto my chest. It was with tall ears partially obstructing my vision, I saw the very corners of Pooh bending over us, looking down.

"Are you okay Rabbit?" Pooh asked.

"No." Rabbit answered. He made no effort to get off me, satisfied to just lie in place.

"How can I help?" Pooh continued.

"Just let me be," Rabbit answered.

Pooh looked like he wanted to say something, but I came in first. "Rabbit?" I asked. The rest of my question was implied.

"Alright, alright." He got off me. I climbed up soon after. "So dusty. So dirty. Oh, this will take so long to clean off." Rabbit started aggressively tapping the soil off his body.

"It's alright Rabbit. You will look right as rain with a little work. I promise," I attempted to placate him.

"No no no no its not alright." Rabbit stamped his feet into the ground. "Everything is going wrong wrong." He cried out. "All my carrots, every single one that I spent so long caring for, they are all gone!"

"Gone?" Pooh asked. "What happened to them?"

"Eaten by gophers." Rabbit answered. "Those little devils burrowed tunnels underneath my garden and stole every last one of them." He sat back onto the ground, dirtying himself even more. "I tried to get some fresh carrots for the party, a party you forced me to join" Rabbit pointed at Pooh, "and it was all a waste."

"It's fine Rabbit. The point of the party was to see friends." Pooh tried before being interrupted.

"No Pooh, its not fine. It's all a waste of time." Rabbit cried out. "There is so much left to do, some much I still need to get done. I wasted all this time preparing and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing but a barren field and the laughter of some naughty gophers." He sighed. "I'm sorry Pooh," Rabbit eventually whimpered.

"Rabbit, I wanted to see you, to play with you." Pooh explained. "That's why you were invited. I didn't do it for food. I did it so we could all see each other. You've been so busy lately."

"How could I not?" Rabbit asked. "I have to keep distracted, keep occupied."

"We could just all play on the beach Rabbit! You, me, and Christopher Robin!" Pooh continued.

At that last name, as if he just remembered that I was here, Rabbit turned aggressively to face me. "And where were you!" Rabbit asked.

"Me?" I was dumbfounded.

"Yes!" Rabbit continued. "Where did you go? why did you leave? why didn't you let us know that you would be gone? Why didn't you let us know that you would be coming for a visit?"

The questions came rapid fire; frankly I was a little dazed. After a few seconds to center myself, I spoke. "All very good questions." I responded. "I'll make a deal with you. How about you come to the beach to have fun with us, and I'll answer everything for you? Can we agree on that?" I asked.

"Uh, do you promise?" Rabbit hesitated.

"Yes, I promise." I answered. "A storm is coming, and I don't think we have time to waste."

Rabbit considered it. "Well, I would have to find something to bring…" he thought out loud.

"Didn't you hear Pooh? You can just bring yourself." I said.

Evidently, Rabbit either didn't hear or choose to ignore me. "I got it." He stood back onto his legs. "I know what I can bring." He started hopping away at speed. "Don't wait up for me!" Rabbit cried out. "I'll meet you at the beach."

I sighed. "I suppose that's dealt with?" I asked Pooh as I watched the Rabbit bounce away; Loose dirt fell out his fur with every hop forward.

Notes:

Good Sunday! M.C. Deltat reporting!

This chapter marks the second phase of this story. Christopher Robin is out of WW2 and back into the Hundred Acre Forest. How? Why? Stay tuned for sure. Here, Christopher Robin will get to meet up with some old friends and some happy memories (And maybe some not so happy ones). Hopefully, yall notice the writing thing I am trying to do. If not, Ill just say it at the end of the story, at the final chapter. Anyway, I am rambling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for another, next week.

As always, I wish you a pleasant day and a happy life.