3: Across the Street


Jessie was curled under Molly's blanket. It's impossible, She told herself. But I know what I saw! Am I hallucinating? Or am I just crazy? It's impossible!

The blanket lifted. "Come on out of there, Jessie. You'll overheat!" Jessie pulled the cover back down.

"Leave me alone." She said. Buzz tried again.

"Please, Jessie. I just want to help you." She sighed, and sat up, the blanket falling around her waist. Her hair was mussed, so Buzz reached out and smoothed it. "Tell me what's the matter."

Jessie shook her head. "You won't believe me."

Buzz laughed. "Not believe you? Of course I'd believe you! I'd believe anything you say!" She just sighed.

"I don't even believe me."

"Come on, Jess, try me."

Jessie looked down. "Well…all right."

"That a girl." Buzz put his arm around her. "Now what's bothering you?"

"That…that girl…"

"Yes?"

Jessie's eyes were wet as she said, "I used to belong to that girl. That was my old owner, Emily."

Buzz smiled. "Really? That's great!"

"No, you don't understand." Jessie stood up and began to pace. "That girl can't be Emily! Emily was grown up the last time I saw her! But she's looks so much like her!" She wrung her hands. "Well, except she's got glasses, and Emily didn't wear glasses until high school. And even then she only had them for about five months before she got contacts." She flopped back down next to Buzz. "But other that that, she's a dead ringer! She even has the same knobby knees!" Jessie put her head between her hands. "I must be losing my mind."

Buzz put his hands on Jessie's shoulders. "You're not losing your mind. Listen to me…" Jessie shook her head and twisted away. "Listen to me!" He repeated, gently turning her back towards him. "There has to be some explanation."

"But what?" Jessie burst out, her voice panicky. "What could possibly make that girl have Emily's face?"

"Genetics." Said Buzz, standing up.

"Huh?" He pulled his girlfriend to her feet.

"Come on, Jess." Said Buzz. "We're taking a trip across the street."

By the front door, Jessie balked. "Wait Buzz!" She whispered. "We can't just leave the house! What if we're seen, or we get hit by a car or somethin'?"

Buzz peered through the crack in the open front door. "Where's your sense of adventure?" It was usually Jessie who was the impulsive one. Jessie jumped into things headfirst, dragging her friends along for the ride. It was Jessie who brought garter snakes and mice into the house and begged Woody to let her keep them (albeit unsuccessfully). It was Jessie who strapped half a stick of butter to each boot with a rubber band and skated around the kitchen. But the shock of seeing the Emily-look alike seemed to have made her courage vanish.

She shook her head and started to back away. "I…I can't! What if…what if…"

Buzz squeezed her hand. "Don't you want to find out why that girl looks like Emily?" Numbly, Jessie nodded. "Well, let's go!" Buzz led her out the door and into the world beyond.

Buzz found a page of yesterday's newspaper and placed it over himself and Jessie. Quickly, they darted across the street. Once in front of the mansion, the Ranger threw away the paper and jumped into a nearby shrub.

"Ow!"

"What's wrong?" Jessie called. Buzz stepped out, pulling prickles off of his body.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sticker bush."

Suddenly, Jessie pushed him behind the plant. "Get down!" She ordered, following. Both toys got down on their knees and carefully moved aside the bush's branches.

The teenager was leaning against the SUV. "It's so hot!" She whined. "Why couldn't we move into a house with air conditioning?"

Her mother was pulling boxes from the car's trunk. "I gave you that plastic fan, Fauna! That should be good enough!"

Buzz wrinkled his nose. "Fauna?"

"Yeah, you know," Said Jessie. "Like Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether. Though I always like Meriwether best."

Buzz smiled thinly. "Yeah, me too."

"Incoming!" Jessie let go of the branch. "Davis' ahoy!"