"…I will not stand for this! Oooh, I swear, that child works my last nerve on a daily basis…"

The finely attired imaginary rabbit grumbled darkly to himself as he hopped down the hallway, much to the alarm of the ridiculously lanky creature trailing on his heels.

"Mr. Herriman, hold on!" Wilt shamelessly begged for the umpteenth time as he followed. "I'm sorry, I know you're upset, but she didn't mean to break that downstairs window, I swear-"

"Master Wilt, please!" The profoundly exasperated Mr. Herriman effectively cut him off in mid-sentence as he continued to race along. "I'm in no mood for-"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the gangly imaginary friend immediately began to apologize. "But she was just kicking around a soccer ba-"

"I understand your concern for the welfare of Miss Frances." Mr. Herriman explained distractedly as he stormed through the hall. "But she of all people should know that indoor sports activities of any sort are strictly forbidden by house rules, and thus I have no choice but to severely reprimand her for-"

"But-"

"I just can't allow this to stand! Miss Frances needs to understand that actions have consequences, and if she thinks she can simply flee from me forever in order to escape due punishment, then-"

"I'm sorry, but she's just a little kid! What do you expect her to do?" the frantic lanky figment cried.

"If I have any say to it, she'll pay the full price for her rowdy mischief-making!" came the curt reply. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Wilt whimpered as soon as he realized he had little choice but to watch the experienced authoritarian storm along on the warpath.

"All right, enough is enough!" Mr. Herriman's roar reverberated throughout the hall. "There's no need to try and continue this futile came of cat-and-mouse, Miss Frances! I know for a fact I heard the patter of tiny feet around here, and trust me, these ears don't lie! Don't you dare think you can run from me for- AHA! There you are, young lady!"

A panicked squeal rang out as a brief flash of hair could be spotted disappearing around a corner up ahead. Mr. Herriman hastily picked up his pace and surged forward like a hound on the hunt, leaving Wilt trailing far behind.

"It's all over, Miss Frances!" he barked as he momentarily transformed into a silvery gray blur. "Did you really think you could blatantly violate house stature and then escape me? Just wait until your grandmother hears of our little epic pursuit, you ruffian-"

"AAAAAUUUUGGGGHH!" the gruff bellow echoed from the attic rafters all the way down to the basement the instant Mr. Herriman rounded the corner, startling the stern fury clean out of him.

Of course, seeing as how just moments before he had popped around the turn while grimacing angrily like a stone gargoyle, it swiftly became extraordinarily simple to see that that violet-furred bullish imaginary friend and his birdlike companion couldn't help but be a little spooked.

"AUGH!" Eduardo yelped again in fright as he stumbled back a bit and took refuge behind a nearby houseplant. "Senor Herriman, please! Don't do that!"

"Oh, dear!" the initially mortified Mr. Herriman blurted out in severe embarrassment the instant he realized what he had done. "My goodness! Master Eduardo, I'm so sorry-"

"Coco co cococo co!" Coco flapped her stubby wings and chirped indignantly, while the thoroughly embarrassed rabbit just nodded furiously in affirmation.

"Oh no, of course not!" Mr. Herriman babbled as a vibrant crimson blush began to peek slightly through his fur. "How could you think that? I swear, I had no intention of purposely scaring either of you! Miss Coco, I can only offer you my deepest apologies for-"

"Why you be so nasty spooky anyways?" Ed inquired in a low whimper as he peeked from behind his woefully undersized refuge.

"Believe me, Master Eduardo," the sincerely contrite rabbit continued. "I had no desire to give either of you such a nasty fright, I was merely trying to…hold on a moment, where on earth is-"

"Huh?" the stupefied Wilt grunted incredulously the instant he finally caught up and arrived upon the peculiar scene. He only needed to take one look around before muttering dumbly, "Wait…where's Frankie?"

Mr. Herriman scratched his head and gazed about wide-eyed in pained bewilderment.

"My thoughts exactly." The horrendously befuddled figment groaned in lament as he carefully scanned the area. "Where did that girl go? For goodness sake, she was barely ahead of us, where on earth could she have-"

His fog of confusion however was quickly lifted when Coco suddenly lifted a leg and pointed it towards the end of the hallway.

"Coco co!" she trilled urgently, to which the rabbit gasped in disbelief.

"You mean she already passed you by?" he exclaimed. "Miss Frances just went right through here? Are you serious?"

"Coco!" she nodded furiously, to which he clapped a hand to his forehead and elicited a despairing moan.

"Good heavens! Ooooh that does it, as soon as I'm through with her, I will cut down her sugar intake as soon as possible! I swear, how on earth she's related to my creator, I'll never know…"

Uttering nothing more than a severely aggravated groan, Mr. Herriman wasted not a second more and in an instant was back on the hunt. Within moments the determined pursuer had hopped off out of sight, leaving nothing but a pair of slightly shaken imaginary friends and their indescribably confused companion.

For a few moments, the dumbstruck Wilt stood as motionless as a scarlet flagpole. There was no other way of putting it, the poor thing was utterly stunned beyond belief that Foster's sole resident child had seemed to pull off the absolute impossible and narrowly escape the house authoritarian with only a few feet between the two. Going slack-jawed, he silently wracked his brain in his attempt to make sense of the surprising turn of events.

"W-Wilt?" Eduardo whined concernedly as he cautiously edged forward until he could give his friend's arm a gentle tug. "Wilt? You okay?"

At first, Wilt could do little but wordlessly shake his head.

"N-n-n…n-no…" he mumbled honestly. "I…wait, guys, how fast was Frankie going when she was-"

Although the fact that Ed immediately began to guiltily blush as red as a beetroot should've been aa dead giveaway that things were far from what they seemed, Wilt failed to notice this at all as he suddenly spotted the large green plastic egg out of the corner of his eye.

For a few seconds, all he could do was stare blankly as everything suddenly fell into place. Although upon first glance it seemed like any of the other such eggs Coco randomly laid a dozen times a day, he sincerely doubted that he had ever seen one of them this large, or one that trembled uncontrollably on its very own accord before now.

"What the…" he murmured as he bent down over the anomaly and slowly reached out to touch it.

"YEEEEK! Go 'way! Go 'way!" A familiar voice squealed shrilly in surprise from inside her makeshift refuge.

"Cococo coco co!"

"OW!"

In an instant a profoundly frantic Coco was standing defensively over the egg and squawking like a panicked mother hen before lashing out with a sharp peck to his hand. Hastily Wilt withdrew his arm, gritted his teeth and broke out into a mad hopping dance of pain.

"Coco, what are you doing?" he cried, as she remained firm in her protective stance and just glared fiercely. "Guys, what on earth is-"

"Shhhh! No so loud!" Eduardo blurted out in a heavily accented whine as he held a finger to his lips.

"Not so loud?" Wilt blurted out. "I'm sorry, guys, but I just-"

"Coco co!"

"Si! Si! Please, you mustn't be so muy noisy! We no want Senor Her-"

Their gangly friend suddenly paled in horror the instant he understood their alarm. Wasting not a moment more he clapped a hand tightly over his mouth, but alas, their efforts were all for naught.

"I AM NO FOOL!" A nearby enraged roar almost deafened them all where they stood and practically shook the house of its very foundations as a certain rabbit finally realized he had just been tricked. Less than a moment later, an immensely annoyed Mr. Herriman turned a corner and stormed down towards the trio, all the while looking fit to burst with rage.

"I should've guessed earlier! I should've known!" he murmured furiously to himself as he quaked uncontrollably with frustration. "It's absolutely ridiculous to think a child can run that swiftly! I should've guessed the moment I saw her cursed excuse for a hiding-place i. There's no way on earth that can be only mere coincidence, I will not allow myself to be had by…"

Wilt and Eduardo only had the chance to look on in horror before it felt like Mr. Herriman was upon them all in a moment.

"Wait, don't-" the gangly creation tried to speak out.

"Senor Herriman-" Ed attempted to bravely chime in as together they tried to form a makeshift living barrier.

"MOVE!" Mr. Herriman barked ferociously, and with the strength borne of colossal aggravation he plowed between the two with barely a show of effort as he approached Coco and pointed directly to the egg.

"Miss Coco, step aside!" he ordered flatly. "NOW."

To the others' disbelief, she didn't even so much as bat an eyelid as she gazed back calmly for a few moments before casually making a quick sidestep, leaving the large plastic egg completely exposed, much to the shock of her slack-jawed companions.

"This ends now, Miss Frances!" Mr. Herriman scolded as he bent down and scooped it up into his arms. "Ooooh, and if you think you were in trouble before, then you have no idea! Nice try, young lady, but clever hiding places and allies are absolutely no match for-"

He opened it up, and much to his total astonishment and the bafflement of almost everyone else present, he saw that he had just been reprimanding a brightly colored spinning top for the last few seconds. Mr. Herriman's jaw nearly hit the floor as he stared stupidly at the silly prize, and continued to do so for what seemed like an eternity as a tense silence settled upon the group.

Finally, after Lord only knew how long, he slowly craned his neck, glanced at the equally befuddled Eduardo and Wilt, back at the opened egg, and then to Coco, who just smiled goofily like a nitwit.

"…Um….uh…n-never mind…" he finally muttered in a barely audible whisper. "My…my mistake…so sorry to accuse any of you of wrongdoing…"

With that he speechlessly set the egg down, turned around, and quietly exited in a perplexed daze. As soon as he had vacated the scene, an extremely stunned Wilt quizzically gazed at the foolishly grinning Coco.

"C-Coco?" he stammered uncontrollably in tremendous shock. "Where…w-where is…w-wait, I thought…"

Before he could stutter out another word she suddenly zipped over to the unsuspecting Eduardo, who automatically let loose with a wail of fright as she darted around him, poked deep into his thick fur with her crooked beak…and fished out one slightly shaken and very mystified five-year-old little girl.

"Huh?" Frances "Frankie" Foster whimpered after spitting out a mouthful of hair, making it perfectly clear she had no idea what just happened to her.

The others gawked in dead silence, unsure of whether they should be joyous or astounded out of their minds by the impossible switch-off that had jut occurred. Coco smirked as she calmly set the child down upon the floor and began to preen her of the violet strands of fur still covering her.

"Senorita Frankie?" Eduardo murmured as he checked himself over in case any other small children were hiding in the jungle of hair upon his back. "How you get in there?"

"I…I-I…I d-don't know…" the little one confessed miserably, snow o baffled that she was genuinely upset.

After they about like a bunch of dimwitted ninnies in mute astonishment for a few awkward moments, Wilt plodded over and reached down to gave the excruciatingly bewildered child a comforting pat on the head. While Frankie automatically latched tightly onto his leg with a hoarse whine, he continued to reassuringly tousle her flaming scarlet hair for a little bit until finally, he managed to glance up at the triumphant Coco and utter the one thing that was on his mind.

"Wow….you're good…"

The End