"…I can't stand it! I just can't! And I won't! I would rather die than stand for this hideous excuse for decent living conditions!"

What resembled an aardvark and a surrealist painting smashed together nearly went scarlet in her pale yellow face as she ranted on and on, as if there was no bigger injustice in the world than the current state of her extravagant bedroom.

"The rabbit and old woman call this rat trap habitable? Just look at this!" Duchess hissed as she wiped a finger on one of the posts of her canopy bed and snarled at what she found. "Dust! Actual grime in my room! I might as well be living under the stairs in the cellar! Can you not see that I'm practically drowning in an ocean of filth?"

As dramatic as her performance was, the hapless lanky figment she was whining piteously too appeared rather unmoved, and if anything only appeared to be terribly confused about her grievances as he glanced about the elegant room that looked fit enough for a queen.

"Um…" Wilt grunted and shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot before he answered truthfully, "I'm sorry, Duchess, but…well, it doesn't look that bad to me at all-"

"Figures!" she just spat scornfully. "I should've guessed you wouldn't be able to spot how obviously unbearable it is in here with just one working eye and the other rolling about uselessly like a black marble in your head!"

As much as he struggled, Wilt couldn't help but let the tactless comment about his wonky eye get to him, and instinctively tried to cover it a little as he deplored softly, "Please, Duchess, I'm sorry but you don't have to-"

"I can't stand this! I won't stand for this!" the prissy creature shouted as she nearly threw an adult-sized tantrum. "It's as if I'm being forced to live in a mere pigsty! The curtains need to be clean, the furniture needs to be dusted, my windows need washing…"

As she compiled a hefty list of everything that needed to be done for her unreasonably high expectations to be met, Wilt grimaced as he held up the broom in his grasp.

"But…but Duchess, Madame Foster told me I was only supposed to sweep the hallways on this floor." He unsuccessfully tried to explain. "Maybe you can ask some of the other friends to help you out in here if you want to clean up-OOF!"

Before he could get in another word, he was forced to drop his broom as she tossed a pile of bed sheets his way, which he managed to awkwardly catch as she ranted on without pause.

"…And these sheets! Why, they're absolutely disgusting! I might as well sleep under a pile of soiled rags! I won't sleep another wink until these are all properly washed separately!"

"But Duchess-"

"I cannot bear any of this for one instant longer! I need my room to be properly cleaned, as soon as possible! Do you understand? Or would you rather that I continued on living in filth and muck like common swine?"

The excruciatingly fussy imaginary friend had done absolutely nothing but berate and load chore after unnecessary chore upon him for the last five minutes straight. Yet, despite all the abuse she had just put him through, in the end Wilt could still only answer morosely, "Okay…I'll help clean up in here…"

"Well?" Duchess just snapped ungratefully. "If you're actually going to do something, then don't just stand there like an imbecile! Get started!"

With this, she forcibly shoved him out of her domain and into the hall, and no sooner had she herded him off, she slammed the door shut with a loud bang that echoed loudly throughout the entire floor.

After taking a moment to reconsolidate his hold upon the sizable bundle of dirty sheets in his grasp, the crimson figment heaved a heavy sigh, then without a wasting a moment, wheeled around and headed off towards the laundry room. However, despite the fact that he had just been forcefully conscripted into tending to a list of chores a mile long, oddly enough the irrepressibly kindhearted imaginary friend almost immediately began to try and justify the fact that he had gotten the thin end of the stick, as he was apt to do in such situations.

"Well…maybe I wasn't looking hard enough in there…" he murmured to himself. "It could've been pretty nasty in there…maybe if I had put a little more effort, I could see why she was so upset…I mean, I know I wouldn't like living like a-"

He was suddenly interrupted by the sensation of something soft and rubbery striking the back of his legs, followed by a flurry of giggles. Before he knew it, the scarlet thought found himself breaking out into his trademark toothy smile as he craned his neck about and spotted a familiar little redhead standing just a few feet behind him, clutching a bright green ball in her tiny hands.

"Hey there." He laughed as the four-year-old bounced her toy against his legs again with an energetic whoop.

"Hi, Wilt!" Frances "Frankie Foster" squeaked as she signaled her obvious desire to play.

As soon as her intentions became clear, immediately the smile vanished from his face as he replied with a frown, "I'm…I'm sorry, Frankie, but maybe later…I have some things to take care of first-"

Like what?" she demanded curiously. The child seemed to be absolutely befuddled by his answer; it wasn't often that he wouldn't gladly take time out to partake in some silly game with her, and so she just stared blankly as her tried to explain sheepishly,

"I'm sorry, but…well…you see, Duchess needs me to help her-"

At the mere mention of that fateful name, almost immediately the little one's face twisted into a revolted grimace.

"Why?" Frankie scowled, unable to wrap her mind around the concept. "Why you helpin' that meanie? She's gwoss!"

"Because…because…" Wilt stammered before finally replying lamely, "Because she asked me to."

"But she's a yucky witch!" Frankie countered. "You coulda told her you didn't wanna-"

"Yeah but…" Wilt paused, unsure of how to explain it to her. "See, I…when other people ask me for help, then….I don't know, I guess I just can't say 'no' if someone else needs-"

"But you say it to me." Frankie pointed out with a frown, forcing a weak grin out of the lanky creature. "You did it yestewday-"

"Right…but I guess that's only because I don't want you to get into trouble or anything. Remember how Mr. Herriman said you were going to be sent to your room if you tried to bother him again? We couldn't let that happen, could we?"

"…Uh-uh." She agreed as she mulled over this new revelation.

"It's kinda weird, I know." He admitted. "But…I guess that's just how I am…I mean, I guess I wouldn't be very nice if all I never gave anyone a helping hand when they needed-"

"But…but you can tell Duchess no!" Frankie objected persistantly. "It's easy!"

"Maybe for you it is." Wilt laughed at the irrepressibly stubborn child. "I guess I just don't like to…"

With a sigh, he shook his head as he resumed sauntering towards the laundry room. "I'm sorry, Frankie, I have to take care of this. I'll play with you later on, though, all right?"

To his surprise, he didn't hear so much as one squeak in reply. Immediately, he came to a dead halt and turned back around, only to see that the child was absolutely nowhere to be seen.

"Uh…Frankie?" he asked confusedly. "Frankie? Where-"

"OW!"

The instant the wail of pain rang out for half the entire house to hear, immediately a familiar little redhead shot out of a bedroom down the hall with a squeal of terror, as if a rapid dog was chasing her. If only that were the case; unfortunately, it was much, much worse as Foster's resident royal pain charged out of her room in hot pursuit of the little one.

"YOU FOUL LITTLE WEASEL!" Duchess bellowed as she tried to nab the miscreant. "Sneak into my quarters, then hurl a ball at my face? You miserable cretin, you'll pay for trying to mar my beauty! Get back here!"

After barely missing a swipe of her pursuer's finely manicured nails, the child shrieked as she dashed as quickly as her little legs could carry her away to safety.

"Frankie!" Wilt yelped in horror at the sight.

"Don't think you can get away!" Duchess snapped as she kept up a surprisingly swift pace in her high-heels. "As soon as I get my hands on you, I'll ring your little ne-OOF!"

She was abruptly cut off in mid-threat as she suddenly crashed headlong into a pair of towering crimson legs. After dazedly stumbling backwards a few paces, she found much to her surprise a certain gangly figment standing directly between her and the child, with her bed sheets now lying forgotten on the floor in a heap where Wilt had dropped them.

Recovering swiftly from her initial shock, Duchess narrowed her misshapen eyes and curled her lips into a fierce snarl as she snapped, "Out of the way! Do you know what that little rat did to me? I'll tan her hide and hang it up over my-"

Despite the savage ferocity in her tone as she glared daggers at the little one taking cover behind the lanky imaginary friend, Wilt didn't even flinch, or even blink. It was almost as if it were a completely different ten-foot-tall imaginary friend standing his ground as he leaned over and replied flatly, "No, Duchess."

"Yes, yes I will! That savage little monster is going to pay dearly-" Duchess tried to protest as she marched forward, only to have a spindly hand place itself upon her stomach and roughly push her back a few steps.

"I'll take care of it." Wilt declared, still trying to remain gentle with her. "Please, just leave it all to me."

At first she was taken aback, utterly unsure of what to make of his defiance. Not one to accept defeat easily however, Duchess snarled again as she trotted a few steps forward, with arm thrust out towards Frankie.

"You have no idea what the brat did to me!" she hissed as she want a stabbing motion with one of her nails in the direction of the little one. "Only I can make sure she's never idiotic enough to even think about trying to-"

Her outstretched fingers came within a few inches from where Frankie sought refuge before in a heartbeat. However, no sooner had the child wailed in alarm when Duchess suddenly found herself swept off the floor with a wail of surprise. Before she could even begin to comprehend that she was dangling helplessly several feet off the floor, Wilt glared her straight in the eyes and demanded sternly, as if speaking to a naughty child, "What did I just say?"

So startled by she was his steadfast tone, or the cold look in his good eye, Duchess honestly didn't know whether he was going to scold her, or throttle her. Either way, she swiftly decided it'd be best if she made a hasty exit. As soon as she started squirming about, signaling her urgent desire to escape with whatever bit of her dignity she had left, the lanky imaginary friend wordlessly set her back upon the floor, and in an instant she had scuttled from sight.

For a moment, Wilt nodded in satisfaction as he watched her leave. However, it wasn't long at all until realization of what he actually just did finally set in. Once this occurred, his facial tone paled to the color of flour, his jaw dropped, and the poor creature looked as horrified as if he had just kicked a puppy.

"Oh….oh, no! I…I just…."

Immediately he looked down at the child standing at his feet. "Frankie, I'm sorry! I'm sorry you had to see that! I-I don't know what came over me, I….I'm sorry, it's just I thought…wait, wait, no! No, I'm not sorry! Well…actually, I am, but…Frankie, just what was that all about? That is not okay! That is just not okay! That's really, really, really not okay! Sorry, but you can't just walk into other people's rooms and just throw things at them! What do you think you were…"

As soon as she saw the proudly beaming little one didn't appear to be the slightest bit remorseful for what she had done, he trailed off, unsure of what to make of her glee.

"What? " he pried in puzzlement. "What are you so happy about? Look what you made me do! I actually…….oh…"

As soon as realization settled in, he went dumbstruck for a few moments, and just gawked at her blankly. That is, until the toothy smile began to took root upon his face, as much as he tried to fight it with all his might.

"You…you little sneak." Wilt struggled to sound stern, but only managed to force it out in an uncontrollable chuckle.

"See?" Frankie just squeaked jubilantly with a grin as he ruffled her hair. "Told you it was easy…"

The End