Chapter 4 - The Little Things
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Piglet woke up abruptly to a loud crashing sound, followed by a very familiar voice.
"Oh, bother! There goes my very last jar of honey."
He sprang out of what turned out to be his bed to see his friend Winnie the Pooh sprawled on the wooden floor of his home, desperately trying to extract honey from the remains of a broken jar, presumably the one lended to him by Rabbit the day before, which he had been hugging all night.
"Pooh, it's you?" squeaked Piglet on such a surprised tone that the bear stopped licking his sticky paws to stare at him.
"Why, of course it's me, Piglet. You live with me now, don't you remember?"
"B-b-but when... how did I get here?" Piglet stuttered hoarsely.
Pooh cocked his head in confusion.
"By going to bed yesterday?" he offered very usefully.
"Where's Eeyore?"
"Eeyore?" the clueless bear repeated distractedly as he picked up another piece of his broken jar in a rather pitiful attempt to save every last single droplet of honey he could. "Well, he must be at Pooh Corner, I should think... though now that you mention him, it reminds me that poor Eeyore seemed especially depressed yesterday. We should pay him a little visit after breakfast to see how he's doing, don't you think, Piglet?"
But Piglet did not answer, for he was already running down the path to Pooh Corner as fast as his short legs could take him there, apprehensive of what he would find, or rather not find...
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The sun had risen long before him, but had visibly decided to stay all wrapped up in its silver blanket on this chilly morning. When Piglet finally got to the wooden fence, he was immensely relieved to see the grey silhouette of his friend, who sat dejectedly by his shattered stick house with his back to the road.
"Eeyore!" he cried, nearly startling the stuffed donkey out of his synthetic skin by throwing himself at him with surprising strength that rivaled Tigger's sneaky glomp attacks. "You've come back."
Then, suddenly letting go, he stepped back hurriedly, hiding his hands behind his back as if he had done something wrong.
"Oh, I-I-I'm sorry for startling you like that! I don't want to bother you. It's just that I was s-so afraid you wouldn't be here..."
"It's alright," mumbled Eeyore sleepily. "Not like I was very busy at the moment."
"Something very strange happened," said Piglet, who began pacing around nervously as he spoke. "I just had a t-t-terrible dream in which you had gone away a-and the last thing I remember is that I was there with you, somewhere on the other side of the forest. It all seemed so real, b-but then I woke up inside Pooh's house and... I can't remember how I got there."
Seeing that his visitor would most likely be there for a while, Eeyore lazily got up on all four and tried to stretch his legs, only to briskly stop and recoil with a grunt as the events of the previous night manifested themselves in the form of throbbing pain spreading throughout his entire body.
"You'd fallen asleep and it was getting cold out there, so I thought you'd be much better at home. Pooh didn't hear me knock with all the wind, but he hadn't locked his door ‒ not very careful of him, if you ask me ‒ so I just dropped you in. You looked awfully tired."
"I guess I was," Pigglet said with a light chuckle, rubbing his arm as he also grew aware of the effects of his long run through the woods in his sore limbs. "Thank you, Eeyore. I'm so, so very happy to see you here."
"I still fail to understand how my glum presence can bring you so much joy," said Eeyore, "but if it makes you happy, then so am I."
"Does this mean that you're going to stay for good?" asked Piglet hopefully.
"Since you really insist, I don't seem to have much of a choice, do I? Think it's the least I can do for a friend who's done so much to bring me back."
"I... I did?" Piglet ventured humbly. "But I didn't do anything. Nothing I said was enough to make you come back. All I did was s-stand there. It was you who made the choice on your own, really."
Eeyore followed his companion's downcast gaze and his eyes fell upon a small patch of grass covered with wild violets, which had grown on the spot where Piglet had left the bouquet he had picked up for him one morning, seasons ago. They had withered in the cool autumn air, but the shortest flower still wore its bright purple robe. Eeyore bent down his head to pick it up with his teeth and dropped it into Piglet's open hands.
"More often than you'd think," he said, "it's the little things that really matter. Offering someone a bunch of flowers for no particular reason, stopping by to watch the clouds with them for a while, or holding an umbrella to shield them from the rain, just stayin' by their side until the storm's over. Sometimes, a bit of fluff fills up the ears and even the wisest words lose their meaning, but in the long run, it's those little acts of kindness that speak loud enough to reach through. A little bit of your time, a little consideration can fill up the biggest hole inside a heavy heart, and a little friend can make all the difference. Thanks for caring."
Deeply moved at the thought of having been Helpful, Piglet responded by drawing his friend ‒ or rather, the closest part of him that his short arms were able to tie around, which happened to be his big muzzle ‒ into a warm embrace. When he pulled back, he was met with one of Eeyore's rare genuine smiles, and in return he beamed up from ear to ear.
The moment was interrupted as the two friends heard a huffed breath behind them. They turned to see Winnie the Pooh climbing up the fence with a medium-sized honey pot tucked under his arm.
"What's going on here?" asked the curious bear, panting as he jogged up to meet them. "Piglet, you left in such a hurry that you forgot a Very Important Thing!"
"W-w-what did I forget, Pooh?" asked the pink animal worriedly.
"Why, breakfast, of course. They say it's the most important meal of the day, or so Christopher Robin says they say... I'm not quite sure who 'they' are, come to think of it, and I don't think they are right to assume that the other meals are any less important, but I do know that skipping breakfast can't be very good for you, Piglet, so I stopped at Rabbit's again to get you a little something in case you might be hungry."
Presenting him the half-empty honey jar, he explained very seriously, "There was a tiny bit more of it, you see, but I had to make sure it was good before I could give it to you. As you may understand, it would have been very rude of me to offer you a jar full of bad honey, don't you think? Now I can assure you it's indeed very good!"
Piglet peered over the rim to see what was left of the thick liquid at the bottom of the jar and, as he had suspected, it contained a lot more air than honey.
"Well, that's a very nice attention, Pooh," he said politely. "Thank you for offering it, but I think I would rather have just a few haycorns later. You can eat the rest if you want... unless Eeyore would like to have some?"
"Good idea, Piglet," said Pooh cheerfully, though his eager eyes would not leave the jar. "Eeyore, would you like a little smackerel of honey?"
"Thanks, but I've already had breakfast," answered the donkey with a vague head gesture toward a thistly spot near the fence.
"Oh. Well, that's too bad," said Pooh, trying his best to sound sorry, before plunging a paw to the bottom of the jar and bringing out most of its content. Two mouthfuls sufficed to empty the pot.
When he had extracted all he could, he directed his attention back to his friends, who were now staring rather dispiritedly at what had been Eeyore's house.
"Would you happen to need a hand with that?" asked Pooh, pointing a gummy paw to the scattered pile of wood.
The other two looked at him, then at each other, and Eeyore said,
"Didn't think anyone would offer it, but now that you do, I won't deny that a little help wouldn't hurt, if you don't mind holding these in place..."
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All three animals were busy assembling the last few sticks and trying to tie them up together when Tigger came bouncing merrily down the road.
"Hoo hoo hoo hoo! Hello there, fellas!" he cried, waving at them wildly. Three more bounces were all it took before he was comfortably perched on Pooh's stomach, while the latter and Piglet were finding themselves not so comfortably knocked over onto their backs.
"Say, it looks like you're havin' fun 'round here!" observed Tigger.
"What makes you say that?" muttered Eeyore, who was having a hard time holding the last three sticks that his friends had been about to tie together before Tigger's unnanounced arrival.
Quickly getting back up to help him, Piglet warned the excited feline,
"Careful, Tigger! Eeyore's house had been knocked down again and we were j-just barely done repairing it. It's a very fragile house, you know."
"Oh, I see. No worries, Piglet! Building stick houses is what Tiggers do best. How can I help ya?"
"Actually," said Pooh, pointing to the final result, "I think we have just finished."
It was then that Roo came into sight, closely followed by Kanga.
"Tigger, wait for me! Hi Pooh, hi Piglet!" he happily called out to the others as he saw them. "Eeyore, I have something for you."
Eeyore blinked, looking very surprised.
"For me? It's not my birthday. That's okay, though, mistakes happen."
"It's not a birthday present," explained Roo, plunging halfway inside his mother's pouch, searching for something. When he found it, he happily bounced to where Eeyore was standing, coming to a stop in front of him. "It's a friendship gift! Don't you know you can get those at any time of the year? I wanted to give you one now."
He produced a small paper square, which he unfolded several times and held up proudly in the expressionless donkey's face. On the large sheet was a colourful drawing of an almost freakishly joyful lot of animals all holding hands, in which Eeyore could recognise each one of their friends. In the middle, standing out from the bunch of rough silhouettes, there was a big grey shape that vaguely resembled a donkey, next to a smaller blue and brown spot that Eeyore could only identify as Roo himself. A huge sun was shining down big yellow rays on them and hearts of all possible shapes and colors surrounded the whole gang.
A corner of Eeyore's mouth only quirked into a faint smile, but his eyes were undoubtedly shining, like they sometimes did when the night sky he was so fond of was reflected in them.
"That's a very nice drawing, Roo. Much nicer than anything I could draw."
Grinning delightfully, Roo took a pin that he had brought with him and hung his masterpiece onto the highest stick he could reach above the entrance to Eeyore's new house. Meanwhile, Kanga pulled a long scarf out of her pouch, which she flung around Eeyore's neck.
"There you go! To keep you warm during the fall. And until you either find your tail or get a proper replacement, it can also serve as one," she said with a wink as she placed the longest part of the scarf onto his back so as to let the loose end hang behind him, held in place by the nail that was still there.
"You shouldn't have gone through all the trouble of making this for me, Kanga," said Eeyore uneasily.
"Tut-tut! No protesting. It's my pleasure," said the motherly kangaroo, smiling at him warmly.
The next one to come about was Rabbit, pretending to walk by carelessly down the road, but the closer he came to the animated group of animals, the slower his pace got. As he passed them by, he quickly peered over the fence, seeming uncharacteristically unsure of himself. He almost came to a halt, before suddenly hurrying on, as though he had changed his mind about some important matter. Noticing him, Eeyore slowly retracted from the merry company, only to approach the side of the fence where the newcomer was quickly continuing on his way.
"Lost your way, Rabbit?" he inquired in his usual monotone voice.
Rabbit jumped and turned to face him pretty much the same way Roo had when his mother had caught him hiding his medecine.
"E-Eeyore! Nice scarf you got there, heh. Well, you see, I was on my way to see Owl when I just happened to pass by and I thought I would seize the occasion to, uh..."
Accidentally meeting the other's gaze, Rabbit trailed off and the careless demeanor he had been putting on suddenly crumbled, leaving him contrite and shameful. He took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped forward.
"Actually, there's something I need to tell you," he said again, suddenly fascinated by his own feet. "Look, I... about what I said yesterday..."
Eeyore cut him off. "Don't mention it. You were right, anyway."
"I was?... I mean, no, I wasn't! I lost my temper and spoke without thinking and... well, I guess I'm here to apologise. Can you forgive my harsh words?"
"If you can forgive me for ruining your party," replied Eeyore. "And the whole day with it. And probably also the day before and most other days before that too."
"There's nothing to forgive, Eeyore. I should have respected your wish to be left alone, that's all. Though you do know that you're always welcome to join us. Just let us know whenever you wish to, will you?"
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Shortly afterwards, Owl came soaring down and quietly perched himself upon the fence, close to where the others were still talking. Pooh saw him land and came closer to greet him.
"Hullo, Owl. Lovely day, isn't it?"
"I daresay it is, Pooh. From up there, the weather seemed rather grey and windy, but it certainly does appear much better from down here with you all."
"I believe you have something changed, but I can't quite place it," observed Pooh, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, do you mean this, by any chance?" Owl gestured with his right wing to indicate the long object that hung from his neck down to his claws and stood straighter for the intrigued bear to see better. "Well, you see, my dear Pooh bear, there I was, flying over the river downstream, when I saw this beautiful bow tie caught between two rocks near the waterfall. As there was no one around to whom it may have belonged, I picked it up and here it is. So, how do I look?"
Pooh stared at the found object intently, wondering why something he had never yet seen could give him such a nagging impression of déjà vu. Suddenly, he remembered that he had indeed seen it many times before. Giggling lightly, he stated, "But Owl, this is no bow tie. Why, I believe it's Eeyore's tail!"
"Oh, is it?" said a somewhat flustered Owl. "I thought it did look familiar... Well then, I suppose he will want to have it back, won't he?"
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And so Eeyore's tail was returned to its rightful owner, and when Christopher Robin came to see his friends later that day, he was able to successfully nail it back in its place. That did not make Eeyore a much more cheerful donkey, but it certainly did brighten up his day at least a little. For some reason even he did not fully understand, the sun always seemed to shy away from him, leaving only the greyest of clouds to surround him, but knowing how much his friends cared about him nonetheless made his dark sky just a bit lighter; and when the rain would fall too hard, he knew he could always find shelter in the company of a true friend, which he considered himself lucky to have such a large number of.
As for Piglet, he decided from that day on to pay his most serious friend a short visit every day. No matter where he was headed or what the weather was like, he always made sure to pass by Pooh Corner, where he would usually find Eeyore near his stick house, either lost in deep thought or in the contemplation of a wild flower. On most days, a smile or a wave of his hand was all the interaction his solitary friend needed. However, there sometimes were days where it seemed that Eeyore's corner was beginning to take up too much space for just one animal, or that the rain cloud that would never cease to follow him around was getting too thick for the light to break through. On such days, Piglet would quietly come in and sit by his side for some time, for as long as it took for the turmoil to roll by and for his mood to brighten up, if only ever so slightly. Once in a while, a storm that had been weighing on Eeyore's mind for too long would break just as his friend came to shield him, not entirely unlike the way his rainbow-coloured umbrella once had. A few kind words and a warm hug sometimes helped, but most of the time, they would simply watch the sunlight paint the clouds in silence, knowing that there were times when friends did not need to say anything.
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Author's final note: Oh boy, I hope I haven't ruined this franchise too much! Sorry if the whole thing got unnecessarily sappy, it seems I can't help myself. As for the somewhat clichéed storyline, I thought I might as well try to stick to the Disney tradition, which apparently requires every once in a while that the main adventure revolves around a character that mysteriously disappears for most of the screen time. (Tigger and Piglet each had their own movie in which all their friends spent a great deal of time trying to find them; Christopher Robin went missing in both Pooh's Grand Adventure and the 2011 movie, and an episode had him run away with Pooh; even Rabbit made his bags at least twice in the TV show.) It occured to me that among the main characters, Eeyore was pretty much the only one left I could think of who had not had his own "disappearance movie/episode" yet (unless I missed it?), so there you go.
But more seriously, I just wanted to add my humble contribution to the fandom, because I noticed that there didn't seem to be too many fanfics revolving mostly about either Eeyore or Piglet, let alone about the two of them. There are so many interesting relationships in the Hundred Acre Wood and I think all the characters are equally endearing, but for some reason, these two have always had a special place in my heart. Even though there isn't much about the dynamics between them specifically in the official material, it's just little details here and there that caught my attention. Despite being a lot more cynical and sarcastic in the books, Eeyore always did seem to have a soft spot for Piglet, or so it seemed to me. I like to think that the latter's very empathetic nature might have contributed to that. For instance, I slipped in a few references to anecdotes from the books, one of which being when Piglet spontaneously decided to pick a bunch of violets for Eeyore, simply because the thought came to him that he had never been offered flowers. As for Eeyore, he didn't overtly show kindness very often, but one of the nicest things he said was to Piglet on a blusterous day: "Mind you don't get blown away, little Piglet. You'd be missed. People would say 'Where's little Piglet been blown to?' ‒ really wanting to know. Well, good-bye. And thank you for happening to pass me." I just thought that was pretty sweet coming from him.
As for that one detail I totally made up concerning Eeyore's past, I know it probably looks like I borrowed the idea from Toy Story, but what actually gave me that idea is the fact that Eeyore is often referred to as an "old grey donkey". He may simply have been made that way or seem older than he actually is because of his personality, but I found myself wondering, what if he was in fact considerably older than Christopher Robin's other stuffed animals, despite the fact that Winnie the Pooh was the first one that the boy received as his first birthday present, perhaps because he had once belonged to another child... I also remembered reading somewhere that he was stuffed with sawdust instead of fluff like the others and I thought it could be interesting to use that information symbolically for his heavy-spirited dispositions.
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In case anyone might like to know which episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh I made allusions to or borrowed ideas from, here are a few:
"Donkey for a Day" (When Piglet notices that Eeyore seems more depressed than usual, all his friends try and fail miserably to cheer him up. Cloud-painting on the hilltop and pretty much everything else in this story is shamelessly based on that one);
"Good-bye, Mr. Pooh" (After a misunderstanding leads everyone to think Pooh is moving away, his friends throw him a "going-away party". He leaves so as not to upset them, but having no other place to go, he returns soon afterwards, only to find his home occupied by Eeyore, whom the gang then tries to get out of there without hurting his feelings);
"The 'New' Eeyore" (Eeyore envies Tigger's extroverted playfulness and confidence and tries to act just like him in order to become more popular, which turns out to have quite the opposite effect on his friends);
"Home Is Where the Home Is" (After accidentally breaking a valuable statue in the house, Christopher Robin panics and runs away, bringing Pooh along with him, and Eeyore goes after them);
"Eeyi Eeyi Eeyore" (In which Eeyore talks to a flower seed to help it grow);
"Owl Feathers" (Which is probably where I got that random idea of Owl's relative losing his feathers).
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I also want to thank the author Plastic Emotion, who kindly allowed me to use elements from their own writing. The allusion to Tigger having his leg torn up in the first chapter was greatly inspired to me by their wonderful story, "A Mother's Love". If you haven't read it, I highly recommend doing so at once! It's a pure little marvel.
Well, I think that's all. Please feel free to leave a little review if you have the time and thank you for happening to pass by ! :)