Back to School Buddies - Part One Dim rays of late-summer sunshine struggled to penetrate through dark, heavy rainclouds to the east of the town of Wedgewood. The blue skies were fleeing to the west, away from the rising morning sun, revealing to all that the day would become very wet, later on. In the bedroom facing the front of a Mock-Georgian brick house, two footpaws covered in peachy-orange fur touched down on the beige carpeted floor, having emerged from a red, white and blue patchwork duvet that hung over a single-size bed at the far end of the blue-colored room. Then the duvet came away, revealing the occupant of the bed - a nine-year old fox. "First day back to school today..." sighed the fox as he stood up and promptly dressed himself in a pair of blue sweatpants with red and white accents, a red long sleeve shirt with white and dark blue accents. Then he headed downstairs for breakfast. After having his breakfast cereal, Friendly rinsed out his bowl and left it in the kitchen sink, heading outside to fetch his big blue bike. He looked up anxiously at the darkening sky in the distance as he heard the telltale sound of his younger raccoon friend riding his bike up the sidewalk, the plastic training wheels scraping along as they loyally kept him upright. "Come on Timothy..." Friendly called out to him as he mounted his own bike and set it into the lowest gear to keep pace with his buddy. Timothy brought his bike to a halt, wearing his blue t-shirt and orange shorts with white and blue flames. He had barely stopped pedalling when Friendly set off astride his own bike. "Okay, Friendly. Wait for me!" Timothy cried as Friendly took off along the sidewalk, pumping his pedals as hard as he could to try and catch up. - At the beginning of the dirt path through the woods, Friendly finally came to a halt and looked back, seeing Timothy toiling along not far behind. "You know I can't ride that fast!" Timothy panted, as he rolled up alongside the fox and sat propped up on his training wheels, regaining his breath. "Sorry Timothy. I just don't want us to be late for school. If you keep getting stuck..." "I'll try really hard not to Friendly! I promise!" Friendly smiled at the chubby little raccoon and reassuringly patted his back. "I just hope the path isn't too muddy, or we are going to be late." Timothy puffed and panted for a few moments more, before finally saying, "I'm not looking forward to going back to school." Friendly was a little taken aback, but then he remembered how Timothy had mentioned that he'd been made fun of for his training wheels, and also the red Lightning McQueen Pull-Ups he was wearing. "Are you really not looking forward to going back to school, Timothy?" inquired Friendly. "I... I don't wanna get laughed at like I did before." Timothy mumbled back, in his squeaky voice. "Well don't worry, I'll be there to keep an eye on you at recess - and lunch time too." Friendly reassured his little buddy. Timothy nodded, though he still looked a little uneasy as he turned the pedals on his bike and set off along the dirt path. Friendly rode along behind him, just in case his younger friend became high-centred on the uneven dirt path. Timothy pedaled his bike as hard as he could, trying not to get hung up on the bumps and roots. Miraculously, the rain held off as the two friends made their way along the dirt path to school. Only the occasional lonely drop fell from the darkening sky. The path was mostly dry as a bone, lucky for the little raccoon who was relying on his black plastic training wheels to stay balanced. - About ten minutes later, the two friends arrived at school. Friendly and Timothy parked their bikes next to each other and the fox promptly said goodbye to the little raccoon, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and heading off to the building where his fifth-grade class would be. Timothy lingered for a little while longer next to his bike, sighing to himself as he picked up his red and blue Lightning McQueen backpack and looked over at the building where his first-grade class would be. Just then, the little raccoon heard the sound of scraping training wheels coming towards him. He turned to see a white bunny with brown-tipped ears and fiery red hair pedaling his own bike towards the bike shed, not much older than himself, wearing an pale-green shirt and brown shorts. "I mustn't be late! I mustn't be late!" the bunny boy said as he hurriedly dismounted his yellow bike and trundled it along to the bike sheds. He looked up at the raccoon and stopped a few feet from him. "Oh! Sorry... Is this where we park our bikes?" "Yes..." answered Timothy, looking awkwardly at the newcomer and wondering what was going to happen next. The bunny twitched his little pink nose and spoke again. "Sorry, can I... can I put mine next to yours?" he asked. "I guess. Yes, okay. Why not." Timothy answered, giving the bunny a little smile as the yellow bike was parked next to his red bike. "I'm Robby!" the bunny introduced himself, smiling back at Timothy as he left his bike. "What's your name?" "I... I'm Timothy." the raccoon squeaked back, still standing next to his bike. Robby chuckled as he looked up at the darkening sky above them. "Come on Timothy, we'd better go in. Or else you'll be all wet, Timothy!" Timothy nodded and followed Robby inside, anxiously wondering if his new friend had noticed the Pull-Ups he was wearing under his shorts. - By the time recess came around, Timothy was feeling the same way he had when he'd first arrived. He anxiously tugged at the waistband of his shorts as Robby invited him to play with some toy cars. "Vrrm, vrrrm!" Robby said as he kneeled and pushed his toy car around, imitating tire-squealing noises too as he pushed the little car along. "Come on Timothy!" Timothy looked longingly at the building where his best friend was, on the other side of the playground. The view was partially obscured as the dark sky had finally given in, bucketing thick veils of heavy rain which pelted the windowpane and trickled down the windows. Timothy sniffled, knowing this meant that recess would be indoors and Friendly wouldn't be able to play with him. Robby looked up at the raccoon and deserted his toy car, wincing as a soft crinkle came from under his shorts as he stood up, and made his way over to his new friend. "What's wrong, Timothy?" "My friend is all the way over there. I wish he was here..." Timothy sighed. "What's that building over there?" inquired Robby, his brown-tipped ears standing up as he stood next to Timothy. "That's where the big kids go..." Timothy answered. "Friendly is much older, but he's my best friend." Robby smiled and gently leaned next to Timothy. "I have some bigger friends too, but they are in the class next to us. They're in second-grade." "Friendly's in fifth-grade, I think." answered the raccoon. "Woah! He must be really big! As big as, well, as big as that bookshelf!" Robby giggled. "He's not THAT big" giggled Timothy, "But he's a great friend. I'm sure we'll see him later." Robby suddenly twitched his nose and hurriedly made his way from the classroom. "Be right back!" he called out to Timothy. - About an hour later, it was nearly lunchtime. Timothy was finishing some sums on his maths worksheet when suddenly he felt that he had to go to the bathroom. "E..excuse me... Miss?" Timothy struggled. The teacher headed over to Timothy's table and asked him what was the matter. "I... I have to go potty..." "Can you wait a few more minutes, Timothy? It'll be lunchtime and then you can go." "But... but!" protested Timothy. "You're a big boy now. You can wait, I'm sure." Timothy tried his best, trying instead to focus back on the last few sums on his worksheet. He looked over at Robby, sitting at the table next to him, but then looked out at the window where the rain was still pelting down heavily. He knew this meant that Friendly wouldn't be joining him for lunchtime either. The moment the bell rang, Timothy quickly tried to head to the bathroom, but was blocked in by his classmates who were all hurrying to get their lunchboxes from their backpacks. "Come on guys! I need to go! I need to go!" Timothy squeaked. Finally Timothy reached the bathroom cubicle and went inside one, fumbling with the laces on his shorts... He pulled on one of the drawstrings and was most relieved as the double-knot on his shorts instantly loosened up, allowing him to pull them down along with his Pull-Ups. Once he had finished, Timothy emerged from the cubicle with his untied shorts hanging loosely around his waist, only just concealing his red Lightning McQueen Pull-Ups. He looked over towards the mirrors and caught a glimpse of Robby, who was similarly pulling his own shorts up. He cautiously made his way over to his friend. "Timothy! Er, ah, um... Did you make it?" struggled Robby, "I saw you got a bit held up by everyone there." "I did." Timothy answered. "What are you doing, Robby?" "Me? Um, I thought I had to go too." Robby answered quickly, holding his brown shorts up with both paws. Despite this though, Timothy caught a glimpse of a thick white diaper peeking out of the back of Robby's shorts. "Robby? Are you okay? Do I need to get someone?" "What? No! I... I don't know what you're talking about." Timothy approached Robby slowly and smiled reassuringly at him, he gently tugged down the front of his orange shorts, revealing the front of his Pull-Ups to Robby. "I have to wear these just in case I don't make it..." Robby smiled back at Timothy and released his tight grip on his shorts. "I, I struggle with that too. My mom put me in this just in case I don't make it." "I won't tell anyone if you don't tell anyone about my Pull-Ups" said Timothy. "Cool! Thanks Timothy." Robby answered. Both boys headed out of the bathroom and fetched their lunchboxes from their backpacks, sitting together as they ate their lunch, and chatted between each mouthful. - At the end of the day, the rain finally stopped and the faint glow of sunshine grew brighter. Timothy finished up his alphabet worksheet and put it into his drawer with the maths worksheet from earlier, just as the bell for the end of class sounded. "Good work today, everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing you all back on Monday morning." said the teacher as she dismissed the class of first graders. Timothy and Robby fetched their backpacks and made their way over to the bike sheds. "I'm glad we became friends today, Timothy!" Robby piped up. "Me too. Do you wanna come over to my house and play?" "I'll have to ask my Mom..." Robby answered, "She'll be worried if I go without telling her." Timothy nodded, "Is she picking you up?" "Yeah." Robby answered, as he mounted his yellow bike and looked over at the crowd of cubs and their parents. "She should be here soon." As Timothy and Robby waited, Friendly was pleased to see that his little raccoon friend had made a new buddy. He cautiously approached, lest he startle the little bunny. "Are you ready to go home, Timothy?" the fox spoke softly. "We're waiting for Robby's Mom! I'd like him to come over and play" squeaked Timothy. Robby looked a little apprehensive as he looked at the fifth-grader standing by Timothy, but managed a little smile as he guessed that this was Timothy's best friend. "I... I'm Robby" the bunny managed to say as he continued looking up at the fox. Friendly wagged his brush softly. "Well, it's very nice to meet you Robby. I'm Friendly." "Y...you're in fifth-grade, right?" "That's right. Timothy and I often play together. Did he mention me?" "Yeah, he did. You're not quite as big as that bookcase but..." Friendly looked a little perplexed, but then chuckled as he realized what Robby meant. "Oh! I guess I must be pretty big compared to you guys. Don't worry, I'm really nice." Just then, two second-graders came over to Robby, an arctic fox with cyan headfur, paws and cheekdots and a blue squirrel-mouse hybrid with purple headfur. "Hey Robby! Wanna come and play videogames with us?" "Um..." pondered Robby, looking back momentarily at Friendly and Timothy. "Who are they?" Timothy asked, anxiously tugging at the waistband of his shorts. "They're my big bros..." Robby answered, "They're cool. They won't make fun of us." Timothy relaxed a little, as he mounted his bike and sat propped up on his training wheels. "No thanks, Zeke. I'm gonna go play at my friend's house!" "Okay then... See you later, bunny boy." answered Zeke. "I brought your coat and rain pants... I guess you don't need them now." "Mommy? Can I go play with my new friends?" Robby asked, gesturing to Friendly and Timothy. "Aww. You made new friends already? I guess so. Just make sure you call me when you get there." "Okay, Mommy!" grinned Robby, mounting his bike and sitting happily next to Timothy. -- To Be Continued in Part Two --