Friendly's New Friend - Part Two Raindrops on strands of long, uncut grass glistened in the morning sunlight, casting beautiful translucent, ripple-like patterns on the sides of a brick house on a quiet, suburban street in the Wedgewood neighbourhood. In the bedroom facing the front, two footpaws covered in peachy-orange fur gently tip-toed on the beige-carpeted floor, though a yelp was soon heard as one of the feetpaws bumped into one of the bed's wooden legs. "Oh drat... I really didn't wanna wake Timothy up..." the nine-year old fox said under his breath, leaning against the bed with his bottom cushioned against the thick duvet, looking over at his five-year old raccoon friend who was still laying on his tummy under the duvet. Timothy stirred, suddenly squeaking in dismay. "Oh, no!" The fox was puzzled, he carefully paced over to the other side of the bed and gently put his paw on Timothy's shoulder. "What's wrong, little buddy?" Timothy bundled himself up hurriedly in the duvet, fear in his eyes as his big buddy spoke his inquiry. "I... I... I'm so sorry, Friendly!" The fox gave a small smile to the chubby little raccoon and gently tugged at the duvet, revealing the problem. Timothy sobbed, as Friendly discovered a large wet patch where Timothy had been laying, his orange flame shorts soaked through. Friendly sighed, but gently rubbed his younger friend's shoulder and behind his ear. "It's okay, Timothy. I'll get my Mom to put it right." "But... my shorts!" Timothy cried, as he tugged at the waistband. Inadvertently his tugging loosened the laces, revealing the top of something he was wearing underneath. Friendly caught a glance of red and white, with a slightly frilly waistband and a slight crinkling sound, like thin plastic. "Come on Timothy, up you get." said Friendly, encouraging his younger friend to abandon the soaked bed and get himself cleaned up. Timothy blubbered a little, but slowly rose to his feet - his soaked orange shorts giving away the outline of something sagging underneath, which wobbled clumsily as Timothy slowly made his way towards the bedroom door. At that moment, Friendly's mom opened the bedroom door and gasped when she noticed what was going on. "Oh dear... It's okay sweetie. Come on to the bathroom and we'll get you all fixed up, Timothy." Friendly took it upon himself to strip the bed - pulling back the duvet and bedsheets. Luckily a plastic cover had stopped the mattress underneath from getting soaked too. The fox looked a little perplexed as he'd never noticed that on his bed before. "Maybe that's what was crinkling..." Friendly thought, "After all, undies don't crinkle do they?" Friendly pondered, he was so sure he had heard a crinkling sound coming from under Timothy's shorts. As he put the duvet and bedsheets into his laundry basket he felt the need to go to the bathroom himself. -- Moments later, Friendly pushed on the bathroom door and walked in, only to find the light was already on, with Timothy standing in front of the bathtub wearing a pair of undies. "Ooops, sorry Timothy. I just really gotta go..." Timothy gasped and tried covering himself with his paws, but it was no good. The raccoon sobbed, looking dejectedly at Friendly and blubbering... "N...now I'll never be able to have anymore sleepovers!" Friendly felt sympathetic. He'd heard of other kids wetting the bed but had never actually met someone who did. As he was done using the bathroom he stood up, and put his paw supportively on Timothy's shoulder. "It's okay, little buddy. It wasn't your fault." Timothy still looked heartbroken, so Friendly continued. "I don't think any less of you for it." "Y...you don't?" Timothy squeaked, though his voice still had a hint of disbelief. "Even though I wear t... these?" The raccoon pointed to his undies, which crinkled softly and wobbled as he fidgeted. Friendly looked at them, seeing Lightning McQueen's beaming face looking back with the bathroom light somewhat reflecting off the smooth, thin plastic material. "What are they? I just thought they were just Cars-themed undies." Friendly inquired. "M...my Pull-Ups." Timothy squeaked, sobbing and sitting on the side of the bathtub, with a definite squish. "They're potty training pants? Aren't they just diapers?" Timothy blushed heavily and tried hiding his disposable undies by tugging his shirt down, but it didn't reach down far enough. "I'll never be able to have a sleepover!" Timothy sobbed, his soaked training pants wobbling as he cried. Friendly was quick to comfort him. "Hey, it's not your fault, little buddy. I enjoyed having you sleeping over," Timothy sobbed but looked up at Friendly, nervously. Friendly just smiled softly and held Timothy's paw. "Training wheels and Training pants... You're still my friend," Timothy's face lit up and he gave his fox buddy a hug, burying himself in Friendly's thick orange fur. "Thank you! You're the bestest friend ever!" Friendly chuckled softly and hugged Timothy back. Inquisitively he put his paw on the seat of Timothy's training pants, over Lightning McQueen's bumper. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, instead hearing the thin plastic backing material squeaking softly against his paw, crinkling softly as his paw moved along Timothy's waist to the sides of his Pull-Ups, which had a cloth-like feel. Friendly hadn't expected this, he was somehow bemused and intrigued by Timothy's training pants. "They usually keep my bed dry. I wore my shorts last night to hide them because I thought... I thought you might laugh at me because I have to wear them," Timothy mumbled. With a creak, the bathroom door opened. "Here you go, Timothy. Let's get you outta that... Oh..." Friendly's mom walked in on the two hugging each other. As they broke off their cuddle, she kneeled down and gently undid the easy-open velcro sides on the raccoon's soaked training pants, taking them off and throwing them in the trash can. "I've put your shorts in the laundry, Timothy. I'll let you know when they're ready. I'll have to hang them out to dry, first," Timothy nodded, blushing a little as Friendly's mom helped him into another pair of his Pull-Ups, and then helped him with his blue t-shirt. Friendly saw that Timothy still looked a little upset. "Would you like to come see my train set?" "Ooooh! Yes please!" Timothy squeaked, his face lighting up again at the invitation. -- Heavy creaking sounds could soon be heard as the fold-up wooden steps descended onto the landing, pulled down by Friendly using a pole with a catch on the end. Timothy looked hesitant as the stairs unfolded in front of him. "I-I'm not a very good climber." Timothy stammered, looking anxiously back at Friendly. "Don't worry Timothy, I'll be right behind you," Gingerly, Timothy held onto both sides of the stairs and began his climb, one step at a time. Friendly followed behind him, chuckling softly as Timothy's red racecar training pants squeaked and crinkled softly, in front of him. Once they were at the top, Friendly flipped a switch on the wall, illuminating a huge space filled with wooden truss tables, with tracks everywhere. "Oh, wow!" Timothy squeaked excitedly, "This is the biggest train set I've ever seen!" Another switch was flipped by the fox's orange handpaw, and the trains started running all around. Timothy stood on his tippy-toes to see, as the tables were quite high up. "Here, stand on this, Timothy," Friendly said, pulling a little three-legged stool out and setting it up in the middle of the train set, where the tracks crossed from one side of the attic to the other. "This is awesome!" Timothy squeaked excitedly, as he watched a long, freight train hauled by a crimson and yellow locomotive trundle past. Friendly held a yellow and green locomotive in his paws, turning it around to look it over. "This one needs repairs, hopefully my Dad gets to fix it soon," said Friendly. "Oooh! Lookit this one!" squeaked Timothy, as a sleek red and silver passenger train shot past, tilting elegantly around the corners and disappearing into a tunnel with the red rear lights shining brightly. Friendly however was finding himself unable to stop looking at the red bumper on Timothy's red racecar pull-ups training pants, which crinkled and squeaked softly as the little raccoon's chubby bottom wiggled slightly. He put down his yellow and green locomotive and curiously touched the smooth seat of the thin plastic training pants. Timothy was too intrigued by the train set to notice. "Friendly? Timothy? Boys, where are you?" Friendly retracted his paw and looked over at the trapdoor. Clearing his throat, he uttered, "We're up here, mom!" "Timothy's shorts are washed and dried. I'll just leave them up here while I get your lunch ready." "Okay, mom." answered Friendly, pacing over to the trapdoor and retrieving Timothy's orange flame shorts with blue and white flames. "Do you want your shorts on now, Timothy?" asked Friendly. Timothy nodded and stepped down off the stool. "Can you help me into them?" "Okay. Let's take off you diape... er- training pants, little buddy," "No. I want to keep my training pants on," "Oh?" Friendly inquired, he was about to ask why when he figured, at least they'd keep his shorts clean and dry, "Okay," The chubby little raccoon steadied himself against one of the roof trusses as Friendly held open his shorts for him, putting one foot in and Friendly then pulling them up, so Timothy could get his other foot in. "Can you tie the laces too, please?" Friendly knelt down in front of Timothy, holding the thick blue laces in his paws. He tried to tie them, but as he was trying to do them up with a mirrored view, he was finding it very difficult. After a minute or two, Friendly sighed and decided to try a different way. "Sorry, Timothy. I'm going to try standing behind you to tie your shorts' laces, okay?" Timothy nodded, anxiously tugging up his shorts as they had slipped down, revealing his potty training pants. Friendly knelt behind the chubby little raccoon and reached around Timothy's waist, looking at the material and design on the back of Timothy's shorts, and chuckling softly at the way Timothy's disposable training pants were peeking between his shirt and shorts. Once Friendly had tied a knot, he then reached around again and tied the laces of Timothy's shorts in a bow. Once he was done, his muzzle was momentarily buried in the seat of Timothy's shorts as the little raccoon stepped backwards. "Ooops! Sorry Friendly," Timothy apologized. "It's okay, Timothy," - About an hour later, Friendly and Timothy descended from the attic by way of the stairs - Friendly came down first, and Timothy cautiously came down behind him, so Friendly could catch him if he did lose his footing. On the second-to-last stop, Timothy did misplace his foot and squealed in fright, clinging onto the sides of the ladder. "It's okay Timothy, I've got you," Friendly put both paws on the seat of Timothy's butt, holding him steady and guiding his foot back onto the ladder with his left paw. "Down you come, little buddy," Timothy sighed with relief as his foot touched the carpet on the landing and Friendly gave him a cuddle, comfortingly rubbing the seat of Timothy's shorts with his right paw. The chubby little raccoon sank into the fox's embrace, beginning to trill as Friendly comforted him. "Wh... what's that sound you're making?" inquired Friendly. "I'm... I'm happy with you. You're just like the big brother I've always wanted. It's my 'I feel safe' sound," Timothy answered. For a few minutes longer, Friendly cuddled Timothy and contently rubbed the seat of his shorts round and round. The sound of Timothy's shorts rustling and rubbing combined with the slight squeaking noise coming from the smooth thin plastic of his pull-ups made Friendly feel happy too, and he began to chatter in a similar way to Timothy's trilling. "Is that your happy sound too, Friendly?" asked Timothy. "Yes, yes it is. I feel happy when I'm with you too, Timothy," Friendly patted the seat of Timothy's shorts and gave him another hug, nuzzling his muzzle against Timothy's cheek. "Boys, lunch is ready!" called Friendly's mom. "Yay! I'm a really hungry racc!" "Mmmm, I'm kinda hungry too," The two boys hurried downstairs and sat up at the dining table, next to each other. Timothy wasted no time in stuffing himself with the cheese sandwiches Friendly's mom had made for him. Friendly dug into his sandwiches too, enjoying the company of his little raccoon friend and occasionally glancing at the pull-ups peeking out of Timothy's shorts, his butt wiggling as Timothy was kneeling on the seat as opposed to sitting on his bottom. Friendly's mom had noticed this too. "Timothy, can you sit properly at the table, please?" The little raccoon quickly adjusted himself so he was sitting on his bottom instead, but he found it harder to reach his sandwiches as the table was pretty high up compared to the chair he was sitting on. He reached for his Lightning McQueen sippy cup to have a drink, but it was too far away and his hands couldn't reach. Trying as hard as he could, grunting and groaning as he couldn't reach, he finally sighed - with a mouthful of sandwich. "Fwiendly, can you reach my dwink for me, pwease?" The fox chuckled sympathetically and reached for Timothy's sippy cup, moving it closer to the edge so he could reach it easier. Friendly's mom then went out of the dining room. "Timothy, you can sit up again if you want. Mom's gone to vaccuum the living room, so she'll be busy for a little while." "Bu... buh... I don' wanna get into twouble," Timothy mumbled anxiously. "I don't mind. Besides, it looks like you can reach your stuff better when you sit like that," Timothy beamed happily and once again sat with his bottom resting on his toes, which allowed him to reach his sandwiches better. - After finishing their lunch, Friendly and Timothy went into the backyard with their bikes. Timothy clambered onto his little red bike, sitting propped up on his training wheels on the tiled path which ran around the outside of the house from the garden gate to the garage. Friendly then mounted his big blue bike and set off to ride around the lawn in the backyard. Timothy however didn't get very far, as soon as his back wheel and training wheels left the path onto the grass, his back wheel just spun out and he stalled, pumping his pedals but his bike's rear wheel just spun and spun, slipping in the soft, muddy grass. "Timothy?" Friendly circled back to find Timothy struggling with his bike. "Friendly, help!" cried Timothy, puffing and panting as he ceased his fruitless exersions and looked up unhappily at his big buddy. The fox chuckled and smiled sympathetically at his little raccoon friend, kneeling down so he was at the same eye-level as Timothy. "What's wrong, Timothy?" "I... I can't ride on the grass!" Timothy cried. Friendly moved behind Timothy so he was kneeling next to one of the little raccoon's training wheels. "Hmmm... what could the problem be?" Timothy pedaled his bike again. "My wheel just keeps slipping!" Friendly watched as Timothy's bottom wiggled, his training pants peeked out of his shorts, and the back wheel of his bike just spun, spun, spun helplessly. "Hmmm..." Friendly reached out and gently pushed on the seat of Timothy's shorts with one paw, and on the saddle of his bike with the other. Timothy's bike budged, but seconds later the little raccoon had stalled again, pumping his pedals but just sitting propped up on his training wheels. "Oh! This is no fun! I can't go anywhere!" Timothy cried, sobbing as he ceased pumping his pedals. Friendly sighed sympathetically and gently cuddled the chubby little raccoon, "I've got an idea. Stay there, Timothy." Timothy groaned and grunted as he fidgeted on his bike, trying to free it. Friendly went over to the garage and disappeared inside. Moments later, Friendly returned carrying a bungy cord with a hook attached to each end. "Wh...what's that for, Friendly?" "Here, I'll be a tow truck and this will be the rope. I can tug you along," "Ooooh! Good idea!" Timothy exclaimed, as Friendly attached the bungy cord to the front post of Timothy's little red bike, and then wheeled his big blue bike along and attached the other end of the bungy cord to the seatpost, and mounted it. "Ready, Timothy?" "Yup!" Timothy squeaked, pumping his pedals and making his back wheel spin helplessly. Friendly set his bike into the lowest gear, and with a clunk he was able to start pedaling. The bungy cord went taught and with a jerk, Timothy's bike started moving. Timothy pedaled harder to try and help, but with all his effort the back wheel of his bike still just kept spinning out. Friendly towed Timothy back to the path, and stepped off his bike. "How about we go out for a real bike ride, Timothy?" "Okay!" Timothy agreed, taking the bungy cord off his bike and handing it to Friendly. -- End of Part Two --