7/1/19

"Woody, what is that?" You asked from where you sat beside him on the bed. The object in question was the strange Playskool baby monitor that was now sitting on the nightstand.

"This is how we find out what is in those presents." He replied.

"Oh, really? How?"

"You'll find out." He replied with a smirk.

The toys were growing restless as it had been quite a few minutes since the soldiers departed. "Shouldn't they be there by now?" One asked. "What's taking them so long?" Another said.

"Hey, these guys are professionals. They're the best." Woody told the anxious toys. "Come on. They're not lying down on the job."

The toys nodded in silent agreement and gathered the will to be patient for just a little while longer. And sure enough, Sarge's voice came over the monitor only seconds later. "Come in, Mother Bird. This is Alpha Bravo."

"This is it, this is it! Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet!" Woody hurriedly told the toys so everyone would be able to clearly hear Sarge.

"All right, Andy's opening the first present now." Sarge said, waiting to get a view of the present. You heard Potato Head down on the floor chanting for the present to be a Mrs. Potato Head with his fingers crossed. However, what Sarge instead announced was, "It's a lunch box. We've got a lunch box here."

"A lunch box?" The toys asked in disbelief.

"For lunch!" Slinky laughed heartily.

"Okay, second present. It appears to be... Okay, it's bed sheets." Sarge said.

"Who invited that kid!?" Potato Head asked, his comment causing you to giggle.

Sarge continued reading off the presents, all the way down to the very last present. "It's a big one. It's a.... It's a board game! Repeat: Battleship."

The toys went nuts. You couldn't tell what the true reason was. There was a mix of joyous relief that no new toys had been opened and some excitement over the arrival of Battleship, a new game for the toys to play against one another. Regardless, the toys were happy, so that put you at ease.

"So did I tell you? Huh? Nothin' to worry about." Woody told the toys triumphantly.

"I knew you were right all along, Woody." Slinky smiled. "Never doubted you for a second."

Woody was just about to turn the monitor off before Sarge's alert, distressed voice burst through unexpectedly. "Come in, Mother Bird! Come in, Mother Bird! Mom has pulled a surprise present from the closet!"

The toys panicked as they rushed back over to the nightstand. Woody nearly toppled over in disbelief. Sarge continued hurriedly, "Andy's opening it. He's really excited about this one!" Everyone continued to wait for the reveal of the present, each toy on the edge of their feet or respective seat. "One of the kids is in the way! I can't see! It's a...."

The monitor began to cut out and crackle. "It's a what? What is it!?" Rex panicked, violently tugging at the nightstand's leg in anxious fear. You watched as the monitor fell onto the floor, going dead silent as the batteries came crashing out.

"Oh, ya big lizard! Now we'll never know what it is!" Potato Head snapped.

Hamm joined in, "Way to go, Rex!"

The toys desperately tried to put the batteries back in, but they kept doing so backwards. Woody was yelling from up on the bed with you, telling them the batteries were indeed backward, but the toys didn't listen. Woody eventually jumped off the bed and put them in himself with ease.

"Juvenile intrusion!" Sarge's voice boomed. "Repeat, resume your positions now!"

"Andy's coming, everybody!" Woody freaked out. "Back to your places! Hurry!"

The toys began to scurry and scatter back to their places, and you hurried to get back on the floor where Andy had left you when he finished playing earlier. Although you liked your spot on the desk, you had to be very cautious and aware of where Andy actually left you each time he exited his room.

Andy and his friends burst into the room, causing a ruckus. They were cheering and screaming about something along the lines of someone named Zurg, lasers, and a spaceship. You watched as Andy plopped a spaceship onto his bed. "Come on down, guys! It's time for games!" When the kids heard Andy's mother calling, they cheered even more and dashed out of the room.

The toys, including you, rushed over to the bed. "What is it?" Someone asked, followed by another toy who added, "Can you see it?" You heard someone else say, "What the heck is up there?"

"Woody, who's up there with ya?" Slinky asked.

To everyone's surprise, Woody crawled out from under the bed. "Woody, what are you doing under the bed?" You asked curiously.

"Uh, nothin, nothin'. I'm sure Andy was just a little excited, that's all." Woody replied as he dusted himself off and fixed his hat. "Too much cake and ice cream, I suppose. It's just a mistake!"

"Well, that mistake is sitting in your spot, Woody." Potato Head said in a snotty manner.

"Have you been replaced?" A toy asked.

"Hey, what did I tell you earlier?" Woody said sternly. "No one is getting replaced. Now, let's all be polite and give whatever it is up there a nice, big, Andy's Room welcome."

"Are you sure?" You asked.

"Yes, yes. If you aren't sure, then come with me. I'll show you!" Woody climbed onto the bed and, just like before, swung you up onto the bed with care. You and the cowboy froze in shock as the new toy that stood before you. He seemed to be in his own little world as he didn't notice you and was instead talking to himself. You had to admit, though, he looked like a pretty cool toy.

Just as he turned in your direction, Woody popped in front of his face. "Hello!"

The new toy jumped in panic before quickly posing in a defensive stance, pressing a button in his arm that pointed a red laser light at Woody's head. "Whoa! Did I frighten you?" Woody asked as he recovered from his startled scream. "Didn't mean to. Sorry. Howdy. My name is Woody, and this is Andy's room. That's all I wanted to say."

The toy continued to glare at him, keeping his laser light firmly locked onto Woody.

"And also, there has been a bit of a mix-up." Woody continued. "This is my spot, see, the bed here."

The toy then interrupted Woody and stood straight, turning off his laser. "Local law enforcement. It's about time you got here. I'm Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger, Universe Protection Unit. My ship has crash-landed here by mistake."

"Yes, it is a mistake, because, you see, the bed here is my spot." Woody growled with irritation.

"I need to repair my turbo boosters." Buzz continued, ignoring Woody's comment. "Do you people still use fossil fuels, or have you discovered crystallic fusion?"

"Um, we have Double-A's?" You answered with confusion.

Buzz then tackled Woody and pointed his laser at you. "Halt! Who are you?" Before you could respond, the other toys got onto the bed. He then directed his laser at the bunch of them, demanding, "Who goes there?"

"We're friends!" You pleaded. "Friends!"

"Do you know these life forms?" Buzz asked Woody.

"Yes. They're Andy's toys!" Woody snapped.

Buzz got off of Woody and relaxed, telling the other toys, "I am Buzz Lightyear. I come in peace." The toys fawned over Buzz, from how cool he looked and sounded to all of his neat gadgets, buttons, and functions.

When Buzz pressed one of his buttons that activated his voice box, Slinky beamed, "Hey, Woody's got something like that. His is a pull-string!"

"Only it sounds like a car ran over it." Potato Head snickered.

"Oh, yeah, but not like this one." Hamm agreed.

You saw Woody nervously grab his pull-string. You placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, whispering, "Your voice box is fine, Woody. Don't let them get to you."

He looked at you for a second before shooting you a small smile. Woody then redirected his attention back to Buzz and listened intently to how the toys continued to gawk at him and praise him. In a huff, you heard him growl to you, "You'd think they'd never seen a new toy before."

"Well, sure, look at him." You answered. "I may not have seen much, but I've seen a good deal of important and popular toys, and I've never seen anything like him. He's got more gadgets on him than a Swiss Army knife."

"Hey, a laser! How come you don't have a laser, Woody?" Potato Head asked mockingly.

"It's not a laser!" Woody rolled his eyes. "It's a little lightbulb that blinks."

You both heard Hamm mumble to Potato Head that Woody's anger was from laser envy, causing the Sheriff to burst, "All right, that's enough! Look, we're all very impressed with Andy's new toy."

"Toy?" Buzz asked.

"T-o-y." Woody spelled out. "Toy!"

"Excuse me. I think the word you're searching for is 'Space Ranger.'" Buzz corrected him.

Woody grumbled, "The word I'm searching for.... I can't say, because there's preschool toys present."

"Woody!" You scolded lightly.

"Gettin' kind of tense, aren't ya?" Potato Head challenged with a glare.

"Oh, uh, Mr. Lightyear," Rex spoke up, "now, I'm curious. What does a Space Ranger actually do?"

"He's not a Space Ranger! He doesn't fight evil or shoot lasers or fly!" Woody hissed.

"Excuse me." Buzz said before pushing the red button on his chest, causing wings to shoot out.

When the toys cheered in awe, Woody mocked, "Oh, what? What? These are plastic. He can't fly!"

Woody and Buzz then began to bicker and jab fingers at each other. Buzz was confident that he could fly, but Woody verbally disagreed. Buzz then challenged Woody, saying he could fly around the room with his eyes closed.

And that's what happened. Buzz walked jumped onto the bed post, closed his eyes, and with a hearty exclamation of "To infinity and beyond," he leaped off and went all over the room. In the end, he caught onto something on Andy's ceiling and went whizzing at immense speeds before rocketing off and landing perfectly on the bed. "Can!" He beamed triumphantly at Woody.

The toys were ecstatic and bombarded Buzz with attention. "That wasn't flying. That was falling with style!" Woody accused the Space Ranger, but not a single toy paid any more attention at this point.

Woody came back over to you and demandingly asked, "What do you think? Aren't I right here?"

"Woody," you began sweetly in attempt to calm him down, "you need to relax. Take a breather."

"No, in a couple of days, everything will be just the way it was. They'll see." Woody mumbled harshly, brushing you off. "I'm still Andy's favorite toy." You knew this wasn't going to end well; You could see it in Woody's enraged eyes, all lit up with hatred and envy. This was going to get messy.