A strange tune drifted through the cold air of the forest, catching Dusty’s attention.
“Who… or what’s playing that…” Dusty mumbled to himself as he nervously glanced around. The melody seemed to fade slowly, as if whoever was playing it was walking away. He decided to follow the tune in a little hope of finding either Sunny or someone who could help him find her. “Hello?” He called out into the darkness of the forest. Dusty froze as something poked his leg. He looked down and saw a ferret staring up at him.
“Oh… Hi there…” Dusty sighed as he relaxed slightly. The ferret crawled up Dusty’s pant leg and started climbing up his leg. “Naah!” He mumbled as he started to shake his leg. He squirmed slightly and continued to try to shake the ferret from his leg. It continued to crawl up him and under his shirt.
Dusty continued to squirm and suppress his need to laugh. The ferret crawled out his collar and onto Dusty’s shoulder. Dusty looked at the ferret and blinked. “Ookay then…” He mumbled quietly. “I didn’t really expect that…” He shrugged and reached over to try to pet the ferret. The ferret stared at him for a moment before butting his head against Dusty’s hand.
Dusty raised an eyebrow as he stared at the ferret. He then scratched the ferret’s head. The ferret squeaked and crawled onto his hand, then hopped onto Dusty’s head.
“Two’s better than one.” Dusty laughed as he smiled and glanced up at the ferret. The ferret perked up, standing up tall as the tune from earlier returned, but just faintly.
Dusty looked around nervously before he slowly started to follow the tune again. He walked deeper into the dark forest with his new companion, his eyes still scanning the area for any sign of Sunny. The melody grew louder as he entered a large enclosure, a small grassy meadow concealed by a patch of bushes.
Dusty stopped and looked around the meadow. “Sunny are you there?” He called. Dusty continued to walk, spotting a woman sitting on a log in the center of the field. She was humming the tune he has heard. It was very gentle, soothing.
Dusty stopped and stared quietly at the woman. The humming continued without hesitation.
“H… hello?” Dusty said hesitantly.
The humming stopped and the woman looked up at him.
“Um… Have you seen my friend?” He asked uncertainly.
“Who’s your friend?” Sunny’s voice chimed in as the girl cocked her head.
Dusty blinked slowly. “Huh…” He mumbled.
Sunny lifted her arm up and waved. “Hi.” She said, standing up into the dim light of the moon to reveal her smile.
“You really worried me… I thought I’d lost you.” Dusty said as he smiled slightly, he walked towards her.
“I come out here when I’m sad.” Sunny smiled.
“Why were you sad?” Dusty asked as he hugged her.
Sunny stood silently in his hug for a moment before her arms wrapped around him.
Dusty squeezed her and closed his eyes. “I’m fine… really.” Sunny said.
“That’s great…” He smiled.
Sunny started giggling.
“What’s so funny?” Dusty asked curiously.
“Who’s your friend?” Sunny asked. Dusty noticed the ferret had crawled onto her shoulder and was licking her ear.
“I dunno. He just crawled on my shoulder when I was trying to find you.” He said.
Sunny picked the ferret up and looked at it. “I’m going to call you Fairy.” She stated.
Dusty shrugged and looked between the newly christened Fairy, and Sunny. “Attack!” Sunny shouted, throwing Fairy at Dusty. The ferret clung to Dusty’s face and held on for dear life.
“MMMMPHNN! HNMMM!” Dusty screamed and started trying to pull Fairy off of his face. He yanked Fairy off and the ferret started flailing for a moment before staring up at Dusty. “Why…” He started.
Fairy pawed at the air and squeaked.
Dusty set Fairy down on the ground. Fairy stared up at Dusty and squeaked again. “What?” Dusty asked. Fairy crawled up Dusty’s leg and back onto his shoulder. “Okay then.” Dusty chuckled.
“I think he likes you.” Sunny smiled.
“Yeah… I noticed.” Dusty said, smiling too. Fairy started nibbling on Dusty’s ear and licking it clean. Dusty laughed a little, “Oh thanks.” He said, looking at Fairy.
“See? He’s already cleaning the spots you miss in the shower. Any other spots you don’t pay attention too?” Sunny asked.
Dusty slowly blinked and remained silent.
“What?” Sunny asked, ‘cocking’ her head.
“N… nothing.” Dusty mumbled as he squeezed his arms down to his sides.
Sunny stared at him for a moment. “Ohhh your penis!” She blurted.
“No!” Dusty said quickly as he turned away from her.
“What? I don’t clean mine.” Sunny shrugged.
“Wh… You don’t have one…” Dusty mumbled.
“Yeah I do!” Sunny nodded. She paused for a minute. “Wait was it boys that had vaginas or girls?”
“Girls…” Dusty mumbled as he hid his face.
“Ohhhh… Can’t you have both?” Sunny asked curiously.
“I don’t know.” Dusty mumbled into his hands.
“Waaait… Maybe YOU have both and you don’t know it!” Sunny said as if receiving a revelation.
“I would know if I had both!” Dusty said quickly.
“How would you? Have you seen a penis?” Sunny asked.
“Vagina…” Dusty mumbled.
“That too!” Sunny nodded.
“I think when I was younger my mom would have told me.” Dusty said.
“How does your mommy know? Has she seen a lot of them?” Sunny asked.
“N… She… D… Me… M…” Dusty mumbled almost in disbelief.
“I’ve only seen my daddy’s when my mommy made him dress up in a skirt.” Sunny giggled.
Dusty blinked a few times. “What?” He asked in disbelief.
“So whatcha doin out here, besides me of course.” Sunny smiled.
Dusty stared silently at her for a few moments. “I was just looking for you… I was really worried that something bad had happened when you ran off.” He said quietly. Sunny’s smile only grew as she kicked her feet from the log she was sitting on. “Um… what else did you want to do?” He asked curiously. Sunny shrugged. “Well then… Do you want to head back to my house?” He suggested. He looked around at the darkening woods. “Maybe?”
“It’s really dark, can you protect me?” Sunny asked, hopping off the log and wrapping an arm around his.
“Um…” Dusty mumbled quietly, “S… sure…”
“Great! I knew you’d save me from all the mean nasties that are in the forest at night.” Sunny whispered.
“Yeah… I can.” Dusty smiled slightly. Sunny clung to Dusty, catching him off guard as she yanked him reluctantly back into the forest. He tried to appear brave as he slowly lead Sunny out of the forest.
“So?” Sunny asked.
“So what?” Dusty asked.
“You like me don’t you?” Sunny giggled.
“T… I… D…” Dusty mumbled. “No! I don’t like girls you all have cooties.” He pouted.
“Ohh you’re afraid of cooties? I thought I got them from you already!” Sunny smiled.
“I don…” Dust started before he trailed off as he remembered she was holding his arm. He sighed. “No winning this…” He mumbled. “I… won’t admit anything.” He stated in a slightly shaky tone.
“What? You already won.” Sunny beamed, gripping Dusty a little tighter. He looked away from her out of embarrassment.
“I didn’t think I won…” He mumbled quietly.
“You’re always a winner in my book silly!” Sunny said, poking him in the nose. “Boop.”
“Thank you.” Dusty laughed, a small smile returning to his face. He looked up and noticed that they were almost out of the forest.
“See! That wasn’t so bad.” Sunny said happily.
“Yeah it wasn’t.” Dusty nodded. “So… what now?”
“Well we go home, duhhh!” Sunny said, rolling her eyes. Dusty sighed.
“Alright. Let’s do that.” He said as he walked with her back to his house. Sunny released his arm and bolted back into the house.
“Hi other mommy!” Sunny said, jumping into Sylvia’s lap.
“You two are finally back! We were beginning to get really worried that something had happened!” Sylvia said, her tone portraying her concern and happiness at the same time.
“It’s my fault, I ran out and was trying to find some flowers for you, but there weren’t any good ones.” Sunny said apologetically, clinging to Dusty’s mom.
“Then please next time tell us you’re going out.” Sylvia said as she hugged Sunny.
“I will mom…” Dusty said quietly.
“Now you two should get going to bed, it’s starting to get late.” Sylvia said as she let go of Sunny. Sunny nodded and hopped off her lap, staring at Dusty. She ran up to him and grabbed Dusty’s arm, dragging him towards his room.
Dusty was reluctantly dragged into his room before he plopped down on the side of the bed and stared at Sunny. “Ohh are we sleeping on the floor tonight? I get it!” Sunny said slowly, falling down next to him and rolling under the bed.
“No.” Dusty sighed. “We aren’t sleeping on the floor.”
“Ooo a quarter!” Sunny shouted.
“Huh?” Dusty questioned as he got down on the floor and looked under the bed. He saw that Sunny was gone.
“Hi.” Sunny’s voice made him jump, hitting his head on the bed before yanking himself out from under it. He saw Sunny looking down at him from on top, a smile wide on her face.
He rubbed the back of his head, “How’d you get up there?” He asked with a small groan.
“Get up here and I’ll show you.” Sunny whispered. Dusty raised an eyebrow and climbed onto the bed. “There you go! You didn’t need my help.” She giggled loudly. Dusty put his head in his hands and groaned loudly into them. “I like your room.” She said, looking around at the posters of video games and action figures lined up around the place.
“Thanks.” Dusty smiled. “I really like it in here too… Sort of one of my few happy places.”
“Well I’m here, so now it’s happier! And it’s definitely not Dusty.” Sunny said, hugging Dusty tightly. Dusty remained silent as his face heated up slightly. “I’m glad I met you.”
“I’m… glad I met you too.” Dusty said quietly. “I… don’t know when I felt… this happy to have a friend. You’re the only one who… actually likes me… And… I… I like you too. You’re my best friend and… I don’t ever want that to change. I… I know that no matter what… we’ll always be friends, and if you’re the only one I ever have… then I’m happy. I don’t care what happens, just so long as I always have you as a friend… because you’ll always have me...” He paused for a few moments. “I used to… like being alone… but no more… You make it easy to go outside and enjoy more then just my room…” He laughed quietly. “Thank you so much... “ He trailed off as he noticed she had fallen asleep. “Oh…” He smiled, a little wider then he ever had before. “Goodnight Sunny”