Alive

Alive by CrystalNeonSummerSnow

About: Toy Story

Genre: Paranormal/Friendship

Character's POV: Woody

'''Summary: When a bad storm happens and the wind takes our precious hero Woody away from Bonnie and his friends, the toy cowboy ends up running throughout the town trying to find his way back home. Yet, when an old friend walks back into his life and is faced with dangerous problems himself, Woody must help him before he helps himself.'''

Chapter 1: Just Knew
I knew something was going to happen; I just knew it.

I didn't know if it was a random thought or that hollow feeling in my head when I was awoken by a crack of lightning outside, but somehow something was telling me by the way the clouds covered the stars in the sky that today would be the most memorable day of my life.

My friends and I were strewn across the hard wood floor where shelter protected us from the rain. Bonnie had gone on a whole-summer vacation on a cruise ship and wouldn't return until pre-school started again. Yep, all of us toys left with not a whole lot to do but resume being a happy family.

Of course, once in a while, families have to be seperated.

While everyone was pulling out old comedy DVDs to watch and played games like hide-n-seek, I decided to sit at the windowsill and stare at the thunderstorm without even flinching when it looked like the lightning was targeting me. I felt so pathetic, so frail, and this isn't how a leader should feel. I doubt it had anything to do with Bonnie, but it definitely had to do with someone; someone who had seemed to walk out of my life.

Andy.

Looking at the storm surging on outside reminded me of how I felt when Andy gave me up to Bonnie. I wouldn't say that the thunder and lightning represented any anger of some sort, but the rain sure did represent the tears I refused to let fall. I had a reputation of being a big, strong hero to everyone and I try my best everyday to be above petty weeping, but today, with everyone too preoccupied to noticed, my tears finally burst.

It's been a year since Andy left and yes, Bonnie was a good owner--perfect in some ways--but the hole in my heart (hard to believe a toy would have one) just grew bigger and bigger when my missing him reached its largest.

My tears stained the fabric of my jeans and my chocolate eyes to match my hair earned more luster from my excess tears I finally held back and swallowed. I had to get a grip on myself, for nostalgia's sake. After forcefully drying away the tears to avoid suspicion, I laid my head back and let out one last breath before falling asleep.

''A ray of light shined right in my eyes and I woke up to see that I was outside on flowering ground and under a cloudless sky that greeted me. I looked at the house before me; it looked nothing like Bonnie's house. Red roof shingles, casement windows with a potted daisy on one of the sills, louvered door, this was Andy's house.''

''I expected myself to be overjoyed and dance the dorkeist happy dance ever, but I wasn't sure if this was either a dream or nostalgia slapping me with a memory to make me fall and break down. I gripped my cowboy hat and took a deep breath before climbing up the window sill. My eyes examined every blanket of dust in the kitchen and every flickering light to see if there was any shadow hiding from me.''

My worrying ended once I saw him.

''" Andy?" my voice cracked with a tear to swallow as well. The figure turned to the window and it felt like the world stopped. Two old friends reutinted again. Andy's eyes didn't even blink once; the same with mine. He pulled up the window and we just stared at each other before another whisper was said; just staring, smiling, and noticing our eyes gleamed with our tears blurring our vision. I reached my hand out to try and start the reunion with a handshake, but without warning, I was soon hugged against his chest and I could hear his quiet sobbing a little more.''

''" Woody..." he still remembered my name. He said it again a few times to reassure that and then darkness closed around us. I didn't care about that; I didn't care at all. All that had really mattered was that Andy and I were reunited. My first--and most special--owner holding me in his arms again. The reunion I dreamt of.''

Everything vanished once a hand laid upon my shoulder to nudge me into waking up.

" Woody? Woody, wake up!" Buzz yelled with one final push. Either his yelling or his accidentally pushing me off the dresser and me hitting my head on an open drawer woke me up. Everyone formed a circle around me as I got up.

" Are you OK, Woody?" Peas-in-a-Pod asked while Dolly patted my shoulder in sympathy.

" Yeah, I'm okay. Why do you guys ask?"

" Well, you've been asleep all night, for starters." Mr. Potato Head smirked.

" And you haven't done anything except sit at the windowsill." Mrs. Potato Head added.

I took my hat off and let it fall to the floor as I spun on the heel of my boots to face them. They could easily tell even before I opened my mouth that I was going to lie again.

" Guys, I'm alright. Nothing's going on with me. Just continue on with the night since you don't have much left."

I picked up my hat, stalked myself towards the closet, and jumped onto a chair to reach the handle better. Placing my vinyl hand on the cold metal, I turned around to my friends. They all looked at me and it was as if they could see straight into my soul... a soul filled with nothing but emptiness and misery. I couldn't even find the strength to smile; I just looked down at my feet and sighed. I could hear squeaking plastic feet approach me and all I could do was guess in my head that it was Buzz.

" You're lying, Woodster, and you know that." he began with; his most blatant way to point out the topic of the conversation. I let out another sigh and I slowly drew my head up to see his face. I gritted my teeth behind my pursed frown, jumped down to the floor, and murmured,

" Buzz, I told y-I told everyone for the billionth time today that I'm alright. What's the matter with you guys?"

" Then why exactly are you heading into the closet?"

" Mind your own business, for once! I mean, really!" I veered myself back to the door and slammed it behind me as I left everyone more concered than ever. I never snapped at Buzz like that before. No, scratch that. I never snapped at anyone like that before. Sure, maybe a few bouts of frustration come my way, but this wasn't just a little bout of something. This was real anger.

I laid my head against the ajar door and overheard my friends talk about me as usual.

" What's going on with Woody?" Slinky asked.

" I don't know Slink, but I've never seen him get this angry before." said Buzz. Soon, there was a small silence. I hugged my knees together and waited for a smirk from Mr. Potato Head or at least someone else talking about his or her concern for me. Then I heard footsteps head to the closet, but instead of seeing the doorknob turn, I instead heard another vinyl hand knocking on the door.

" Woody?" Jessie said to start with. " Woody, seriously, come out. What is going on with you? Ever since Bonnie left, you've just sat by yourself, either at the windowsill or in the backyard."

" Jess, I'm fine, really. I just need to be alone." I replied sounding a little more calm that before. I couldn't see her, but I bet she was shaking her head right now.

" Do you miss Bonnie?"

" No. This has nothing to do with Bonnie.... but missing someone is the subject, per se."

Another silence. I didn't even breathe. I felt the pain make me succumb into sheding, what it felt like, a flood of tears. My will was at least able to keep me from sniffling and sobbing, but not from sheding tears. Jessie didn't even try to get me to talk about it; it was apparent to everyone that I was talking about Andy.

This time, instead of placing my ear against the door to listen in on what they were saying, I knelt down to the ground and peeked through the little crack. Jessie turned to everyone and interlaced her own fingers together.

" He misses Andy."

" Yeah, we noticed." Dolly glared at Mr. Potato Head along with my other friends.

" Button it, Potato Head. Don't you think this is at least a little sad?"

" Yeah, sad that this guy can't get over it."

I balled up my fist and it felt like it would go into the dry wall, but I knew that violence wasn't going to solve anything. I restrained my anger and it quickly changed back into weeping. Jessie was about to turn to the door and I scooted away from the crack so that they wouldn't see me.

" Buzz, y-you reckon we should... y'know, talk to him?"

" I think maybe we should leave Woody alone for a little while; he'll get over it."

I rested my forehead upon my knees and finally got the strength to breath. Well, probably that was because of my heavy, yet controlled, hypervetilation. They had a right to leave me alone; in my condition, I needed it. Still, even spending a little time in solitude couldn't get rid of the dark loneliness that seeped into me. I bet that when Andy gave me away, it was like giving away his heart, but I guess to him he was okay about that. It seemed like everyone was okay with that, but me. I had been by his side since Kindergarten and I thought that I would forever be his favorite toy and that he'd never give me away, but as usual, I was wrong. Since a toy never grows and never dies, maybe that was why his departure hit me the harderst.

I crawled into a corner and noticed a pool of tears around my boots. I've really been crying that much? Wow, that's the most tears I've ever shed in my days. My cheeks would've turned crimson by the second if I had blood rushing in me. I decided that I've let the darkness consume me too much. I once again dried away my tears and grabbed onto the handle.

Numbly dangling above the floor for a moment, I finally turned it and saw the lamp light shine in front of me now.

Everyone quickly turned from looking at the wall to looking at me. I hoisted up my belt a little and parted my lips to speak.

" Guys, I know all of you--well, almost all of you--are worried about the way I've been acting, and I'm sorry about that, but I just think that I need some alone time."

" Why would you want to be alone and doleful when we're right here for ya?" Buzz asked in a friendly tone. He reached his hand out to pat my shoulder and I allowed it for a short moment. But then I looked down and said,

" Well, for starters,"--everyone couldn't help but gasp at the sight of seeing me shed a tear in front of them for the first time--"I'm probably never going to see Andy ever again, but I still want to appear a leader, not a weakling."

Buzz shook his head and turned to Jessie; she pursed her lips and gave a sad nod at him. I tapped my fingers on the side of my leg and glanced over at the sight of rain bouncing violently against the pane of the window like hail. Wait, it was hail. I took a step back and said,

" C'mon guys, I think the storm's getting worse, we should seek better protection in the basement."

Even before I took one step closer to the hallway, something tapped on the window and it sounded like it would threated to break through. It was just a branch, but with the storm and the ground suddenly rumbling, I could tell an earthquake was evident. After noticing one of the Pizza Planet aliens stuck under a fallen stack of books, I climbed up onto the dresser and lifted up all those books without any help. In a toy's strength, lifting a stack of books is like Atlas lifting the world.

While he was able to get back with his brothers, right when I was about to climb down, the tapping soon became a low eerie creaking sound of wood. Before I knew it.....

Shatter!

The branch broke right through the window and the little point of the excess twigs hooked into the fabric of my plaid shirt. I was dangling with my life on the line.

" Give him something to grab on!" commanded Buzz. Everyone scattered around the bedroom to try and find something to save me. So far, when it seemed like their attempts to save me came to no avail, Rex tripped upon a bag of pipe cleaners. Soon, Jessie got an idea.

She ripped open the bag with her bare hands and tied together as many pipe cleaners as she could.

" Woody, hang on!"

She reached out her pipe staff and I clumsily swung my hands around trying to grab it until I finally came across success.

" Gotcha!" she cheered, then motioned everyone to grab on.

Tugging and using up all their strength still wasn't freeing me, but all it did was help loosen one of the stiches of my right arm just like before. Soon, the winds were able to grab hold of me and the earthquake grew stronger. Soon enough, the hovering ceiling fan fell upon my friends, knocking them all out.

" No!" I cried as the winds were able to whisk me away in the air.

I screamed as I was hovering above the tri-state area, seeing no cars or people bustle in or out of my town. At least that ruled out a possibility of getting noticed and/or run over. Literally holding onto my hat and falling to the earth at a fast speed, I took my pullstring, tied it into a lasso, and aimmed myself for a cherry blossom tree in the park to at least land on the hill tumbling down, but stand up unharmed.

With one good swing, I narrowly escaped falling and being crushed on the graveled ground and landed on my feet on a weakening branch. I climbed onto a lower (and much more stronger) branch as the one above me fell to the damp grass bellow.

I fell to the ground as well and let out a few more sobs before fainting and resuming my lifeless toy state.

Chapter 2: All My Fault
Gentle rain drizzling on my face woke me.

I looked at the full moon above me. Must be midnight.

I jerked myself to knees and just stayed that way for a while. My breaths became shaky and weak, hands twitching and eyelids damp from the sobbing in my sleep. I felt so alone and hopeless. No friends by my side, no kid to hold me close, no nothing. Gradually, I walked on my knees all the way over to a nearby puddle to look at my reflection.

The fabric of my jeans was stained with mud and grass from falling onto the hill, my face was covered with grime, and my eyes were half-lidded and exahusted from pathetically weeping. A part of my mind scolded me for that, but another part said that I'm being too hard on myself.

I'd believe both perspectives, but somehow the self-remorse didn't cease.

Why didn't I just jump off the stupid dresser and guide my friends to safety instead of being frozen from my curiousity of the creepy noise? I sighed and rubbed my itching eyes as the rain continued to soak my clothes. I knew that I had to get home, but I needed to get my strength back, and in my condition, I hoped that that would happen soon. I let one more tear stroll down my cheek and I was officially dried out of liquid emotion.

I still couldn't help but feel that this was all my fault.

The sticky hot air around me pressed hard on the stuffing inside of me; the ongoing rain was at least able to cool me off. The billowed feeling I got in my shirt was able to calm my nerves and make my emotions lighten up from intense remorse to just plain angst. To me, angst wasn't nessicarily a bad thing since I've lived with it since the day I was given to Bonnie. It's like a scar: something pierces into your skin, you're left in the hospital to heal, you develop a scar, and you just live with it. Of course, I wouldn't know what it would feel like to have something sharp and dangerous slice into me and the villian leaving me to cry in pain for help while having my skinned bathed by the pool of blood surrounding me.

But to me, angst felt like a scar, and I just decided to live with it. And just thinking about that made me resume hating myself for a pointless reason.

If I eventually get back home before my now 5 year-old owner does and see Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of my friends still lying under the broken ceiling fan dead and the pipe staff still in Jessie's lifeless hand, I'd never forgive myself. Just the image of coming home, all ecstatic and arms open to embrace my friends, and then they'd lay in front of me, staring at me in their now permenant toy state of mind and each vibrant colored eye containing no life or emotion, made my eyes weld up with the once dry tears again. I shook my head and successfully held my tears back in order to keep my composure in tact.

But still, as hollow as I felt inside, I knew I had a mission to prove my remorse wrong; I had to get home.

I finally wobbled myself up onto my feet and ran towards the park gates, tripping once over the rough-hewn gravel. It looked like I was home free, but surprisingly, the streets were packed with cars and ambulances.

" You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled under my breath. I would understand ambulances rushing to find any sights of injured and/or mortally wounded victims of the earthquake, but why on Earth would other people who should be hudled close to their loved ones at home be out hustling and bustling?

I guess I had to find another way out.

I hid behind the rusted bars of the gate and my self-conscience scrambled all thoughts in my head to try and find the answer out of here. I could climb the cherry blossom tree again and the only success I could get would be falling repeatedly at every try and have a bored teenager with a camera and nothing to do snap a picture of me and put it on his profile on MySpace or Facebook or something. No, I had to find a better plan than that.

Turning my head around to a bush, I lifted my brows up. Time for the ol' disguise trick.

With no sight of anyone walking by due to them being too preoccupied with yelling and honking their horns to speed up a traffic jam, I leaped into the bush and tried digging up the roots so that I could move easier. I only dug them up with my left arm since my right lost one stitch, but even one stich could result in losing my whole arm again like before. Finally pulling up the last root, I ran freely and franticly to the exit far away from the main street and instead to a more ignored road to the simple and forgotten half of the town. It was still strange to me how a park would still be seen near main street and not be bulldozed, dug up, nor drilled into a new restaurant or library for a tourist's smile.

I rested in the middle of the fog for a moment, panting and gripping tight on my knees again. I just let the strange and rare weather surround me and hide me from the civilization, because that was what I was going for. I looked at my pullstring, trying not to tug hard enough to make my voice box go off and attract any attention. Gradually, I was able to loosen the impressive knot I made to create the lasso and it fell behind me as a regular pullstring again. I lifted my chin and picked up right where I left off.