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"The age of toys is over.”
The voices of the forgotten toys Jessie had met in the Jordans’ yard still echoed ominously in her mind. Were they right? Should she and the other toys be afraid?
It had only been a few hours since Jessie and Bullseye had darted across the street to try and intervene on Bonnie’s behalf with the Jordan twins. They hadn’t made it back to the basket before Walter Anderson carried the toys inside for his daughter, and they had to slip in unnoticed while the family was eating dinner. But once Bonnie had taken Jessie to bed with her—and promptly fallen asleep—the cowgirl doll had crept up to the windowsill to think.
Her long legs tucked up under her chin, Jessie stared out into the black night. The eerie blue glow of devices was still visible in a few nearby house windows, even at this late hour. She sighed. Bullseye glanced up from where he was laying on the floor beneath the window and whimpered.
Buzz had been watching from the basket, where he still sat with some of the other toys at the foot of the bed, and his brow dipped. Jessie was upset about something—she never wanted to be alone like this unless something was weighing heavily on her mind. He was going to find out what that was.
He scaled the side of the basket and hopped out as effortlessly as his girlfriend had done hours earlier, then crept quietly over to where Jessie was and used the desk chair to climb to her level.
She looked up slowly when she saw her boyfriend approaching. “Hey,” she forced a weak smile.
Buzz gestured to the windowsill, and Jessie nodded before turning so he could sit down next to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she took off her hat and quietly rested her head on his shoulder.
“So what happened out there today?” the space ranger asked. “You never got a chance to tell me.”
“Well... Bullseye ’n I made it to the Jordan place, we were able to peek inside. An’ I saw those kids down in the basement, just starin’ at screens, not even playin’ at all. Before I could do anything, these toys that had been left out in the yard to rot started closin’ in on us, tellin’ us how ‘the age of toys was over’ because of devices. I didn’t wanna believe ‘em, but they made us come up on the roof and see for ourselves. I could see in the windows of houses all over the neighborhood—Bonnie was playin’ with Dolly, but all the other houses you could see kids ’n adults all on these devices. See over there?” Jessie pointed to the glowing window next door.
Buzz squinted. “What am I looking at?”
“That blue glow. That ain’t from a lamp, or even watchin’ TV. Someone’s on a device.”
“Device?”
“Phone, tablet, computer… it’s all the same. Makes people into zombies.”
“Well, Bonnie doesn’t have one of those. We’re safe.” Buzz kissed his girlfriend on the forehead.
Jessie reached her arm across Buzz’s chest, and he rested his free hand on her wrist.
“I hope so. I mean, that’s what I told Bullseye, he was freakin’ out pretty good. Bonnie’s such a sweet kid, with a great imagination. I know she loves us. Makes me mad as a hornet that those twins laughed at her… the little varmints.”
“I didn’t appreciate that either,” Buzz scowled.
Jessie absentmindedly traced the star sticker on her boyfriend’s chest. “I hope ya don’t mind I made ya deputy, I jus’ needed to try an’ do somethin’ to help Bonnie.”
She couldn’t see the blush rise to his cheeks. “Heh, not at all. I’m… honored.”
“I trust ya, Buzz. I know you can handle the room as good as I can. An’ I’m sorry for shuttin’ ya up like I did—but I knew Bonnie was upset. What were ya gonna say, anyway?”
Everything within Buzz was screaming for him to seize the moment and tell Jessie what was on his mind—how catching the bouquet at Forky and Karen Beverly’s wedding had made him realize that he wanted nothing more than to make her his wife. The setting was perfect, the two of them sitting alone in the moonlight. But he could tell from her tone that Jessie still wasn’t herself, far more than she was willing to let on. So he lied.
“Ohhh, n-nothing,” he sputtered nervously, then quickly changed the subject. “So do you have any other ideas, to help Bonnie find a friend?”
“Not really,” she sighed heavily. “Right now I’m jus’ tired, and discouraged. Maybe we can come up with somethin’ tomorrow, you ’n me… deputy.”
Buzz smiled to himself, proud that Jessie was embracing the idea of him being her second-in-command. “Affirmative, sheriff.” The couple sat in silence for a few minutes before the space ranger spoke again. “You want me to call Woody? He might know more about this device situation, being out on the road. He could have some ideas, or advice.”
“Nah, I don’t wanna worry Woody. He’s got enough to think about, helpin’ other toys all the time. We’ll figure this out ourselves… somehow. Jus’ sit with me tonight?”
Buzz pulled his girlfriend close, and she nestled down against him even tighter. He pressed his cheek against the top of her head. “It’ll be okay, Jessie, you’ll see.”
The next day started just like any other day, with Bonnie playing with her toys. It wasn’t until early afternoon that everything changed.
Jessie laid motionless on the chair where she had been left, and watched helplessly with Bullseye as Bonnie opened Lilypad and immediately became engrossed in the tablet’s games and features. As afternoon turned into evening, and day turned into night, Bonnie’s attention never wavered from the addictive glow of the device. And the longer Jessie remained forgotten in the living room, the more old fears and panic started welling up inside of her.
After Bonnie’s parents had gone to bed, Jessie and Bullseye were finally able to return to the girl’s bedroom—only to find that Bonnie was still wide awake and completely focused on her new device, hidden beneath the covers.
Jessie spotted the rest of the toys at the foot of the bed, staring sadly at the sight. They didn’t know what she already knew, about the looming threat devices posed to their lives, and yet they were still concerned. Their fears exacerbated her own. She could feel her chest tightening, and her breath quickening.
It was then that Buzz noticed her in the doorway with Bullseye, and immediately jumped down. Sensing that the other toys would follow, and inundate the sheriff with questions, he raised a hand for them to halt.
He quickly made it over to where his girlfriend was standing, staring panic-stricken at Bonnie beneath the glowing sheet. Bullseye looked at him with wide, worried eyes. Buzz rested a hand on Jessie’s arm to get her attention. “Let’s go somewhere else, okay?”
Jessie nodded and instinctively reached for Buzz’s hand, then with Bullseye in tow the couple made their way to the kitchen and climbed out through the cat flap to the back porch. As soon as they were outside and able to speak freely, the emotions that the cowgirl had been holding in all day finally broke free, along with her tears.
“She forgot me Buzz, left Bullseye ’n me on the chair! Didn’t even take us to bed, jus’ left us there!”
Buzz placed a calming hand on the small of Jessie’s back. “That… Lilypad… is new to her. I’m sure the novelty will wear off soon.”
“It ain’t as easy as all that! She’s hooked already, can’t ya see? Just like all the others I saw from the roof!” She started breathing more rapidly and reached for her braid, pulling at it frantically.
“Shh, deep breaths, Jessie.” Buzz watched with concern as she made an effort to come down from her panic. “That’s it. Why don’t we sit down?”
Under her boyfriend’s guidance, Jessie lowered herself to sitting on the top step, then slumped with her head in her hands.
Buzz sat down beside her, tenderly rubbing her back. Bullseye sat on her other side, and nuzzled her shoulder. Jessie rested a hand on her horse’s hoof, and tried to find comfort in the two toys who loved her most.
“It’s jus’ like… like Emily,” she said in a small, defeated voice. “Except Bonnie’s so much younger. I dunno what to do… if there’s anything we can do.”
“Jessie never gives up… Jessie finds a way, remember?” Buzz nudged her lovingly. “Bonnie isn’t Emily. She’s going to come back to us. It might just take a little time.”
“But time’s a’wastin already,” Jessie sighed. "She needs a friend now, and gettin’ lost in some device ain’t gonna fix that. That thing’s a… a leech!”
“It’s definitely a problem,” agreed Buzz. “Maybe if we all work together, and explain to the others what we’re up against—“
“Nuh uh. You really want everyone else to know how bad things are out there? I don’t wanna scare ‘em, or get ‘em riled up. Besides, Woody put me in charge, he trusted me, I gotta fix this myself.“
“I’m always here to help—at your service—you know that.”
“I know… deputy,” Jessie leaned her head on Buzz’s shoulder, and he felt his heart swell at the sound of his new title.
“You sure you don’t want me to call Woody?”
“No, like I said, he’s busy enough helpin’ other toys, he doesn’t need to be burdened with my problems, too.”
“He’d never consider you a burden, Jessie. Neither would I, ever.”
Bullseye snorted in agreement.
The three toys sat in silence for a while. As Jessie brooded over the situation with Bonnie and grappled with her painful insecurities, Buzz was fighting his own internal battle. His thoughts couldn’t help but return to the wedding the day prior, and the desire burning in the very core of his being to propose marriage to the beautiful cowgirl sitting next to him. But once again, this wasn’t the moment. She was too upset, too distracted. It needed to be perfect.
While Buzz had been pondering romantic thoughts, a fire of an entirely different sort had been rising inside of Jessie. She sat bolt upright. “That’s it!”
Her boyfriend snapped out of his reverie. “What? What’s it?”
“I’m gonna give that device what for tomorrow!”
“Oh no,” Buzz muttered under his breath, knowing exactly where this was going. “Jessie… kindness will get you farther than aggression. That’s just common diplomacy—“
“Diplomacy my ass!” Jessie stood, her arms waving, her face set with anger and determination. “What does that thing think she’s doin’? Comin’ into OUR house and ruinin’ everything? NO, she’s not takin’ Bonnie from us without a fight!”
Buzz stood and gently placed his hands on his girlfriend’s arms. “You have to stay calm, Jessie. If you approach things calmly and rationally, we have a better chance of a compromise. We know nothing about this Lilypad, and how she might react—if we even can communicate with a device.”
“But I’m mad, Buzz! Nobody—nothin—gets to take over my kid, not again!”
“I know, and you have every right to be upset. But Section Three, Sub-section Alpha of the Space Ranger Mission Manual states that all adversaries must be first approached with the intent to establish peaceful relations.”
Jessie gave her boyfriend a blank, slightly annoyed stare.
“Heh, it’s just in my programming to remember that stuff,” Buzz shrugged. “It is solid advice.”
As frustrated as she was, Jessie couldn’t deny he was right. “Okay, fine. But if that device starts a fight, I’m finishin’ it.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less,” her boyfriend chuckled, giving her a chaste kiss. “But just try your best to stay calm, okay?”
“I am calm!” she exclaimed, clearly quite the opposite.
Buzz smirked, and raised an eyebrow. Jessie let out an exasperated sigh. He reached for her hand. “You want to take a walk around the yard, before we go back inside? The exercise would do you good.”
“I s’pose. Wouldn’t need t’get exercise if I hadn’t been stuck on the chair all day thanks to Lilypad. That piece’a—“
“Let’s try not to think about her for a little while. We’re staying calm, remember?”
“But—“
“Calm.”
With another sigh, Jessie joined Buzz in hopping down the back stairs and stepping out onto the back lawn, with Bullseye trailing behind.
As they walked, Buzz tried to think of other things to talk about to get Jessie’s mind off the situation at hand. The one subject he wanted to discuss most, he knew he shouldn’t bring up. Not yet. So he brought up the next best thing.
“Remember our first night at Bonnie’s? When we came out here together for the first time?”
“OUR first day here we weren’t causin’ trouble and upsettin’ the apple cart! No, we got along with everyone jus’ fine, and didn’t hog Bonnie! Not like that blasted device.”
Buzz squeezed her hand. “That’s not what I was getting at. Let’s focus on happy thoughts. Not Lilypad.”
“Hmmph. Lily’s fittin’ for her name… more like lily-livered coward.”
“Buhhh,” Buzz exhaled, his tactics backfiring. “Okay… looks like we need another lap.”
It was a good hour before Buzz felt like Jessie’s temper had cooled off enough to stop walking laps around the yard. He stopped near the back porch. “We better get some sleep. We should head back to Bonnie’s room.”
All the progress Buzz had made in helping Jessie calm down faded away as she flew into a tirade again.
“Ughhh, do we hafta? I don’t wanna see her ugly, green, bug-eyed face ever again! And that voice! Makes me wanna break somethin’—like her—“
Buzz quickly turned to face Jessie and closed the distance between them with a sound kiss, effectively ending his girlfriend’s rant. When they pulled apart, he grinned, and she couldn't help but smile back. “Come on, let’s go in. And Bullseye,” he turned to the horse, “I’m counting on you tomorrow. We both have to help Jessie stay calm. Can you do that for me?”
Bullseye nodded enthusiastically and gave Buzz’s face a sloppy kiss.
The space ranger laughed, and patted the pet who was as much his now as Jessie’s. “Good boy.”
Making their way up the porch stairs and through the cat flap, the three toys returned to Bonnie’s room to find the girl finally asleep, and Lilypad sitting on her charging pad next to the bed, her digital eyes closed.
Jessie’s face twisted into a scowl at the sight of the device.
“Eyes on us, not her,” Buzz said, as he guided his girlfriend to the foot of the bed, in front of the wicker toy basket. “This is a good spot; you can’t see her from here. Bullseye?”
Bullseye flopped down and made himself comfortable, then the couple laid down, using their horse’s back as a pillow. Jessie rolled onto her side, and cuddled down into the crook of Buzz’s shoulder, her head on his chest. It wasn’t long before her emotional exhaustion caught up with her, and sleep overtook them all.
The first rays of sunlight were beaming into the nearby window when Buzz’s eyes blinked open the following morning. Realizing that Bonnie and her parents would soon be awake as well—and that he would need to assume a more toy-like position—he gently eased Jessie off of him and to the side, then sat up.
“I hope this is all resolved soon,” Buzz thought to himself, as he gazed lovingly at the sleeping cowgirl and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “So I can ask you to marry me, Jessie.”
He rose and stepped a few paces away, then dropped to the floor near where Jessie still lay. The imminent confrontation with Lilypad was bound to be a challenge for all the toys. But he was going to be there for his sheriff, as her deputy. And hopefully… before too much longer… as her husband.