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It was raining outside.
That wasn’t a rare occurrence, but that afternoon it had been thundering. Really hard, the neighbors thought. There were flashes of lightning, and the thunder would crack even louder.
To some, it would be scary, but to Wally it was fascinating.
His friends has come running to Home as soon as the first clap of thunder sounded, and the smallest welcomed them all with open arms. Even Frank, who insisted that he wasn’t afraid at all and was just ‘making sure’ Wally wasn’t.
They huddled in the living room, and the yellow puppet brought them blankets and pillows. ‘For a sleepover,’ he had said; but as the storm rolled on, the thunder quieted and the lightning began to slow.
It was still raining plenty hard, and Wally couldn’t help but remember what Julie had said sometime ago.
‘We should be enjoying the rain, not avoiding it! Why don’t we splash in the puddles?’
At the time, Wally had been too tired to agree, but now all he wanted to do was jump and dance around within the falling water. It would be fun, he thought.
He turned away from the window, gazing at his friends silently before making his way to them. If there was one thing he was good at, it was convincing his neighbors to do something.
”Friends,” he said, “can we go outside?”
They shared a bewildered look. “Well, whatever for?” Poppy asked.
”It’s storming outside, silly!” Sally grinned from her spot on the floor, motioning for him to sit with her, “we can stay in here and make hot cocoa! It’s much warmer in here, anyway.”
Wally shook his head. “I want to go outside,” he repeated.
”What do you want to do out there, bud?” Barnaby questioned. Wally’s smile grew, “I want to play in the rain.”
“Oh! That’s a great idea!” Julie jumped to her feet, hopping over to Wally’s side. “That would be so much fun! We didn’t get to last time.”
The bluenette nodded, “right. I would like to do it this time, if that’s okay.”
”Of course!” Julie exclaimed, “if the others don’t want to go, then I’ll go with you!”
Wally smiled warmly at her before he turned his head to the group. He put on his best doe eyes, clasping his hands together innocently as he pouted at his friends, “but I want them to go too.”
And like a light switch, all their faces twisted into surprise. Wally knew he’d won them over.
”Alright,” Eddie sighed, standing up from Frank’s side on the couch, “we’ll go with you.”
Wally clapped his hands and Julie all but cheered. They changed out of their pajamas and into more casual clothing. Some of his friends were clearly hesitant about the rain, but they didn’t want to let him down.
”Oh but Wally,” Howdy started, “what about your hair?”
”Right. I thought you didn’t like getting it wet,” Frank added.
“I don’t mind,” Wally answered, batting his eyes up at the two, “I thought you all liked my hair down?”
Both their cheeks darkened a tad, “we do. Just figured that you wouldn’t want to get it wet,” Howdy replied. Frank nodded.
Wally shrugged, “it’ll be fun, right?”
One by one, they filed out of the house and into the pouring rain. Wally was the first to immediately throw himself into a puddle.
The others watched endearingly as he rolled around in the water, droplets running down his face. Eventually, Julie ran over and splashed a puddle near the smaller.
Wally let out a loud squeal when the water hit him, and the group watched with loving stares as his hair began to uncurl from his usual pompadour.
”Well? What are we waiting for? Let’s go in!” Sally cheered, running forward and jumping at Julie. Barnaby shrugged half-heartedly, walking over to sit in a puddle.
Poppy smiled and simply shook her head, saying something about not wanting to get her feathers wet. Howdy laughed but made no move to leave the porch. Eddie grabbed Frank’s hand and dragged him over to the others.
The two danced as the three smaller puppets chased each other around the puddles. They were all laughing and cheering, Wally giggling the loudest.
He truly knew how to grab everyone’s attention.
”Oh this is very fun!” He cheered, smiling widely as he clasped his hands together. His hair had completely fallen apart and was beginning to naturally curl.
His friends truly loved his natural hair, it was cute. It suited him, honestly.
There was nothing more admirable than seeing Wally let his natural curls be visible around his friends. It made them feel trusted in a weird way.
“Barnaby!” The puppet called, reaching a hand out to his best friend, “come dance with me!”
The dog chuckled and shook his head endearingly, standing up from where he was sitting and making his way over to the shorter.
Wally grabbed both of his hands and allowed himself to be spun around. As he was dipped down by Barnaby, water falling down his face and nearly dripping into his eyes, Wally smiled at Howdy.
“Howdy,” he grinned, “come out here with us!”
The smaller asked his friend to stand him up straight before turning back to the caterpillar. “C’mon, please?”
”Yeah Howdy! Come on!” Sally called, her hands connected with Julie’s as they spun around together.
“Alright, alright! I’m going!” He answered, jogging towards the group. The rain pattered onto his head heavily, soaking his hair and hat.
Wally giggled, “your hair looks heavy.”
Howdy chuckled, “says you. Look at those curls!” He exclaimed, reaching a hand over to ruffle Wally’s damp hair.
“They’re very lovely, Wally,” Eddie called from behind. Frank walked up and grabbed a strand of hair.
“Yes,” he agreed, ”they’re rather different, but good.”
Wally smiled at them. “Flattery? Never expected it from you, Frankly,” he tutted.
Frank sputtered as the others laughed, “it was not flattery! I was being nice!”
”Aww he’s shy!” Julie giggled, “it’s okay, Frank! We all think Wally is pretty!”
Said puppet flat out laughed at that, and the neighbors couldn’t help but stare. A flash of lightening lit the sky and in turn illuminated Wally’s face. Somehow, it brightened his smile, too.
”Yep!” Sally said, a little too loudly, “Wally sure is!”
The smaller rolled his fingers around each other, grinning lazily at his friends. “Gosh Friends, you’re being very open today,” he said.
”Well, why not?” Barnaby shrugged. Wally only smiled, “it’s not a problem. I like the change of pace.”
”I don’t know what you mean,” Frank shook his head, a furious red on his cheeks. He was clearly lying.
“Hey,” Eddie called, “I thought only I could make you blush like that?”
Frank rolled his eyes, “shut up. Your jokes aren’t funny,” he said, though his lips began quirking up into a smile.
“Don’t be such a downer, Frank! I thought it was very funny, Eddie!” Julie joked. Eddie smiled, “why, thank you Julie!”
”The rain seems to be slowing down,” Howdy spoke up. “Aww man!” Sally whined, “but we were having fun!”
“We can still have fun inside,” Wally told her, “we can make hot cocoa. You wanted hot cocoa, right?”
”Oh yeah!” The starling hopped to her feet. She began dashing towards Home, the rest of the neighbors walking far behind her.
”Say, Wally, you haven’t told us how you feel about the situation,” Barnaby noted as they began walking back.
”Oh That’s right!” Julie agreed, “you haven’t!”
Wally ran his hands through his hair, successfully ruffling up his curls even more. “Oh,” he said, “I guess you’ll just have to find out.”
“Find out?” Frank questioned, “you may be able to read us like an open book, but we can’t read you! You’re an odd one, you know.”
Wally smiled, “I suppose I am. But I’m sure you’ll get it eventually.”
He walked ahead, his cerulean hair shining due to the sun that was peeking out from over the clouds. It shimmered a bright sapphire blue as he walked, and the others couldn’t help but stare.
Thats all they ever did, really. Stare.
Now what? They wondered. They all shared a look; clearly none of them knew how this would work, but they had the same conclusion.
That conclusion being: they all adored Wally Darling. They loved him, and he must’ve loved at least one of them back, but there was truly no way to know.
They would figure it out together, they supposed. Right now, the only thing to do was enjoy each other’s company.
Wally led them into the house, giving them towels and pajamas to change into. A strange feeling of deja vu spread around the room.
After getting dressed and dried, Wally made hot cocoa, like he promised. He gave each neighbor a cup, sprinkling marshmallows on top.
The smaller had also apparently started sleeping in a robe, they noted. It looked nice on him, even if it fit a little loosely. There was an intense stare when one of the sleeves slipped down his shoulder, but no one said a thing.
Poppy thankfully broke the silence when she started talking about a problem she was having with designing a new shawl, and Sally and Julie immediately jumped in to give some creative ideas.
Frank suggested butterflies, and Howdy mentioned an apple pattern. Eddie simply sat by Frank’s side, listening to the conversation.
It had been a great afternoon, and the neighbors couldn’t help but feel like they made a huge leap with Wally.
Nighttime was wonderful as well, bedtime stories and lullabies sounding around the room. It was peaceful, relaxing.
It was intimate, in a way. It was loving. This was what love felt like, the neighbors realized. This was true joy.
This was life.