Chapter Text
“Do you ever miss it, Bo?”
The question struck her out of the blue. “Miss what?” she asked.
Woody looked out to the vast expanse of the carnival. They had been running around here for years now, so many that he had lost count. Day in and day out, they had seen children come and go from this place. He reminisced on what it felt like to have a home, on whether he had made the right decision or not. He wondered what Buzz and Jessie and Bullseye and the others were up to now, if they were still as loved by Bonnie as they were when he left them. He missed them.
Shaking his head, Woody stood up. “Nevermind.”
Bo frowned. Such had been the way for the past few weeks. Perhaps it was the changing of the seasons, with summer fast approaching and school letting out. Many more kids were coming to the carnival, and Bo feared that in many of them, she could see the family he once had. Deep down, a part of her missed it, too. But it was better this way, she was sure of it. They belonged to no one, and therefore they could never risk heartbreak ever again.
But what was the point of being a toy if you were not loved by a child? Played with, cherished, revered? It had been many years since Bo felt the hug of a little boy or girl, since she had participated in playtime as a princess or a damsel in distress or as an evil supervillain. She watched Woody walk away and knew that something deep within his chest was yearning.
As Woody walked along, careful to avoid the thickening crowds, he reached the edge of the road where an old SUV had haphazardly pulled up to the curb. The door slammed shut and Woody saw the heavy footsteps of a young man.
“I know the numbers are bad, but there’s nothing I can do about it!” he shouted into his cell phone. “I told you from the getgo that this doll wouldn’t sell but no one listened to me, and now look at us. We’re in the red!”
Woody furrowed his brows. He couldn’t quite figure out why that voice sounded so familiar. Another slammed door and this time, a woman stepped out of the car. The man hung up the phone. “Can’t you put your work aside for one weekend?” she asked, angry. “I thought this road trip would be a good thing for our family but clearly you’re still holding back!”
The man sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Hannah, I told you, even if we go on this trip, I still have a duty to my job” he said.
“You have a duty to our family first” the woman replied. “Your daughter misses you. We all miss you.” The man sighed again.
Woody frowned. He felt like he was witnessing something that did not belong to him. He had overheard many a fight in his years here now, whether between drunk couples or a husband and wife on the brink of divorce. When you’re a lost toy, you notice things more closely, it seems.
Another slam of the car door, but neither the man nor the woman had climbed back inside. Instead, a little girl crawled out of the backseat and ran into the carnival. Neither parent seemed to notice her escape.
“Dang it” Woody spat under his breath. Against his better judgment, he followed her.
As he went along, following the sound of her sobs, Bo caught sight of him chasing after her. Not again , she thought to herself. Time and time again, Woody had fallen victim to the wiles of sad and lonely children. He wanted to be there for them, to comfort them, to be there in their time of need. Every time, he was left to the wayside when the issue was resolved or the child was reunited with their parents. Ew, leave that cowboy doll here. You don’t know where it’s been. Bo shook her head. He had to stop torturing himself like this. She followed close behind him.
But Woody could not help himself. There was something about this little girl that sparked something specific in him, a strange familiarity. She skidded to a halt at a dead end surrounded by blinking carnival games, blaring music, and a daunting house of mirrors. The reality of what she had done finally sunk in and crestfallen, she fell to her knees and broke down. She was lost and it was all her fault.
Despite the people surrounding her, no one seemed to care. Woody refused to let this stand. He deftly pulled his pull string and flopped down into the dirt as his voice box crooned a familiar “There’s a snake in my boot!”
The little girl sniffled and looked around, confused, before finally locking eyes with the cowboy. Tilting her head, she crawled nearer to him and cradled him in her hands. “Was that you?” she asked. She took the blank stare on Woody’s face as an affirmative. “You’re lost, too, aren’t you?” she then asked. “Maybe we can be lost together. My name is Audrey.”
Audrey . She was a cute little girl, brimming with innocence. Big, round eyes flashing blue and a button nose and soft smile. He could tell she was full of wonder and creativity. In a way, she almost reminded him of–
“Andy!” a woman’s voice shouted. “Andy, she’s over here!” Woody recognized that voice. It was the woman from earlier–Hannah, her name was.
The woman fell to her knees and held Audrey close as she sobbed and kissed her forehead. “Don’t ever scare me like that again! What if someone had taken you?”
The man from earlier knelt down and joined in on the hug, and for a moment a tinge of something struck Woody firmly in the chest. “Audrey, we were so worried” he said.
“I’m sorry” she sobbed. “I just hate when you guys argue! I thought this trip was supposed to be fun, but Mom’s just been stressed the whole time and Dad won’t leave work alone.”
“I know” the man sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Audrey. I really am.”
Audrey shook her head. “I just…I miss you. You never play with me anymore. You just sit there on your phone the whole time. All you care about is work.”
Frowning, the man said, “I know I’ve been pretty busy lately. I have a very important job, you know that. But…but my job as your dad is more important. I promise, I want to do better.”
“Come on, sweetheart” the mother said then, rising to her feet and extending a hand to help Audrey up. “Let’s get going.” As she followed suit, however, the mother’s eyes dropped to Woody held tightly in Audrey’s hand. “Audrey, sweetie, what is that?”
Audrey sniffled and wiped her running nose with the back of her hand. “I found him on the ground. He’s lost, too. Can I keep him? Please?” She gazed up at her parents with eyes full of tearful hope.
The mother furrowed her brows, uncertain. “I don’t know, sweetie, you don’t know where it’s been. Someone might be looking for him.”
The father, however, paused and something clearly shifted within him. “Hey, Audrey, wait a second. Let me see that?” he asked, kneeling down to her level. Audrey cautiously handed the cowboy over. The man studied it long and hard, running his fingers over the plastic molding of the face and the buttons sewn onto the yellow plaid shirt. Faded black marker was chipping off on the bottom of his boot. His heart ached as memories flooded back of a simpler time.
And all the while, Woody stared back up at this young man and suddenly he understood everything. It was almost enough to make him break out of his stupor and cry. Despite the gray hair coming in at the temples and the crow’s feet lining his eyes, that happy smile and kind expression never wavered. It was Andy. His Andy.
Andy smiled and for a moment, he almost started to cry. He composed himself, however, as he handed the cowboy back to his daughter. “This is a very special toy, Audrey. You’re very lucky to have found him. This guy…his name’s Woody and he’s the best friend any kid could ask for. He’s brave, like a cowboy should be, and kind, and smart. He found you right when you needed him, and that’s exactly what makes him so special. Woody will never give up on you. Ever.” Audrey smiled as her father explained this to her and she felt as if she was beginning to see a side of him that had long since gone dormant. “As a matter of fact, I had a Woody just like this when I was a kid. He never gave up on me, either. I’m only sorry I gave up on him…” He gently rested a hand atop the doll then and deep down, in that moment, he had made a promise to himself. He was going to change for the better. Andy Davis had become completely consumed by his job and therefore lost sight of what was really important in life: being there for his daughter, being present in her life, and helping shape her into the young woman she would one day grow to be. And the first step toward doing that was playtime.
As Andy, Hannah, Audrey, and Woody made their way back to the car, Bo watched from the sidelines, her porcelain heart breaking. They were losing each other yet again, and for what? Woody was only going to get his heart broken again. Kids only love you for as long as they need you, and then they throw you to the wayside. But this time, something felt different. Something felt strange.
Woody looked up from over Audrey’s shoulder and motioned for Bo to follow him. He pointed to Audrey’s backpack, the main compartment not completely zipped up. It was the perfect opportunity for Bo and her sheep to dive in and come with him. Bo considered the offer for a moment. She didn’t have much time to make her choice. Was she really ready to leave her freedom behind, though? Was she ready to sacrifice her carefree life here for the love of a child, even if only temporary? She narrowed her eyes as she watched Woody walk away with his new family. If she let him leave, she knew she would never see him again. Huffing through her nose, she whistled to her sheep and catapulted herself down into the little girl’s backpack. She landed on a pile of notebooks with a soft thud. Woody grinned ferociously. This was everything he could have ever asked for and more.
Once they were back in the car, Audrey drew her knees up to her chest and held Woody close, babbling joyfully about how excited she was to introduce him to her other toys, like a bath squirter fish named Nemo and a push-along racecar named Lightning McQueen. As she reached into her backpack to pull out crayons and a coloring book, however, her hand brushed against the cold porcelain of Bo Peep. Confused, she pulled the little doll out and was instantly smitten with her blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Where did you come from, pretty lady?” she whispered, caressing her blushed cheek and straightening her bow. Her index finger grazed the bandage wrapped around her arm and she frowned. “Oh no, you’re broken.” Bo’s heart raced. No little girl would want a broken porcelain doll. Audrey lifted her up then and Bo swore she was about to toss her out the window, but instead Audrey simply placed a sweet little kiss on Bo’s broken arm. “I can fix you” she promised. Setting her up next to Woody in the backseat, she said, “And you and your cowboy can live happily ever after together.”
And as they drove on into the night, Woody and Bo knew that they would.