Tommy was crying again.

Tommy was crying again.

Nurpy hated it when Tommy cried. Tommy tears were agony for him. These were not tears from breaking a toy or skinned knees or from having to pull a card at school. There were tears for…worse kind of things.

Nurpy hated those sorts of things.

“What’s with the big frown, Nurphian?” Magellan asked, peeking out from the opened toy box in its place at the foot of Tommy’s bed. Magellan was a regular toy—not a Talisman Toy like Nurpy—one of the wildly popular Adolescent Transmuted Kung-Fu Gerbils. For some reason that Nurpy could not fathom, the toys were all named after famous seafaring explorers: Columbus, Magellan, DaGamna, and Vespucci, and the kids loved them.

Nurpy seemed lost in thought, or maybe listening to a far-off sound and took a while to answer. “It’s happening again,” he said sadly.

Magellan glanced at the door and Nurpy saw stark terror flit across his sculpted plastic features, which were normally fearless and cutely rodent-like. “Dad’s home already? Totally Un-tublar, Dude. That guy is mean and scary. I do not like him, Nurphian.” The Gerbil’s arms went reflexively into his patented Kung-Fu grip positions.

Nurpy nodded, his big googly eyes drooping and his usually smiling mouth malformed into a massive frown. The Talisman Toy ran his chubby blue fingers across his smooth head as he fretted. He wanted to help his boy, but there was nothing he could do right now. There were Rules against interfering, and there were certainly Rules about direct contact and exposure to Adults. There were lines he could cross, but there were others that he simply could not.

Yelling bounced down the hall like an angrily flung super-bouncy-ball. It rattled around, knocking things askew, breaking things. Nurpy and Magellan winced. Footsteps followed the screams, and Tommy’s plaintive wail could be heard even over the slamming of doors…and other things.

Hearing Tommy’s cries struck deep chords of panic within the toys and stirred them, helping them shake off their fear. Magellan asked, “What can we do, Nurphian?”

Hearing his true name uttered for the third time in as many moments was like a slap in Nurpy’s plush, fuzzy, blue-and-white face. He was not some run-of-the-mill toy that you could find anywhere and have delivered instantly to your doorstep! He was a Talisman Toy, a perfectly and particularly crafted Gift and a Protector of the Innocent. And what’s more, he was Tommy’s – and that meant something!

“We can’t do anything, Magellan. But I can do something.”

As if on cue, both toys tumbled to the floor, taking on their Inert states. The door to Tommy’s door flew open and a sandy-haired, blue-eyed prince of a lad stumbled in, crying.  He stood there, shaking with sobs for several moments, his bleary eyes overflowing with tears. Through the haze, Tommy saw his best friend in the whole world, lying right on the rug where he’d left him.

“Oh, Nurpy!” Tommy ran to the odd-looking but well-loved doll, his tears streaming a new. Tommy buried his face into Nurpy’s soft, familiar scented, white and blue speckled belly, and immediately he felt a little better. Simply being close to his dearest friend in the entire world—the one friend who had never betrayed him and who was always there for him—was just that powerful.

Tommy began to talk to Nurpy, telling him all of his troubles, and Nurpy—Nurphian, the mighty Talisman Toy—began to use his most potent power. Soon, the travails and cares of the day began to fall away. The more Tommy talked, the lighter he felt. The more he unburdened his soul to his closest and truest friend, the better he became.

Soon, the two friends were soaring amongst the clouds, powered by joyful laughter and led by massive smiles.

Art Source: "Cloud Companions" (c)/by Artsammich
Story and Characters: (c)/by Brannon Hollingsworth

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