WtP: Lost Treasures chp14

The sky had grown immensely dark incredibly quickly by the time Christopher had returned home. He leaped through the bushes and into the yard, but hardly took any notice of his son when the boy called to him. Instead, he stormed up to the front door of the house, pulled it open and slammed it shut once he had entered, thankfully not harming his son, who had tailed him back into the house.

"Christopher Robin, are you slamming doors again?" his mother called out from the kitchen as the man stomped across the house.

Tanya rushed into the hallway as her mother-in-law spoke, and noticed the frown on her husband's face as he stormed by. "Christopher?" she said in a quiet yet shocked tone.

Christopher took no heed of her, nor did he complain when he heard her hastily follow him up the stairs. He was headed for his old bedroom, and nothing would interrupt his journey there.

Arriving in the dark room, Christopher stopped his thundering and looked about calmly as though it was the first time in ages that he had seen the room of his childhood. Even with the lights out and thunder and lightning outside, he was able to see enough of the walls to recognize the drawings he had looked at the other day.

He walked up to the wall to get a better look at them again, and picked up the one a certain bear had drawn of the two of them together. He had set this one down on the dresser after pulling it from the wall the other day. He studied the smiling faces and the arms wrapped around each other. He studied the coloring style that the bear drew in.

All-in-all, a happy memory.

Christopher stared at it a little longer until tears blurred his sight. A frown fell over his brow as his teeth clenched, and after squeezing his free fist, he held up the picture with both hands and tore it in half with a furious yell. He tossed the bear to one side and the boy to the other, glared at the wall before him with clenched fists and teeth, and tore off every picture there in fury, groaning and clawing at the wall as though the drawings were melted into them and he had to remove them completely.

"Christopher Robin!" his wife gasped from the doorway as her husband went on a rampage. Her son had followed her upstairs as well and was currently hugging his mother's leg in fright. "What are you doing to your pictures?"

He took no heed of her and continued to tear every picture from the wall until there were no more. Pieces of drawings were scattered all over the floor, though the ones in most pieces seemed to contain a yellow bear wearing a red shirt.

Christopher stood with his back to the doorway, breathing like a bull. Tanya remained where she was for a moment longer before telling her son to stay in the hallway. She entered the room cautiously and approached her husband. "Christopher, what has gotten into you—!"

"It's gone, Tanya," Christopher interrupted loudly, turning around and facing the startled woman. His frown was large and his eyes were still filled with tears. "Every drop of it, gone! No more innocence! It can't be found!"

"Christopher, that's not true," his wife encouraged softly. "You can find it—!"

"No, I can't!" He spread out his arms. "Every time I try to speak to him, or look for him, it goes amiss. He can't remember me, he doesn't want to remember me!" Christopher turned around and slammed his fist against the wall. "He promised he would never forget me. He promised me that when I was a child! How could he break his promise?"

"Christopher, it's not his fault that he can't remember you right now. If only you took the time to think it through, you would—!"

"It is his fault! Completely his fault! He promised to always remember me, but now he can't even look at me in the face. I can't even touch my best friend without him shouting in fear and begging me to leave." Christopher placed his head in his hands and squatted near the floor. "It's all his fault, all his fault," he cried. "The innocence is gone. I don't care anymore, I just…" he let out a sob before continuing. "I just want to forget him… forever…"

Tanya stared at him in silence, pitying him the more he spoke. She wanted to reassure him that all was not lost yet, but she knew that now was not the right time. He needed some time alone to think, to understand. Even if it took all night.

She looked at her feet and noticed that she was stepping on half of the first drawing Christopher had torn apart. After reaching down and picking the piece with a certain bear on it, and after holding it as though it was a piece of gold, she looked over her shoulder at the boy who was standing in the doorway. He was picking up the boy half of the same picture, and after looking at it in his hands, he raised his eyes and looked at his mother worriedly.

What now? Tanya thought, and she desperately began searching for an idea.

*****

Tigger peeked out the window with Piglet and stared at the giant drops of rain that fell from the sky. "Golly," he said as lightning flashed and caused Piglet to hide behind his friend. "Deh sky sure is fallin' now. It's rainin' Heffalumps and Whoozles out dhere."

"It's a good thing we sent the others home when my ears began to twitch," Rabbit noted as he put away the last of the honey pots. "I've never seen it rain like this before. I mean, sunny during the day and stormy in the evening and at night? What strange weather we're having in the Hundred Acre Wood." He dusted his hands off by clapping them together and walked into the kitchen. "Well, you might as well spend the night here again, I suppose," he said with a sigh. "I would have sent you home if I didn't need any help stacking these away for Pooh."

Piglet peeked between Tigger's legs and shuddered fearfully. "Oh, d-d-d-dear," he stuttered. "D-d-d-do you think that Pooh made it home before the rain did, Rabbit?"

"Ah, don't worry about him, Pigelet," Tigger reassured him with a smile as he reached down and patted the small animal on the head. "I betcha Pooh Bear's all is warm and snug in his bed. Why, I betcha right now, he's dreamin' happy dreams of honey and honey pots by deh dozen—!"

Just at that moment, the front door swung open, bringing in a breeze and some rain. A shadow stood in the doorway silently, and only when lightning flashed outside did the three indoors recognize who the person was.

Rabbit, Tigger and Piglet gasped. "Pooh!" they exclaimed as they rushed over to the bear.

Pooh walked into the house slowly, with his head low, almost as though he took no heed of his friends. Rabbit and Piglet ran up to him as Tigger went and closed the door before the storm came indoors as well. "Oh my! Oh my, goodness!" Rabbit fretted. "Pooh Bear, what in the world happened to you? You look like a mess! Stuffing is supposed to stay inside of you, not hanging outside, you Silly Old Bear!"

"Oh dear; oh d-d-d-dear, dear!" Piglet whimpered as he grabbed Pooh's paw. "Say something, Pooh. Are you alright?"

"You look like the storm just tossed you about," Rabbit added as he dusted the bear off. Looking at him in the eye, he asked, "What were you doing out there to get yourself into this predicament?"

Pooh Bear did not look up at him; he only stared at his feet. But he did eventually reply: "… I fell," was all he said.

Rabbit, Piglet and Tigger stared at him in silent worry before the long-eared animal cleared his throat. "You just fell?" he echoed.

Pooh was quiet before replying again: "… Yes."

Rabbit passed a hand over his ears. "Pooh, I told you to go straight home," he said. "Why didn't you go home?"

This time, Pooh raised his head and looked at him tiredly. "I did," he said.

"… Then why didn't you stay there?"

"… It's not there."

Rabbit was silent for a moment and exchanged a perplexed look with the others. "What's not there?" he wondered.

"… Home."

"… Home? What do you mean, home?"

"My home… It's not there."

Although worry was continuing to grow in his eyes, Rabbit tried to disagree. "Th-that's impossible, Pooh Bear," he said. "Your house can't just get up and leave."

"I never said it did, I wasn't there when it left," Pooh replied. "… All I know is that I walked home and… there was no home to walk to… So I came back here."

Rabbit's ears fell back before he looked at Tigger and waved a hand in the direction of the door. "Go see what Pooh meant, Tigger," he ordered.

Tigger recoiled. "Huh?" he said. "You mean out dere? In deh rain? But it's wet. Tiggers don't like wet, Long Ears—!"

"Tigger, just do it," Rabbit snapped. "I can't send Pooh back out there, that's ridiculous!"

"But why send me?"

"Because I need to calm Pooh down and Piglet is too small and too afraid to go on his own. He'll be blown about like a vegetable. Now go to Pooh's house and see what he's talking about."

"… But—!"

"Tigger, go!"

Tigger waved an arm through the air. "Okay, okay!" he exclaimed. While muttering something inaudible, he opened the door and bounced out of the house.

Rabbit sighed and looked at Piglet. "Go warm some water and get a towel so that Pooh can wash himself off and then dry up by the fire," he instructed. As Piglet nodded and left to do as he was told, Rabbit looked at Pooh again. "Can you tell me what happened to you?" he asked as gently as he could. "I know just a mere fall or tumble down the hill would not be enough to do this to you, Pooh."

Pooh was no longer looking at him. He turned his head away and looked shamefully at the ground. Fear filled his eyes.

Rabbit was taken aback by this. Never had he seen so much fear in Pooh's eyes. Something was certainly wrong. "Pooh, I need you to tell me what happened out there," he asked, trying not to make it sound like a plea. "If it's something serious, you need to tell me. Or us. Piglet is here too. You two share everything, right?"

Pooh rubbed his arm nervously and then shook his head. "No," he mumbled. "I can't tell you."

"B-b-but we want to help you, Pooh," Piglet squeaked from the kitchen.

Pooh shook his head again. "I don't want to tell you," he repeated.

"Pooh Bear, we need to know what happened so that we can help," Rabbit insisted.

"… No…"

"… But—!"

"Nooo!" Pooh exclaimed loudly, placing his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes tightly. "No, no, no! I don't want to tell you; please don't make me tell you!" He covered his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before turning away and limping up to the chair by the window where Tigger and Piglet had been sitting earlier.

Rabbit had leaped back in surprise when the bear shouted. After sharing a perplexed look with Piglet, he began to worry even more for his friend's condition. Pooh had never acted this way, which meant that something must have frightened him very much. But even then, when Pooh shouted in fear, his voice was still docile. He was too much of a sweetheart to say anything any louder. So what had caused him to suddenly shift in personalities and become secretive? Secretive from even Piglet?

Maybe the Hundred Acre Wood really is falling apart, Rabbit thought before going to help Piglet in the kitchen.

*****