The Special Room

"Welcome to your new home, sweetie!"

"I'm 13 now, Dad! I'm not your 'sweetie' anymore. Maybe when I was ten, yeah, but I'm 13! I don't need to be babied." Amy grimaced and pushed her dad away.

"You'll always be my sweetie, Amy. Whether you're 3, 13, or 30, for that matter."

"Ugh." Amy rolled her eyes.

"Why don't I take you to your room? I think you'll like it," Amy's dad smiled.

"We'll see." Amy crossed her arms.

"It's got fairies and pink fluffy unicorns, and rainbows." Amy's dad described, leading the way to his daughter's room.

"Daaaad!" Amy groaned. "I'm 13! Not 8. I like teenaged stuff. Like rock music. And pop music." Amy ranted. "And floral patterns, maybe," she hedged.

Her dad laughed. "Just kidding. Sheesh. Put a little faith in your old man, would you?"

Amy rolled her eyes again, following her dad up a flight of stairs. "It's been five years, Dad. My tastes have changed."

"I know it has. And I figured they would, but I hope you know, I've missed you every day of those five years." He stopped at a door.

Amy stiffened, bracing herself for the worst.

"Ta-da!"

She peered inside and gasped. "It's... beautiful." The ceilings were painted like the sky, and the walls looked like a forest.

"You like it, then?" He beamed.

"Yes. Thank you!" She threw her arms around her dad. "I love it." She looked him directly into his eyes.

"I'm glad. I'll move up your luggage from the front door, and then you can settle in, yeah?"

"Sure." Amy entered the room, tracing her fingers along the wall, and admiring the artwork.

The thudding of suitcase wheels brought her attention back to the present. "That should be it." Her father announced, dropping a backpack and duffel bag at the room's door, next to the suitcase and carry-on.

"Thanks, Dad." Amy turned around and dragged her stuff into the room. She glanced back out at her dad for an awkward moment, before he turned away and traipsed back down the stairs.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," he called up.

"Sounds good!" Amy called back, before firmly shutting the door. She opened up the backpack first, unpacking her laptop and setting it up, before pulling out the few plushies she had brought with her. "I'm a big girl now," she muttered, reminding herself. "I don't need plushies or stuffed animals to be my friends." She looked at Hummy, the bedtime bunny she had kept all these years, and Nellie, the pastel bear who was her first "friend," or so she called the bear when her dad adopted the plushie for her. Of course, she had Winnie the Pooh as well, and she sat the trio on her bed, pulling out the new, reversible octopus her best friend had bought her as a parting gift. Right now it was on the purple, angry side. "Yeah, I miss you too, Kylie," she sighed, hugging Ink the octopus to her chest. "I wonder which side yours is on," she murmured, as if Kylie were actually there. Sitting back onto her legs, she eyed the luggage and carry-on rolly. "I should get to my clothes and books," she mumbled, crawling across the floor towards them. She unpacked her clothes, making her way to the closet, where she found a stackable ladybug pillow on a shelf, with a note:

Dear Amy,

I know you're 13 now, and it's been 5 years since I last saw you, but I do remember your fondness for nature when you were little. Of course, I don't know if you still love going out into the garden just to look for bugs, but I saw this and thought of you immediately. I hope you like it.

Love,

Dad

Amy tentatively reached out, stroking the pillow plushie. "You are cute," she mused. Patting it, she carefully relocated it to her bed. "I wonder what to name you."

Looking around at the room for name inspirations, Amy noticed a faint change in the forest pattern on the wall. "Interesting...." she murmured. "It's like someone tried to cover up something."

She approached the wall, tracing the bark patterns. Looking down, she frowned. "This doesn't look right," she observed, pressing against the wall. It budged. "Walls don't move." Amy dragged her hand along the wall in a zig-zag pattern, until it hit something solid. "Aha. I knew there had to be something here." Her hand felt along the edges. "It's a knob," she whispered. "I wonder why someone would want to cover this up..." she tugged against the knob, turning it slowly until she felt the insides retract. Pushing it open, she stepped through the doorway, to find another bedroom. Looking around, she noticed it looked exactly like her own. "Weird...." The setup was exactly the same. "I wonder what Dad was doing in here with the identical setups," Amy mused. She spotted the same ladybug plush sitting on the bed, in the same spot she had left it, with the other plushies. "I still have to name you, don't I?" She approached the bed, patting the plushie pillow affectionately. "What name might be fitting?" She wondered aloud for a bit. "I think I'll name you Gaston. After that ladybird in Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom," she decided. Her voice cracked as she thought of how she used to sit at a computer all day and watch that cartoon.

"It's not fair!" She finally let out. "I don't get it, if there really was a God like Mom or Grandma always used to say, how did I end up living here? I miss Kylie," she ranted. "I miss home. I miss everyone back at school, even those dumb kids who had nothing better to do than troll me. I just miss everything!" She flung her hands to the bed, hitting it so hard, that Gaston yelped and jumped onto her lap to avoid getting hit. "It's not fair!" Amy exclaimed once more, just for emphasis. She noticed the displaced plushie, and calmed down. "I'm sorry, Gaston," she whispered, "did I startle you?" She cradled the log-shaped ladybug in her arms. "I just really miss Mom, and Kylie, and back home."

Gaston nestled his head against Amy's chest.

Amy frowned. Plushies don't come alive, she thought. Yet, it was as if Gaston was snuggling with her. She shook off the thought.

Amy sighed again, flopping backwards onto the bed. "I miss home," she sniffed.

Gaston's legs tickled, as he tried to move up from Amy's hug and settle next to her head.

"Whoa!" Amy felt the movement and opened her arms. "You are alive!"

She sat up, placing the moving plushie on the pillow. "Plushies don't come alive," she looked Gaston in his eye, "do they?"

"Plushies are people, too," Gaston replied.

Amy's eyes widened. "You talk?!" She gasped.

Gaston nodded. "So do your other friends."

"Other friends?" Amy's brow furrowed. "But they're not here. I left my best friend back home. And my other friends..." Amy's voice cracked again. She wiped her eyes with her arm.

A soft flop caused Amy to look down.

Nellie had latched on to Amy's other arm, giving her a flop hug. "We'll always be your friends, Amy. And as long as you bring us with you, you'll never have to leave us! And we'll never leave you," the bear declared.

"Awww, thank you, Nellie," Amy whispered, stroking the back of the bear. She grabbed the bear and hugged her as well. "I forgot how soft you are," Amy whispered, putting her face against Nellie's. Setting the bear against the pillow next to Gaston, she reminisced. "I still remember when I saw you in the store, Nellie. You were the one for me that day, and I wouldn't let Mom talk me out of it," she smiled. "No other plushie would ever take your place," she giggled at the memory. "I was so stubborn then!"

She brought the bear back in for another hug. "I miss the old place," she whispered again. "I miss home."

Hummy, who had been sleeping until now, untied her ears, and let them pat the human girl. "It's okay, Amy," she whispered. "We miss the old place too. Sophie was fun to play with."

"Sophie?" Amy started. That was a name from way long ago. From before Kylie. Amy recalled. "We broke off our friendship because we were headed in different directions."

"We were all so sad when she stopped coming over," Nellie exclaimed.

"I was sad for the longest time after Sophie," Amy confessed. "I wonder if Mom knew." She continued, "but then there was Kylie, and she was nice. Alot more grown-up than Sophie. And I guess that's why I liked her."

"We missed Sophie," Nellie chimed, and the other plushies bobbed their heads in agreement.

"Aww, I kinda miss her too, you know. But Kylie showed me what it's like to be a big girl. She was like a sister to me." She thought of all the rock band posters she'd left back home. One was even signed, by Aerosmith.

"I still hear Mom's voice, saying I was waaay to young to be liking rock stuff," Amy giggled. "I loved seeing how surprised she was when I randomly started singing 'Paradise City'. I think she might've been a little mad, too, since it's not exactly the most appropriate thing for a ten-year old to be singing!"

"Remember when you and Sophie would dance along to Hi-5, though?" Winnie the Pooh added his memories of his human's first human friendship.

"I do! It was so fun," she blurted. "And I always felt just that little bit bad that Mom didn't like Kylie, or rock music much."

"It is kinda noisy." Nellie giggled. "Hummy can't sleep with that music."

"Like she could sleep when Sophie and I danced to Hi-5," Amy giggled as well, joining in, "or when we were watching Ben and Holly."

"It was a funny show!" Hummy admitted. "Ben and Holly were so much fun to watch."

"Those days were fun," Amy sighed. "Now everything is all so serious! Like, all Kylie's sister is talking about is college, and we've barely just finished year 7! There's still five more years for us, at least. I mean, yeah, granted, Llewelyn is in year 9 now, but she's got another four full years to decide where she's going!" Amy shook her head. "I don't even know what I want to do next year, let alone for the rest of my life! I doubt any 13-year old would know," she declared. "Poor Llewelyn, so much pressure. I mean, I have to start a new school already, this year, and that's not going to be fun. Everyone's gonna know each other already and I'll be the odd one out and nobody will want to hang out with me at breaks and just, eugh! It's just not fair."

The plushies gathered around Amy. "We'll always be your friends," Gaston offered.

"Awww, thank you, Gaston." She patted the ladybird. "I suppose I'll just have to put myself out there a bit more than I usually do, see if anyone would want to be my friend in the first place. I'm so weird. I like rock music and stuff for little kids, at the same time." She eyed the doorway. "Anyways, new school or not, I'd better go back to my actual room and unpack everything else. Especially my Guns N' Roses pop vinyls. I doubt the minis would be very happy at being cooped up in the duffel bag for so long," she giggled, heading back towards the door as she imagined what the mini figurines would say, if they could talk. "Probably lots of profanity," she giggled to herself.

Stepping back through the doorway, she made her way to the duffel bag and pulled it towards her nightstand. Gently opening the zipper, she greeted each figurine as she placed them on the surface. "Hello, Axl. Hey there, Slash! Hiya, Duff." She dug out her speakers as well. "Maybe I'll put on some Hi-5," she murmured. The nostalgic strains of the very first song she and Sophie had learned to sing and dance along to began, and Amy found herself humming along and watching the plushies, to see if they'd do anything. Nothing.

"Come on, Nellie, and Ink, and Pooh, and Hummy! Dance with me," she coaxed, to no avail. She frowned. "You were all talking with me over there, why won't you do it here?" Amy prodded them gently. "Will you at least sing?" With no response, she sighed. "So much for always being my friends." Amy turned off the music and went to unpack the big luggage.

She finished the task, and her eyes wandered back to the mysterious door. "Maybe I'll actually bring you plushies this time," she remarked, scooping them up into her arms. Seeing the mini figurines, she took them, too.

Grabbing her phone and speakers, she slipped back into the next room, turning the music on low. The opening chords of "Sweet Child O' Mine" played through, and she watched Axl, Slash, and Duff come to life. Pooh Bear, Nellie, Gaston, and Hummy began bopping along, and Nellie attempted to change the lyrics from "Sweet Child O' Mine" to "Sweet Plushie O' Mind," much to Amy's amusement, and the mini figurines' annoyance.

"So do you guys only come to life in here?"

Amy whispered, sitting on the floor.

"This is Plushie World," Nellie chirped.

"And the other room.... it doesn't? It isn't?"

"It's not Plushie World," Gaston explained.

"So the door... it's like... a portal?"

"Like a plushie portal!" Hummy exclaimed.

Amy's eyes lit up. "Oh, I see," she nodded.

A knock came at the door, and her dad leaned in. "I see you've found the spare room."

"Spare room? Oh, here?" Amy blinked.

"Yeah, this room." He smiled, walking in.

"Are you settling in well?"

"Yeah, it's.... nice."

"Still missing everyone?"

"Yeah. And kinda nervous about starting over I guess," Amy shrugged, "It's okay, I'll be fine."

"Glad to hear, kiddo." Her dad smiled, spotting the ladybug pillow plush on the bed, and made to leave. "If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me."

"Sure." Amy attempted a half smile. "Bye."

Her dad took the cue, shutting the doors behind him as he left.

"Your dad seems nice." Nellie commented, after the click of the second door meant he was out of earshot of any talking plushies. She leapt into Amy's lap, who cuddled her.

"Yeah, he's okay, I guess. I mean, it's been 5 years since I last saw him, so it's like I'm getting to know him all over again, you know? Like I'm a stranger in his home."

"Maybe you should talk to him," Gaston suggested. "I remember he was so happy when he first saw me on the shelf in the shop. He was saying how his 'little girl' would love me. And he actually patted me a bit, to see what I felt like. So, from what I've seen, I think he was right," Gaston gave Amy's face a little lick, and she giggled.

"That tickled!"

"See? Your dad was right."

Sitting back on her feet, she sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe you're right. Maybe I will."

"Do it, Amy!" Hummy cheered.

Amy took a deep breath, and stood up, scooping up the other plushies and mini figurines. "You're right. And the sooner I do, the better."

Everyone nodded.

"Does that mean you will?" Winnie the Pooh asked.

Amy nodded. "I think so." She stepped back through the door, into her bedroom, and opened the door leading to the hall. Stepping through that as well, she crept down the stairs, following the sounds of a cheering crowd on the TV. "Dad?" She edged into the room. "I think I'm ready to talk."