Friends and Family CH. 3

Chapter 3

Why Me???
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A few years later in Florida

Oswald was sitting at his apartment, watching television. He, once again, was fired from another job that Universal asked. This time they didn't even give him a reason why. He was just running out of energy for working with them.

If it wasn't for his friend Woody, he probably would just stay locked up in storage. Woody had really helped him through some of the worst depressions. However, he knew their friendship was on edges. He could tell Woody was getting tired of the gray rabbit's 'glass half empty' view.

He heard a knock on his door. He got up lazily and opened the door to his best friend. "Hey buddy," Woody said happily, "What do you say we go out today and see the sites". Oswald looked hesitantly, "I am really not in the mood right n-". But before he could finish his sentence, his friend had already grabbed him and pulled him out the door. "C'mon," Woody said, "Have some fun".

Oswald took a deep breath and decided to go. He knew that once Woody the Woodpecker made up his mind, there really was no changing it. He pulled his apartment door shut, locked it, and followed his friend.

After a few minutes of walking Oswald asked, "Woody, where exactly are we going"?

"We're going to the old rundown animation warehouse. Who knows what kinds of fun stuff are in there".

The old animation warehouse was a warehouse where various animators from different companies drew cartoons. Over time, it was shut down and abandoned. When Oswald and Woody reached the fence surrounding the building, Woody said, "Oswald, would you mind". He motioned to the bottom of the fence and Oswald knew what he was saying. Oswald got into position and used his rabbit skills to dig under the fence and Woody followed.

When they got inside, they saw tons of stacked wooden boxes piled up and around the area. Woody got very excited and immediately went at cartoon speed to investigate the area and see what fun stuff was there, leaving Oswald in the dust.

Oswald searched around seeing old sketches, paint brushes, thinners, paints, and other animation tools. After a few minutes he got bored exploring, and said, "Woody, I think we had enough fun. We should go now". He waited for a response, but heard nothing.

"Woody?" he asked and still got no response. He started getting worried for his friend. Because it was an animation studio, he knew there were a few things in there that might do real damage to a toon like himself and to Woody.

"Woody, I am serious. If you don't answer me I'll-" but before he could finish, he felt a big impact on the back of his head and lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he found his arms and legs restrained to a metal table, under a bright light. By looking at the surroundings he could tell he was still in the warehouse. He struggled to get out, but it was useless. He knew if he was his old self, he could disconnect his hands and feet, slip out of the restraints, pull himself together, and make a get away. 'Great,' he thought, 'Another reason to hate my past'. He heard a noise on his side. He saw someone dressed in a lab coat, wearing a doctors mask over his face. He knew it was a toon, but thanks to his limited site and the wack to the head, he couldn't figure out who. The doctor was stirring something in a bowel.

The doctor saw him and said, "Vell, looks like our patient is avake". The doctor approached him. He said, "What is that? And what do you want with me "? The doctor laugh and said, "Don't vorry. It's just some turpentine along with a few other chemicals for my experiment".

Oswald had a look of fear. He might not have been in the spotlight for a while but every toon knew that turpentine was one of the few chemicals that toons had to avoid. He struggled with the restraints as the doctor approached him and said, "That von't do. My assistant vill help you feel comfortable as much as possible through the procedure." The doctor looked up across the table to his assistant saying, "Vill you please sedate the patient"?

He heard a familiar voice saying, "Sure think boss". He looked over at the assistant in total shock, and saw him pick up a frying pan, showing a mischievous glint in his eyes. The assistant lifted the frying pan above the gray rabbit's head and before the blow was struck, Oswald said in disbelief at the assistant, "Woody"?

And all went black.