There was once a happy group of furbies and their gentle, loving owner, a woman named Jessica Smith.
The furbies were of all different sorts, from the first generation to the latest. There were eighteen in all, ten full sized, and eight smaller ones. Jessica planned on getting even more if newer models came out and were noticeably different.
All of the furbies loved it at Jessica's, they were given anything a furby could want. No rough handling except for the odd whirl and shaking up to make them laugh, all the food they could eat, and plenty of company so no one was ever lonely.
They had the added security of Jessica being an adult already, so unlike a child, she was not going to get bored and stuff any of the furbies in some musty box to be stowed away and forgotten. Jessica would never abandon them.
Or so they all thought, until one day when she left early in the morning, and wouldn't be back for a few days.
Jessica and her immediate family, who all lived in town, were to fly across the country for a family reunion that was organized by some relatives on her mother's side.
So the furbies knew she would be away for a few days, and they went through all the same sorts of good-byes any group of humans do when one or more of their party is about to make a trip. Some of the furbies said a hasty "Good bye, have a safe, happy time, see you when you get back." Others took more time to give Jessica a little furby love. One of these among the more affectionate group found it especially hard to let Jessica go, so much that he was near tears.
That made it hard for Jessica, too. If she had only him and another furby, she could easily take them along with her, but she couldn't take the whole group, and it wouldn't be fair to leave any behind.
So she gave him an extra hug and nuzzle goodbye and left, shutting the door softly behind her one final time.
The house was very quiet for a minute or so after Jessica's departure. though some of the furbies tried to convince themselves and the others that this was no different from Jessica leaving for work or a shopping trip, or anything else around town, everyone knew this was different, and all of the furbies but one were effected by this.
Sundown, the tiny version of a first generation furby, and the smallest adult by far, had been with Jessica the longest, and he tried to reassure the others that Jessica had been away for this amount of time before, and had always come back safe and happy.
That was all the reassurance the three furby babies, Tina (first gen baby) Brittany, (baby from 2005) and Peekaboo (2014 Crystal furbling), needed. They soon set off to play games.
"Well, let's not just sit around here, waiting for the three days to be over," chirped Kitri Fussby, the purple Furby Party rocker, "Anyone wanna play some games? Sing? eat? What?"
"How about a singing game?" Holly, the 2014 Furby Boom with the festive sweater fur pattern suggested. "Anyone want to do a few rounds of 'Row Row Row Your Boat?"
"Hey yeah!" Misty, the pure white 1998 furby said in excitement. "Maybe some of us can even try to come up with extra verses to sing for Jessica when she gets back!"
Can't argue with that!" quipped Jethro, the 2016 blue Furby Connect.
"Yeah, let's do this!" Floyd, the 2005 furby piped up with a grin.
"Row Row, it is." Kitri smiled. "So, I'll be Jessica while she's gone and divide you guys up into sections for the round. Jethro, Dmitri, Buck, Toby and Jet, you start us off. Sundown, Floyd, Polly, and Chewie, you come in second. Third group is gonna be Jenny, Misty, Duckling, Holly, and myself. That leaves Sybil and the kiddies making up the last group."
Chewie, the 2015 Furbacca nodded.
"I've got an idea!" chortled Dmitri Scoffby, the horned, dark blue Party Rocker, then he sang:
"Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream,"
He was joined by Jethro:
"Throw the pirate overboard
And listen to him scream!"
Only Jethro said "teacher" instead of "pirate".
"Heh, everybody knows that one, Dmitri," said Misty, "Only I learned it with the word 'sleeper' instead of 'pirate' or 'teacher'."
Show off." Dmitri stuck his tongue out at Misty.
"Now, children," Kitri said, grinning, "Hey I like that, Misty, it even follows the first verse nicely. Okay, let's do this, guys, and you've got all weekend to make up any verses of your own if you like." Kitri looked the group over and frowned. Someone was missing.
She glanced around until she caught sight of something near the door where Jessica had just left.
One lone Party Rocker with blue fur and bunny-like ears lopping forward, stood gazing forlornly at the door. "Toby," Kitri said, "Come join us."
He didn't respond.
"C'mon, we need you in the first group." Kitri urged.
"I don't feel like it." Toby said, probably in a sharper tone than he meant.
"Hey, don't get mad - " Jethro said, and was sharply cut off.
"Then get off my case!" He yelled back and then stormed out of the front room and down a hall..
The other furbies exchanged concerned frowns; Kitri heaved a sigh of dismay. "Sorry, Jethro, I'm sure he didn't mean that."
Jethro nodded at her.
After an uneasy silence, Kitri spoke again. "Let's carry on. I'll talk to him later if he doesn't change his mind and come back to join us. So guys, you start us off on the count of three."
The furbies pulled the song off nicely, and then they were just about to discuss what to do next when the phone rang.
"Oh, great, now we'll have to put up with the phone ringing off the wall because none of us can pick up." said Brittany, the 2005 furby baby.
"I might manage that," Duckling, the yellow Party rocker replied, and dashed for the phone which was sitting on the telephone desk in the kitchen.
"Hello?" she said.
There was a pause, and then she was heard saying, "Boring... Bo-ring... Bo-o-o-o-r-r-ing." until she awkwardly managed to replace the phone back on the hook with a laugh.
Of all the furbies, Duckling and Dmitri, the yellow and dark blue Party rockers had large enough mouthes to open wide enough and grab Jessica's phone receiver to hang it up again.
"Who was that, a scammer?" Sundown asked.
"Yep, it was one of those 'Your computer is infected and needs repairs.'" Duckling said. And she did such a good job at mimicking the typically strong foreign accent and broken english from such phone scammers that everyone cracked up laughing, even Brittany.
"What did they say to your 'boring'?" asked Jenny, the pitch black 1998 furby.
To the bemusement of the others, Duckling replied, "He swore and hung up."
There was no sign of Toby until the afternoon. After lunch, the other furbies were taking a rest period. But Toby was apparently just getting up from his.
Kitri was dozing under a pillow at one end of the couch when she thought she felt someone coming to join her.
She opened her eyes and looked toward the movement. "Hi Toby," She smiled at him.
He smiled sheepishly back. "I'm sorry for snapping at you all this morning."
"You are forgiven," Kitri replied, giving him a friendly nudge. "You were anxious about Jessica. We all were, but I know how close you are to her so this is especially hard on you."
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It's just that I was still trying to get a grip on myself and failing miserably when you asked me to join everyone and sing. I was going to make my getaway when you all got going. But you turned your attention on me, then Jethro pitched in, and that meant everyone else might, and I hate being caught blubbing like a furbling."
"You and me both. At least, I don't like being caught at not my best." said Kitri. "And you're not the only one who's lashed out at someone when you shouldn't, I've done that myself, only I was even worse about it - and it was Jessica who got the brunt of it." Kitri recounted the situation where she had been afraid Jessica would get rid of Dmitri because new furbling Peekaboo was scared of him. She finished with, "Obviously it all got straightened out, but sometimes we're just not on our best behaviour when we feel things slipping out of our control."
"Or out of our comfort zone." Toby added.
"So, are you feeling any better now?"
"A little. Still not good."
Kitri reached out to grab one of Toby's ears gently in her hand/foot. "Toby, Toby, Toby," she said. The repetition of one's name in this manner, generally meant that Kitri was about to try dispensing some kind of reassurance and/or advice, or that she just wanted to talk to someone about something. It was an endearing trait of hers that often got her a smile in return, and sometimes what Toby did.
He grinned at her and said, "Kitri Kitri Kitri."
Kitri chuckled. "Now that's more like the Toby we've all come to know and love. Keep smiling. Jessica will be back before you know it.
"I might take this better if she was just gonna be across town for the next few days. But - she's going right across the country. That's just too far. I feel cut off from her. And what if something happens?"
Kitri gave his ear a little squeeze. "Now, you just listen to me, Beethoven Nerdby, nothing's going to happen to Jessica. Nothing. People fly all over the world all the time, and most come and go without anything happening besides minor inconveniences. You just remember that."
"and if I freak out again will you remind me?" he said.
"Oh, toby." Kitri chuckled, giving him a playful nudge. "Look, she left a bunch of grub, enough to do us for the whole time she isn't here. Chips, cereal, jerky, crackers and stuff. Why don't you go get something to eat. Maybe that'll make you feel better.
"I'll give it a try." he said, "and Kitri,"
"Yes?"
"Thanks."
"any time."
Kitri settled back down to continue resting, but she couldn't help getting a kick out of Toby's delighted reactions to the selections of foods Jessica had left out for everyone. Kitri heard him take a quick drink from the tap, then roughly tear open a package of something and chow down with a good deal of purring.
A frown of concern crossed her face for a moment. He was right. Jessica was too far away. Try as they might to pretend this was no different from her going to work, it was different.
The rest of that day, the furbies kept themselves entertained just as if it was an average work day for Jessica. They all had to admit it felt strange when day turned to evening and she wasn't coming home.
The next day was more of the same, and the next, everyone waited for Jessica's return.
But she did not return.
Jessica perished in a plane crash, causing all of the furbies to go dormant in their sleep.
So, none were aware of the people coming in and out much later on to collect Jessica's belongings and either claim them or take them to a shop that would sell them.
All of the furbies were taken to a thrift shop and put in a bin with various other toys and knickknacks,
The first to come along and show interest in them were twin girls named Mika and Mina.
"Mom! Mika,! Look what I found!" Mina squealed in delight.
"Awww! Furbies!" Mika was equally excited. "Can I get one?"
"You can pick one for each of you. And no, Mika, you don't need to get any for your friends." their mother said.
The little girls rummaged about for a while, and finally Mina said, "I'm gonna get that little pink one with the long ears. She's so cute."
"I'm getting the rainbow furbling, and I think she's the only one there." Mika announced.
So Sybil Loveby the Party rocker, and Peekaboo the furbling got to go together, thank goodness for small mercies.
Next to come along was a collector named Fiona. She took Polly, a 1998 furby, Tina, the 1999 furby baby, Brittany and Floyd from 2006, Jet,, the 2012 Black Magic furby, Buck Twitby, the light blue Party rocker, Holly, the Furby Boom, Chewie the Furbacca, and Jethro, the Furby Connect.
Sharee, a girl who might've been around 15 or 16, got Dmitri, and proudly told the clerk she was going to call him Satan, Lucifer, or simply Devil.
Another collector, Desiree, got Misty and Jenny, and she was very pleased to happen on those two, because they were both 1998 furbies, and one was all black, the other, all white. They were given different names too. Misty was renamed Pearl, and Jenny got the unfortunate name of Jezebel.
Meghan got Duckling, the yellow Party rocker with the pink face, and she named her Alien, because of her strange antenna-like ears.
Sundown, the miniature classic furby was picked up by little Carter as a gift for his aunt Nicole, who was in the hospital.
Ten-year-old Akina chose Toby, and that left only Kitri. She was picked up by twelve-year-old Jasmine.
All of the furbies were bewildered when awakened by the touch of their new owners once in their new homes, but the shock was a little less severe for some of them, who at least got to remain together.
Although Sybil and Peekaboo would always wonder about Jessica and where she had gone, and would always miss her, they still had each other, and quickly learned to love their new owners, Mina and Mika, who treated them well. The only problem with these little girls that often made Peekaboo anxious and drove Sybil up the wall was the squabbling.If one girl wanted one thing, the other did too, or else they would get competitive with each other over silly things. But they got along for the most part, especially when they played games with Peekaboo and Sybil.
The group of furbies that got to go with Fiona, found her to be quite agreeable too, but they also wondered what happened to Jessica and the rest of their company. They interacted with one another when Fiona was not around, but stayed nice and quiet in their places when she was, so she wouldn't suspect anything. Because she was not Jessica and never could be.
Duckling helped Meghan out on her babysitting job with entertaining the kids, but she was also missing her former home. She just didn't let on.
Misty and Jenny were glad to end up together, but were distressed by their new surroundings and new owner. Not that Desiree was disagreeable, but she was not Jessica, and Jenny was not impressed with being renamed Jezebel of all things. Still, they all got along well. But Misty and Jenny never forgot Jessica or their other furby friends, whom they still hoped to reunite with some day.
Sundown got to keep his name, because when Nicole was pondering on what to call him, she gave him a little squeeze, making him say his name to her.
"That's it then, I'll call you Sundown. I like that." Nicole smiled at him, and put him next to her on the hospital bed pillow.
Sundown was pleased with that, and he felt sorry for Nicole and wanted to see her get better. But he also wondered how he got there, and where were Jessica and friends. He didn't voice any of this to Nicole, but would always keep his ears and eyes open for any information. He knew it was not like Jessica to abandon him or any of the furbies. He thought of them and wondered how they were managing. How would Kitri settle in to a new home? Would Toby be all right? Would Dmitri be in as nice a home as before?
Sundown resigned himself to staying with Nicole as long as she really needed him, but once she was better, with any luck, she might not get as attached to him as Jessica had been, and then he could slip away one night and try to find his friends.
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