Annie

Annie - The Actual Story

The three people, looking straight from Disney films, followed the nurse down the long white corridor, sticking close to each other as they were led to the room. She opened the door for them and they stepped inside.
"Sam!" Leo exclaimed happily, running over to his friend and giving him a careful hug. Chiyo sat delicately on the end of the bed, pushing strands of her white-gold hair back, and The Wyvern shook Sam's hand before settling himself in the chair.
"We've got you fire batons! Here," Chiyo said in her soft, Japenese words, honey dripping from each syllable, placing them on the end of the bed gently. Sam shuffled upright and grinned. "Thanks, Chiyo!"
"I know you can't really use them," The Wyvern explained, "but Chiyo and Leo tried to film their own performance with them, and once the fire brigade had left, we decided that they would be safer in your hands. And, you know, I thought you might like to have them near you."
"I would. Thank you, Wy." Sam ruffled Leo's hair. "And I'm sure your performance was great. But maybe you should have practiced without setting them on fire." Leo and Chiyo grinned guiltily as The Wyvern rolled his eyes.
The three of them spent most of the day in Sam's room. He asked one of the nurses to bring him some paper and colouring pencils and materials, so Chiyo and Leo amused themselves colouring while The Wyvern told Sam what was going on at home.
"We haven't found another creator, yet," he admitted. "Our designers are very unusual, and it's been hard to explain how all of us work. Even we don't understand it. We're having a lot of problems. You're the only one who can work it."
"Shameless flattery will get you nowhere," Sam laughed.
"Sam!" Leo jumped up and held out something. "We made you a hat!" It looked more like a paper bag than a hat, and it was coloured in crayon and covered in glitter. A stickman with Sandy hair was drawn on the top, with an arrow pointing at it with 's Am" scrawled next to it. Sam carefully took it and placed it on his head, glitter sprinkling his shoulders. "I absolutely love it."
G and Melody turned up a while later, carrying a bag. "We got food," they announced, before sidestepping neatly as Leo ran at the bag in joy. The Wyvern got to his feet and crossed over to them, but Chiyo held back.
"Sam," she said carefully, keeping each Japanese syllable hushed. "Who's Mrs. Mic?" Sam stared at her, confused. "I just heard these doctors talking about you," Chiyo continued, brushing more sheets of silken hair back, "saying that Mrs. Mic was getting worse or something, and I just wondered why she was connected to you."
The Wyvern overheard Chiyo and began to walk over to her, but Sam raised his hand, and the bronze robot reluctantly turned back to Melody. "Well Chiyo," Sam began, "I believe you're talking about my good friend Annie. She's stuck deep in the Amazon Rainforest right now. If she's getting worse, that means I'll have to go and find her soon, and present her with the perfect haiku to rescue her. I'll have to go alone, I'm afraid, and I may not return for a very long time."
Chiyo nodded, and slid off the edge of the bed to get her food. "That's very brave of you, Sam."
~
"Sam!" Chiyo delved into the small bag she'd brought with her. "We made you something!"
Leo and The Wyvern helped Chiyo bring out the present, and Sam gasped in surprise.
They were tiny, robotic models of his DnD characters. They peered around curiously, before beginning to climb over the sheets and explore. Sam picked one up and looked at it closely. It stared at him, before poking his nose with its miniature sword.
"These are amazing," he breathed. "Thank you so much. I don't know what to say."
"We thought you might like to play," Leo said, watching two of the models wrestle on his legs. "Wy brought your special table so we could have a game."
"I'd love to," Sam said, and they spent the rest of the day concentrating deeply, forgetting all of the problems that were building up.
~
The Wyvern had come as fast as he could. He knew Melody and G had wanted to accompany him, but he'd begged for them to stay and look after his 'siblings', and they'd reluctantly agreed. Now The Wyvern sat in the dark room with Sam lying in bed, so pale and still.
"G and Melody are with the twins," The Wyvern said quietly. "They send their love. I didn't want Leo and Chiyo to be here. I didn't know what to tell them."
"Just tell Chiyo I'm going to find Annie," Sam rasped. "She'll understand."
The Wyvern nodded. "You've been so strong."
"There wasn't much else I could do."
"You could have given up much sooner."
"No I couldn't," Sam argued. "I had to do it for you guys. For everyone." He grinned weakly. "Goodbye, old friend."
"Goodbye, Sam. Thank you so much."
~
Chiyo was confused. Nobody ever ate breakfast at the same time, mainly because The Wyvern couldn't eat, being a robot, and G was normally busy. But they were all down in the kitchen when Chiyo snuck in, a rather graphic body pillow under her arm. "I wasn't doing anything with her," she began, silver eyes wide, but stopped as she saw their faces.
The Wyvern was leaning on the counter, looking like he hadn't slept (for a robot who didn't sleep, he pulled off the look rather well), and G had their head in their hands. Melody looked red-eyed, and had one arm around an unusually subdued Leo. They barely looked up as she entered.
"What's going on?" Chiyo asked, carefully setting the body pillow face-down on the counter. "What happened?"
Nobody knew what to say. Chiyo tugged on The Wyvern's sleeve. "Where were you last night?" She asked.
The Wyvern swallowed. "I was taking Sam to the airport," he lied. "He told me to tell you he's going to find Annie."
Chiyo nodded and jumped up onto the counter and leaned towards The Wyvern. "Do you know what I think?" She whispered in her 'brother's' ear.
"What's that, Chi-chi?"
"I don't think there really is an Annie," Chiyo said. The Wyvern felt a jolt in his boiler and wondered if Chiyo knew. But Chiyo was smiling.
"I think Sam's going to find the rest of us."