The Magical Raincoat

Frustration

The mailman's hand ran across Frank's shoulders in a soothing gesture, but Frank just shook him off, not wanting to be touched by anyone right now. He glared at the raincoat, still dripping wet and still with his butterfly-loving mark on it, hanging over the umbrella holder by the front door to dry, while Eddie's hung just next to it.

Julie stood to Frank's left, pacing and holding a cup of tea that Eddie had made, while Sally sat in the armchair to his right, feeling rightfully bad for what she'd said, especially after having been called out further by Julie after Eddie had arrived.

Eddie looked between the two, mind just as heavy in thought as they seemed to be. He looked back to Frank and tried with a lighter touch, but Frank just stood that time and walked off to the shared study slash craft room, shutting the door roughly or as rough as he could seeing as the heat had made that door swell too. Eddie sighed.

"Girls, I appreciate you staying to see how Frank's doin', but I think you should go. Thanks for bringing him here, Jules. I'll deal with it now."

Julie and Sally voted to return later to check up on the couple, and Eddie agreed, walking them to the door so that he could try and calm Frank by himself.

Sally glimpsed Barnaby and Wally sitting on a bench near Home and began pulling Julie the opposite way. "Come on, let's check and see if Poppy's still at the bodega."

Wally watched them walk away, his smile shifting into a frown as he looked at the ice cream cone Barnaby had given him. He hadn't eaten a lick of it, and Barnaby knew he wouldn't, but it usually cheered him up almost as much as an apple just to hold, despite the stickiness left over afterwards (his favourite to look at was strawberry--he liked how pink it was).

"I know, kid. Sometimes these things just happen between neighbours and friends. They always come around, though. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault."

"That's not what I'm worried about. Sure, Frank being upset isn't such a nice feeling, but these coats, their magic, he said he was scared of it at first."

"Frank's scared of a lotta things. That ain't nothing new."

"He came around much too quickly," Wally elaborated, earning an understanding hum from his best friend. "I still could have stopped him, but I didn't. I got curious. You joke that that's a flaw of mine."

Barnaby looked away sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck with his big blue paw. "Well, uh... it is a little true if I'm honest. Curiosity can get people hurt, sometimes."

"Curiosity can get people hurt..." Wally repeated with wide eyes.

As he thought that over, the ice cream gradually disappeared further and further, melting into the grass below them before Barnaby snagged the soggy cone and ate it in one bite.

The sun was setting, Wally realising he'd been out all day with various neighbours and hadn't even finished the task he and Julie had set out to do this morning. He sighed. "Home will be annoyed if I go back since Julie and I didn't finish cleaning it. Do you mind if I sleep over tonight, Barnaby?"

"Not at all, buddy. Let's go before it's lights out for real."

As he led Wally back to his doghouse-themed house, Barnaby worried in the back of his mind about all of this raincoat business, maybe even more than Frank had, but he was basing that completely off of Wally's own perspective of the situation.

He pushed the door open and let Wally inside. "You head to bed... I've got something I need to do."

"All right," Wally said. "Good night, Barnaby."

"Night, Walls."

Once Wally walked off, Barnaby started toward the kitchen to get a snack before bed, but he quickly noticed something was off. A box on the table, something he definitely didn't leave there.

And inside, a clear raincoat that turned red with a dog bone patch on the chest and colourful polka dots as soon as he touched it.

The next morning, Wally woke to find a brand new raincoat hanging by the front door of Barnaby's house, and Barnaby making a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast, casually not mentioning it.

"So you've got one, too?" Wally asked, careful not to startle the spoon out of Barnaby's mouth. The dog just nodded, eyebrows drawn in consideration as he swallowed the contents of the spoon. "How?"

"Was on the table, like it was delivered straight to me," Barnaby said like it was no big deal. "I'm not gonna wear it if that's what you're interrogating me for. At least, not until it's actually raining."

They both looked out of the window and then back at each other as they acknowledged the dark clouds outside, signalling a pretty big rain soon.

Barnaby grinned but Wally spoke first, "Which might be today."

Barnaby frowned. "We can just stay inside. Then there's no excuse to wear it."

"No, I wouldn't want to keep you trapped in here." Wally said quickly. "Let's just hope it only affects sunny weather, or that you're too positive for it to make any difference."

Barnaby laughed heartily and finished his cereal. "I'm gonna splash you so hard."

Outside, it was obvious what had happened overnight.

Colourful raincoats everywhere.

Eddie was doing his usual mail route while donning his dark blue and, as Frank had put it, sophisticated, raincoat.

Sally was jumping in puddles in her blue, cloud-covered raincoat. Julie was right beside her in her pink one, the bottom puffing up like a flower every time she jumped.

Poppy was wearing her orange poncho-like raincoat over her head and the upper half of her body, the wide sleeves giving her wings a good bit of free-roam. And Howdy was happily engaging in chatter outside of his shop with the big red bird in his half orange, half blue striped coat.

Everyone was accounted for but Frank, and Wally immediately felt bad for that.

"On second thought--" Wally turned to go back inside, but Barnaby's door was already shut, and much heavier than Wally himself could open. He sulked, hearing Barnaby laugh again as he got down on all fours, his coat covering him just fine even then.

"Mornin' Eddie!" he said, and Wally looked as Eddie stopped at the mailbox to fill it up with goodies. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know how a delivery ended up on my kitchen table, would ya?"

Eddie frowned and scratched his head under his hood. "Not a clue, Barns. Sorry!"

"That's all right! See you later."

Wally waved at Eddie as he passed, and the mailman waved back happily. Wally looked up at Barnaby. "My hair is going to get wet again."

"I mean, it's already kind of a mess, but if you want it to stay the same for a while longer, you can just walk under me. At least until we get to Home. Then you can grab your old raincoat."

Wally hummed in agreement, a bit of jealousy blooming in his chest, and stepped under the dry shade of Barnaby's belly as they started walking together. They had a few eyes on them as they travelled the path to Home but neither bothered to acknowledge them as Home became clearer through the rain.

"Do you need me to come inside with you?" Barnaby asked as they got under the overhanging yellow roof of Home. Barnaby looked up at its windows but Home seemed to be asleep. "Or hold the door open just in case?"

Just in case Home was pretending and still held a grudge about Wally and Julie not cleaning it. But he didn't say that.

Wally opened the door and Home still didn't respond. "No, that's okay. I'll be right back."

"Okay, I'll be right here. Call if you need me."

Wally nodded and headed inside Home.