Complete Play Set

Homesick Bound

Jessie lay on the window sill, watching Bonnie scurry out the door to school. As soon as she was gone, Jessie sat up, and watched. Her father was working outside, whistling to himself as he mowed the lawn.

Jessie flopped back over when the car pulled back in. Bonnie ran out, and the sound of a door slamming could be heard clearly by the toys. Jessie smiled when she heard Mr. Potato Head sigh in annoyance.

Bonnie charged back outside, now clutching her lunchbox tightly in one hand. She was running so fast, focused on getting to the car, and didn't watch her balance. She tripped, and went sailing onto the pavement.

Jessie watched as Mr. Anderson rushed to his daughter's side, comforting her, and giving her a kiss on the elbow, which was, thankfully, no more than slightly bruised.

Once Bonnie was gone again, Buzz hopped onto the sill beside her. "What happened?"

"Bonnie fell down, and her dad helped her up." Jessie answered, as if it were no out of the ordinary. It wasn't, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. That one particular detail...

"Jessie? Are you okay?" Jessi barely heard the sound of Buzz's voice. "Like the Prospector..."

"Who?" Woody hopped up on the sill with them, immediately sensing Jessie's upsetness. He'd grown to be in tune with her feeling somehow, ever since taking her with him to Andy. He wanted to make sure she was always feeling alright. He could never shake off the pain she went through.

"The Prospector was that guy who hit you. Remember, Buzz? Knocked you right off the conveyor belt?"

"Ah." Buzz sat down next to Jessie, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, I don't see why you'd miss him."

"I don't."

"Jessie, you do." Woody sat on her other side, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I can tell."

"He was the only thing I had for so long. Besides Bullseye, of course." Woody nodded. Buzz decided to give them some time, seeing as Woody would know more about this than himself.

Jessie leaned against Woody, feeling safer to express herself now that Buzz was gone. "It...He just...it felt like having family again." Woody nodded, recalling the Prospector's behavior before he'd gone mad.

'Jessie! I promise you'll come out of the box!'

'Be patient with her. She's been through more than you know.'

'I don't know who turned the TV on, but fighting about it is not going to help.'

'All right, come here Come on, let me see that. Oh, it's a popped seam. Easily repaired!'

It was just like a father, calming his two children.

And Jessie hadn't had family for years before meeting him.

He could see why she missed that love.

"It felt so bad, Woody. Watching him betray us like that." Jessie nestled further against Woody's chest. "it was like...like..."

"Like Emily. Watching your own father abandon you." Woody finished calmly for her. Jessie nodded, hiding her face in his chest. Woody held her for a moment, shooting looks at anyone who stared. He could feel Jessie's pain. Prospector's fatherly behavior was one of the reasons he decided to stay. And seeing him act like a villain had been jarring. he felt betrayed.

The way Andy must have felt when his father left.

"Hey, Jessie. You wanna play a game?"

"Sure." Woody lead his distraught friend away, hoping to distract her.

"Don't worry, little piggie!" Bonnie waved Jessie around. "I'll call some other critters to come save you!" Bonnie was sitting outside in her front yard, happily waving her toys about. Hamm was perched in a low tree branch, mentally begging not to fall.

"Bonnie! Come inside, we want to talk to you." Bonnie scampered away, the door slamming behind her. Jessie sat up and stretched, before looking up. "You okay up there, Hamm?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't be too much of a drop to my death!" Woody rolled his eyes. "Okay, look. There's at least five inches of grass here. If you fall, you'll basically land on a scratchy pillow."

Hamm shrugged. "Alright. If you say so." He turned, watching cars go by. "Boy, these things get fancier every year." Woody looked at Jessie. "feeling better?"

"Yeah." She stood up, and brushed grass out of her braid. "Thanks." Buzz walked up to her. "You can always talk to us, Jessie."

A black car, a van, pulled up right next to the porch. Hamm yelled down to his friends. "Everyone, places! Visitor!" The toys dropped like limp dolls, as a man in an all-too familiar red shirt came rushing out.

"Here they are!" He cried out. "After years of searching, I finally found them again. Wait, wait," he picked up Woody. "It's the same ones! I don't know how you got away from me!" He hugged Woody close, The cowboy cast a terrified look down at Jessie. She returned it.

"Okay, okay." The man scooped up Jessie and Bullseye, looking around to make sure no one was watching. "I just gotta get back to work. I'll find a lock box. Yeah...this time, it's gonna go right." He stuffed them into a black bag, and drove away.

"Who was that?!" Trixie asked, hopping up, watching as the back car drove out of sight. Buzz narrowed his eyes. That was the one person he hoped never to see again...

"Al." He muttered. Dolly squinted. "Who's Al?"

"The Chicken Man."

Al happily hopped out of his car, and into his apartment. His bag swung, the contents inside shuffling around. Woody and Jessie held on tight to each other. They knew what was going on, but they were both to scared to say a word.

They felt the bag hit a flat surface with a thump. Al sang happily to himself as he walked to the door. "I got them! I got them! After all these years I finally got them back!" He turned to the bag. "Now, don't you go nowhere this time." The call he got when the museum had realized the toys weren't there had devastated him. This time, he wasn't going to fail.

As soon as they  heard the door close, Jessie popped out of the bag, and started hyperventilating. "Woody, what are we gonna do?!"

"Now, don't worry. Take deep breaths, and grab Bullseye." Woody scanned the room, before taking off across the counter. "We're busting out right now!" Jessie took Bullseye's reigns, and ran after Woody.

Woody tried to open the window, not caring about the drop, but it wouldn't budge. "Woody," Jessie panted. "Al's not going to let us go this time."

"You're right. After last time, he's probably going to lock everything down to make sure he gets us to Tokyo." Woody glanced at the wall. "Darn it! He's even double locked the vent!" Jessie threw her arms around his neck. "oh, Woody! What do we do now?!"

Woody rubbed her back. "Don't worry, Jessie. We'll think of something."