“What don’t you like about it?” You asked.
You were laying in front of the TV, your arms crossed and propped to keep your face up. You were exhausted, but the obligation to stay awake long enough weighed on you more than you were willing to admit. It was late at night, and although you promised your mother you’d have your little sister in bed by 9, you promised your sister if she didn’t make a fuss during homework hours you’d let her stay up a little late and watch the TV.
“It’s for babies.” She responds matter-of-factly, you chuckle at the seriousness of her response.
“Amy, you’re six. You’re a baby.”
She starts to throw a small fit, whining defensively as she shakes her head “Nuh uh! Mom says that once I learn how to spell my name that means I’m totally grown up and stuff. I’m like… a big kid. Or something.”
“Well, when I was your age I definitely knew some big kids that still watched stuff like this.” You say, moving your focus back to the screen “Besides, they all look so cute.”
Amy rolls her eyes dramatically, reaching over and grabbing some popcorn out of the bowl “I guess. I like the girl one.”
“There’s like, three different girls- if you count that rainbow bird thing-” You paused, “Is Poppy a girl?”
“Yeah, duh,” She giggles, “I was talking about Julie! The one with the big hair.”
You smile “Ah, of course. Makes sense she's your favorite.”
Your sister always had a passion for anything pretty, and Julie’s clothing and hair was always a huge pinpoint. You could see the two playing dress up together, playing with makeup.
“Who’s your favorite?”
The question pulls you out of your thoughts and you stare over the screen “Uh, the artist.” You say.
“You don’t even remember his name?”
“Give me a break, he had one segment painting an apple!” You laugh “Besides, I’m like, half awake, none of the noises they are making are registering in my actively shrinking brain.”
She rolls her eyes again and dramatically flops back “Wally. His name is Wally Darling.”
“I thought you didn’t like this show?” You teased.
“I mean,” She mumbles, “It’s not that bad.”
You giggle “Wally then, he’s my favorite. I like artists.”
That was no secret. Your room was practically covered in the stuff, characters and landscapes, some projects for class, some personal- you were biased, definitely.
“You should draw something for him, and I’ll write a note on it! The show accepts drawings from fans alllll the time, you should send something in. Most drawings are by like, really little kids. But you’re like, a real artist, so he’ll like it a lot!”
You smile “How about you go get some stuff for us to color and we can both make something for him?”
She jumps up “I’m gonna draw a picture for Julie!” She shouts running off excitedly before coming back with an armful of supplies.
She drops them on the ground in front of you both and you start to sort through the different colored markers.
You start to use a pencil to roughly frame him out, staring up at the screen nearly every time to appear to just get it right.
“God, this is going to look awful.” You sign. You’ve never drawn a little puppet guy before.
You zone out a bit as you do the lineart for it, and coloring it in is honestly kind of relaxing thanks to the fun colors. It’s not often you get to use the full rainbow just for the pants.
You doodle some little rainbows and stars around his head. And as you stare at the picture you have but one thought;
This looks like ass.
“Oooo it looks just like him!” Amy cheers “He’s gonna love it! Are you going to write him a letter?”
You sign and look up at the screen for just a moment, the episode is nearly over and they are doing a small wrap up segment with Wally at his easel. And he started to pull out letters and items sent in by fans, going over what he liked about them and expressing his thanks.
You glance down at your picture and back up at him.
“... Yeah, sure. I guess.”
The next week you’re making lunch with your mother when your sister practically drags you over to the TV. She plops down and swears you have to watch it with her, because ‘maybe your picture will be in this episode’. You brush it off and awkwardly suggest the picture might not be, since it might take awhile to actually get to Wally, but she isn’t hearing it. She’s so proud she starts to actively record the episode to play back later. Mom probably won’t be happy with that one, you think, but you’ll worry about that when it comes.
“And, of course, my favorite part of the day.” Wally started with his slow, drawn out voice “We’re going to get into the lovely little letters you all sent.”
The first few that go on screen are entirely unfamiliar, nothing made by Amy or you, but still some very cute, childish art of Barnaby and Howdy.
“This one is from… Amy, who is 6- she says ‘Hi Wally, me and my sibling love your show! Julie is my favorite, she’s so pretty, so if you could give this drawing to her, I’d be so happy. My sibling also has a surprise for you, but I won’t spoil it. Thank you, Wally.’ well, how cute.” He holds up your sister’s drawing, and the girl practically jumps in the air and runs down the hall in excitement.
“Mommy! My drawing is on the TV, mommy!” She screamed as she bolted down the hall. You stare intently at the screen, and you swear you hear your heart beating in your ears. It was definitely her picture, the one that you folded nicely into that little envelope and sealed up with some saliva and a flower themed sticker. Her drawing of Julie, that spot where she accidentally colored purple where she wanted blue…
You were absolutely sure yours couldn’t show up though. It just couldn’t. Wally only did five or six near the end of the episode. Unless yours was the next one, it wouldn’t be shown on the episode.
Your suspicions are confirmed when the next gift is a small chunk of clay, sent in by a little boy named Jackson. It was supposed to be a butterfly for Frank… Yeah, butterflies don’t normally have that many wings. Everywhere. But Wally is very kind about it. And he calls it ‘the most creative butterfly’ he’s ever seen. Cute.
You grab the remote, ready to end the recording, when suddenly you hear something different.
“Oh, Neighbors, I nearly forgot! Something so special came in this week, actually- I think we’ve mentioned it before. Amy, who gave us their lovely drawing for Julie- thank you again for that- well, they did say their sibling drew something for us too. And I am absolutely smitten with it. That’s a big word, smitten, means… strongly attracted to something.” He says in that familiar slow, patient tone pulling out something folded up nicely ”Well, I am a huge fan of it. It’s not every day we get art by a bigggg professional.”
You felt your jaw drop and stare, how did he? I mean, you’re definitely related to Amy so unless this is just some crazy coincidence…
Lo and behold, he unfolds your little drawing of him and shows it to the camera. He lets out a little excited gasp, a childish one with aw “Isn’t it just absolutely wonderful? I’ve never gotten anything quite like this before. Why, I’d say I’m… inspired.”
Your sister joins you back in the room and immediately squeals “It’s yours! It’s yours! Does he like it?” She screams, getting a small groan from mom in the kitchen and a soft request to ‘keep it quiet’.
“Yeah,” You say in a dazed tone “I think he does.”
“There’s a note on the back of this one, too; ‘Hi there, Wally Darling. Me and my little sister, Amy are such huge fans of your show. All of you are adorable; but I do say that you’re my absolute favorite. Artist to artist, I think you’re an amazing teacher. I was watching you paint while I drew this. I hope you like it, though it isn’t much. Signed your best friend, (Y/n).”
He sets the drawing on his easel next to a dried painting of a pink oleander from earlier in the episode, one he made for Julie when she was having a bad case of the sniffles “Well, (Y/n), that sure does mean a lot. I’m absolutely in love with your drawing. I might just have to frame it! It deserves to be admired.”
He's staring at the screen, and you know deep down that the character isn't real. That he's a creature of felt and all, and even if he could see he'd just be looking at the silly camera. But the feeling in your gut telling you that he is watching won't let that logic sink in. He's watching you, he can see everything, and with that you force a smile at the screen and mouth a small thanks.
Maybe it's your mind, but you swear he lightens up after that.
You nearly choke up on your breath and you hardly wait till the episodes wraps up before you suddenly dash upstairs. Amy calls up after you asking what’s wrong, but you only shout back a small ‘nothing’ absentmindedly.
Once you make it to your bedroom you grab your bag, brushing through your bag and your heart stops completely.
The Pink and Blue envelopes are still there. Signed with your name, addressed to The Playfellow Workshop. Your eyes brush over them, and Amy's handwriting on the back, the crayon, that says 'WALLY' in all caps- it makes your heart stop.
You forgot to hit the post office when you were out getting groceries, you totally forgot until Amy mentioned it on the way home from school. You felt so bad, because those drawings wouldn't be on that episode at all. But then...
How the fuck did they get those pictures?