When Imaginary Friends Get A Little Too Friendly

By: CS Fox

 “Eduardo… can I talk to you for a moment?” asked Frankie in a surprisingly timid voice. She was hiding behind the bust of Madam foster in the main hall.

Eduardo was stomping by with a big bowl of popcorn as he heard her. “Sí Frankie?”

“Do you see a kangaroo kinda looking friend anywhere?”

Eduardo had to turn around a few times while he searched. The ground shook a little as he stomped in a circle and a few random kernels of popcorn flew out of the bowl.

“Sí, ella es at the top of the staircase.”

Frankie let out a gulp.

Eduardo squinted, “It’s only Senorita Pouch, no worries Frankie.”

Frankie pressed herself a little closer to the bust. She’d been afraid of that. Eduardo stared at her expectantly but when she didn’t say anything for a full minute, he shrugged and stomped off.

“Alyssa?” called a sweet voice from on top of the stares. “Do you need a change?”

Frankie cringed and tried to remain absolutely still, hoping this imaginary mother wouldn’t find her or try to put her in special undergarments… again.


****

She’d arrived about a week before, on one of those particularly busy days.

“I’m coming,” Frankie called, trying to sound as polite as someone can with a basket of laundry under each arm. The front door wasn’t really on the way to the laundry room, but it couldn’t be helped.

The doorbell rang a few more times, some little kid was having fun with the ringer.

“I said I’m coming!” Frankie yelled.

Amazingly she was so used to being bothered when she was busy, that she was actually quite good at opening the doors with just her sneaker. She kicked the handle and the door swung open.

“How can I help y…” Frankie was about to do her typical welcome to foster’s spiel, but something was wrong. There was an imaginary friend on the porch crying.

Frankie looked a little confused. “Umm… miss… is everything okay?”

She could tell it was female; she had a knack for knowing things about friends after dealing with so many. This friend looked very much like a kangaroo, but she was pink. Frankie dropped the laundry.

“What’s wrong?”

 “My… my creator grew up,” she said between sobs.

Frankie took the friend’s paw in her hand, it was common for some friends to react like this.

“It’s okay, why don’t you come insi…”

“Miss Francis, why is that friend crying?!”

Frankie spun around to find Mr. Herriman hopping towards her. He was a rabbit of Victorian proportions, and he often had a bad immediate grasp of situations.

Frankie’s mouth dropped “Mr. H, she just,”

I’m soo sorry madam, Miss Francis means well,” he said hopping in front of Frankie and letting the kangaroo in.

Frankie looked stunned. “But I…”

“Tut tut Miss Francis, I’ll handle this. Please, do come in miss…?”

“Pouch… My name’s Pouch,” the Kangaroo said still sobbing. “I’m homeless now.”

Mr. Herriman nodded, and without saying a word, took her paw and led her still crying up to his office.

Frankie watched them go; she had her hands on her hips. “Geeze, you try to be nice,” she said kicking a basket of laundry. She stomped a foot and grumbled a little more, but eventually picked up the baskets and made her way to the laundry room. Such is the life of the do-everything-girl at Fosters.

As for the guest, it actually wasn’t the first time a friend had arrived crying. With the inevitable march of time, there comes a separation point where children outgrow the need for a constant friend. Sometimes they’ve found real friends, sometimes at the urging of their parents, or sometimes they just got bored. Whatever the reason, as any authority on imaginary friends could tell you, it’s hard for the creation to part ways with the creator… but that’s why there was Foster’s.

The first stop for a new resident to Foster’s Home for imaginary friends is the administration office, run by Mr. Herriman.

“Miss Pouch,” he said writing her name down. He had a giant white feather quill that he scribbled her name elegantly with on one of his MANY forms. He cleared his throat and puffed himself up in a dignified manner. “Foster’s keeps its doors open to all imaginary friends. You are welcome to stay as long as you like, until you’ve found another child in need of a friend,” he adjusted his monocle and stood up a little straighter, he loved explaining the home’s mission. “We provide a warm environment as well as ample opportunity for adoption. There are adopt-a-thon’s, a web site-a-ma-jig, an exchange program and…”

“Adoption?” The kangaroo asked.

Mr. Herriman nodded, “Re-adoption, resuming the role of imaginary friend to a child. It’s the goal of all imaginary friends, right?”

The kangaroo looked a little nervous, but nodded.

“Good, we’ll find you a room, welcome to Fosters.”


****

“Hello dear,” Pouch said as she leaned over the banister and looked at Frankie from above. Frankie looked up in surprise and quickly tried to act like she was behind the bust of Madam Foster because it needed cleaning.

“H..h..hi.. Pouch,” Frankie stammered out. “Sorry, I don’t really have time for more games right now. I’ve got lots of chores to do.”

Pouch nodded. “I know, you always have so many chores. I thought I’d help you with them,” she smiled and hopped down the stairs.

To a point, Pouch was actually very helpful. She was good at laundry, cooking, cleaning, and absolutely amazing with the baby friends in the nursery… but there was a reason for that.

“Store!” Frankie blurted out. She made a dash from the statue and into the kitchen. She dodged a few of the residents as she hastily went for the bus keys. She had to reach over two of the more notorious residents who were sitting on the counter eating sandwiches.

Mac looked like he was about to say something but Frankie flew by him. He was sitting with his imaginary friend blue.

“Break all the eggs and throw out the bread!” she said in passing.

“What? Why?” Mac asked.

“So I’ll need to buy more!” came the reply as the back door banged open.

Mac looked confused, but Bloo didin’t.

“CAN DO!” Bloo said all smiles and excitedly moving to the fridge. He didn’t really have legs and just kind of bobbed up and down like a blue popsicle as he grabbed a carton of eggs.

Frankie was just out the back door, but cringed as she started to hear the sound of cracking eggs. “I’ll clean it later,” she told herself, heading for the bus.

“One moment Alyssa,” Pouch said, hopping off the front porch. Frankie froze hearing her name as she came around the side of the house. Pouch hopped up to her and looked at her with a playfully stern face. “Thought I’d forget huh?”

Frankie quickly looked around for a place to run and hide, but Pouch was right there. The only thing she could do was quickly grab the bottom of her skirt and hold it down.

Pouch smiled. “Don’t be so embarrassed.”

Frankie couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

“Do you need a change?” Pouch asked again.

“No, I’m fine,” Frankie said continuing to hold her skirt down. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m not wearing what you think I’m wearing right now…” To be honest, she wasn’t wearing ANYTHING under her skirt right now.

Pouch looked confused for a moment, but blinked it away. “Oh right… sorry Frankie, sometimes I do forget that you’re not…”

“Ah, yah,” Frankie said easing her hands off her skirt. “I’m sorry Pouch, I mean what happened… it’s going to have to be a onetime thing. I’m not your creator.”

Pouch looked sad for a moment, but nodded. “Right, sorry Frankie,” she said hopping away.

Frankie sighed and felt a little bad, but better this then the alternative. She turned around and headed back into the kitchen. She came in to find Bloo with a spaghetti strainer on his head and eggs everywhere; ceiling, floor, counter tops; it was amazingly even and efficient the way it was spread about, Frankie didn’t even want to know how.

“He did it,” Mac and Bloo quickly said pointing to each other. Frankie’s eyebrow twitched and she fought back the urge to scream something, she’d been outside for what, 20 seconds? She turned around and headed back out to the bus.  She really would need to buy more eggs now.


****

 “This is going to be your room,” Mr. Herriman said. “Dinner is at 6 o’clock sharp. No friend eats until all friends are seated at the table with their hands, feet, or whatever limb they prefer to eat with properly washed.”

Pouch hopped into the room. It was empty save for a bed and a dresser, all the way up on the fourth floor of the house.

“Thank you,” she said half heartedly. “I think I’d just like some time to myself right now.”

Mr. Herriman nodded, not really paying attention. “Right right, we’ll see you at 6 then.” He hopped back down the hallway and probably off to his office.

As soon as he was gone, Pouch shut the door and had another good cry.

Her adjustment to the house took a few days. For a while she spent her time with some of the ‘sorrow friends’ as they were known. They were the product of some sad child’s self pity; the little rain cloud, the French tear drop who recited woe-is-me poetry, the never ending tissue box who said nothing but reassurances. A lot of the friends knew what she was going through and gave her some space.

Time does help to mend wounds, and Pouch found a place for herself at Foster’s by helping out. It had started one day when she was going to her room and got lost in one of the many hallways. She would have tried to retrace her steps if it weren’t for the pink sign she saw down the hall.

‘Nursery’ it read in pink letters.

Pouch couldn’t help herself. She opened the door and found the youngest looking imaginary friends she’d ever seen, and they were all listening to a tall tale from a big purple monster friend.

“Hola señora Pouch, I was just telling a story to the little Niño’s,” Eduardo said.

The little ones all looked up at her and smiled. Many were sucking their thumbs, or holding stuffed animals that Eduardo had loaned them. She waved kindly to all of them and for the first time since she’d arrived, she smiled.

The afternoon seemed to fly by for Pouch… But, in a different part of the house, someone wasn’t having as great an afternoon. Frankie, she was exhausted. Her day went on and on. After dinner was cleaned up, she was mentally preparing herself for the battle she knew she’d have with the baby friends at bedtime. As she came into the nursery, she got a pleasant surprise.

All the baby friends were quietly listening to a story from Pouch. They were dressed for bed, and some of them were already asleep in their basinets…  Frankie had all but forgotten about the pink kangaroo who usually kept to herself.

Frankie sat down in the rocking chair, listening. Pouch had big feet like Mr. Harrimen, and she was somehow able to curve them and naturally rock herself. She was reading from a children’s book, and the baby friends who weren’t asleep were enjoying it greatly. Frankie smiled and rocked comfortably in the chair, enjoying the story herself.

As the story wrapped up, all the baby friends were sound asleep and Pouch tucked them in. Before she left, she found Frankie asleep in the rocking chair. She smiled, getting an extra blanket, and laying it over Frankie. She turned the light the rest of the way off and hopped out of the room.


****

Frankie awoke a few hours later and was a little disoriented at where she was. She looked around in the moonlight and realized it was the nursery. She stretched, remembering that Pouch had been there earlier, and she made a note to thank her for her help. She never got to sleep before 9, even waking up now, it was refreshing. She yawned and wandered down the hallway to her room.

The next day started out busier then the day before… The first Saturday of every month was Adopt-a-thon Saturday. It meant a lot of work. There were fliers, forms, visitors; and Frankie was trying to lead it all.

The day had gone well so far, two of the house’s friends had found homes. As everything came to a close, Frankie found herself yawning and remembering the nap she’d had the day before.

“Wonder where Pouch is?” Frankie asked herself.

Thinking on it, she hadn’t seen Pouch outside the whole morning. It was possible she wasn’t ready for adoption yet. Some of the friends new to the house went through a mourning period that could last a few months before they felt ready to put themselves up for adoption.

After dinner, Frankie found herself once again heading to the Nursery to check on the baby friends. She opened the nursery door to find them all asleep, and Pouch tucking in the last. She smiled and waved, waiting patiently for Pouch to finish. She didn’t want to go in and cause the babies to fuss, so she stayed out in the hallway looking on.

Pouch switched off the light and joined Frankie in the hall.

“Thanks for helping out in the nursery the last two days. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure, the little ones are sooo cute.”

Frankie nodded, “That they are… but did you spend all day in there? I didn’t see you outside at the Adopt-a-thon today.”

Pouch blushed, “Oh… I’m… I’m not really…”

“Ready just yet?”

She nodded.

“Take your time… You’re allowed to stay here as long as you like.”

Pouch nodded again, smiling a little.

Frankie turned to leave, “Thanks again for helping out in the nursery.”

“I think I’d actually like to work up here… kind of take care of them regularly.”

Frankie looked confused for a moment, but smiled. “I’ll ask Mr. H about it. I don’t know about taking over full-time, but I could certainly use regular help.”

“Thanks, it’s kind of helped me move on…”

Frankie nodded, and gave her a pat on the shoulder before going back to her room.


****

Mr. Herrimen was actually more than happy to announce that Pouch would be the official “assistant attendant to the nursery” or some other silly title that seemed to change with the various administrative rearrangement moods he had. He had a fixation for rules and titles; and someone stepping up to a responsibility was a rare treat for him indeed. Pouch took the job gladly.

During the day Pouch would often take charge of the nursery and periodically, Frankie would check in on her. It wasn’t really necessary though, everyone was quickly discovering that Pouch was an amazing Nanny of an imaginary friend.

One day after a particularly messy art experiment that the baby friends had participated in, Frankie was helping Pouch clean up and just couldn’t resist complimenting her.

“You’re amazing Pouch. The nursery has never run so great. The baby friends are always happy and well behaved.” In truth, the baby friends were far better behaved then some of the big friends were. “When you’re ready to be adopted again, you’ll have no problem finding someone to be a friend too. Cooking, cleaning, stories, arts and crafts, there’s nothing you’re not good at. I’m jealous.”

Frankie continued cleaning, but didn’t notice Pouch blushing.

“I guess we’re all created to do different things right?”

Frankie nodded. It was interesting because a lot of friends seemed to be very specialized in filling a need in a child’s life. A friend to play basketball, a goofball to tell jokes, a cute pony to primp and ride, a blue idiot to cause mischief.  Pouch’s multi-talents must have been needed to fill a big role.

Frankie took an armful of art supplies to the closet. “You do such a good job Pouch. You’re one of the most talented friends we have.”

Pouch was still blushing, “Frankie, you’re embarrassing me. I’m really not that special. I’m just good at caring, which every friend here is good at in their own way.”

Frankie nodded. “Very true. Maybe I’m just a bit jealous, I wish someone would care for me the way you do, or at least show a little appreciation for how hard I work.”

Pouch stopped cleaning a moment and looked at Frankie. “What do you mean dear?”

Frankie continued cleaning and sorting, not entirely realizing how personal she was getting with the conversation. Sometimes when she got busy, she didn’t track what she was saying. “I guess sometimes I wish that instead of having to care for the whole house… Someone would just take care of me.”

Pouch gasped silently… that… that had been the thought. That was the very thought that had created her. Her creator that she had loved so dearly had once said that exact same thing in her mind’s eye and wished it so sincerely that Pouch had happily come into existence.

A warm feeling spread over Pouch. It was that feeling where suddenly everything falls into place and you can see the answer to the puzzle.

Frankie finished cleaning up and smiled at Pouch. “Thanks for listening. Sorry if I complain sometimes, I just needed to vent a little.”

To her surprise, Pouch gave Frankie a big hug. “Thanks for helping,” she said. Frankie wasn’t sure what to say, but let herself be hugged, feeling kind of awkward getting thanked for doing a job that was really her responsibility in the first place. Any praise was better than no praise, so she tried to act humble saying it was nothing at all, enjoying at least some recognition.

Pouch smiled warmly, “See you after dinner then? When it’s time to tuck the little ones in?”

Frankie nodded.

“I’ll tell a special story, one just for you.”

Frankie looked puzzled, but managed a nod. Pouch ushered her out of the nursery and for a moment, Frankie wondered what had just happened.


****

Dinner came and went; it was almost without incident, but a certain blue mischief maker had decided to get creative with the ketchup. Somewhere in the rules of all that’s sane, there should be added a footnote that ’57 variety is not an open invitation to improve upon the original recipe in 57 ways.

It took the better part of 45 minutes to clean up the last of the ‘baking soda vinegar ketchup remix’ which was apparently variety 42, before Frankie could consider the dinning hall clean enough to go check on the nursery. Having been a bit curious since earlier in the day, Frankie hummed pleasantly to herself as she headed for the nursery. Usually, she was rolling up her sleeves and getting ready to wrangle some baby friends down for bed time, but now she was heading toward what was becoming the most relaxing part of her day.

She poked her head into the brightly colored door, and found all the friends gathered around Pouch, who was sitting in the rocking chair instead of on her own curved feet.

“She’s here!”

“Now can we hear the story Pouch?” asked one of the baby friends, seeing Frankie.

“Pleassseee??” asked another.

Pouch winked at Frankie and nodded to the little ones. There was a little cheer as some of them settled into a more comfortable position in anticipation of the story. Frankie smiled and looked around for a place to sit since Pouch was in the rocking chair.

“There’s a spot right here next to me if you’d like?” Pouch said sweetly to Frankie. Frankie looked bewildered a moment, the spot Pouch was referring to was on the ground with the baby friends… they were all looking up at her, equating the delay in the story with her reluctance to take a seat. Rather then be rude she shrugged and sat down in front of Pouch.

“Once upon a time, there was a princess…” Pouch began. “A special princess, the only one in the kingdom…”

“What did she look like?” interrupted a babyfriend; she was a kitten in a purple sleeper who purred her o’s.  “Was she pretttty?”

Pouch smiled. “She was beautiful. She was fair skinned, and bright haired; and everybody loved her. She was the jewel of the kingdom… but there was one problem.  She was always sad.”

Frankie felt a little silly to be sitting on the floor with the little ones. She didn’t really have a lot of space, so she was hugging her own knees and feeling kind of awkward, but at the same time there was something nice and nostalgic about the whole thing. She was enjoying the story.

“The reason the princess was very sad was because she didn’t feel loved. It was unfair, because the king and kingdom loved her very much. She just didn’t know it… When she was only a baby, and the entire kingdom had been invited to see the baby princess, the King forget to invite one person… the king had forgotten to invite the witch of the forest.”

There were some startled gasps from the babyfriends. Frankie giggled.

“The witch had never done anything to wrong the king, in fact she worked very hard for him; keeping the goblins and mountain trolls out of his kingdom… she sent a messenger to ask why she hadn’t been invited. The king, realizing his error, but still not wanting a witch at the ceremony, ignored her messenger and turned any others away, without so much as a thank you for any of the work the witch did. As the ceremony came near, the witch made plans to attend and speak to the king who didn’t appreciate her.”

Pouch teetered slowly in the rocking chair, doing a great job showing some of the action in the story with items she was pulling out of her kangaroo-ish pouch. She’d reach a paw in, and find a little hand puppet of a king, or witch.

“’You invited everyone in the kingdom except me your highness’ said the witch to the king. ‘You’ve never spoken to me once, or answered any of my letters, and it’s about time you were punished.’”

Pouch moved the witch’s puppet on her paw over Frankie’s head, making the round little arms look like they were sprinkling something.

“’I’m putting a curse on your baby princess… A curse that prevents you from ever telling her something nice; no matter how great a princess she grows up to be, not you, nor anyone in your kingdom will be able to tell her how much you appreciate her. Maybe you’ll learn in the future to appreciate those around you.”

The princess… er… Frankie felt a little stunned. She was sitting in rapt attention just as much as the little ones still awake.

“As the princess got older, she grew beautiful, and kind, but it seemed no matter how much niceness in the world she did, all she ever got was a smile, or a few nods. No one ever said… ‘Thank you’ or ‘I appreciate everything you’ve done’… and for this she was very sad… and the kingdom was sad for her, because as nice as she was to all them, whenever anyone tried to say something back, their mouths suddenly felt like they were full of peanut butter, and all they could manage was a polite smile or nod…”

“One day… when it was cold… and the rain just wouldn’t go away… there came to visit a queen from another country. This queen had been traveling for a long time, and no one knew who she was, but the Princess was willing to offer her kindness, even though she knew that she’d get none in return.”

Almost all of the babyfriends were falling asleep now. Pouch had gotten up from the rocking chair and was quietly tucking them into bed while continuing her story in a very soft voice that seemed to swim through Frankie’s ears.

“The princess brought the queen to her castle and gave her a place to say, she didn’t ask anything, or want anything other then to be nice to this stranger from far away. The queen, whose kingdom had befallen a natural disaster, was overcome with gratitude… She looked at the princess and wanted to say something; but found her mouth felt like it was filled with peanut butter… still wanting to do something, she leaned forward and gave the princess a big warm hug.”

Frankie had been nodding off a little when suddenly Pouch was hugging her. Sleepily, she hugged back and smiled warmly. Pouch gave her back a gentle pat.

“And for the first time in her life… the princess was told… maybe not in words… just how much her being nice to someone really meant.”

And that was all it took; Pouch’s story had an almost magical effect on all the little one’s who heard it. Even Frankie fell gently asleep, still being hugged by Pouch.

“And both the Queen and the Princess were very happy, but I guess I’ll have to finish the rest of the story some other time,” Pouch said smiling, and putting her arm around Frankie to help her up.

She looked around the room and frowned when she realized there weren’t any bassinets big enough for Frankie. She shrugged and made a mental note to do something about it later. Moving gently so as not to wake Frankie, Pouch helped her into the rocking chair, taking one of the baby blankets and putting it over her.

Hopping to the door, Pouch turned on the night light and turned off the overhead light. She was about to leave, but thinking better of it, she reached into her pouch and pulled out something very special… the pacifier that used to belong to her creator.


****

Frankie awoke the next morning feeling wonderful. She usually got up early, and she could tell it was just barely dawn as she stretched. Raising her arms caused her to tip backwards for a moment; which surprised her. She blinked a few times and realized that she was in the rocking chair in the nursery.

“Diid I sweeth heer,” she mumbled, finding there was a pacifier in her mouth. She spit it out into her hand and looked at it bewildered. “Ummm… okay…” she said getting up. The baby friends were all asleep and she tip toed out to make sure they stayed that way. Imaginary babies could be very grumpy when they first woke up… not to mention hungry and in need of a changing, and Frankie wanted to at least change out of the clothes she was wearing yesterday before she got to that.

Walking down the hall and back to her room, Frankie looked at the paci she had in her hand. She knew it didn’t belong to any of the babyfriends, so it likely wasn’t one of them who gave it to her… and she’d had it in her mouth? She felt a little violated in a way. Would Pouch have…? Nah.


****

The following days found Frankie running through her usual paces. Clean the house, wash the car, get three meals started, get three meals cleaned up, try not to chock out the floppy bunny with impossible demands. She didn’t actually get a chance to check on Pouch and the nursery for two days.

Frankie ventured in after lunch and found Pouch putting down the babyfriends for a nap.

“Is one of the babyfriends missing a pacifier?” Frankie asked coming up to Pouch. Pouch made a gentle shushing motion as she tucked in a baby, before turning to Frankie. Seeing the pacifier, Pouch smiled broadly. She took the paci out of Frankie’s hand and stuck it in her mouth before moving to pick up another baby friend. It was a kitten looking friend and she giggled seeing the paci in Frankie’s mouth.

Frankie stared at Pouch in amazement as she put the kitten in her bassinet; and it took her just about a full minute before she could even realize to take the paci out of her mouth.  She walked up to Pouch again, and tried to make a ‘WTF’? face without scaring or waking the babyfriends.

“Pouch… I think we need to …”

Pouch turned to Frankie and smiled again, giving her a warm hug. Frankie stopped talking, and just kind of stared at Pouch. “Umm pouch?”

Pouch relaxed her embrace and took Frankie by the hand, leading her to the padded bench and making a patting motion like she wanted her to sit down. Not really thinking, Frankie took a seat.

“Pouch… I think what you’re doing here is great, I mean the baby friends couldn’t be doing better, but I’ve got to say… I feel a little uncomfortable lately.”

Pouch was only half listening, she smiled and started reaching into her kangaroo pocket for a couple things.

“Pouch?” Frankie asked feeling awkward again since Pouch wasn’t saying anything back to her.

Pouch pulled out a large diaper and some baby powder. Frankie jumped up off the padded bench, remembering just what it was used for.

“WOAH,” she said putting her hands out like Pouch was holding a bomb or something.

“Don’t worry Alyssa, I wouldn’t forget.”

“Alyssa?” Frankie asked a little confused. She started to back step toward the door. Pouch just looked at her curiously.

“Honey? Don’t you want to lay down so I can change you into a diaper and get you ready for your nap?”

Frankie hurried for the door, “I’m not Alyssa,” she said letting herself out. She dropped the pacifier behind her.

Pouch hopped over and picked up the pacifier, looking at it, and the diapering supplies in her paws, her smile faded. “Oh dear…” she said to herself, suddenly realizing her mistake. Her ears lowered and she let out a sigh. “Sorry Frankie,” she said to herself, putting everything away in her pocket. She shut off the light and hopped slowly out of the nursery, feeling a little depressed for the first time in a few days.

She’d slipped… well maybe her heart had slipped, because it was almost like it used to be… Why was she feeling this way now? She had little precious ones to take care of… shouldn’t that be enough? This wasn’t right. She needed to go apologize. She hopped down the hall toward her room, wondering if it was best to go see Frankie right away or find a way to approach her later.

She took a turn, and hopped on a little more, her mind awash with mixed thoughts and embarrassment. Oh dear, had she really approached Frankie like she was Alyssa, her creator? She hoped she hadn’t ruined a friendship.

Frankie sat on her bed, alone, with the door locked. Had… had that just happened? Pouch the wonder nanny had mistaken her for… for some toddler named Alyssa? Frankie got up and paced a circle around her room, trying to rationalize it.

“How could someone so good at, well, everything; be so off her game?” Frankie asked herself while walking another circle. She wondered if it would be negligent to avoid the nursery from now on.

She stopped mid-step as a knock came from her door.

“Frankie?”

Frankie hesitated before going to the door and putting her ear to it. “Yes… who is it?” she asked cautiously.

“…It’s Pouch… I.. I wanted to apologize.”

Frankie cracked the door a little, and was kind of surprised to see a very solemn looking kangaroo. She was crying softly, and her ears were down. It was almost like the first day they’d met.

“Uh… come in…” Frankie offered, opening the door; not really sure what else to do.

Pouch hopped in and sat back on her large tail and feet.

“I’m sooo sorry Frankie,” she said looking down at her paws, still a bit embarrassed. “I… I thought you were my creator earlier.”

Frankie nodded, but politely kept her distance. “Yah, I kind of figured as much…”

There was silence between the two of them, the only noise being Pouch’s occasional embarrassed sob. Frankie dropped her shoulders a little bit, and tried to smile.

“It’s okay Pouch, I mean it was an honest mistake right?”

Pouch nodded.

Frankie took a seat on her bed, this was sometimes part of the process for friend’s who’d been let go by their creators. “Do you wanna talk about… Alyssa?” she asked looking at Pouch sincerely.

Pouch was quiet and just rocked back and forth a moment before finally nodding. “Alyssa was… very special… and a lot like you.”

Frankie raised an eyebrow, this was a bit different from the usual sort of chat these always ended up being.

“She was smart, pretty, helpful, appreciative; the perfect child really, she just needed help with a few things cause she couldn’t do it all herself.”

“Like bedwetting?” Frankie offered.

Pouch nodded, “but she needed more help then just diapering… She had so much to do, so much to take care of on her own… The other day, you actually said something kind of important to me. You said the exact phrase that my creator said before I came into existence.”

Frankie raised an eyebrow. “I did?”

Pouch started to cry a little more, but it was a different, sort of happy and remembrance cry. “I wish someone would just take care of me.”

Frankie gasped a moment. Most friends were created to fill a niche in a child’s life, but sometimes… friend’s were created to fill a LOSS in a child’s life.

“You were Alyssa’s mother?”

At the word, Pouch looked up and her eyes met with Frankie’s, the corners brimming with tears. She buried her face in her paws. “Noo… but I wanted to be… I did everything I could to be there for her, but in the end… how could I be? I’m imaginary.”

Frankie got off her bed and gave Pouch a hug, she knew she liked them. “Imaginary friends who are wished into existence with a pure thought, are as good as real. You can interact with our world, you’ve got feelings, love to give… how else would I be sharing this hug with you right now.”

Pouch nodded, and sniffled. “I know you’re right, but… it still hurts. It hurts when they grow up and leave.”

Frankie wondered if Pouch meant that from the point of view of an imaginary friend, or from a mother.

When Pouch stopped crying, Frankie escorted her out of her room, feeling at least a bit more comfortable and understanding of what had happened. With the room to herself again, Frankie sat at her computer and thought for a few moments about what she had apparently said. She sort of remembered saying “I wish someone would care for me,” but if she did, it was mainly an idle complaint.

Frankie smiled smugly, “It would be nice to have someone do everything for me,” she said idly to herself. But shaking it off, she knew it wasn’t really a job she could just let fall to someone else’s lap.


****

The craziness of fosters can sometimes itself be a form of normality. If you see or do anything enough, it transitions from “WTF?” to “Didn’t this happen last month?” to “That’s the third time today!”

Still, with its whacky sense of reality, one couldn’t help but notice the return of depression to Pouch, the nanny of Foster’s nursery. The smiling, happy care taker to a dozen baby friends, had lost a bit of the spring in her hop, and even Eduardo, who loved to visit the babyfriends himself, noticed the change in the senorita.

Frankie had noticed, and even tried to talk to Pouch about it once or twice since the day she’d cried in her room; but Pouch was always polite and only said ‘no no dear, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

Thinking more on what they’d discussed, and after all the help Pouch had provided around the house, Frankie wondered if maybe there wasn’t something else she could do to cheer Pouch up.

Frankie had to talk herself into it. After lunch one day when most of the house was out at a picnic, she headed for the nursery. In a way, it was going to be an act of kindness, but she couldn’t help but also feel a little like Alice about to see just how far the rabbit hole went.

Pouch, was quietly tucking in the baby friends. There was no story today, and half the friend’s weren’t even really that tired, but were being putting down anyway. Frankie could feel Pouch was losing a little love for the job, and the sad look about her was the last bit of encouragement she needed.

“Pouch?” she asked coming up behind her.

Pouch turned, but only gave half her attention, dealing with a fussy baby. “Oh, hi Frankie,” she said putting the baby friend on a shoulder and trying to rock it gently. “Just getting the little ones down for a nap,” she tried to say politely; but even then still sounded sad.

Frankie bit her lower lip and tried to pick somewhere else to stare at besides the baby friend on Pouch’s shoulder… “Well, Pouch, I was going to take a nap this afternoon too, and I umm…” Frankie held her elbow a little nervously. “Would you be able to come by and tell me a story to help me sleep?”

Pouch looked at Frankie curiously for a moment, but then a smile grew across her face. “I’d love too, I’ll meet you in your room after I get the rest of the little ones down.”

Frankie blushed and turned away, not exactly sure she’d done the right thing.

“Wait, before you go,” Pouch called after her.

Frankie turned around and suddenly found a pacifier being put in her mouth. She blushed furiously and fought back a slight gag reflex, only able to do so by seeing the smile on Pouch’s face.

Frankie took the paci out as soon as she was out of the nursery, and hurried to her room. She was alone in the house besides the baby friends and Pouch, but it was still too embarrassing and she was a bit too self conscientious to run around the house with a paci in her mouth.

About 10 minutes later, Pouch knocked on her door. Frankie was nervous and sitting on her bed, but managed a quiet “come in.”

Pouch hopped in, smiling broadly. “Let’s get you ready for your nap dear,” she said practically singing.

Thinking of the paci in her skirt pocket, Frankie blushed, this could get out of hand… “I was just thinking about a naptime story if that’s okay?” Frankie asked politely.

Pouch hoped over and gave Frankie a big hug. It surprised her, as these sudden hugs always seemed to, but it also relaxed her. “Thank you…” Pouch said quietly to her ear, hugging a little harder.

The tension eased off a bit and Frankie allowed herself to lay down on her bed. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.

“I think I’ve got just the story,” Pouch said with a smile.


****

Frankie didn’t wake up for a few hours. She stretched, and yawned, feeling wonderfully rested, but yet… something was amiss.

The yawn didn’t come out right, the stretch didn’t feel right… She blinked her eyes a few times, she was in her room, but something still felt wrong, it was the middle of the day. Had she been napping?

She vaguely remembered stopping by the nursery… and… Frankie felt something chewy in her mouth. She quickly spit the pacifier out into her hand.

“Oh no…” Frankie said softly to herself looking at it. She had a bad feeling as she sat up in her bed, realizing there were blankets on her that she hadn’t covered herself with  before laying down. She also felt something kind of warm and crinkly under her.

Lifting the blanket a little and peeking under, Frankie found that she was only wearing a t-shirt, and a rather large baby diaper.

Her eyes widened a little bit. “Pouch??” she asked looking at it. She lowered the blanket again, as if not seeing it would mean she wasn’t really wearing it.

Frankie felt a little violated again. Was she really that tired, that she wouldn’t realize she was being undressed and diapered after a story from Pouch?

“This is my fault for inviting it…” Frankie said to herself, lifting up the blanket once more… this time she noticed something else; that warm feeling… it was because her diaper was wet.

“NO WAY,” she said putting her hand down to pat at the wet padding. She’d never wet the bed before, ever.

The door to her room opened with a click, and Frankie quickly clutched at the blanket to cover herself. “P..P…Pouch?” she asked seeing the kangaroo hop in.

“Awww have a good nap Alyssa?” she asked coming over and removing the blanket from Frankie. She was too stunned to even hold on to it, but scrunched herself up and tried to cover her midriff when she realized what Pouch could see. “Looks like we wet again during our nap,” Pouch added in a motherly tone, giving a pat to Frankie’s head.

“Pouch… this…”

“It’s okay deary, not like it hasn’t happened before. That’s why you wear diapers for naps.”

“But but…”

Pouch put a pacifier in Frankie’s mouth. “Don’t worry, we’ll have you changed in a moment.”

Frankie jumped out of bed. She saw her skirt on the floor and grabbed it, nearly tripping over her own feet as she bent mid run. Holding it just to cover her front as she made it out of the room, she bolted for the bathroom down the hall.

Horrified, she was crinkling the whole way and she thought she heard other friends in the house, but thankfully none had seen her. In the bathroom she stripped the diaper off, wadded it up and threw it in the trash, putting her skirt back on. She didn’t want to wait around to see what Pouch would do this time. She’d been wrong to invite this to happen after what happened last time. She had hypnotic stories or something.

Easing her way out of the bathroom, Frankie looked up and down both ends of the hallway, sneaking out only after she was sure Pouch wasn’t around….