Welcome Home!

Part 10: Ruffled Feathers

The next day, I sprung out of bed. Today was the day I was going to hang out with Poppy! I liked Poppy quite a bit. She was so kind and considerate. She was also very cautious and took the necessary precautions to avoid danger.

I opened my front door, waving to all of my friends as I skipped over to Poppy's barn.

I raised my hand and knocked on the tall doors. The doors opened. Poppy looked down at me happily.

"How do you do, Poppy?" I greeted. She smiled.

"Very well. Thank you. Come on in," she extended a wing towards the inside of the barn. I happily obliged and entered. I sat on a lovely polished chair at a round table.

"Alrighty, deary. What would you like to do today?" Poppy asked me, tilting her head slightly as she looked down at me. I placed a finger on my chin, thinking. I hadn't thought about any activities! I was too excited thinking about spending time with a neighbor.

"How about we make stickers then bake things? We can put some stickers and a baked good in a little gift box and give one to everyone," I suggested lightly. I didn't want Poppy to think she had to do what I had requested. She looked at me thoughtfully.

"What a kind gesture that would be! Let us do it," she clapped her wings together, pleased with my idea.

We gathered the required materials and instantly began working. I happily began drawing and then coloring various stickers on the sticker paper. Poppy preferred to cut out the stickers. She refused to tell me why, but I suspected she was worried about handing me a sharp object.

We finished after a few fun hours.

"Now, what should we bake?" The grand bird puppet asked me, perusing her vast collection of cake pans.

"How about personalized cupcakes? Everyone gets one cupcake that is personalized to their tastes," I suggest. "Oh, but that would be a lot of work! If you're not up for it, we can bake some cookies!"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, dear!" Poppy exclaimed. She began searching for her cupcake pan and liners.

"Poppy, why don't I see you as often as the others?" Poppy stopped. I didn't think that my question was rude. Perhaps it was.

"Oh, I'm a very busy bird! I also get sick easily, so I'm often resting," she smiled. I nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"Oh, would you look at that! I have the perfect liner colors for everyone!" Poppy showed me her cupcake liners. I wasn't sure why one bird needed so many, but I did not judge. It was not my place to call her odd.

We started off with plain vanilla batter. We poured the batter into two of the cupcake liners for Frank and Eddie. We then split the batter so we could add flavorings. Julie got a strawberry cupcake, Wally got an apple one, Sally got lemon, Howdy got chocolate, Barnaby got banana, and Poppy and I had marbles chocolate and vanilla ones. We baked them all, preparing a plain vanilla buttercream frosting base.

We flavored each buttercream to compliment the flavor of the cupcake. I then made sprinkles and decorations using royal icing.

"Okay.... Let's see... Barnaby should have this bone decoration with the large circle sprinkles.. Julie can have the pink bow with heart sprinkles....," Poppy muttered, handing me different decorations and sprinkles. I decorated each cupcake happily.

"They look beautiful, Poppy!" I cheered. Poppy seemed a bit surprised.

"You think so? Well, I'm glad you do." She smiled at me.

"Okay! I'll begin putting the cupcakes in their corresponding bags, and you can put the stickers in the bags. Does that sound alright to you? We can swap jobs if you'd like," I stated, offering her a warm smile.

"Oh, no need! I'm perfectly happy with my job."

With that, we finished filling the bags. Poppy tied the last ribbon to a bag.

"Incredible! Would you like to give them to our friends now? I'll stand behind you and hand you the bags."

"Okay, Poppy!"

We visited Eddie's post office first. Poppy knocked on the door for me and handed me his bag. I beamed as he opened the door.

"Why, hello there!" Eddie waved.

"We've got some treats for you!" I said with a smile. Eddie took it gingerly.

"How gorgeous! How beautiful! Thank you!" He smiled at us both.

Howdy wasn't in his shop, but there was a note on the door. He was out picking up deliveries. I set his bag on his doorstep.

"Let's visit Barnaby next," Poppy suggested. I nodded eagerly.

Barnaby was outside his house. He took his bag happily. "What've we got 'ere?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Some treats, my dear," Poppy answered.

"Dear? Why not elk, or moose, 'r even a horse?" Barnaby managed to tell the joke as he laughed.

Poppy sighed, but it was a playful sigh. She didn't mind his terrible jokes. I laughed, partly out of not wanting to be rude, and also finding his joke genuinely funny.

He waved goodbye as we made our way over to Frank's house. Frank seemed to be in a mood, so we left his bag by his door. We ran over to Julie's house.

She opened the door with a friendly smile and took the bag happily as we explained its contents. She was especially interested in the stickers. She wanted to stick them to Frank's face.

Finally, we made it to Sally's house. I knocked on her elaborately decorated door. She opened it, although I could see she had faltered.

"Greetings, Sally! We come bearing treats!" I laughed. She offered us a slightly nervous but mainly happy smile.

"Thank you kindly, neighbors!" she called out after us as we walked towards Home.

"Wally!" I called. I heard him approach the door. He opened it.

"Oh, hello, dear. Hello, moMM-POPPY. Hello, POPPY," he struggled through his sentence. I giggled a little. Poppy placed a gentle wing on my shoulder. She probably didn't want me teasing him.

"Here! Some special treats just for you," I cheered, handing him his bag. He looked at me then at Poppy. He gave us a sleepy grin.

"Thank you very much, neighbors."

We waved goodbye as he blew kisses. Poppy turned to me.

"Here's your bag, deary," Poppy chuckled softly. "You didn't think I'd forget you, right?"

"Ohhhh, thank you, Poppy! Here's your bag, too!" I gave her the bag I had been hiding behind my back.

"Safe travels, alright?" Poppy called out after me.

"Okay!" I called back.

I arrived at my house. I yawned. It had been such a fun day! By the time I went to bed, I had completely forgotten about the forest lurking just behind my lovely house.

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Author's Note

Hello! I apologize for the slight decline in writing quality! Sleep deprivation does odd things to a person, hm?

I hope you enjoyed this second chapter for today! I may not be able to post tomorrow, so consider this an early post. :) I might be able to post tomorrow! We'll see.
<3