Despite his earlier uncertainties, Frank decided to hold the Butterfly Fest a few days early. It was a big, exciting day! I walked with him to visit Howdy's bodega for supplies.
"Yes. Also, this species is often mistaken for moths, but they're not. You can tell by the..." he went on and on. I tried to do the neighborly thing and listen, but I was busy trying not to freak out. The cameras were on again, unfortunately.
"Oh, Frank! Here we are!" I hummed, opening the door for him. He walked into the shop with me following him in. Instantly, I strayed from Frank's side over to an aisle.
I picked up a product labeled Canned Laughter. I looked interested, but I wasn't. I turned around, hearing Frank's voice.
"When will you be turning into a butterfly? You've been stuck at that stage for a while now," Frank pointed at Howdy bluntly. He didn't mean harm by what he said.
Howdy let out a low chuckle. "Well, friend, 'tis a mystery. Perhaps I'm just not ready yet for that stage in life."
Frank shook his head. "That's no good."
Just then, Eddie walked in. He waved at Frank, a piece of yarn tied to his finger. He looked down at it, trying to remember what the yarn was going to remind of. Suddenly, he perked up.
"Oh! Howdy! Do you have any more school glue? I've run out... I need my hair to look gorgeous for the festival!" He pointed at his messy hair. "Look at how silly this mess is!"
Frank cleared his throat and waved at Eddie. A smile crept onto Eddie's face.
"Look at you! You look gorgeous. And beautiful. And like Frank. You mainly look like Frank," Eddie complimented his tube-shaped neighbor. It was true. Frank looked very nice. He was sporting a white vest with a deep purple, long-sleeved shirt underneath. The shirt was covered in black butterfly print.
"Here ya go, my friend! I got the clear kind, just for you!" Howdy said with a wink as he handed Eddie a crate of glue. I was slightly disturbed by my neighbors' odd hair habits, but I said nothing of it.
"Eddie, are you ready for the festival?" I asked. He smiled at me, placing a hand on the back of his neck nervously.
"I think so! I really want everything to go well! Frank's been so worried these past few days! I've got to make sure everything is wonderful." He chuckled and set down the crate, placing his hands on his hips. "What about you?"
"Oh! I'm delighted that Frank decided not to cancel it!" I twirled happily. I was excited to experience this festival. Eddie nodded.
"Welp, see ya around, neighbors!" Eddie waved goodbye, picking up his crate of glue. Frank waved back excitedly. I turned towards him. Frank frowned at me. I smiled smugly at him. It was fun teasing him.
"Alrighty, neighbors. Here's all your supplies." Howdy handed us both crates of supplies. For just a moment, he looked out the window longingly.
"Here, Frank. Would you be a dear and carry all of these crates outside? I'll bring you a new type of caterpillar if you do. I'll even make sure it turns into an orange butterfly." I stacked the crates on top of his. Frank mumbled a yes, now unable to see where he was going.
"Howdy!" I leaned against the counter, looking up at me. "Would you care to go to the festival with me?"
Howdy looked down at me, placing one set of his hands on his face. "You... you want to go with me?!"
I tilted my head as I rested it on my hand. "Of course, my dear friend!"
Howdy offered me a shy, wobbly smile. "Why, I'd be just hava to go with you, then!"
I blinked. "What's hava?"
"Hava nice day!" Howdy exclaimed. He dramatically placed his hands on his hips. "I got you there!" He slapped a leg with his hand, doubled over with laughter.
I laughed. Out of all the jokes he could have used, he used that one. I should have expected this kind of joke from Howdy, however. He was such a polite, upbeat neighbor. He'd never say something crude. Barnaby might.
"Have a pleasant day, as well!" I waved goodbye and walked out of the shop. I noticed Wally leaning against the exterior window of the bodega. I turned to watch him.
He was blinking rapidly. I swallowed, my fingers trembling. Was he doing what I thought he was doing? I was going to confront him, but I remembered the cameras.
I watched. I walked a little closer, surprised to see Wally eating Howdy's packaged caramel apples with little butterfly sprinkles meant for the festival! I hooked my arms underneath his and dragged him away, his heels leaving streaks of churned up dirt. Wait, heels?!
"Wally, what are you wearing?" I asked, looking down at him as I dragged him away from Howdy's shop. Wally was clawing at the air in a futile attempt to return to his mischievous activity.
As soon as we were in front of Home, I dropped him. Wally dusted himself off and looked down at me, which was new. Usually we were at eye level. I had to look up.
"I'm wearing Julie's heels! She told me I look simply darling in them," he stooped down to my height, his hands on his hips. "Do you like it, neighbor?"
I looked down at the heels. They were extremely tall and red. I gave him a thumbs up. Wally took that as a sign to continue posing. I giggled. What a silly man.
"Are you wearing those to the festival?" I asked.
Wally batted his eyelashes. "Why? Are you afraid I'll have everyone swooning over me? Or maybe you're afraid I'll take Eddie? Well, don't worry," he winked. I was glad he couldn't take bites when winking.
"I'll see you later, dear friend!" I waved. As much as I would have loved to chat with all of my friends, I had to get on with the day before the fest.
"Awe, you don't have time to chat with me?" Wally blew me a kiss goodbye.
I playfully shook my head with a smile. I skipped over to Home.
"Don't worry! We'll include you," I hummed to Home as I walked over to Barnaby's house. Home squeaked its door happily in response.
"Barnaby! Oh, Barnaby, friend! Are you ready for the festival?" I asked as he momentarily picked me up and swung me around. It was a fun greeting. Wally was always jealous. Barnaby preferred to slap his paw onto Wally's face as a greeting.
"Hello, lil' neighbor. Shore am. Got a new bowtie jus' for it. Ya think Frank'll like it?" He pointed to a bowtie shaped like a butterfly. I nodded. "Thank ya kindly. I'll see ya 'round, kay?"
"Okay! Goodbye, Barnaby!" I waltzed over to Julie's house. She was out in her yard hula-hooping.
"Friend! Hello! I'm soooo excited for the Butterfly Festival!!!" She exclaimed. She spun around as the hula hoop continued looping around her.
"Haha! I am excited as well!" I twirled again. "Oh! Wally looks absolutely darling and just so funny with those heels!" I laughed. Julie giggled.
"I knooowwwww! That's why I insisted he wear them!!" She threw her hands up in the air excitedly. "I hope he wears them to the festival!"
"Aha, yes!"
"Oh, excuse me! It's daily dancing hour," Julie said as she walked over to her boombox. I left before I could hear whatever it was she was listening to.
As I made my way over to Sally's house, a gush of wind ruined my hair. I carefully fixed it and turned around.
To my utter horror, Wally was doing donuts on the neighborhood path with his car. He was laughing maniacally as he spun around and around. I blinked, unsure of how to process such a thing. I decided to continue walking to Sally's house.
"Sally, dear! Prepared for festival?" I asked. She nodded quickly.
"I.. I have a play ready!" She smiled. She quickly whispered in my ear. "We'll finish that conversation later, okay..?"
I nodded. I waved goodbye and left. I passed by Poppy's barn. It was so empty and dark. I felt sad. Still, it was better to have that building empty than to have a false Poppy dwelling in it.
I made my way over to Eddie's post office. I looked in the window. He was meticulously gluing his hair down. Disturbed by the sight, I went to my house to freshen up.
I picked out one of my favorite outfits and put it on. I added a small butterfly brooch near my shoulder. It really completed the look.
With that, I sat around in my home. All the decorations were up. All I had to do was wait now.
[Bonus Info!!!!]
1. The Characters
*I've seen many questions concerning Poppy's death because she's a puppet. I should have said this earlier on in the story, but there was no way for me to insert it.
Anyways, I'll explain here. The characters are puppets in the sense that they're being controlled somewhat. They're more like actors, however. They're still made of fabric and stuffing, it's just that they don't have people inside controlling them. When a character dies, they're usually replaced by a replica. If the puppet was complicated.. more disturbing things would go on. In Poppy's case, they had a replica.
It's a bit confusing, but I hope that clears things up!
2. Unnamed Objects
*You've probably noticed how certain items are unknown to y/n. This is something that occurs because of the world they all live in. Despite being alive in a sense, they cannot actually leave their set. They're all stuck in the man-made neighborhood, only allowed to look at objects placed in their world.
The main character does not know what knives or birds are because of this. Yes, Poppy is a bird, but that's what they all consider to be birds. They do not know that birds can be small and fly.
That's all the background info for now! I'll probably have more in the future if more questions appear.
Thank you for reading! <3 The next chapter will be very fun! I'll try to publish it tomorrow, but as we all know, I may be prepping for my trip, which means no updates soon. It's actually a trip to a festival! My story is so well timed, hehe. ^^
Also, please forgive typos! Typing on a phone is actually really difficult 😭 anyway, that's it.