Stunned.

 Stunned.  Like with a ray gun.  Like a phaser 
setting.  Like a bolt of angry lightning hitting the 
lightning rod of the centers of their brains.

 Jared's words struck home with a force he hadn't 
intended, a ferocity that stripped away every last 
hope they had.  Truly, none had intended to stay 
forever...not even Jared himself.  It was as if 
saying the words made them finally real.

 Red bands of color suddenly striped across their 
temples, and their hands (or paws) clamped to their 
heads--except for Jared, who stood calmly, his band 
inside his eyes.  The three fell to the sand, and 
rose again.  
 
 "It's true," Mike finally whispered.

 "I can't....I can't believe it..." Brittany echoed.

 Brighty was silent, staring at Jared with trembling 
violet eyes, fading in from maroon and back to royal 
purple.  "SO, little raccoon," Jared said.  "Plan on 
caring for us for a long, long time."  Evil grin.  
"If we let you live that long."

 "You mean....you don't like me?" Brighty asked, 
voice of a child screaming out of his soft words.

 "Brighty, let's get this straight.  You're 
obnoxious.  You're way too smart for you little Care 
Cousin good.  You think sleeping with a girl means 
actually closing your eyes.  You're way too chipper 
to even be considered any part human," Jared replied. 
"Finally, you DON'T exist! You're nothing but a 
figment of Mike's imagination, a stuffed toy! Don't 
you understand, little coon?  If I pulled your arm 
off, all I would find is stuffing inside you.  You're 
NOT ALIVE!!!"

 "I...I am, too," he countered.
 
 "Brittany, what was BrightHeart raccoon to you back 
home?"
 
 "Jared, don't use me!" 

 "He was nothing but a figment, wasn't he?  A stuffed 
toy?  A cartoon on an 80's TV show that only now 
exists in video vaults on on Beta casette tapes?  
Isn't that right, Britt?"

 "It came in VHS, too."

 "YES or NO!"

 She buckled in the face of that burst; his eyes had 
contorted into tiny black pupils, blazing at her, 
daring her to answer the question.  "Yes," she 
whispered.

 "Mike," he went to say, but it was then he 
discovered that Brighty was gone, and he faced Mike's 
angry eyes.  Then, turning his back, he stopped at 
the black sack he'd received two far off days ago and 
rummaged through it.  Plucking out an item, he 
stalked off with it.

 "HOW DARE YOU, JARED?!" Brittany rounded on him.  
"You fool....you idiot!"

 "He had to know, Brittany.  He had to know," Jared 
whispered, now sinking into the sand.  The red 
vanished from his eyes; remorse washed over him.

 "Did you have to tell him so forcefully?"

 "He's a fluffhead, Britt! Of course I did!" he 
replied, irrationally defending his actions.

 "No, you idiot.  There's a thing called TACT, you 
insensitive, pigheaded SOB," she shot back.  "It 
works much better, and saves friendships, too! But 
no, you had to BLURT IT OUT! Where was the control in 
that one, Jared?"

 "So I screwed up."  He avoided her sharp eyes, 
looking deep into the red of the fire.

 "That wasn't a screwup, Jared," she said now, 
looking down on him, voice softening.  "That was a 
MAJOR boner."  She looked toward the forest, then 
added, "If you want to see just how real Brighty is, 
you may want to go take a look at the remains 
tomorrow."

 "What?"
 
 "In case you didn't notice, jackass, he headed 
toward the cliff.  Now why would he do that?" she 
snapped.  Then, she spun on her heels and turned, 
plunging into the darkness as he jumped to his feet.

*	*	*	*
 "BrightHeart," Mike called softly.  "BrightHeart, 
where are you?  Don't hide, it's all right.  It's me, 
Mike.

 The Care Cousin sniffed in reply, his tail limply 
drawn across his knees as he sat on the edge of the 
cliff.  Both moons had risen, one casting blue 
shadows, the other casting warm red light, mixing to 
create purple spots among the trees.  He sat in one 
of those unknowingly, cool and dry and so depressed 
his little heart threatened to stop.

 "Brighty?" Mike asked, taking careful steps up the 
trail and into a blue shade, looking down on the 
remorseful little creature.  

 "Brighty, are you all right?"  

 A swish of the tail, but no reply.  Mike carefully 
sat down next to him, positioning his surprise near 
him, the movement oblivious to BrightHeart.

 "No..." finally came the planative reply.  "I'm 
SAD!"  He then burst into tears.

 "Brighty," Mike said, and the raccoon reached over 
and clung to his arm, sobbing and snuffling into it.  
"Brighty, it's all right!"

 "No it's NOT! Jared hates me! He says...he says I'm 
not alive!" replied the Care Cuz between sobs, fur 
turning a darker purple with the tears and lightbulb 
dimming to almost no light.

 "He doesn't mean it."

 "How could he not! He was so mean back there, so 
rude! I just wanted to....he hates me, Mike!" cried 
the creature, so distressed and so believing that he 
was right that it brought tears into Mike's eyes.

 "Brighty, I have to show you something," he said 
gently, drawing back and producing his stuffed 
surprise.  It was his BrightHeart Raccoon doll, 
looking sparklingly new and carrying the same, 
inquisitve happy look it had when he'd first bought 
it.

 Immediately, Brighty stopped crying.  He stared with 
strange interest at the bear, then looked up at Mike.  
"Can I...touch it?" he asked in wonderment.

 "Sure," Mike replied gently, handing the raccoon to 
the raccoon and watching him closely.  He turned it 
over, pawed at it, played with the little curl of 
hair, even squeezed it tight.  A tiny, bright tear 
dripped from his eye onto the lightbulb of the 
stuffed animal.

 "It's me," he finally said in wonderment.  "It's 
really me."

 "Yes, that is you.  Jared was right, you know.  
There were no Care Bears or Care Bear Cousins where I 
came from?"

 Brighty seemed aghast.  "No Care Bears?  But who 
brought you happiness...and SUNSHINE?  Who Cared for 
you when you were lonely and sick?"

 "Our friends, BrightHeart," Mike replied.

 "But what if you didn't have friends?" asked the 
raccoon plantively, real worry shining in his eyes.  


 "Then you had your imagination, or you make believe 
friends," Mike said slowly.  "I didn't have...many 
people, when I was on Earth.  I was...different.  
Born different.  I had a lot of problems as a child, 
and too many people found out, and teased me."  His 
eyes closed.  "I used to...sleep with this, Brighty.  
It was a comfort to me, to see the face, and to watch 
the show.  You see, in my heart, you WERE real.  
That's all that mattered."
 
 Both of them were near tears again when he finished, 
as if someone had whispered to them that this was an 
excellent time to relieve any and all stress they 
had.  So they cried a little then, but only a little; 
both seemed imensely relieved at Mike's confession.  
Brighty jumped up when through, drying his eyes with 
his paws and sniffing a little.  Mike looked up.  
"What?"

 "I think we should go back now," he said.  "I'm 
tired."

 Mike nodded.  "So am I.  Are you ready to face 
Jared?"

 "He's a good guy, Mike.  He just needs to be Cared 
for," Brighty replied, picking over his words.  His 
lightbulb brightened.  "And I'm just the person to do 
it!"

 Mike grinned, imagining the heart-to-hearts Brighty 
would inflict on his sensitive but controlled friend.  
"I'm sure he'll love it."

 Brighty nodded fiercly, bulb brightening, then 
dimming.  "Mike," he asked, "what about Britt?"

 "She believed, too, in you.  I gave her one of 
these," he said.  

 Brighty lit up again, and urged his friend up.  
Happily, they trundled down the path back toward 
camp.

 A sudden light flashed in front of them, and 
revealed beneath it was Jared.  "Brighty!" he said.

 "Hello, Jar.." he started.

 "Listen, BrightHeart, I'm so sorry for what I did.  
I've been a little messed up--long story--since I got 
here and you really didn't deserve that.  Can you 
forgive me?"

 Brighty seemed to ponder the fast spoken words for a 
moment, then with a straight face and resolute eyes 
replied, "Of course."

 Jared sighed in relief, and said, "Thank you."

 Brighty nodded and smiled, and the three of them 
tripped back to camp in high spirits.  The three 
sleeping bags were back, and this time Brighty chose 
to sleep with Mike, still wary of what Jared had 
implied.  In fact, he wondered aloud, "Where's 
Brittany?"

 "Off somewhere," Jared replied.

 "Don't worry, she'll come back," Mike said, eyes 
closing.  "She always does."

    Source: geocities.com/soho/gallery/8281

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