Archive of Our Own ^beta

With a triumphant swing, Gabriel hurled his toy bucket into the sandpit and piled on yet another mass of sand. It was an important sand, you see because it was going to be a part of the greatest sandcastle that everyone would ever see.

Well, that was what he hoped for anyway.

See, he currently lived at the orphanage, a place where children like him whose mummies and daddies fell ill got to stay until they got better. Of course, it should have been fun, but he had the nagging feeling that his sandcastle would not remain up for long before Billy and his gang would tear it right down.

The worst part? He didn’t have anyone else to defend it with him.

Really, he didn’t know why the other children didn’t like him. Was it his goofy glasses, which in spite of his protests were adjusted on his face every morning by Mrs. Greene? Was it the fact that he really liked animals and wanted to become a veterinarian one day? Was it just his shabby clothing which looked like it could never be washed again?

He didn’t know.

Just as he was about to apply the finishing touches, a small foot zoomed into view and collided with the castle, causing it to collapse into an unrecognizable mush.

He could feel a torrent of naughty words that he was told to never use as he looked up to see who destroyed his masterpiece.

To his surprise, it was not Billy or his gang, but a young girl who wore glasses just like him. Her hair was tied up into bobs, she wore a pretty-looking dress, and her face wore an image of innocence that didn’t exactly correlate with her actions. Instead of having run off into the corner of the backyard like Billy usually did however, she was staring as his wreck, tears already beginning to form in her eyes.

Gabriel immediately felt guilty for even thinking dirty words.

“Oh my god, I didn’t mean to!” She said, her voice coming out in a high-pitched sob as she went down on her knee and scooped more sand out to try to recreate the wreck.

“I am so sorry, Mrs. Castle. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Here, I will make you all better.”

Gabriel pondered the strange girl as she slowly brought the pile of sand into something vaguely resembling a castle. The truth is that he had not seen her before. True, there were whispers the previous night about a young girl who was sent here, but he had never gotten the opportunity to see her on account of being grounded for biting Michael’s finger (to be fair on him, he did put a worm in his Ribena).

Still, it was better late than never.

“What’s your name?”

The girl stopped what she was doing and looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes.

“Oh, it’s Rebecca. It’s a lovely name, don’t you think.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone called Rebecca before.”

“That’s because I’m unique – it has to be true, because my mummy said it.” That final word caused her cheery smile to fade. “I miss Mummy.”

Gabriel felt sorry for her. Clearly, they were both having troubles with their mummies and daddies.

“It’s okay. My daddy is in the hospital. He drove too hard in his car and now the doctors are trying to put him together again.”

“Like Humpty-Dumpty?”

This caused him to giggle a little.

“Exactly like Humpty-Dumpty.”

“My mummy’s also sick and needs to go to the hospital to get better. They said they had to take her there because she had a “can of bison”.

Now this surprised Gabriel, because he had been to the shop loads of times with his daddy and he had never seen a “can of bison”.

“What is that?”

“I don’t know, but it leads to you puking out your insides!.”

Rebecca mimed this particular action, making a “blehh” sound and mimicking a dry heave. This brief moment of playfulness melted away rapidly however as she gave a slight sniff and called out pitifully “I still miss my Mummy…”

Gabriel didn’t know how to comfort her but decided that a brief pat on the shoulder would do the trick. Any more contact and he might be at risk of these “cooties” that the other boys were talking about.

“It’s okay. They’ll fix up Mummy soon, just like they’ll fix up my Daddy. Soon, they’ll be as good as new and we’ll be free to leave this place.”

That cheered her up again, a sunshine-esque smile enveloping her face.

“Yeah, you’re right!”

The two children sat down on the sandbox, shovels at the ready.

“So speaking of, what was your Mummy like?”

“Well, she actually once swallowed my little brother whole. Said that he was needed as an angel in the stars…”

The remainder of the day was much like this, Rebecca and Gabriel digging perfect sandcastles whilst blabbering on about their lives. And when nightfall came and they were forced inside for dinner, Gabriel knew that he had made an actual friend that day.

***

It was several weeks after this that something interesting happened again. Gabriel was once again playing in the sandbox, although this time, he had a new friend to play with. It was a stuffed sheep plush called Woolie. Sure, it had a missing eye, had faded colours, and its right arm was on the verge of breaking off, but it was his most favorite toy in the world, and nothing was going to force him and Woolie apart.

It was as he started to work on yet another sandcastle that Rebecca ran over, her face once again a face of tears as she anxiously stroked a plush smiley face, so picked because it represented her belief that the world was just full of happy people.

“What’s wrong Rebecca?”

“It’s Mrs. Green! She’s found a Daddy to take me away from my Mummy!”

A new Daddy? Preposterous! How could you replace Mummies and Daddies like that! He didn’t think it could even happen.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

She just sniffled and looked in the direction of the door. There, right at the doorstep, was Mrs. Green, who was looking on with a sad expression on her face. She wasn’t the only one there though – right beside her was a mysterious man, who actually resembled Rebecca a lot. Gabriel could see why he was picked to be Rebecca’s replacement Mummy at least.

“Rebecca, this is Sam. He’s here to adopt you.”

They were not relieving words to Rebecca however as she dashed for the safety of Gabriel’s back, hiding just enough that only her head could be seen poking out.

“I DON’T WANT TO GO. I JUST WANT TO BE WITH MY MUMMY!”

Mrs. Green was not fazed by these words however. Gabriel wished she did – yet another example of why adults were not the most trustworthy specimen.

“Yes, but he’s just going to watch you until your mummy comes back from hospital.”

The man beside her gave her a sweet smile and shifted a little closer towards the two children.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to trust me right away, but I’m here to give you a loving home. I’ve seen the way you see the world Rebecca, and I would love that in my life.”

He held out his hand, but Rebcca just hid herself even deeper, even her head vanishing now. Gabriel did not like this at all; how people would just go up to them and believe that they know everything about them.

Well, at least he knew how to fight back.

“Didn’t you listen to her? She told you to leave!”

Sam moved back a little and whispered something between him and Mrs. Green. It was her who spoke next.

“Listen Rebecca… you can always visit here any time. Sam has proven to be a good father, and he’ll let you visit your friends if you want to.”

Now this piqued Rebecca’s interest as she repoked her head out.

“Really?”

Sam crouched down so he was at eye level with Rebecca. “Really Rebecca, I’m not here to replace your Mummy. I’m just here to make your life happier until she gets better, that’s all. Plus, I won’t remove you from your friends.”

Gabriel felt Rebecca’s grip on his shoulders relax.

“Pinky-Promise?”

“Pinky-Promise.”

It was those words that made Gabriel relax. Sure, he worried about his new friend, but this man had made a pinky promise.

And it was one which would ensure the safety of his friend.

***

The actual goodbyes were sweet. Gabriel had given her his “Woolie” doll as something to remember him by, there was a magnificent cake, and everyone had come out to say how much they would miss her.

Even, Gabriel cynically noted, the children who had terrorized them.

Even after the departure, however, Rebecca still showed up from time to time. They would talk about her new life, about how her daddy let her play with the most beautiful colouring pencils and how she had fun in the most pleasant garden which even had swings. The most interesting thing however was that her daddy was impressed with this new character she had drawn. She was much like her, happy at the world and a very caring person.

She called her Amanda.

Gabriel had to admit however that hearing about this made him sad. He wondered when his daddy would finally get out of the hospital and look after him. Then they could be a loving family like Rebecca and Sam.

It was sometime after that, as he was playing with some construction trucks in the playroom, that she had bounded up to him, her body just fizzing with excitement as she flapped a piece of paper in front of his face.

“Gabriel, great news! My Daddy’s making a TV show!”

Gabriel had heard of these TV shows. They would put them on in the odd TV which flickered with static and occasionally had funny colors. He didn’t really watch them however as he preferred the outdoors.

“Cool! What are they like?”

She shrugged.

“I don’t know. I think it has something to do with cameras and these weird light things. My Daddy says that if I go under these lights, I’ll show up on the big screen.”

“Cool. So you think that I go under my torchlight, I’ll show up on a screen somewhere. Maybe even on the TV?”

There was a giggle from Rebecca.

“Nah, my Daddy says that they are extra-special cameras.”

With a slight chuckle, Gabriel gave Rebecca a hug, having realized now that actually, “cooties” were just a lie from the others to trick him into giving his marbles away.

“I can’t wait to watch them. Everyone will get to know you!”

And he was telling the truth.

He was proud of his friend.

***

They showed the pilot of “Amanda the Adventurer” on the funny TV. It was a fun experience – Amanda would appear in front of landmarks around the town and teach about stuff like the supermarket and the alphabet. Gabriel thought that the episode where she taught how to eat with proper table manners was the funniest – it was the way she got spaghetti all over her face and tried to slurp it up from her cheek.

It was several weeks after that that she had bounded in once again, her body flickering with excitement so much that it looked like she would send herself into space and never come back.

“Gabriel, they’re going to turn me into a cartoon character!”

“Wow!”

“Yup! They’re making what is going to be an “animated series”!”

“So like those funny cartoons with Bugs Bunny!”

“Yup!”

“How are they going to do that? Are they going to flatten you?” Gabriel said, his eyes shifting up and down comically at her body.

“I hope so! Then I’ll be able to slide through doors and eat people’s cookies when they’re not watching!”

“Cool! Do they think they’ll do that to me?”

“I can ask them.”

“I can’t wait then.”

He never saw Rebecca again.

***

The animated show was received well by the children in the orphanage. Gabriel’s particular favorite character was the newcomer, Woolie. He was just a normal sheep who baaed a lot, but he loved how he was just a shy creature who would huddle in corners, about how much he resembled his plush Woolie, and about how much Amanda cared for him. He even gave him a magnificent gift for his birthday in the form of a plush Woolie.

Yet Rebecca never showed up to the orphanage.

Gabriel had tried to ask the grown-ups why of course, but was always told some variation of “she’s busy”.  Several weeks passed of this excuse before he realized that he realized something horrific.

By being turned into a cartoon character, Amanda was left stranded on the other side.

Still, he knew that the grown-ups knew what they were doing – that once she was done, they would rescue her and they could play together once more.

It was about two months into the premiere of the animated series when Gabriel, doing his normal routine of getting up and waiting for breakfast, entered the kitchen to be met with a mass of sobbing adults.

“That poor Rebecca! What will she do?”

“God, I feel so sorry for that girl! What will she do without a daddy!”

His heart sinking, Gabriel dashed out of the room and into the center room, where the funny TV was normally kept.

He couldn’t understand most of it – most grown-up language was difficult to comprehend – but he did understand the words “missing”, “disappeared”, and “sad”.

“Where is Rebecca?”

One of the adults stopped and gave him a smile that didn’t look quite real.

“She’s okay, but she needs time to process her grief. If we go around to her, she’ll just burst into tears again. That was what Hameln said at least. We don’t want that now do we?”

“What’s a Hameln?”

“Just the company which gives Rebecca the opportunity for her to share her talents.”

Gabriel doubted he would get more answers, so he went up to his bedroom and cried, both for his absent friend, for the daddy who left her, and in anger for this company which took her away.

***

The next few weeks were a blur, although there were two things that Gabriel remembered.

One was that he barely did anything other than sleep and eat.

The other was that he watched Amanda the Adventurer, idly wondering whether in that form, Rebecca was able to understand him.

He was finding it increasingly harder to watch the show, however. Not just from grief, but content. One episode featured things that were rotting and something called “dead”.

It was a word that sent shivers up Gabriel’s spine.

This was not to say of the fact that Amanda… treated Woolie differently now. Now she seemed content with putting him down and sometimes even kicking him on-screen.

He knew that it was a clear sign that she was suffering in that world, and he needed to help her.

It was a week after that then, on a clear night, that he made his perfect plan. His bags were packed with food he had secretly grabbed from the fridge, he had packed t-shirts, and he had one set of underwear to keep him going.

Simply put, he was going to go to this “Hameln” company, rescue Rebecca, and go back to playing their toys.

Sure, he had absolutely no idea where the company was, but it couldn’t be that far.

Right?

Tip-toeing so that he didn’t wake up anymore, Gabriel slowly walked out of his room and went downstairs. Spotting the back door in the distance, he slowly went to grab it.

A bright light shone in the corner of his eye.

He turned his head to meet the TV,  which had not been turned off by whoever had used it last.

Even more surprisingly, it was an episode of Amanda the Adventurer. He couldn’t tell exactly what was going on in the episode, but he could see that it involved Amanda having a conversation with Woolie, who was responding with bleats.

Worry took residence in his stomach. What if someone heard it and went to catch him? He would have to scrub the kitchen for a month then.

He had gone over to shut the TV down when a line stopped him in his tracks.

“Hello there. I’m Amanda, and today, we’re learning about friendship.” Said Amanda, looking down on him as if she were actually addressing him. That was normal of course – she always did that – but there was something more… direct about her this night. “I find that friends are very important. They give you presents, and all the love you would ever want.”

Suddenly, this sad expression went over her face.

“I wish I had a friend.”

Woolie’s eyes visibly widened and he turned his head to look at Amanda, producing bleats that sounded half-annoyed and half-scared.

“No, not like you Woolie. I meant a real friend.”

Woolie’s head drooped and Gabriel felt very sorry for him. He really didn’t like how she was treating him nowadays. Yet, that statement also tugged at his heartstrings. Before meeting Rebecca, he had no friends after all, and without Rebecca, he had no one to share his deepest desires and secrets with.

“Do you want to be my friend?”

Gabriel nodded his head. Of course he would be his friend. Sure, she may be nothing more than an act, but if that was really Rebecca, forced to do an act,  then it opened a world of opportunities. Gabriel began imagining that world – a place where they would trek through magic forests and dig up treasure, go to the shop to buy whatever they wanted, running away from the spooky monsters to the comfort of their house…

And if he was wrong?

Well, she could still be one of his imaginary friends, who comforted him in the night.

He could tell that Amanda was thinking the same thing, because her face turned into a huge grin.

“That’s great. Now we can be friends forever. Real friends will never leave you.”

And then something shocking happened.

The screen began to distort and flicker red, to the point that Gabriel could barely see what was going on. He could still see Amanda, but her face seemed to be shifting between a smile too big for her face, black eyes, and a faceless appearance.

Gabriel tried to make a run for the backdoor. Clearly, something was very wrong, and he needed to save Rebecca now. If he got punished, so be it.

He never made it, as he felt himself grabbed by something which felt like a snail was crawling over him.

“Real Friends will stick by you in spite of their own wants and needs. Forever and ever and ever…”

He tried to resist this icky feeling grabbing him, but whatever was holding him had a tight grip. As it dragged him in the direction of the TV, he felt himself wet his pants.

His last conscious thoughts in this world were “How am I going to explain this to Mrs. Green now?”

***

Gabriel was not aware how long he was knocked unconscious for, only that it didn’t stop the pain from emanating through his body, limbs, and hooves.

Wait.

Hooves?

Gabriel’s eyes shot open and looked down to observe this new, strange feeling.

He screamed.

Or at least, he thought he screamed, but in reality, it was more of a “Baa”.

Where there had been a Sonic the Hedgehog t-shirt was now a swath of wool, and his adaptable hands had been replaced by short, flat hooves.

He put his hands up towards the top of his head, feeling the tell-tale blonde hair that he had.

He was met with wool.

He tried screaming again, but all that came out again was another, more pitiful “Baa”.

Before he could process these horrific changes however, he was interrupted by a familiar and feminine sounding voice.

“Woolie, what are you doing down there? You look very silly!”

There, as if she had simply teleported in from out of nowhere, was Amanda. She didn’t look nearly as creepy as she did before, but she still sported that strange smile.

“We need to say hi to the audience.”

Gabriel/Woolie stood up uncertainly and looked ahead to the direction in which Amanda was staring at.

“I don’t see the…”

“THERE IS AN AUDIENCE!!”

That demonic growl, quite sharp in nature, made Gabriel/Woolie flinch a little, but he had the feeling that he had to obey or face abuse from Amanda.

“Yes, that is a group of happy-looking children.”

He expected an answer, but was met with silence.

“Amanda, are you…?”

The look she gave her was not one of happiness or even terror, but one of sadness, one which reminded him of one of the more lost-looking children at the orphanage.

“Gabriel, is that you…?”

With a dawning realization, Gabriel/Woolie realized that he had his chance. Here was Rebecca, and he could save her.

It was at this point that he finally took a looking at his surroundings.

There wasn’t much to it – it was really just rolling hills – but he could see a house and a shop in the distance, and he could see in the even further distance what appeared to be the sky doing something funny, as if it was snowing.

He knew that he had to take Rebecca over there.

“Rebecca…?”

Before they could do anything however, there was a horrific shriek from Rebecca/Amanda as her surrounding glitched around her. It only lasted a merciful couple of seconds, but it seemed to rob her of this sadness as the unnerving smile replastered itself on her face.

“You silly lamb! My name is Amanda!”

Woolie/Gabriel ignored this and went to pull on her arm.

“No its not. It’s Rebecca. We need to go over here”

He felt a sharp pain in his arm as Amanda/Rebecca twisted it.

“No, we don’t you silly Woolie. There’s nothing over there. We need to go to the shop!”

The look on her face threatened something more, so Woolie stood up and humored her.

“Sure, Amanda.”

Woolie/Gabriel decided to continue on with the show, knowing that although it won’t be for now, one day he’ll make his escape.

True, he had all the time in the world with Amanda.

But at what cost?