The following story takes place in the Spring of 2007. It may contain some language, suggestive dialogue, moments of cartoon violence, and references to TV shows and movies you haven’t seen in a while. 

Enjoy!

	It was a typical morning in Washington Township, New Jersey. Kenny Derrickson woke up from his bed, stretched, and walked down the hallway. In the room across the hallway, Vera Vixen was sitting in front of her vanity mirror admiring herself. She glances at him briefly and says “Good Morning” as he walks by. In another room, Kenny can hear strange growling noises. Suddenly, Cody Coyote comes flying out of the room. He then gets up, pulls out his sword, and charges back into the room. “You okay?” Kenny asks. “Yeah, dude I’m alright.” says Cody. “Don’t worry about me. I got it!” Cody was being attacked by demons again. He swung his sword at the beast striking it as it disappears in a cloud of smoke. “Whoa! It almost got me that time!” Meanwhile in the upstairs bathroom, Mitzi Bunny was in the shower singing songs from the old PBS series Square One TV.  Kenny walked downstairs towards the kitchen, he could see Flash Timberwolf and Shannon Raccoon sitting at the table having breakfast. In the living room, Wesley Kangaroo was watching ESPN Sports Center. In the big tree in the backyard, Steve Squirrel was erratically fighting off the birds who’ve been keeping him awake all morning.
	
	Now, you probably think it’s unusual for a black guy in his mid 20s to live in a house with a bunch of anthropomorphic toon animals, but for Kenny and his friends it’s just another normal day. 

However, it wasn’t always like this.

	Ever since Kenny was a kid, he spent most of his time watching cartoons on TV. He loved them all; from cute and funny cartoons (Care Bears, Garfield and Friends, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, etc.), to super hero cartoons (Super Friends, Superman, Batman, etc.), even the occasional anime. That was all he ever watched. He loves animated movies as well; even movies that mixed live-action and animation together. Kenny’s fondest childhood memory was when his grandfather took him to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit when it first ran in theaters back in the summer of 1988.  
	
	Kenny’s mom never gave him a hard time about his life. His dad on the other hand was, well, not so understanding. Kenny’s dad was a very conservative person. He didn’t believe in such childish things like cartoons. He often told his son he was wasting his time and that he’ll never amount to anything. Every conversation between Kenny and his dad turned into an argument. Kenny was very careful not to go too far with his arguments. He knew his dad would knock him into next week if he ever yelled or cursed at him. Kenny’s sister Theresa used these opportunities to gloat about her latest accomplishments. She was a bit of an overachiever. Theresa did exceptionally well in high school. She was also very popular and social; the exact opposite of what Kenny was when he was in high school. After high school Theresa would graduate and then go off to a four-year college to earn a degree in business. Her constant reminders of this made her look like a success and made Kenny look like the nerdy loser still living at home. In other words, this was life in the Derrickson house.
	
	Kenny was considered both a nerd and an outcast. He never did fit in with any of the other kids at school or in the neighborhood. Kenny was often teased and pushed around by the others as well. He never joined a team, didn’t know much about sports, and often had difficulty making friends. Watching cartoons was the only thing that made Kenny happy. 
	
	When Kenny was a kid, he dreamed of creating his own cartoon show some day. He even drew a couple of characters of his own. Kenny submitted his idea for a cartoon show to an animation studio in Hollywood. That was fifteen years ago. He never heard from them again. As he got older, Kenny lost interest in drawing; but he still enjoyed watching cartoons. After graduating from high school Kenny went to a community college where he received a liberal arts major. He never really knew what he wanted to do with his life. All those stern lectures he got from his dad about finding a job and establishing a career didn’t help much. After college Kenny began working full time as a lot attendant in a car dealership. Kenny hated this job more than anything! He’d spend eight hours a day dealing with difficult customers, getting yelled at by his boss, and being pushed around by the mechanics in the service department. Taking orders and cleaning up after a bunch of incompetent auto workers was not the life he wanted.

But things were about to change.

	One evening after work Kenny came home, had the usual fights with his dad and his sister, grabbed his dinner, and went up to his room. He watched a couple of Looney Tunes DVDs to calm him down. Then he went to his computer to check his e-mail. “Sheesh, nothing but spam.” he said. Suddenly he saw a message that caught his attention. The subject read, ANIMATION CAREER OPPORTUNITY. The message said:

Are you tired of your boring dead-end job? 
Looking for an exciting career in the field of animation? 
Come to Merry Maker Studios in Hollywood for a chance of a lifetime!
But Hurry! It’s only available THIS FRIDAY ONLY!!!

	“Merry Maker Studios?” That name sounded familiar to Kenny. “That’s the studio I sent my idea for a cartoon show a long time ago. Did it take them this long to approve my idea?”. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for his whole life. But was Kenny willing to risk skipping work and lying to his parents to fly all the way cross country for a job he may or may not get? He thought about it for a moment. This could be his big chance to have an actual career. He just couldn’t stand another day at his current job. “That’s it!” Kenny said. “I’m going for it!” He called the airport and booked the very next flight to Los Angeles.
	
	Early the next morning, Kenny snuck out of the house and drove to the Philadelphia International Airport. At the terminal, he called work and told them he had a family emergency and had to go to LA. He boarded the plane and took off for Hollywood. Around 12:00 Pacific Standard Time the plane landed at LAX. Kenny then took a cab to Merry Maker Studios. He couldn’t believe he was standing at the front gate of an actual animation studio! Randy the studio guard met Kenny at the gate. “May I help you?” Randy asked. “I’m here to see the head of the animation department for a job interview,” Kenny said. “Name?” the guard asked. “Kenny Derrickson.” he replied. Randy checked his clipboard. “Hmm... sorry, I don’t see your name here.” “Are you sure?” Kenny asked. “I got an e-mail that told me to come here today. Can you check for my name again, please?”. Randy checked the list again. “Oh, here it is. Go right on in. The main office is in the building on the right.”. Randy lifted the gate and Kenny walked towards the office. “That’s funny,” Randy said as he scratched his head. “I didn’t see his name there before.”. 
	
	Meanwhile in the studio board room, Mr. Merrimacker was talking to some congressmen. “What do you mean you won’t pass it?!” he asked angrily. “I’m sorry but we can’t pass a bill that bans all cartoons off TV,” one of them said. “Even if it is on a temporary measure”. “But can’t you see that cartoons are ruining the young minds of America?” Merrimacker protested. “If we temporarily took them off the air, kids will do better in school, test scores will increase, and inappropriate behavior will cease. This could be a huge breakthrough”. He did his best to get his point across. “Well, we’ll see what we can do.” one of the congressmen said. “If something comes up in committee, we’ll give you a call.”. The three congressmen got up and left. Mr. Merrimacker sat back in his chair frustrated. “Great!” he grumbled. “Now how am I gonna get rid of this dump of a studio? I gotta get out of this place and do some real entertainment. Dramas, epics, live-action films, even the occasional documentary now and then.”. Just then his secretary paged him. “Mr. Merrimacker, your 1 PM appointment is here,”. “I didn’t schedule any interview today,” he said. “Alright I’ll be right there.”. Kenny waited nervously outside Merrimacker’s office. Little did he know that someone was watching him. “Is that him?” a voice asked. “I think so.” said another voice. “He sure looks different.”. A moment later Mr. Merrimacker entered the room. “Can I help you, son?” he asked. “Uh...yeah” Kenny replied trying not to sound desperate. “I’m Kenny Derrickson, your new animator.”. “Animator?” Merrimacker said. “Sorry, kid. We aren’t hiring any animators right now” “But I got an e-mail that said that you were hiring today only. I came all the way from New Jersey to-”. “Let me stop you right there, kid.” said Merrimacker. “I don’t know where you got this e-mail from, but we are not hiring. So why don’t you go back home and try some other place, okay?” Disappointed, Kenny grabbed his things and began to walk out. As he headed for the door he noticed at the end of the hallway a door with a strange glowing light behind it. “Hey, what’s back there?” he asked. “Nothing!” Merrimacker shouted as he rushed towards the door blocking it. “There’s nothing back here. It’s a restricted area! Now go on; get outta here!”. “Okay, fine!” said Kenny.
	
	Kenny walked towards the studio gate where he met Randy the guard. “How’d it go kid?” he asked. “Terrible. I flew all the way out here just to get rejected.” “Don’t worry about it,” said Randy. “I’m sure something will turn up.” “I guess,” said Kenny. He hailed a cab to take him to the airport. As the cab pulled away, those mysterious figures that were watching Kenny earlier followed him. “Come on! We gotta catch up to him before he flies away!”
	
	Eight hours later around 1 AM in the morning, Kenny’s plane landed in Philadelphia. He grabbed his bag at the terminal and walked towards his car in the parking garage dragging his bag behind him. “Man this thing is heavy. I must be getting tired.”. Kenny got to his car, put down his bag, and looked for his keys. “Where are my keys?” he asked as he looked in his pockets. A hand stretched out and gave him his keys. “Here you go.” the voice said. “Thanks,” Kenny said as he took his keys. He did a double take and looked a little confused. “Huh?” Whoa, I really must be tired. I’m starting to see things!”. Kenny climbed into the front seat of his car, looked up, and saw a little cartoon squirrel in his rear view mirror. “Hi, Kenny!” Kenny fell out of the car in shock and scooted towards the wall. “What the heck is going on?!” “Whoa, Whoa,  relax Kenny. It’s just us!”. “Who said that?”. Kenny looked up and standing by his car was an anthropomorphic cartoon wolf wearing a shirt, blue jeans, sneakers, and glasses. “Don’t you recognize me, Kenny?” All of a sudden, it all came back to him. “Flash?... Flash Timberwolf?... Is that you?” “Yeah, it’s me. Wow. I can’t believe I actually get to meet you.” said Flash. Kenny just sat there in disbelief. “But...you’re a toon.”. “Yeah, and you’re a human” said Flash.  “What are you doing here?” Kenny asked. “Me and the gang came to see you,” Flash replied. “Gang? What gang?” Kenny asked. Flash called out to them. “Come on out guys!” Six other toons popped out of Kenny’s bag. Kenny just couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Standing right before him with Flash was Shannon a female raccoon, Wesley a kangaroo in a sports jersey, Vera a sexy-looking female fox, Cody a coyote with a long black coat, a gun, and a sword, Mitzi a female rabbit, and Steve the squirrel. “Man it feels good to be out of that bag,” said Wesley. “And let me tell you they do NOT handle your bags with care!”. “Here he is guys, our creator” said Flash. All Kenny could do was sit and stare. “I don’t think he recognizes us,” said Shannon. “Well it has been a while seen he created us several years ago” Flash replied. Kenny slowly got up from the floor. “Wait a sec; You’re the cartoon characters I drew when I was a kid!”. “Well, you finally figured it out” said Vera. “What are you guys doing here?” Kenny asked. “We followed you home from Hollywood,” answered Wesley. “Well, Actually we chased the plane down the runway and grabbed on to the landing gear as it went up!”said Cody. “We were hoping you’d get our message.” “So it was you who sent me the e-mail about the job opportunity?” said Kenny. “Sorry about the ruse, dude,” said Cody. “It was the only way we could contact you.”. “Okay...” said Kenny. “Either I’m talking to a bunch of anthropomorphic animals or I’m suffering from severe jet lag”. “Believe it, Kenny,” said Flash. “We’re the real thing; and now that we’re all here, you can help us.”  “Help you with what?” Kenny asked. Before Flash could answer him, a car was coming up. “Quick! Hide!”. All the toons ducked inside Kenny’s car as it drove by. “Is the coast clear?” asked Flash. “Yeah, we’re clear,” said Kenny. “Why were you hiding?”. “Uh...we’ll explain everything to you later,” said Flash. “Come on let’s get outta here”. All the toons piled into Kenny’s car. “I really need to get some sleep” Kenny said as he got in the car.

To Be Continued...