After school, Shadow went home, with sadness in heart. He stepped off the bus, and slowly walked towards his front door, each step he took heavier than the last.

“I’m home….” He said, as he opened the door, and walked into the kitchen.

“Oh hi honey! How was your day?” Wendy said, as she washed the dishes.

“Terrible. Again. Just like every day when I go to school!” Shadow exclaimed, as he laid his head on the kitchen table.

“Oh honey…..” Wendy said, as she sat next to her toon son. “I’m sure it’ll get better soon….”

“No! No it won’t! You always say that, but it never does! Kids always make fun of me just because I’m a cartoon!” Shadow then ran up the stairs to his room. “Sometimes, I wish you’d never drawn me!” Then he slammed the door.

Wendy was shocked by her son’s words. “Oh my poor Little Shadow…..I didn’t realize the bullying had gotten this bad…”

At that moment, Leroy opened the front door, having just returned from work. “Honey, I’m home-wait, what’s wrong?”

Wendy sighed, embracing her husband. “Oh Leroy…its Shadow again…the bullies really got to him this time…”

Leroy’s face scrunched up in anger again. “I knew the administration wasn’t doing anything!” he said in a rigid voice.

“Never mind that now, Leroy….our son needs us.” Wendy said, being concerned.

Leroy sighed. “You’re right….I say we wait for the moment. He’ll come talk to us when he’s ready. It’s not like he’s going to decide to run away from home because of all this…”

MEANWHILE, UPSTAIRS….

Little Shadow had finished packing up his backpack with all his most precious items. Then, he opened the window, and using his toon dexterity, stretched his jacket sleeves while still hanging onto the window sill, so that he slowly lowered himself to the ground.

“Everyone at school hates me completely,” He thought to himself. “They’ll never want to be friends with me…not ever. So I’ll just go live somewhere else…somewhere where people will want to be friends with a toon like me.”

Shadow trudged along down the road, as it started to rain steadily (Yes, cliché I know, but just go with it.) He kept on walking, block after block. After a while, his legs were tired, and the rain had really started pouring. He ducked into a nearby alleyway, and took refuge behind a dumpster.

“Geez, I don’t even know where I’m going…” Shadow thought as he started munching on one of the sandwiches he packed. ”I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually…”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Then, he heard a loud sneeze.

“Huh?” Shadow perked up at hearing the sound. The sneeze was heard again, and he followed the noise. He then found a medium-sized box deeper down the alleyway.

Peeking inside, he found a small toon dog, shivering from the cold of the rain. He had black floppy ears, and his fur was a light gray. He wore a red scarf around his neck, and was about Shadow’s size.

“Um….are you okay?” Shadow asked.

The dog looked up, surprised. “Well, I’m hiding in a box in the rain….what do you think?” He said in a snarky manner.

Shadow scratched his head nervously. “No….?"

The dog rolled his eyes. "Brilliant observation, Einstein. Now how about you leave me alone with my misery."

Shadow stayed silent for a moment, as he watched the dog roll onto his back. "Well actually....do you mind if I join you?”

"..whatever." The dog sighed and scooted over, and Shadow crawled into the box with him.

"Not my business if some random kid toon is out in the middle of the night...."

“I kinda ran away from home....what about you?” Shadow asked.

“My creator threw me out.”

“WHAT!?”

“It was a long time ago.....I used to have a whole bunch of brothers and sisters. All toon dogs, just like me. Our creator used to draw animal toons for a living, but his boss told him to start trying new ideas...” He sighed. “So then, he just got rid of all us, like trash.”

“But cartoonists can’t do that!” Shadow protested. “He’s your creator and he’s supposed to care about you!”

“Tell that to him.” The toon dog said harshly. "Once I was left out on the street, one stray car was all it took to separate me from my family and my home. I've been living in boxes for as long as I can remember..." He turned away from Shadow, as he shed a small tear. “It's fine though...I'm ok on my own....”

That statement rang a tone with Shadow. This toon was just like him, without a friend in the world, discriminated against for what he is. Not only that, but he was worse off than he was!

As the dog started to sob, Shadow hugged him as tight as he could. The dog looked at him in surprise, and Shadow smiled at him.

“Hey…I kinda know how you feel. To be treated badly, that is…”

The dog sniffed a bit, squinting quizzically. “Oh really? You ran away from home, I bet you have a cushy rich lifestyle you got sick of..."

“Yeah…but a lot of kids pick on me at school…they call me names…just because I’m different.” Shadow let go of the dog and looked at him. “But just because we’re different doesn’t mean we should be ashamed of ourselves. So what if other people treat us badly because of our differences? I’m proud to call myself a toon, no matter what!”

The dog looked at Shadow in awe, and chuckled. “Well don't YOU have a positive outlook on life..” He crawled out of the box and looked up at the rain. “Y'know, I'm sick of living like this....I wish I could just wish I could do more.." He pointed up towards the stars, with a determined grin on his face. "Hear that, world? I’m gonna show you that I'm not a waste of space! I'll study real hard, and show my creator how great a toon I am!”

The dog smiled proudly, as Shadow crawled out of the box as well, smiling. “Well, until then.....do you maybe wanna stay with me?”

The dog turned to face him. “Wait what? But we just met!”

“Well, do you have anywhere else to go?”

He thought for a moment, and then realized his situation. “Touché.”

As the two walked back to Shadow’s house, they chatted for a bit.

“So…what’s your name?”

“Smokey......cause I have grey fur. What about you?”

“I’m Little Shadow.”

“Little Shadow? What kind of name is that?”

“Well, when my dad drew me up, he was trying to make me look like one of those dark and brooding superheroes, but he drew me too small, and here I am!”

“Hm. Weird.”