The Adventures of Theo Fuzzybottom, Episode 8, continued

Fuzzy made some quick ablutions, and slurped the tea on the way to the kitchen where he could smell fresh salmon and eggs, and heard the toaster pop up. He sat down and Petal brought over a large plate of breakfast. Fuzzy tucked in.

Randy was indeed well thru another stack of hot cakes and pleading with Petal to make another salmon steak. "Oh come on Petal we have a big day, and you would not want me to faint would ya? Have a heart." He smiled and flirted with Petal, who smiled and did just what he asked. Then she sat down to join the boys for breakfast.

Fuzzy looked at his little sister neatly munching on a piece of toast. Magnolia -- or Petal -- as she was commonly known, came over once a week to Fuzzy's place to help clean and tidy up. Fuzzy, being a good bachelor bear, was not known for his fastidious housekeeping. Not to mention she had a bit of a crush on Randy, and knew was good chance to see him.

Fuzzy ate quickly, burped, and said "Thanks Petal. You will make a great wife one day, cooking like that", and then ducked as a napkin came flying in his direction. "Hey, just kidding," he laughed. Petal blushed as her eyes went to Randy who still with a mouth full of food smiled and said: "Yes indeed! You will make a great wife." At that she turned away blushing even more and busied herself with the dishes.

Randy had been working with Fuzzy for about a week now. It made him feel bit strange being the boss so to speak, after all he was just a cub himself really. But he was doing the best he could and he had to admit it was nice being looked up to. Randy was a nice enough fella and Fuzzy would do anything to help out his bosses. About week ago Apooka had called Fuzzy to her office. He was very concerned he was in trouble, but it turned out she wanted a favor it seems. Mrs Trudy was making poor Randy's life really stressful; she kept calling him a gofurr and treating him like her own personal servant (Ms. Trudy was rubbing more than a few people the wrong way), so to spare poor Randy any more humiliation, and if truth be told, to teach Trudy a lesson, she had made Randy Fuzzy's new assistant.

This morning the two would be visiting a builder all the way over in Alpha world. So the two finished breakfast said good bye to Petal. "Here ya go. I made you cubs some snacks, will you be back for late for dinner? "She asked.

"Not sure, will call ya. It's a big place and sure to take a while," responded Fuzzy. Petal and Randy were staring at each other in that dopey way infatuated people do. Oh no, thought Fuzzy, not with my sister, mate. Fuzzy cleared his throat and in his best boss-like voice said to Randy: "Make sure you have all my camera gear. Time to get to work." And he directed him down the path.

The first job they were off to visit was one of the younger builders in AW. She has been building less than a year , but according to Ms Lucy, she shows a great deal of enthusiastic talent.

Well, the boys landed in Bleakwood, and found it to be anything but bleak. It is a vibrant area, with a long list of things to see: wonderful houses, public transit and a really fun and amazing school.

Like all great build sites, it is an ongoing and growing project, one I am sure you will enjoy visiting many times when you are looking for new and inspired sites to enjoy. Be sure to really look at the details. Kuma is one of the rare builders who likes to create working objects from scratch and she shows great skill. One of Fuzzy's favorites was the working copy/printer in the school office. Or check out the power tools in the shop class, and oh yes, the big grass cutters, and so much more. We look forward to many great things to come from this builder in the future. Fuzzy was able to get a great interview with this young builder (See Build of the Month page for pictures and interview.)

The boys spent most of the day visiting Bleakwood and then they were off to their second job. Ozman had called and ask them to visit Doc1. He has built a dance club in Yellow that has been picked for the upcoming Yellow Gazette anniversary party. So after a short snack break the boys made for the location.

They were able to meet up with Doc1 at the site and he gave them nice tour around. And he kindly consented to an interview. (Read the interview and view the pictures in the Build of the Month page.)

After such a big day the boys had built up a huge appetite and it was perfect timing when Petal called to remind them she was making dinner. Petal made sure to inform Fuzzy that she was making honey crumple dumplings and carrot pie, which Fuzzy did indeed like very much, but he rather suspected it was rather a favorite of Randy's that prompted the pass along. Which was confirmed by Randy's huge grin when he invited him to dinner.

Well one good thing, he thought, I can keep a good eye on the two of them, but I'm still unsure how he felt about this budding romance. After all it was his duty as a big brother, he told himself, pondering the situation. No no, he said to himself, I'm not getting involved. After all look, what happened the last time I got in the middle of a romance. No, he would just make sure to keep Randy busy. Yep, that should do it; just limit the time he and Petal spend with each other. Mind you Petal is one head strong female. Fuzzy let out a little giggle, thinking maybe instead of trying to keep them apart Fuzzy should warn poor Randy what he might be in for. "What's so funny?" Randy asked.

"Oh nothing, just a passing thought, best we get move on; would not do to be late for dinner," responded Fuzzy, picking up the pace and moving briskly down the path. Randy just stood for a minute watching and wondering what was up, but soon the question passed and he raced forward to catch up to Fuzzy.

Over the next few days they were indeed very busy. Ms. Lucy had decided that this one year anniversary issue should feature a few more builders. So off they went from one location to another when they found themselves visiting Paolo and Damares. They are both from Brazil and have been building in Yellow for about 5, nearly 6 months now. They have made great strides forward with their village area that includes a very cute farm and some lovely gardens, and even a few original looking houses. All in all they are off to a grand start. And we do look forward to many interesting creation. (See Build of the Month page for pictures and interview.)

The last big job of the month was to go to the annual Active World Extreme Builder's Talent Show. This was the biggest site to date young Fuzzy and sidekick Randy had ever worked: so many sites to see, so many pictures to take. But the boys did a fine job and had a good time along the way. They visited a selection of lovely houses and saw the world's biggest pin ball game, and even watched the deconstruction of a site - very interesting that one. Poor Randy thought he broken something when the site began to disappear. It took a while but Fuzzy got him calmed down and explained the concept to him. He was not sure Randy grasped it but then, he was young and the young think everything lasts forever. By mid day they came to what was hands down Fuzzy's favorite build. As a reporter he was not to pick favorites, but this time he could not help himself.

It was like a sultan's tent or rather like something a sultan might dream about and have conjured up by genies. Randy and Fuzzy took their lunch break and hung out in this floating dream.

Fuzzy was very impressed with the builder, one Bach Zhaa, in his use of the Active Worlds new cloth feature. As the boys looked around they were pretty sure he had done just about everything in one place you could do with cloth. Oh, and all things being equal, Randy has his personal favorite as well; not that he was kissing up to the boss, but it took a fair bit of time to pull him away from the Zork wars.

It had been a long day and the boys were pretty tired. They had taken many good shots and felt quite pleased with themselves. "Fuzzy, have you heard about the dance coming up at the end of April?" asked Randy

"Er, yes, why do you ask?" said Fuzzy.

Well, um, I would really love to ask Petal to go to the dance with me," said Randy blushing through his fur.

Will Fuzzy hit the roof or will he happily agree and let nature take its course? Be sure to read the next instalment in the Gazette.