Tommy's Change

By Matt Hawthorne & Birch Griese


1. Preparing for the Party

One normal day in Chuckie's backyard, Chuckie was catching bugs for Kimi and himself, as presents for Phil and Lil's 2nd birthday. He was putting them into a jar with a star on it. Soon the hole Chuckie was digging worms out of was deeper than himself, Kimi and Tommy put together. Then Chuckie saw something blue. Thinking that it was just another other worm, Chuckie places the blue worm into his jar. Then, Kimi left the bathroom, squeaky clean and in her good clothes.

His stepmother, Kira, called for Chuckie from the bathroom: "It's time for your bath!"

After Chuckie finished his bath and got all dressed up, he and Kimi get ready to go to the party. So Chuckie grabbed his worm jar and ran toward the back door.

Kimi asks Chuckie, "Why are you bring those worms in the house Chuckie? You know how mom and dad hate it when we bring bugs in the house."

Chuckie answered, "They're for Phil and Lil; since you're new around here, you should know that Phil and Lil love bugs, so I'm going to give them some for their Birthday."

Meanwhile, at Tommy's house, Tommy and Dil were getting ready too. Stu made the presents they would give to them.

"Present! Present!", Dil screamed.

Tommy got angry at Dil, and said, "No Dil! It's not your birthday; its Phil and Lil's!"

"Mine, my present, mine!", Dil yelled, taking the present from Tommy.

Then Tommy and Dil started to fight over the present that was not for them.

2. It's Party Time!

Later, at the party, the Rugrats meet in Phil and Lil's backyard. This is where they exchanged gifts.

First Tommy gave his gift --  a picture from his coloring book that he colored for them.

Then Kimi gave Lil a popsicle stick with a face on it.

She gave Phil a postcard from Reptar Land she still had from when her mom worked there.

Dil gave them both a spit ball that he chewed up today; they didn't like it.

Then Chuckie gave them his jar of worms.

"Hey, you guys want some?", asked Phil.

"Sure!", they said. Phil & Lil eat the worms in their usual manner.

Kimi asks, "You guys actually eat those?"

Lil replied, "Of course we do. Just try one; there really good."

Phil passed them all out.

Tommy then got his worm, which was the blue one that Chuckie placed in there, absent-mindedly.

He complains, "You guys, mine is blue!"

They all stared at the blue worm. By this time Chuckie forgot all about it.

"Wow!" they all said, still staring at it.

"Eat it Tommy!" Lil yelled. Phil added,

"Yeah! See what it tastes like!"

Tommy bit the blue worm in half and swallowed it.

"Well, how does it taste?" asked Kimi.

Tommy answered, "It tastes like a moldy Reptar Bar; I don't fell so good any more."

Then he fell over, crying. Didi ran over. She saw what was left of the worm. Tommy's face was changing colors.

She picked up Tommy, and that piece of worm, and dashed towards the car. Stu grab Dil, and ran to the car.

Stu asked, " What's wrong with Tommy?"

She answered, "I don't know.  We're going to the hospital."

3. The Big Change

They soon arrived at the emergency room. The ER doctor was Dr. Trees, a female doctor who was nice to Tommy.

Then, all of a sudden, Tommy threw up. There, lying on the counter among the barf was a piece of the chewed up blue worm.

Concerned, Dr. Trees said, "This could be more serious then I thought."

A nurse was standing right outside of the hall. "Sandy, go get George, stat!", Dr. Trees yelled.

George was a specialist who worked at the hospital.

As soon as he arrived, Dr. Trees showed him the worm.

"What is this?", she asked.

"That's a strange species of worm", he answered.

Dr. Trees said, "This kid swallowed it."

George replied, "This is serious. Send him to x-ray right away."

"Who is he?", asked George.

Didi answered, "He's my son, Tommy."

Tommy was placed on the x-ray table, still changing colors. Then George got behind the shield and zapped Tommy with the x-ray; then he analysed Tommy's x-ray pictures.

Awhile later, he returned with Tommy to ER.  

"He has a strange disease called 'Who-X'," George told Didi.

"Speak English," asked Stu.

"It's a strange disease where a boy changes into a girl, and vice-versa, usually caused by, pardon my French, biting the blue worm," George answered.

Didi them asks, "Is there a cure?" Asked Didi.

George answered, "Apart from finding another blue worm and eating it, no; this could be bad. Luckily, it's not a contagious disease -- it's just a matter of his friends getting used to Tommy, or rather, Tonya."

4. The Training

As soon as the gang got home, Didi called everybody. She left Tommy and Dil at Betty and Howard's house. Tommy was still wearing his usual shirt and diaper. Then Tommy went into Phil and Lil's room. There he found Phil and Lil playing with a ball.

Tommy went over to them and asked, "Guys, uh, um I gots something to tell you. I'm a girl."

Phil asked, "How? You're a boy."

Tommy explains, "It's because of that blue worm you made me eat on your birthday."

"Let's see if you changed yet," said Lil.

She gave Tommy a test, which was to see if he had long hair; he did.

Lil said, "That means you're a girl like me. Now I will show you how to act like a girl. First, you can't wear boy clothes like your shirt. You need a dressy!"

They walked over to Lil's dresser and took out a dress with lots of flowers on it. Tommy put it on.

"All girls wear dresses," said Lil.

"Then why dose your mom wear pants?" asked Tommy.

Lil answered, "She's something called a 'whoa man'. Plus you know I wear a dressy, and Angelica, Kimi, and lots of other girls do, too."

Tommy then asks, "What about Susie? She wears shorts."

Lil replied, "Well, she's different. The next step is to play with girl toys only."

5. Life Goes On

Tommy eventually adjusted to living a life as a girl. She followed Lil's "Girl rules" most of the time. One day, Tommy met another kid like her named Sally. Sally was a boy, who used to be a girl before coming down with Who-X. They became best friends. Tommy knew someday there would be a cure for Who-X. After she reached five, she started kindergarden. Tommy was very popular.

Tommy went through kindergarten and began first grade as a girl. Sally was now her second best friend (Chuckie being her best). As she entered the first grade, Tommy began thinking about changing her name to a girls name. So she decided to talk to Sally.

"I was thinking Sally," Tommy said to her friend on the bus on the way to "Jim III Elementary School".

"What?" Sally asked.

"Hi Tommy! Hi Sally!" He said.

A young woman with long black hair wearing a white short sleeved shirt, green pants and brown shoes walked to the front of the room.

"Hello," she said, "My name is Miss. Fretney." Miss. Fretney picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name in big letters on the blackboard.

Then, for the first half, they learn the usual first grade stuff -- math, spelling, history, art, etc.

Then, the lunch bell rang. Miss. Fretney's class lined up in the door, then walked down the hallways to the lunchroom. Tommy, Sally and some other of their friends all sat together and opened their lunches.

"What did your mom send you?" Sally asked Tommy.

"You don't want to know," Tommy joked. She and Sally giggled.

"What did you really get?" Sally asked.

"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, a piece of ham, a bottle full of water, and a note from my mom," Tommy answered. A kid near by said,

"I'll trade you my tuna fish paste and M&M sandwich for your peanut butter and jelly one, Tommy!"

"Eeww!" cried everyone on the table.

"I'll pass," Tommy said.

After their lunch-recess break, the kids headed back to their classroom, just to find their teacher waiting for them, with an anxious look on her face. The kids took their seats.

"Class," Miss. Fretney addressed the children, "In the paper today, there's a story where scientists have found a way to cure Who-X, a non-deadly disease caused by eating a rare species of worm. The person eating the worm will have their gender reversed; for example, if a boy eats it, he will become a girl, and vice versa. Practically, the only cure would be to eat another blue worm; however, it's a rare species, and finding one is like finding a needle in a haystack. This cure would eliminate Who-X, without the worm. But it will cost a lot of money for them to create this medicine. So, I was thinking that we could have some sort of a fundraiser, to help raise a little money. Does anyone have any ideas? Yes, Tommy?"

"We could have a big garage sale! Everyone could bring their old stuff. We could put an ad in the newspaper and stuff, because this is pretty important," Tommy suggested.

"That's a wonderful idea, Tommy, but where could we find a garage big enough?" Miss. Fretney asked.

"We could have it in front of the school," Tommy said.

"But then it wouldn't be a garage sale, it would be a yard sale," Miss. Fretney pointed out.

"Garage sale, yard sale, whatever," Tommy said.

The class agreed to have the sale that Saturday.

On Saturday everyone arrived at 8:00am with the old things they had collected. Some people brought tables, chairs, portable fans, and rugs to put stuff on, sit in, and keep them cool. Tommy, Sally, and Eric pulled up three chairs and sat next to each other. From eight to eight-thirty, kids were setting things up. The actual sale didn't start until nine.

It lasted until four in the afternoon. Miss. Fretney's class made about $1,000,000 to give to the Who-X specialists.

When the sale ended, Mrs. Fretney collected the money and said, "Thanks for helping out with the sale. See you in class Monday."

That evening, while she was eating supper, Tommy told her parents the good news. Stu and Didi were delighted.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Didi answered it.

"Hello?" she said, "Yes, she's here. What? All right. One second. Tommy! Some scientist wants to talk to you!"

"I'll get on the other phone," Tommy said. She went into the living room and picked up the phone there.

"Hello?" she said, "Well, OK, yeah. Where? OK. When? OK. All right. See ya." Tommy returned to the dinner table.

"What was that about?" five-year-old Dil asked.

"It was some scientist who wants me to come to her lab for some Who-X thing," Tommy replied.

"What did you tell her?" Dil asked.

"I said yes," Tommy answered.

"You'll have to be there at nine tomorrow morning," Didi told her.

"That's OK," Tommy said.

The next morning, Didi drove Tommy to the place the scientist had told them to go. Didi walked Tommy to the door.

There she was met by a woman with short red hair. She wore a white coat and half circle glasses with thick green rims that rested on the tip of her long nose.

"I'm glad you could make it, Tommy, please come with me," the scientist, named Heather, said to Tommy. She led her to a room and sat her in a chair. She picked up a beaker full of a blue substance and poured half of it into a measuring cup. She then handed the cup to Tommy.

"This," Heather said, motioning to the blue substance in the measuring cup, "may be the cure for Who-X. I want you to test it. Drink the whole cup." Tommy poured the medicine into her mouth. Her face turned baby blue.

"I don't feel so good," she said.

"Just a couple of minutes," Heather muttered. There was a flash of light. Heather closed her eyes. When she opened them what she saw before her was a six-year-old boy.

"It worked!" she cried happily, "We have found a cure for Who-X! Tommy, your a Tommy again!"

"I'm not a girl anymore!" an overexcited Tommy exclaimed, "I'm a boy again! I'm a boy again! Wait. You will be able to change everybody else back... wont you?"

"Well," Heather admitted, "we don't have quite enough medicine for everybody yet, but we're working on it. Oh, something I forgot to mention on the phone. You get $500 for testing the new medicine."

"Thanks, but I couldn't take it," Tommy said.

"Ok," Heather said, "Oh, and you might want to come to the Nobel Prize award show thing." Heather winked at him.

Tommy smiled.

Once at home, Tommy had a big surprise for his family!

"Your cured!" Stu cried.

"I'm happy for you Tommy!" Didi exclaimed. The Pickles had a little family party that night. They watched a movie, ate popcorn, and did many more fun things.

Soon after, Tommy got a haircut and some new clothes, so he could look like a boy again.

Tommy was at the awarding of the Nobel Prizes. And he was hoping he would get one, for discovering a way to cure Who-X (after all, he did come up with the idea). Different people were called up to receive the prize and the prize money. Finally, it looked like the announcer was about to call out the name Tommy had been waiting for- his!

"And now," the announcer boomed, "in the scientific field, Heather Stigg, for creating a cure for Who-X, and..."  The announcer paused as Heather walked up on the stage, then continued,

"and for creating the idea, Alexandra Fretney!"

Tommy gasped.

The announcer went on, "Unfortunately, Miss Fretney is unable to make it, so, in her place is her brother, Alexander Fretney."

Mr. Fretney, who remarkably looks like Tommy's teacher, came on stage.

Mr Fretney makes his speech: "Ladies and Gentlemen. First of all, I have a confession. I am not Miss Fretney's brother -- I am Miss Fretney, or rather, WAS Miss Fretney. You see, I, too, also had an appetite for worms when I was really young. One day, when I was two, I ate a blue worm, which tasted like a five-year old Mars Bar. I became violently ill, but I survived, only to switch genders as a result. I played with my friends, attended school, started work, went to college and became a teacher, as a female. But now, with the new drug, which I call "XWX", I can continue my life, but with a gender I was born with -- a man."

The announcer asked Mr. Fretney, "Could you tell us how you came up with this great idea?"

Mr. Fretney now had shorter hair, and was wearing a green silk tux a white shirt and a green tie.

"Well I was sitting at my house after school and I was thinking about how I got Who-X. Then it occurred to me that if I was a girl, and I ate a blue worm, I would turn back into a boy, so I called Ms. Stigg here," Alex Fretney told the audience.

Tommy jumped up from of his seat, then ran down the aisle and onto the stage.

"Is something the matter?" the announcer asked. Tommy pointed an accusing finger at Alex.

"He's lying!" Tommy screeched.

"Well, then why don't you tell us what happened," the announcer chuckled. He looked as if he was expecting Tommy to start getting nervous. But Tommy didn't get nervous. Instead he said, calmly,

"My name is Tommy Pickles and I came up with the idea for the Who-X cure. Let me explain. Yes, I used to have Who-X, and yes, she's, er, he's my teacher (Tommy pointed to Alex). One day, we talked about Who-X and the new cure, so we had a garage sale for a fundraiser. She didn't tell anyone that he -- she -- my teacher had Who-X herself -- him -- oh, you know."

Tommy took a deep breath.

"You expect me to believe that?" the announcer asked, "Do you think I'm stupid? First of all, Who-X is the rarest disease on the planet. Second, you're just six!"

Heather was about to say something when a small voice called out from the audience saying,

"I believe him! We believe him!" It was Sally!

Before Tommy know it, every person in his old class surrounded him on the stage.

"We were there when he said the thing about the blue worm. We were in his class. And he did have Who-X!" Sally cried. The rest of the class nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, right," said the announcer.

"I believe him, too!" called Angelica's voice from the audience. Tommy couldn't believe Angelica was doing this!

Angelica got up from her seat, the other rugrats following. She said,

"Look, he's my cousin, and I know my cousin a lot better than you blockheads! You see, cheese brain, the plain fact is, Tommy wouldn't lie if his life depended on it! It also just so happens that he did have Who-X, bet you didn't know that, toiletbutt! You really tic me off, you big fat good for nothing poopface!"

"Angelica," Kimi whispered, amazed, "you don't need to get that mad."

"Oh, sure," the announcer said. Just then, Heather stood up. She now said what she had been trying to say before.

"He did have Who-X! I think he's telling the truth!"

She announced, pointing to Tommy and surprising almost everyone in the audience.

Then turning to Alex, she continued, "And I think he is lying. Do you want to know what gave you away? Well, you said you called me after school was over. You called at 8:15 in the morning. Since when does school get out before then? Tommy deserves the prize!"

The announcer scowled at Alex, now convinced that he had been lying.

"Trying to trick me, huh?" the announcer asked, "Well, just to let you know, that's NOT possible." The audience laughed.

Tommy did get the prize, and the prize money which he split with his classmates (with a little for Angelica) and they all lived happily (and blue worm free) ever after.

The End


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