The laundry basket was where all the socks hoped to end up. Everyone who was anyone tried their hardest to go. If some sock made it to the laundry basket the got to see the world. They would wait in the basket till the ‘Giants’ came into the laundry room to pick up the basket. After the basket was picked up, it was carried away out through the big wooden door. Socks who went out the door got to see everything that was outside the laundry room. When socks came back in the basket they had amazing stories to tell. Stories of helping ‘giants win races, running barefoot around the house, giant furry creatures, something the ‘giants’ call babies, or anything else a young sock could imagine.

One of Tucker’s favorite stories was from Hunter, a big, black sock with many worn out sports and snags. It was the story he told after going missing for two weeks. Finally he had made it home in the laundry basket. He had tons of new snags and looked tough, but with a giant smile on his face he gathered the younger socks around as he told his tale of The Beast.

“There I was,” Hunter began; all eyes on him. “The Giant had accidentally let me fall from the basket. I landed on a hard wooden ledge and I was hanging by my toe. I couldn’t move. I didn’t see any other option, so I did what I had to do. I ripped open my toe seam and let myself fall to the ground; it was at least a five foot fall. After I fell i ignored my pain and drug myself into a corner.” By this time ever sock who was listening to Hunter seemed to be on the edge of their seat.

“I went four days without drinking laundry soap or eating ling and I was famished, but I knew I was strong enough to make it home. Slowly I began to drag myself out of my corner. There, staring into my eyes was a best like I had never seen!” A gasp echoed across the giant laundry room. “It walked on four legs that were all covered in long hair. It had huge ears and terribly sharp teeth! It stood towering over me; at least three feet. Then, it made a terrible noise, Woof!” Someone in the room screamed. “The beast and I battled for hours, but in the end, I won. I wrapped my threads into its mouth and jumped onto it’s back. I rode it back to the laundry room!”

Hunter stood in front of the crowd with his chest puffed out in a superman pose as all the women socks cooed over him.

“But, how did you end up back in the laundry basket?” asked someone from the crowd, “We all watched you get carried back in.”

“Thank you ladies and gentle-socks, but I am quite tired and need to rest.” And Hunter disappeared into his home he made out of pants and never explained how he got into the laundry basket after riding the dog. After that nobody seemed to believe Hunter’s stories, but Tucker did. Tucker wanted to be just like Hunter when he grew up; that’s if his mom let him grow up.

“But mom!!!!” whined Tucker, “All the other kids get to go to the laundry basket this year! Why can’t I?!”

“You just aren’t quite big enough yet Tucker. You have heard all the scary things that come from outside the laundry room door; maybe next year,” explained his mother as she picked and tried to fix one of his snags. Tucker shrugged away from his mother and ran off towards the school made from a pile of rainbow shirts.

“Tucker wait!!! You forgot your first day of school kiss!” cried his mother. Tucker who was usually a baby blue sock turned as red as a tide bottle. Ignoring his mother he continued into the school.

“I’ll show you,” mumbled Tucker as he began to hop towards his class. Just then, Tucker got an idea. “I’m not going to school today. I’m going to the laundry basket.” Swiftly Tucker turned on his toe and headed outside of the school.

The older kids were getting ready for the ‘Pick-up’. It was a time every morning when the Giants came to pick up the clean clothes basket and carry it off into the unknown. Tucker hopped up to the basket right as the huge door to the laundry room swung open and the six foot tall giant lumbered into the room and began to mess with the washer and dryer.

Tucker could barely contain his excitement, and with a quick look in all directions he hopped and hid behind the big white basket.

“Mom have you seen my blue dress?” echoed one of the giants from outside the big room.

“It’s right here. I’ll bring it out to you!?” yelled the giant who was going to grab the laundry basket and take Tucker on his first adventure. “Just a second!”

After starting the washer and drier, the giant began to crouch down; preparing to grab the laundry basket. Shaking with nerves, Tucker wrapped one of his threads around one of the holes in the basket and held on for dear life. Swiftly the basket was lifted into the air. Tucker looked around and felt like he could see forever. He saw Mt. Towels to his left and the fancy delicate socks that lived on top of the dryer for ‘special treatment”. He saw the pile of shirts that made up his school, and the small pile of boxer shorts that made up his house.

“This is amazing!” squealed Tucker. He could no longer contain himself. He couldn’t wait to see what was outside the big room! Quickly the giant swung open the big wooden door to the outside world.

“Magnificent,” whispered Tucker as he took in his surroundings. The carpet looked fuzzy as though it was made of soft threads. There wasn’t a single pile of clothes anywhere! The light seemed brighter and everything seemed better than in the laundry room. He saw dodas and thing-a-ma-jigs everywhere he looked. Just then, a smaller giant ran up to the Giant who was carrying the laundry basket.

“Mamma!” it screamed and began to run toward the bigger giant.

“Careful honey! Don’t want to tip mommy over.” It was too late, the smaller giant was running out of control straight towards the bigger giant. Slamming into the bigger giant the entire basket shook. As the basket shook Tucker held on for dear life, but there was nothing he could do. As the basket shook his thread came loose and Tucker began to fall to the hard ground.

“Where am I?” Tucker inquired as he woke from his long slumber.

“Why you are in the human world little trooper?” said the strange looking sock.

“AHHH! exclaimed Tucker, “Who are you?! Get away from me!” But Tucker couldn’t move.
He had a hard throbbing in his head and he felt as though all of his threads had came loose.

“Be careful there sport, you hit your head pretty hard and you need to be more careful!explained the dirty stranger, “My name is Elliot Downy, I’ve been living in the human world for two years now. You fell out of the basket that the human was carrying and I brought you home.”

Tucker looked around. He saw some smaller nicknacks and a few pieces of cardboard that seemed to be used for furniture, but it was nothing like his home. He also looked at the stranger in front of him. He was an older looking grey sock. He had more snags than even Hunter and small holes covering his whole body. He also smelled as though he had never been to the laundry room before.

“I’m in over my head,” thought Tucker as he tried to hold back tears.

“What’s wrong little guy?” inquired Elliot.

“I wanted an adventure. I wanted to be just like Hunter Hanes, but I’m nothing like him,” sobbed Tucker, “I’m just meant to stay a laundry room sock.”

Oh pish posh!” exclaimed Elliot, “Hunter is nothing special; he makes up his adventures! They are like fairy tales. Anyone can be an adventurer! I don’t make up my adventures and neither will you. I used to be just like you when I was a boy. Believe it or not I used to be a white sock. I was shy, timid, and scared to go outside of the laundry room. Look at me now! I’m living on my own out here in the human world and I wouldn’t like it any other way! I’ll protect you and take you home Tucker. Don’t you worry. Does that make you feel a little better?” Elliot asked as he checked out Tucker’s head.

“A little,” sniffled Tucker.

“Well, your head looks good. Let’s start our adventure.” Elliot said matter-of- factly, “Come help me put together our adventure pack.” Tucker slowly got up from his makeshift cardboard bed and followed Elliot to an old match box. Elliot handed tucker a used tea bag with straps sewn on.

“Everything I hand you needs to go in that bag,”Elliot demanded. Tucker didn’t question him. He was handed small flashlights, a bundle of tooth floss, a needle, a packet of foot, and a small thimble of laundry detergent. Tucker got very nervous.

“I’m scared to go back out there,”whined Tucker.

“Adventurers can’t be scared. They have to be brave. Now,the humans have all left for the da so its a perfect time for us to start our journey back to the laundry room. Put your pack on and get ready to go.” tucker obeyed and with their tea bags on their backs they headed for the door.

Elliot and Tucker didn’t talk for the first few minutes of hopping. Tucker felt uncomfortable, and he was starting to get really tired, but he was too scared to tell Elliot in case he would be mad. The weird thread on the floor may have felt better on his toe when he hopped, but it made him tired. Whenever he landed he sunk deeper into the fuzz, foreign material.

“Stop,” whispered Elliot.

“Why?” Tucker asked a little too loudly.

“SHHHH! Look, over there.” Tucker turned to see something out of a nightmare. It was like a giant lump of fur, but it was moving.

“What is that!” screamed Tucker. Elliot quickly covered Tucker’s mouth and began to explain.

“That right there Tucker, is what the humans call a Dog. It has razor sharp teeth. A dog is meant to be a guardian of the house and to let nobody inside, or move about. If we don’t wake it up you won’t have to find out just how scary it can be,” Elliot explained, “Now, I’m going to uncover your mouth and you must be very quiet.”

Tucker shook his head up and down rapidly. He did NOT want to find out what that giant beast could do. Slowly Elliot and Tucker tiptoed across the floor. Elliot led Tucker to a small hole in the bottom of a wooden box.

“Grab your floss,” commanded Elliot. Swiftly Tucker grabbed his floss from the pack on his back and handed it to Elliot. Fluently, elliot began to spin the floss around his head and after it had began to spin rapidly, he swung it and threw it on top of the shelf where the floss tightened around a small metal screw.

Climb.” ordered Elliot. Timidly Tucker took hold of the floss and began his trek =up the wooden wall. It was slippery and with ever few inches Tucker gained he slipped one or two more down. Elliot was right below him and pushed him back up the floss. It took quite a while, but finally they made it to the top.

“How high up are we?” asked Tucker as he looked off the top of the shelf.

“I’d say about 3 feet. Far enough up where the Dog can’t get to us.” Elliot swung his tea pack off of his back and sat down and leaned against the wall. Invitingly he patted the ground beside him and Tucker willingly sat down beside him.

“Get some rest Tucker, and tomorrow we will get you back home,” cooed Elliot as they laid down for the night. Elliot stayed up to keep watch over Tucker. He knew Tucker was a tender hearted sock, and if he woke up to anything frightening, he wouldn’t be willing to go any farther.

“Wake up!” exclaimed Elliot, “Wake up now! It’s time to get you home! Tucker jumped at least 3 inches into the air and let out a loud gasp.

“Tucker, you said you wanted an adventure and it’s time to have one,” Elliot explained, “Now, the humans always feed the dog before they go to work and school. In order to feed the dog, they have to go to the big room next to the laundry room. When the dog walks by, we are going to jump onto his back and ride it to his food bowl.”

“I think I’m going to throw up!” exclaimed Tucker as his normal baby blue color turned dark green. He began to shake rapidly, “I can’t do this, Elliot.”

“Do you think that Hunter would be scared of an adventure like this?” inquired Elliot.

“Well, no, but I’m not Hunter,” sniffled Tucker.

“You’re right, Tucker, you aren’t Hunter, you're going to be an even better adventurer. Now, buck up, and lets get ready to get you home.”

Tucker closed his eyes and took a deep breathe in. He knew that he could do this if he kept his mind to it. Elliot hopped over to his makeshift tea bag backpack while Tucker did the same.

“Grab your floss,” ordered Elliot. Tucker did exactly as he was told and quickly he reached into his pack to grab his floss. Without saying a word, the old grey sock began to swing the floss over his head; round and a round the floss went, and just as before, Elliot threw the floss and it hooked on the door handle across from the high shelf they were sitting on.

“Now it’s your turn Tucker. Swing the floss around your head and concentrate on the big gold door handle across the hall. When you know you can hook the handle, close your eyes and throw the floss.”

Tucker slowly unwound his floss. He had watched Elliot hook things with floss a couple times and he didn’t think it would be that hard. Tucker raised his short blue arm above his head and began to swing it.

“1, 2, 3,”Tucker reaped in his head while he concentrated on the large golden handle. It was shaped like a large circle, glistening from the large hole in the wall that was filled with a clear material that let him look outside of the large house. “1,2,3,” Tucker said out loud, closing his eyes and he let the floss fly. As soon as the floss was released Tucker’s eyes snapped open just in time to watch it sail onto the fuzzy brown floor. Tucker whipped his head around to look at Elliot.

“Tucker it’s fine, just try again,” coaxed Elliot.

Over and over again Tucker threw the floss, and over and over he was just short of the glistening silver knob. Finally, on the 10th try the Floss grasped the golden knob.

“I did it!” exclaimed Tucker.

“Very good Tucker,” whispered Elliot, “Tie your floss to that screw and crouch down in the corner. The humans are going to wake up soon and feed the dog. When the dog runs by I’m going to yell go then you are going to grab the floss and untie it and jump off the edge onto the back of the dog.”

Tucker grouched into the dusty corner of their high hiding place. The darkness made Tucker get very nervous.
“What if I miss?” he asked himself. Tucker closed his eyes and began to think of Hunter Hanes and Elliot. “Be strong,” he thought to himself, and with a deep breathe he was ready. Tucker felt like an eternity had passed and as he began to doze off he heard huge thuds coming from the leveled mountain that Elliot had called stairs. One by one the giants began to run down the stairs. Thud Thud Thud went their feet as they reached the bottom. Again, Tucker began to get nervous.One human carried a large bag that read ‘Dog Food’. The giant carried the large bag off towards the laundry room. Again a long period of time passed. Quickly the large lump of fur on the floor got up, shaking and stretching after it’s deep slumber. It began to raise its large black nose up into the air and sniffed. The giant fuzzy beast’s eyes shot wide open; must have smelled its food. As quick as a bullet the dog was off, barreling towards the laundry room.
“Now!” screamed Elliot.
Tucker ran out of the corner towards the large rusted nail and grabbed hold of the tightly tied white floss. He swiftly moved his fingers, untying the floss. With all of his might, Tucker held onto the floss with dear life.

“Jump Tucker!” Elliot screamed as he lept from the high cliff. With a deep breathe Tucker ran for the edge of the cliff and jumped.
“AHHHHHH!!” screamed Tucker as he flew through the air. Tucker watched as the dog ran underneath the two socks, and with a burst of courage he let go off the rope.
Thud! The two socks landed on the back of their fuzzy ride. Tucker was still shaking from the rush of adrenaline he had received, but Elliot seemed completely relaxed. Tucker knew he had done things like this before; Elliot was a real adventurer.
“It’s easy from here now,” explained Elliot, “ when the dog stops to eat we jump off his back and hike the short distance towards the laundry basket.” As Elliot explained the rest of their mission, Tucker was holding on for dear life. When the dog ran the two socks were bounced and shaken back and forth, making Tucker feel like he was about to get sick. To keep his mind off of the shaking, Tucker looked around. Straight ahead of him was the big brown door that led to his him.
“I miss my mom,” whispered Tucker and he began to sob. He couldn’t believe he had ran away from her, all he wanted now was a big kiss from his mom. Laying down on the soft fur of his ride, Tucker let his cries drift him off to sleep.
“Tucker wake up, we are almost home.”
Tucker slowly opened his eyes to see the large grey sock staring down at him. Swiftly the memories of where he was drifted back to Tucker and he shot up. Ahead of them was a large red bowl that looked as if 10 socks could live in it. The side of the bowl read ‘Charlie’. Inside of the large red bowl was round balls in different shades of brown.
“Food, perhaps?” thought Tucker. Gently their ride came to a halt in front of the red bowl. The dog bent its large fuzzy head down towards the bowl and began to eat the food rapidly.
“Ever been on a slide?” Elliot asked enthusiastically as he ran and slid all the way down the dogs neck onto the soft plush floor. Giggling with joy for he had never been on a so called slide before, Tucker ran and slide down the soft furry neck of the dog and lept into the air to again feel the soft thread of the floor against his toe.
“In about two minutes we will have you home Tucker,” announced Elliot as he began hopping towards the big brown door leading to safety. Tucker followed right behind. He couldn’t wait to tell all of his friends about the adventure he had been on, but most importantly he couldn’t wait to see his mom.
Steadily the two socks trekked on towards the large door. As they reached the door Elliot sadly turned towards Tucker.
“This is as far as I can take you little sock. It’s been quite the adventure but I belong out here in the big world.” sighed Elliot as he pulled Tucker into a big smelly hug, “it’s been nice knowing you and you are always welcome to come visit next time you leave the laundry room.” Tucker smiled at Elliot and waved goodbye and the old, smelly, grey sock hopped off into the world of the giants. Tucker turned towards the big brown door and with a sigh of relief he swiftly hopped into the big laundry room.

The laundry room was the same as it had been when he had laughed, except all the socks seemed a little said. Tucker hopped up to one of his friends and asked what was wrong.

“He’s home!!!” screamed the little green sock as he grabbed hold of Tucker and hopped off towards the laundry room square, which was a large black tile in the middle of the laundry room. As the two socks made it too the large square a crowd of socks of all different colors and sizes began to form. Tucker scanned the crowd looking for his mother. He found the petite red sock he called mom hopping quickly towards him and before he could say a word his mom enveloped him in a big fat mom hug.

“Where have you been!” cried his mother as she refused to let her little lost sock out of her arms.

“Mom! you would never believe the adventure I went on!! I fell out of the basket and I met an old sock and we had to camp out and we rode a dog and and…” Standing right infront of Tucker stood none other than Hunter Hanes.

“Why don’t you come tell the story for the whole town, like a real adventurer,” said Hunter and without another word Tucker was carried off onto the large podium in the town square. As Tucker stood behind the podium he noticed the huge crowd that had gathered in front of him. Socks of all colors, shapes, and sizes had gathered to listen to his adventure; just like they gathered in front of Hunter Hanes.

As Tucker began his story of Elliot, Tucker, and the Beast, he thought to himself, “I am a real adventure. I am Tucker Tide.”