This was close, but not close enough. Dag! At any rate, this is my favorite of the stories so far. This one's supposed to be sort of an homage. Tell me what you think (all 2 of you sometime posters you).
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Kevin rode in silence, his car filled with icons of childhood. He was taking them with though he had left them long ago. The back seat and truck were filled with action figures, cars, trucks, video games, and animals.
The front seat was reserved for one special stuffed animal. A stuffed lion, whose stitching was coming undone, whose fur was faded, whose hair was matted in some spots, and balding in others. A stuffed lion that had been a loyal friend and servant.
Kevin looked down at the lion, and remembered.
Your left eye is falling out. It's from that time that I was “in space,” and we were chased by monsters. You remember that Thumbs? How about that stain on your left paw? That time we got into mom's medicine cabinet and tried to disguise ourselves as Indians. Holy crap did we get in trouble. Mom was so pissed? And then she started laughing. I think that scared me more than if she'd laughed at me.
“We had some good times.”
“We sure did,” shot back Kevin. Then Kevin froze. “What did you say?” I can't be hearing this. Kevin looked down at Thumbs, the little stuffed lion. The lion sat motionless. Kevin pulled off to the side of the road and pulled a coke out of his backpack in the back seat. He popped it and stared at the lion. The shifting in the car from getting off of the interstate had caused the lion to shift in its position, and appeared as if it had adjusted itself to look at Kevin. Kevin sipped and stared.
He finished his coke and chucked it into the back seat, and was preparing to start his car.
“What about that time you threw a water balloon at the kindergarten teacher even though I said you shouldn't?” spoke a long dormant voice.
“Yeah, but you gotta admit, that was hysterical, spankings aside.” Part of Kevin was too ready to indulge the talking animal. Part of him knew that talking animals was a thing of the past, something he hadn't indulged since 6th grade, nearly 10 years earlier.
“I don't want to be rude, Thumbs, but why are you speaking again after being silent for so long? I've missed you.” The little lion shrugged his little shoulders, and perched his head in hand, thinking.
“As a kid, you were receptive to my message, right?” Kevin sat, uncomfortable with what he was hearing and seeing.
“Kevin, listen, I understand that this must be hard to hear, but my sudden break of silence is not warranted. Things are happening, important things. All those things we did? They weren't just games. It was training. I was trying to teach you things. It was all just in case, but there were hundreds of us, in lions, Tigers, bears, pelicans, birds, penguins, elephants, any type of stuffed animal you can imagine acting as a trainer for kids isolated for whatever reason. Perhaps, if nothing else, for their receptiveness.”
“No, no, this has got to be stress. I cannot be seeing this! I'm supposed to be going to law school! I'm not a spaceman, a dinosaur, a pirate, an Indian or anything other than a lawyer, that's what I'm supposed to be!” Kevin was gripping the air in frustration, shouting at the steering wheel. Thumbs got up from his spot and shambled over to Kevin and placed his ragged paw on his arm.
“Kev, this is hard to hear, I know. You thought it was games and pretend, and it was supposed to be. Things are changing, and now those games are being called into functionality. But you're not alone. There are hundreds of others like yourself, but most of all, I'll be with you every part of the way. Let's go, Kevin, please?”
Kevin rubbed his hands across his face. He knew what he was hearing was truth. Thumbs was incapable of lies and always had been. In fact, thumbs had always stood for everything that Kevin had understood to be virtue and truth, even when Kevin failed to do it. Even in the 10 years of silence, Kevin drew on the previous 12 years of Thumbs' wisdom.
“Kevin, there will be time for questions later, and you don't have to understand everything now, but please, we have to go.” The little lion was still crouched next to Kevin, leaning against his leg. Kevin sighed, feeling as though on the verge of tears.
“Yes Thumbs, let's go.” The pair stepped out of the car, and started walking along the side of the road, just as they had done a decade ago.
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This story is the third of seven, and part of a week long duel. One story a day, with a 100 word story on Sunday, at a cost of one pre-1975 dime per derelict story, payable to the opponent. My opponent is Gabe.
1 comment:
It's like one of those "I get it but I don't quite get it" type of things.
Thumbs would probably get along with Micah's pet cat Eyelash from when she was a kid.
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