Sparkle Like a Superstar

Chapter 20

Saphira looked up from looking at the plush when she heard the door open. She expected to be frightened, but she was rather calm and relaxed upon seeing Freddy emerge from the dark confines of the back of his room. She could not help but wonder why it was so dark in there, she was glad to not follow him there.

"Are you ready super star?" Freddy asked, holding his hand out to Saphira. "Do you need me to go with you to any other part of the building? I assume you are going to check the basement of the building."

She took his hand and he helped her to stand. "Yeah..." She grimaced as she was not looking forward to checking these areas. "If you don't mind Freddy...I would like the company."

"Of course, you can count on me super star!" Freddy exclaimed confidently, walking to the door of his room with Saphira behind him. "I will not let anything bad happen to you so long as you stay with me. The utility tunnels and the basement are not that bad."

"Maybe for you Freddy, but..." Saphira gritted her teeth, glancing at the big red doors ahead of them that led into the security tunnels. "I used to sleep in dark tunnels before...mostly when I first left my parents."

"Oh really? I thought every human lived in those white houses I see on the TV." She smiled and shakes her head, what Freddy knew was not entirely true. Yet his innocence about the world still made her smile. "Am I wrong?"

"You are. But it is okay Freddy, I have a roof over my head now. It took a long time to get it." Saphira turned on her flashlight as she opened the doors into the utility tunnels, shuddering at the drastic change of colour. It was dark, dull and the smell of dusty and dampness made her shudder. "Before that, I had no real home. I was homeless and I was forced to sleep where I could that was safe. Or...safe enough..."

"And...dark tunnels was one of them right?" Freddy asked curiously, Saphira opening up to him interested him. Plus, it allowed him to begin to understand her fears.

"Yeah...and one of those places was an old attraction. It was abandoned, but there were still things there that were unsettling." She walked down the stairs slowly, it was obvious she was nervous and Freddy wanted to comfort her, but feared he would scare her more. "It had torn clown costumes, very rusty animatronics and an old merry-go-round with horses missing limbs and paint on the faces. It was not a great thing to see each night before bed."

"Is that why you are afraid of us?" Knowing that Saphira's seen rusty, old animatronics before would seem to make sense.

"No actually, that is not the reason." Saphira knew it seemed like it was, but it really was not. She continued down the stairs, the temperature was dropping and she shivered a little. "Hmm...I didn't think it would be cold down here."

"These places don't exactly have air conditioning, I know it can get warm when the workers use the forklifts. But you can wrap your arms around me to keep warm if you wish." That sounded like a good idea, but Saphira needed to keep aware of her surroundings, and Freddy was a big distraction if she was honest. "How long were you homeless for?"

"Well, I got my first night guard job five months after I left home, it took a few months to save enough for somewhere to rent...even then, it took a long time because I was under eighteen..." Saphira had to think because it has been a while since she was homeless. "I guess about fifteen months, I managed to get a caravan to sleep in for two years before I managed to get the small apartment I am living in now. In retrospect, that really isn't long compared to some people."

"It must have been very hard..."

"It was. I had to go without a lot of things. Sometimes no food for days, but I always managed to have water. I was underweight for a while honestly. But...it wasn't so different from home if I am honest..." Saphira sighed and shakes her head as they reach the bottom and enter the tunnels. She knew how long it was and the many other halls they turn off into. She shuddered a little when she saw the dark hallway. "Why do I have to come down here?"