The Fall of the Aftons

081: Michael Afton

A sudden loud bang scared Michael awake. He sat up, grimacing when the morning sunlight that streamed from his bedroom window shone in his eyes. As he let his eyes adjust, he found a sobbing Evan shaking his feet.

"Evan? What's going on?" Michael asked. He reached over to Evan and pried the boy's small hands off of his feet.

"Fedbear dalks! Fedbear dalks!" Evan exclaimed, desperately trying to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Michael frowned. The poor boy was so terrified. He felt bad for him. "Come here, Evi," he said softly, reaching out his arms.

Evan stepped closer to Michael, still wiping his eyes. "Wh-What?"

He lifted Evan off of the ground and sat his little brother in his lap, then wiped away the warm tears from the boy's cheeks. "What Fredbear are you talking about, Ev? Your new plush?"

"Yeah, plush! He dalks! He help with nigh-mares las' nigh'!"

Michael chuckled. "That's not possible, Evan. You're probably just imagining it. A stuffed animal can't talk."

"Buh did, Fedbear did! H-He heard nigh-m-mares out door 'fore m-me! He warn when many minis were on bed!"

He laughed softly. "Okay, okay. I believe you. It doesn't sound like you should be afraid, though--it sounds like he's trying to help you beat your nightmares."

Evan looked away, staring off into the distance. "I guess..."

Michael stood up, carrying Evan on his hip. "Now come on. Let's go get your sister from her room and eat some breakfast."

~ ~ ~

Many months passed by and the summer soon arrived. Michael had just turned twelve and was excited for eighth grade to start. He was no longer in just Honors classes for eighth grade--he was in eighth-grade electives with ninth-grade-level core classes. He couldn't wait and was hoping that he would finally be challenged in school for once. Though he was disappointed that he had to wait so long for school to start. It didn't help that the things he'd been looking forward to in the summer had to be cancelled because William forgot to sign the paperwork he needed to participate. But thankfully, even though William probably forgot about it, he had plans for what he could do during the days whenever William came home.

One summer afternoon, as soon as William returned from work and was surrounded by Evan and Elizabeth, Michael went straight outside. He walked around to the side of the house to the shed, taking his bike out of the mini house. He took his helmet from the bike handle and secured it to his head, then pedaled away from the house. He rode down the streets until he reached the end of the neighborhood two miles away, then switched to the sidewalks. About one and a half miles later, he pulled up to the department store and parked his bike in the always-open storage garage before he walked into the store from the employee entrance.

"Planks or money?" Mister Dunn, the owner of the department store, asked Michael after he was done when he was done checking out a customer's order. He started to arrange the cash in the cash register, putting the customer's money away.

"Hi, Mister Dunn," Michael greeted, a slight smile on his face. "You know that I never said that you had to pay me, right? I started doing this to volunteer my time since I don't have anything else to do to spend my time.

"I've told you before, just call me Jack. Anyway, you're doing labor, kid. I'm going to pay you just as if you were doing household chores." He slammed the falling-apart cash register shut with his hip. "I repeat, planks or money?"

Michael shrugged, laughing softly. "I've got three hours to kill until suppertime. Do you have anything that you need to get done?"

"I think I've got everything done today. Not a busy day. You wanna help me restock shelves?"

"Nothing over fifty?" he guessed, a hand on his hip.

Mister Dunn--Jack---laughed, then rubbed his stubble-dotted chin. "You know what? You're pretty strong for your age. Ya think you can handle seventy?"

"I have a little brother who's eighty. I can handle it."

"Love your confidence there, kid." He turned on his heel and motioned for Michael to follow. "Let's get started."

Two hours later, Michael sat on the check-out counter as he sipped chocolate milk from a can, a light banter going between him and Jack. They talked about struggles with bullies since Jack was bullied back in school, too, and they talked about dumb customers that Jack had gotten throughout the years.

"You know, you'd be a great employee once you're old enough. Good with numbers. You'd be a great cashier worker," Jack said with a sure smile.

Michael shrugged, taking another small sip of chocolate milk. "I'll probably be working at my dad's restaurant when I'm at working age. I'd be a worker that he doesn't have to pay."

"Speaking of your dad, you've mentioned before that he's been really busy lately. Does he know that you're here every day?"

"Hey, I don't come here on Wednesdays or the weekends."

"Potayto, potahto. Does he know?"

Hesitantly, Michael shook his head. "No. He doesn't. Well, I told him that I come here, but he probably forgot. He's always busy with my siblings and his stuff with the diners. I doubt he notices that I'm gone." He took a long gulp of his chocolate milk, then wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. "He probably just thinks that I'm either in my room or exploring the forest behind my house."

"Kid, that's not good. He doesn't realize that you're gone?"

Michael looked away, fidgeting with his fingers. "N-No, not really. I'm not a high-maintenance child like my siblings are, though. If I've got a problem, I solve it independently."

"Your dad still takes care of you, though. Right?"

"Yeah. Of course, he does. He's my father."

But even as he said that, he wasn't sure that he quite believed it.