Stuffed

Chapter 4

It was time for Maurice to lock up, he stayed too long doing paperwork. He could feel his eyes dragging him down and his focus was fuzzy, closing up his last file he got up. On his desk was the slumped shell of the stuffed bat named Betty, its purple fluff seemed worn and drained of color. Its eyes shone a bright pink as if the buttons themselves had never worn down from the years of aging. Mr. White turned away feeling a shiver up his spine, he placed his folder in its proper cabinet as usual.

Turning back around he gathered his case and put his coat back on. As he was ready to leave he went to go pick up the stuffed animals, but Betty was no longer on the desk. His heart took a leap out of his chest in surprise as he saw it leaning gently up against the bag in which he had put the rest of them. Collecting his thoughts again as his heart rate lowered he grabbed the bag of toys along with Betty who he laid gently in with the others.

Maurice slowly trailed out into the hallways, around him darkness crowded him. The shadowy building made him feel a lurking fear, as if the void of blindness were to trap him he'd no longer exist. Taking speed in his pace he took a sharp turn to the punch machine, Maurice swiped down quickly relaxing when he heard a soft beeping. Mr. White swiftly searched around his body to make sure he wasn't being followed, all around him was too dark to see except the tiny amount of moonlight reflecting of the hard floor.

A light breeze swept past him, the cold air lingered around his frame in a shocking freeze. Closing his eyes he could feel the beating of his heart grow loud in his head, the pulse teasing him to run. He bravely opened his eyes to a lurking monster of green fur loom over him. The first thing he saw was the sharp white teeth shining from the moonlight. A long distorted chuckled bellowed into the air and it was gone, all the while Maurice held in his breath. Was he seeing things, what was that?

Desperately he looked around him to see the beast again, and insurance that it wasn't real. Yet again, nothing, not a single trace left behind from the things he had seen and heard. Not wanting to stick around any longer he booked it for the front doors crashing through them like a torpedo. His heart fluttering and hands shaking her tore into his pocket and quickly locked the front doorway. The outdoor breeze accompanied him as Mr. White finally felt safer, it was pleasantly alive outside and he didn't feel so alone.

Walking to his truck once more he glanced down at the bag of stuffed animals, they seemed as lifeless as ever. It was something that made him much more comfortable, the assurance that things were as normal as he wanted them to be. Mr. White's life was all about order and consistency, it was all he ever had and having this disturbed had been one thing that would drain his sanity. His pondering stopped when he reached the side of the truck he placed the bag of toys in the passenger seat as he adjusted the mirror. Piling in he started the engine and drove his way to his house in the usual route.

******

Maurice pierced through his front doorway quickly, the soft smell of his home wafted through the air. With a quick slam of the door he locked it and placed the bag gently onto the kitchens counter top. The space around him eased his conscious, he pulled out a heat up dinner from the fridge and placed it into the microwave pressing the buttons correctly. As the food began to cook he poured himself a glass of one percent milk, the only kind he would drink as he disliked the taste of it almost entirely. Yet milk had become in his routine since he was young, it was something he just came accustom to.

The groove of an easy routine took him back into a reality, he didn't even bother to look behind him or worry about the toys. He was too fixed on getting a dinner. It took only minutes to prepare himself a dinner that he even made special all for his lonesome. Sitting down at his table he stared off at the other side, he was all alone. Oh how he wished to be with family and friends, to have someone to share his life with. Around him silence loomed, the only sound was the ticking of a clock he had fixed above the stove.

"Good evening wall it's so nice to see you, how are you tonight?" Maurice asked sarcastically talking to himself, "Oh that's right you're the wall, my family won't even call me back!"

He aggressively tore the phone out of his pocket and flung it onto the table in front of him. The light shone across the room as it made a loud clap from the landing on the table. Maurice growled to himself in his own misery, the screen empty of any notification or text. Losing his temper wasn't a usual thing for him, but the lonely nights were wearing away at him.

Suddenly a sound clanged from across the large house, he lurched away from the table staring up at where he believed it came from. Upstairs a light shone brightly from what he assumed to be his bathroom. It couldn't be, Maurice remembered turning everything off before leaving. Unless he was losing his mind, he finished his dinner and tossed out the remains he couldn't finish.

Trotted through the kitchen he glared down at the bag he placed onto the counter, it was empty. Gasping he panicked wondering where they could have gone. It clicked, upstairs the light he surely couldn't have gone any more insane. He stumbled up his winding staircase towards the bathroom. Slamming into the view of the shining light he searched for the small plush bodies of the tiny monsters. None of them were there, just the open cabinet and the ruffled leftovers of some toilet paper.

"Where are you?" Mr. White mumbled in an annoyed tone.

In the distance he heard what could have been a child's laughter, it came from his bedroom. The door slid open as if to have been opened for him across the short hall. Biting his tongue he crept along the wall preparing to burst in with full force. Almost flying he burst into his bedroom being stopped by his large bed. The blankets slid off along with him, they were yet again nowhere to be found. In pure frustration he tore off the blankets and pulled out the drawers to the dresser and side table. There was not a toy to be found anywhere.

"Why are you doing this?" The man screamed in agony.

A voice sung from behind him, "Find us!"

Mr. White scratched at his face attempting to stay calm, "What, like hide and seek?"

"Play with us!" The voice echoed again sounding further away.

Getting up he sighed, "Alright, I'll play..."

A loud giggling bounced off the walls and to his ears, it was more frightening than comforting. Maybe if he complied with them this nightmare would end and he could just go to sleep. His steps creaking against the floor he continued to search for them from room to room. In his private office he noticed a tiny stuffed animal sitting down on his computer keyboard. It was the little puppy named Floppy, its stitched smile seemed mocking him as he picking it up placing it on his bed.

Maurice was always thorough and he knew it wouldn't take very long to find them all. As he predicted one after another he found each of them hiding in the nooks and crannies around his house. Returning once again to his room he counted them all, Betty, Floppy, Squeaker, Raina and Raum. To his despair Buster was still missing, he had missed the blue dinosaur with the velvet purple spikes. Stepping away once more he cleared the entire house, there was no possible way he could have missed him. However he never checked the backyard, and he didn't want to.

Going against his nature he slid through the back entrance of the glass sliding door. Outside it was immensely dark, Maurice swallowed in his pride and proceeded as the grass crunched below the soles of his dress shoes. A low grumbling was coming from his tall brown shed in the corner of his backyard. Approaching close he pulled the knob of the rusty old door, inside it was impossible to see but the grumbling was louder than ever.

Mr. White dug into his pocket for a a small flashlight, it was a little pocket light meant for rare occasions. Flickering the flashlight on he felt blinded by his eyes need to adjust. Blinking a few times he gained his sight back and he stared widely at what he was seeing. A huge blue snout was only centimeters from his face. It pushed closer to him and he stumbled backwards falling onto the dry grass below him.

Dropping the flashlight it shone towards the foot of the shed revealing giant dinosaur claws creeping closer. Above him a splash of wetness pelted his forehead, rubbing it off he darted his head above to see the snout hovering over his body accompanied by two bright glowing button eyes. The purple eyes glowed like neon and dug deep into his soul, Maurice's heartbeat went dead in fear as he screamed.

******

Mr. White startled awake with racing breaths, he was once again in his dimly lit room and it had been early morning. Looking around he noticed all of the stuffed animals were gone, was he dreaming? Uncertain of reality he poked out of his room slowly in utter fright, his stomach was twisting in knots as he stalked down the stairs. To his surprise they had not even left the bag, it was as he left it on the counter the last night. Perhaps he was so exhausted that he blacked out the rest of the night completely and had a nightmare.

His mind worked like a million gears, what happened to him? Could it really be that this entire time that he was just seeing things? Maybe there wasn't anything abnormal about these things at all and he was simply making things up. Shaking his head free he continued his usual routine and wandered out the door with all of his supplies and the bag of stuffed animals.

******

The coffee shook furiously in his hands as he attempted to write on the papers he was assigned this morning. There was no way he could relax in this condition, the stuffed animals were in the bag but at any moment could tear him apart. The clock ticked on his wall, the sound tearing at his sanity for every second that went by. His office made him feel caged, he couldn't do it anymore.

Suddenly a knock was placed against the door, Mr. White leaped out of his chair startled at the noise. Not wanting to seem suspicious he quickly collected himself and slung the door open to be approached by his manager. The woman much different from all of the peppy employees was very well dressed but had wrinkles and lines in her face that screamed professionalism. Glaring with wide dark brown eyes she scowled slightly at his ruffled demeanor. Her hair was wiry and light brown that was greying widely from her age.

Maurice realizing she was an important women greeted her positively, "Oh Mrs. Mort, what a pleasant surprise!"

She squinted her eyes with disgust, "I'm afraid the feeling is not mutual, you're almost an hour late for your appointment with Ms. Johnson."

"It's that late!" Mr. White panicked in a frenzy, "I thought I was keeping track of the time I'm so so-"

"Don't be sorry, be on time Mr. White. You're slipping and I won't hesitate to let you go" Mrs. Mort hissed coldly with a hoarse voice, "Get to your appointment and don't make this mistake again!"

The women slammed the door hard almost hitting his face in the process, she was heartless. With an irritated mood he swiftly picked up Isabelle's file and moved along. Before he could open the door he remembered the bag with her 'friends' placed safely inside. Reluctantly he placed his hands over the handle getting ready to carry it away. Pushing forward with hesitance he took grasp of the bag not giving one glance back at it as his shot out of the doorway and down the usual halls.

Once again he reached her door unlocking it with the key he possessed. With a few clicking sounds he pushed through into the spacious area. Izzy was happy to see him with a smile that stretched ear to ear. Seeing her grin made him relax slightly, but he still felt on edge carrying a dense temper. Maurice didn't want to snap on her, he bit his tongue to avoid making this day any worse than it already was.

Isabelle ran up to him with glee hugging him, "Hi Maurice, I was waiting forever!"

"Yeah... Forever..." The man replied glancing down at her innocent eyes.

"Where are my friends?" She asked pulling away quickly at the tone of his irritance.

With overbearing speed he handed the bag to her, he was more than overjoyed to get rid of the burden. The girl took the bag and gently placed all of her toys on her bed making sure they weren't damaged. Even though Maurice thought he had slept all night he could still feel a huge dragging in his body as if he didn't rest at all. With a lazy dragging in his body he slumped down into one of the chairs placed against the table.

"Did they give you are hard time?" Izzy questioned as she sat near him with the disturbing rabbit in her arms.

Trying to hide the anger in his tone he replied, "No, not at all..."

Isabelle cocked her head innocently, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm alright... Let's get to the session" He flipped through her file finding his notes, "How has your mood been lately."

Her ice blue eyes watered, "You're not telling the truth..."

Reacting from the tears he snapped out of his grumpiness, "I'm fine, I'm fine! Everything is okay, and your stuffed animals are back in one piece!"

"You're upset! You don't like me do you?" The girl screamed in an fury of tears, "No one ever likes me!"

Panicking he ran to console her cursing his nice nature, "I like you! You don't need to cry, everything is alright! I'm here!"

Pushing him away she backed off the stuffed animals eyes behind her appearing as if they were glowing. The rooms lights began to flicker violently as if her tears were fueling some otherworldly power, Maurice gazed at them in awe. Fear and empathy coiled around his heart like a snake forcing him to approach her. Izzy's bright blue eyes sparkled from the tears, and her face was sown red. He gazed at her softly and pulled out a tissue from a box wiping away her tears.

In a comforting tone he consoled her, "You are a wonderful and beautiful person, I like you and I'm sure many others will too."

"Y-you really think so?" Isabelle sobbed as the lights returned to normal and the animals eyes lowered their glow.

"I know so..." Mr. White assured her in a soft voice.

Sniffling she brushed away some of her orange hair, "Why doesn't anyone else like me, why do you like me?"

"There's no reason not to, you're intelligent, you're inquisitive, and you were just dealt a bad hand in life" He replied to her peering through glassy eyes reminded of what he was told by a girl who had loved him long ago.

"You really do care..." Izzy smiled weakly, "Why do you seem so sad?"

Maurice bit his lip feeling emotional, "I am not supposed to say."

"Friends tell each other everything!" Izzy declared sweetly.

"Let's just say that I understand you far more than you'd even comprehend" Mr. White explained to her forcing back sorrow, "I live in a large empty house just like you said. I live alone, and that enough should tell you when you believe no one loves you someone is always going to be there for you."

Isabelle gave him a hug again and he stood awkwardly, "Just like you're here for me."