"damn it Sean, please, just come pick us up." your mom was trying to not yell. you were bored. your car isn't working, well mommy said that it was tired and needed some time to rest so she was going to try and call someone to take you home. you tugged on your moms shirt. she just swatted you away. you leave the phone booth in search of something more entertaining than your angry mom. looking around the parking lot, the only thing around you are big shiny cars, much bigger than yourself. you walk along the rows running your hands over the smooth metal. coming to the end of the parking lot you look across the street. on the other side is a small building. you can't read what the sign says but you see a big funny looking bear on the front. suddenly it smells really nice, across the small street a mom and her two daughters walk out of the building smiles on both of their faces, along with them an intoxicating aroma of...pizza? emitted from the restaurant. your stomach grumbles and you're suddenly aware of how hungry you are. looking back at your mom she is still on the phone. it looks like shes going to be there for a while.
You make your small uncoordinated feet carry you across the street as fast as you can manage. you press your face up against the glass of the restaurant. inside you can see a party going on. a big yellow bear walks around holding a plate with a cake on it. kids not much larger than you giggle and take cake from the bear. everyone seems to be having a lot of fun. you lick your lips, your mouth is watering at the sight of the cake and pizza inside. you look into the restaurant further. at the back of the room a tall thin….what is it? it looks like a sock monkey. thats the only thing that comes to mind. though its black and it wears a smiley mask. your cheeks pull into a grin. the puppet smiles as a group of kids crowd around it. the tall sock monkey puppet man lifts its arms like its celebrating. now you really want to go inside. the puppet looks so nice. you want to hang out with it and play too. suddenly the puppet moves swiftly across the room to a big box, it lowers itself inside. the kids around it eagerly wait. you wonder what its doing. you hope it isnt going away. music starts to play and the puppet rises from the box with gifts in its hands.
you reach for the door handle so you can go inside and join the fun with everyone else, you want a present from the friendly puppet and you want cake from the bear. you reach and reach but your arms are too short and so are you. slapping your small palm against the few times you hope someone will see you and open the door. but everyone is too preoccupied with the puppet to notice you. you tap and tap at the window. "hello! hello? i-i wanna play with you! hey! let me in! please? im so hungry." you ask through the glass. hot tears start to fall down your cheeks, you want to play with everyone. but nobody will pay attention to you. not the yellow bear, not the friendly puppet, not your mommy. your tiny legs collapse beneath you and you start to sob.
a large warm hand covers your shoulder. "m-mommy?" you ask shakily. a warm low voice responds. "no, but you seem lost? are you hungry?" the man asked. you turn to face him. he looks nice. he has dark hair and tanned skin. he holds out a cupcake to you. "wow! thanks mister!" you thank him wiping your tears. "no problem kiddo." he says and hands you the cake. you notice a yellow badge on his purple shirt. you start to eat the cupcake. it was sweet and moist. you look up to find that the man is gone. you try to stand to see where he went but your legs fail you. you topple back to the floor. your stomach pushes itself in and you empty your stomach onto the sidewalk, and all over your pants. slowly everything around you fades. your vision becomes black. you try to scream, but you're not sure if you can. your mouth open but it only feels like you're losing air. you try to suck it back in but nothing happens. struggled gasps escape your throat and suddenly you're choking again. your mouth feels full of fluid but you everytime you spit it out more fills in. you fall onto your back. shaking violently you try to spit out the fluids in your mouth but you end up sending them back into your throat. you cant breath. you try and try to suck in air but you only choke yourself further. you hear footsteps. you hope and pray that they're here to help you. you try to tell the person to save you. but you choke. all of the sudden it feels like you're losing yourself a sharp pain twists itself into your chest. and slowly all the pain fades. you feel lighter. softer. your vision returns but its brighter. and suddenly you're looking at yourself. your small body is limp face up on the pavement. your eyes rolled back in your head, face and hair crusted with your own vomit and laying in a pool of your own blood. a knife lays next to you.
the man in the purple shirt is next to you. he chuckles softly, and picks up the knife. "pity, i thought it would've been harder." he says his voice more gruff than before. the man leaves and you hear a scream. two women and a man rush out from the building. your mother dashes across the street, looking for you. your mom approaches. she screams and drops to her knees. pulling you into her lap. you find that you've moved closer to you body and your mom. you try to touch your arm with you now much more translucent hand. but it feels like being electrocuted. you pull your hand away and wander into the restaurant. the kids in the corner are whispering and the bear has stopped moving. the sock puppet smiles un moving in the corner. you go to sit by the puppet. you touch his hand and find that it moves the way you move your hand. you play around with it for a second. making the hand make a fist. then hold up one finger, then two, then all three.
a mans voice echoes from the corner. "hey kids, why don't we finish eating while your parents are outside? okay?." you look up and it feels like a wave has hit you. your angry you clench your fist and so does the puppet. the man, the one who hurt him, stood across the room. talking and making jokes with the other children. what if he hurt them? the way he hurt you. you dash across the room and try to hit him. your fist passes through him with a twang of what would feel like static shock. you grumble but it seems like no one can hear you. you move back to sit by the puppet again. you start making his hand move when a thought pops into you. slowly you get up and move behind the puppet. holding out your arms you walk into the figure. suddenly its like youre looking through a mask. you curl your hands and move your head. you've become the puppet. you swing off the box and move down the ceiling track. whirring down it particularly fast. the purple man mutters a "what the..?" and messes with a board of colorful buttons, trying to stop you. it becomes harder to move around the track but you force yourself to. you fling yourself at the man and wrap your long slender fingers around his neck. the man gasps and wrestles you off easily. he pulls you back to the box opening it and shoving you inside. you can hear the cries of small children. lifting yourself out of the box you see them in a corner. you want to frown but your face doesn't move. you look around you and see a small gift box next to yours. picking it up you notice it plays a sweet soft melody. you pull it back inside of the box with you and listen to it play. the longer it goes on you can feel yourself. drifting, drifting into what feels like a sleep.