CHAPTER 1

Bendy the shy.

Bendy the timid.

The little demon was simply not like the rest. That much was for certain. Whatever he tried never was bad enough for the big guy below. The job he was given since birth just didn't seem to sit right with him. More of a help than a hindrance the others would say.

He sighed as he scratched his headhorn, staring at the paper with his task for the day. The little pitchfork in his hand too heavy for his lanky noodle arm. Same as always the paper was printed in simple bold letters. "MAKE THEM SUFFER."

He walked and walked on the surface world, wondering what he could possibly do until up ahead of him, a wolf. A tall but skinny wolf in chunky overalls, sitting alone in the middle of a grassy field. Beside him a picnic basket with its welcoming lid popped wide open. Barely munching on a apple while absentmindedly staring up at the sky.

"Guess that'll have to do." Bendy said, tucking the paper away. He zips up behind a conveniently placed bush and wiggles his fingers in the air as he reached for the basket's handle. However the wolf immediately swiveled his head to the sound of the rustle, squinting his eyes and chewing slowly before glancing back up to the sky. Bendy was sweating nuggets from inside the leaves.

"Tricky one ain't ya?" Bendy whispered. He lifts up the bush in a skirtlike fashion and scuttles a sidestep. The wolf looks, squints again, then resumes back to sky watching. Bendy dares to take another step again. The wolf nearly catches them again. The same song and dance occurred throughout the day until the sun was barely hanging in the air by a thread. At this point grabbing the handle and gunning it is too much fuss. Bendy's fingertips brushing the rimmed edges of the basket barely able to reach inside.

"Come on. Almost there. He can't chew that apple forever." He muttered to himself as his hand desperately searched.

Finally his fingers grab a hold of something solid. "Gotcha!" With a smile he pulls it out feeling an outrageous weight in his palm. It nearly pinned his whole arm to the ground, but somehow he manages. Jeez where did this guy put it all anyways?

With a grunt and a tug, the sandwich pulls through the leaves right to Bendy's face. Upon closer inspection the little demons smile began to wither. It wasn't a sandwich at all but a tool. A tool covered in newspaper.

"Whatcha looking at bud?" The wolf asked, bent over with paws on knees huddled beside Bendy.

"Yipes!" Bendy yelled, hanging in midair a few moments before crash landing on his tail. He groaned before dusting himself off "How'd you get all the way here? Weren't you just-"

"I figured you were here the whole time." The wolf bites into his apple. He brings up another from his overalls and extends his palm. "This what you were after? Say, did ya want one?"

"What? Why offer? I just tried to take your sandwich!"

"And I took your time sandwich huntin' when there wasn't any to start with." The wolf chuckled. "So I'd say we're even."

The wolf nonchalantly stuffs a hand into a pocket, lazily walking past a gaping mouthed demon before taking back his seat and patting the spot beside him. "Care to stay until the moon rises?"

Bendy shook his head and stumbled over. A finger shyly resting at the corner of his mouth as he sat down. This stranger was odd by all means to the demon. "I'm Bendy. What's uh, what's yours?"

"Boris." The wolf grunted. His little tail wags as the sun bled the last of its color on the world. "I like these times in the day, where everything changes." He looks over at him. "You seem like you want changes too. Got anything in mind?"

"Me? Change?" Bendy scoffed. "What do you mean?"

"Golly bud. Might not be any of my business but you didn't exactly seem cheery when you thought you finally had something. Why such a long face for a short fella? My stuff not a great enough snag?"

"That's not it." Bendy looked away before sighing. "I try all the time to be this monster that I was supposed to be. Turns out in the end I can't even steal a sandwich from a starving wolf without feeling some nerve."

"Hey" Boris points. "I'll have you know I'm happy with being meat free in life."

"Wait. Was that a vegetarian joke?"

"And if it is?"

"That's the worst I've ever heard!" Bendy said. Boris smirked. "If it's so bad, what are you smiling for?"

"Because it's silly!" bendy giggled. Boris broke into giggles back, his laugh a weird cacophony of sounds that just made Bendy break into a fit. Which then had Boris in a fit. The vicious cycle continued until the pair was coughing for air.

"Seriously though. It's nothing to me." Boris wheezed, clutching to his stomach. "You can make changes if you want. Right?"

Bendy coughed and wiped off the tear from the corner of his eye. "Sadly wrong" He cups his round face with a gloved hand and cleared his throat "Any other demon wouldn't have this hard a time I know it. I'm not exactly an angel boy either though because I still like causing a ruckus now and then. Tell me Boris, how do I change into something I'm supposed to be but that I'm not?"

Boris pats his crossed knees in silence for a while to the beat of an invisible drum. The sky's deep reds and yellows finally replaced with pinks, purples, and blues. "Hmm." he mused. "Maybe you're not the one who needs to change then. Maybe, you need a change of something else. Like clothes!"

Bendy looked down at his nearly bare body, save but a pair of gloves and shoes.

"Hah! more like a new job." the demon chuckled. "But that's impossible."

"Why impossible?"

"I can't just!" Bendy snapped his fingers. "Like that! That's not how that works! "He scratches the back of his headhorn. "What will I do if I could anyway?"

"Get a new one." Boris smiled. "That's what I do all the time whenever I want a change. Hell. "

He hands Bendy the paper unfolded from the wrench. He points to page listing 'Wanted' ads. "In this world, there's lots of places who want different people to try different things. A crying shame if you just want to stick to the same ol same ol."

Bendy takes the paper into his own hands, the stars shimmering above them countless and bright. As endless as the list of possibilities running through the little demon's mind.