The Guard and the Captain
Prologue
"Want to go to Freddy´s?" Anthony heard his father ask. "I know that place really makes you happy." He added, hoping to get a response out of his broken hearted son.
"Sure…." He finally answered. It had not been a good day or week for that matter. After two years of battling leukemia; Anthony´s mom had passed away the day before and they were just coming back from the funeral.
As they pulled up into the parking lot of the pizzeria, Anthony thought back to the times when they would come here almost every week, not because of the food, no not at all he thought, but because nothing brought a bigger smile to his face than seeing the wacky animatronics perform.
As both Anthony and his father got off the car and headed inside the pizzeria, Anthony began to feel a sense of nostalgia as all of his senses started to react to the pizzeria, the smell, the sounds, the look. Everything reminded him of his mother.
"Come on son, we can sit in one of the tables in front of the stage so you can see the robots sing." Anthony´s father said as he guided him to the table. Anthony really wasn´t in the mood for any of the silly acts the robots had to offer so as soon as both of them ate he excused himself by going to look for a quiet place to sit, of course he didn´t tell his dad what he was going to do since this would only worry him about his emotional state.
After a few minutes of looking he found the perfect spot. There was no one around the pirate cove since there was no show scheduled for the rest of the day so no one was really around. Anthony sat down on the edge of the stage and slowly began to weep. He managed to get through the last few hours without so much as sobbing but now that he was all alone he was able to let all of his emotions out without worrying about his dad seeing him.
"Arrrr! Who´s thar?" Anthony heard a voice from behind him, causing him to turn around in a quick move. To his surprise it was Foxy herself.
"What be troublin' youlad? Why you be crying?" She asked walking up to the crying child. Anthony quickly wiped his tears away so she wouldn´t notice them.
"N-Nothing ma´am." He answered as he turned around to avoid her gaze.
" Doesn´t sound like nothin', ye cryin' waterfalls lad." She said sitting down next to the kid. Even though she was Anthony's favorite animatronic out of all of them. He felt strange talking to her about his emotions, considering there was not much she could do about it.
"M-My mom passed away." The boy said while holding the back the urge to cry.
"Oh jim laddie! I be sorry 'bout ye loss." Foxy said as she enveloped the boy in a tight embrace. This in turn caused the kid to burst out in tears.
"Thar, thar lad just let it all out. It´s ok, i´m here fer ye" She added as Anthony continued to cry in her arms.
"Be thar anythin' I can do fer ye laddie? Anthony looked up to her.
"Can you make me smile?" He said as tears continued to run down his cheeks.
"Sure thin´ lad!" She exclaimed in a cheery voice.
"Let me think 'o somethin' that´s gunna cheer ye up" She said as she thought up something that would be certain to make the kid smile.
"Say, how 'bout both of us go off on a genuine pirate adventure. How does that sound?" She said getting up and helping kid get up as well.
"That sounds fun Captain." Anthony said as a faint smile formed on his face.
"That´s the spirit lad! Ye´ll be me first matey! What do ye say?" She asked as she stretched one of her hands out to the boy.
"First mate Anthony reporting for duty!" He said as he saluted the fox and grabbed her hand.
"Let´s be off then! I hear thar be loot around here. Follow me!" She said as she took the now happier kid inside the cove.
They spent the next hour running around and pretending to be on a real pirate adventure. Foxy made sure not to let any small detail pass, from her pirate talking to drawing on a napkin and pretending that it was a map, she even buried a "treasure" for Anthony. She made sure that no matter what, she would make sure that this kid would be smile by the end of the day.
"Alright! We take three steps 'n it should be here. Want to do me th' honor 'o diggin' fer it lad? She said as they stood over a pile of napkins that Foxy set up to hide the treasure.
"Sure thing captain!" Anthony replied with much enthusiamsm before he started to remove the napkins to reveal the treasure.
"Look! Look! It´s a plushie of you Captain!" He exclaimed as he waved it around while Foxy celebrated as well.
"Keep it lad. It be my gift to you. I hope I made you smile lad." Foxy said as she watch the young boy look as the toy with wonder.
"You sure did Captain Foxy! Thank you very much!" He said as he rushed up to her to give her a tight hug.
"My pleasure laddie." She said as she returned the embrace.
"There you are son. I´ve been looking for you all over the place." Anthony heard his father call from behind. "It´s time to go home."
"Dad! Look what Foxy gave me!¨ He said as he ran up to his dad to show him his new plush friend.
"That´s great son! It´s great to see you smiling again too!" He said as he inspected the toy.
"Dad can you take a photo of me and Foxy together?" He begged his dad. He knew that he always carried around his Polaroid camera with him.
"Sure thing son." He said as he pulled out the camera. Anthony went over with Foxy and together they posed for the photo. Anthony made sure that his dad took two photos.
"Here Foxy! I want to give you this photo as a gift for making me smile!" Anthony said as he hand her the photo of the two of them posing happily.
"Is there any way I can thank you? The boy asked.
"Just make sure you come and visit whenever you can lad!" She said as she took the photo and placed it inside her pirate jacket.
"I will Captain! I´ll come visit every opportunity I can!" Anthony promised as he gave the cuddly animatronic one last hug before leaving. After waving goodbye, Foxy pulled out the photo the kid had given her and thought to herself how special she made that boy feel, even after the tragedy he´d gone through and how he made her feel that day. But for now there was only one thing crossing her mind, When would she see that kid again.
