Disclaimer -- I don't own the Sonic the Hedgehog characters.
I Wanted to Leave
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I remember I was the last chao egg to get sold. For two years, I sat in the storefront window, and no one wanted me. I was called unpleasant things by the store owner and left to collect a large coat of dust. Then one day the store held a going out of business sale, and I was bought. Looking back on those lonely days in the storefront window, I must say…those were the best years of my life.
The girl who bought me was some kind of crazy. In the beginning, uncertainty beset me as to whether something was wrong with her. Though I harbored suspicions, especially when she hatched me by throwing me across the room. The first time she lifted me up in her arms she gave me a sugary smile and said, "You're so delicious looking." I should have thought something off about that too, but I felt too full with joy for being called something other than an unwanted pile of…stuff.
She had another chao named Cheese. He was a cool dude, except for that awful bow tie he always wore. The bow tie was constantly tied extremely tight on the poor guy, so he was always loosening it. This, of course, would anger our owner. She would slap him and tell him the bow tie was tight for a reason—a reason she never felt the need to divulge. Then one day when the bow tie was tied tighter than normal, Cheese removed it. Our owner, angrier than I ever remember seeing her, picked up the bow tie and took Cheese into her room. She locked the door.
Cheese was never the same after that, and his bow tie was never too tight again.
Sometimes at night, I heard her mumbling to herself. She talked about food and its wonderful taste. "I can't wait to eat you," she mumbled. "You look so good, so…delicious…"
Cheese and I were on a strict diet. Cheese, everyday, ate only cheesy foods. I ate food with choco as the prefix. At first, I liked this diet. Then it started making me sick. Our owner ignored my sickness. "You're okay," she told me as I puked into the toilet. "It won't be much longer anyway."
Once when our owner went out with Cheese (the unlucky guy was her favorite), I decided to look through her closet, being plagued by boredom since she and Cheese were gone longer than normal. Eventually, I got to a brown box in the closet's far back corner. I opened it and found something horrible. Photo albums.
One by one, I looked through the albums and became more confused with each page I turned. On every page was pictures of our master. In each picture she smiled brightly, accompanied by two chao. The two chao were always different, and each pair always wore different colored bow ties. Feeling strangely frightened, I put the albums away and waited for our owner to return.
She came home half an hour later with a special present. "It's almost time," she cheerily told me, removing my gift from a brown paper bag. It was a bow tie. A blue bow tie.
I remember her shooing Cheese out of the room and Cheese giving me a vacant stare. I remember her turning the door's lock and afterwards opening a drawer from which she drew a needle and thread. I remember her coming toward me and…
Pain. For the next few days I felt nothing but pain. I couldn't eat because of it, so our owner shoved the food down my throat. "It's almost time," she told me. "You look so delicious now, but you've still have a little ways to go."
By then I knew what our fate was. Cheese did too. He was so broken, so empty. By then he no longer spoke to me. He no longer looked at me when I said his name. When I touched him, I felt only coldness.
About a week after giving me my bow tie, our owner left her window open to allow nightime's cool breezes to come in. I sat on the windowsill and stared up into the starry sky. Cheese and I often made wishes on the stars during our first days together. That night, I sat alone and stared desperately at the tinkling lights, wishing with all my heart.
Then I heard a rustling in the bushes, and saw it. Sleek and heavy. Metal and cool. It took one step, then another. I thought to myself, If I go up and grabbed onto it, I'll never have to come back. It was like the moment my shell cracked, and I knew whoever had bought me was not quite right upstairs.
I flew down to the metal being and grabbed its cold lifeless hand.
Suddenly it was running, fast. I held on tight and didn't let go.
I'm free, I told myself, not caring who this thing was or where it was going. I'm free, I told myself. I'm free. Again and again, I said this, not thinking of Cheese. Not thinking of the loneliness he'd face in the days to come. Not thinking of the horrible fate he was sure to face. Not thinking of anything but how badly I wanted to forget everything about that place. My fear. My pain. My owner.
My friend.