Thank you everyone who has reviewed. Here's another chapter, sorry it took so long. Enjoy!
The summer sun shone down onto the wide field of grass. Pieces of metal and tools were scattered throughout the grass, and a certain bluejay and raccoon were playing with a few random objects they had found while working.
"Hey!" shouted a voice, startling the two, "what did I tell you two about slacking off?"
"We're just taking a break, Benson," said Rigby, "we'll get back to work in like five minutes."
"No, you'll get back to work now!" the irate gumball machine shouted, "or you're fired!"
Mordecai and Rigby both sighed dramatically, got up, and started working again. "Why do we even need to put up a new playground? The old one works just fine!"
"Because Pops wanted to put up a new playground," answered Benson, "he owns the park, so he can do what he wants. Besides, this playground is falling apart."
This was true. The swings were rusty and too short for anyone to enjoy, the slide was made out of metal instead of plastic so no one could use it without getting burnt badly, and thanks to an incident with the merry-go-round, it was taped off and shut down months ago.
After he was certain the two slackers had went back to work, Benson started walking over to the house. He had to get the park ready, Pops had wanted a grand opening for the new playground.
"Oh Benson, thank you so much! It'll be so nice to have a new playground for all to enjoy! Perhaps we could have a grand opening, with streamers and balloons! I still have balloons, oh! And cupcakes! Oh good show, jolly good show!"
The lolliman was so excited and happy, Benson didn't have the heart to say no to him. So now here he was, hanging streamers on the lemon trees throughout the park, making sure the balloons were tied down and couldn't float away, and frosting cupcakes. It was hard work, but Benson didn't really mind it all that much when he was doing it for one of Pops' grand ideas rather than it being extra work for something Mordecai and Rigby screwed up.
Two and a half hours later, the park was decorated, the new playground was built (surprisingly without any huge problems), and a crowd of anxious kids were waiting outside the red tape.
Benson walked up to the tape with a pair of scissors, and gave a forced smile to the kids. "Okay, kids," he said as he cut the tape, "Have..." The mob of kids ran to the new playground, nearly trampling Benson as they did.
"...fun."
With the kids enjoying the new toys and snacking on cupcakes, Benson walked over to the nearest bench, and collapsed. "I'll just close my eyes, for five minutes..."
"Benson my good man!"
Benson forced back a groan, and opened his eyes. "Hey Pops," he said, hoping his voice didn't sound too annoyed.
"Isn't this wonderful?" Pops asked, "you ordered the perfect playground set, with the metal climbing cages and the teetering totter."
Benson glanced over at the playground. It was a big set, complete with seven swings, a jungle gym, two teeter totters, a slide (plastic), and finally a rock wall. It was a kids paradise.
"Thanks Pops," said Benson, "but you thought of the idea."
Pops was no longer looking at Benson. He was looking at the playground, smiling at it, his eyes filled with a certain happiness but also longing. "Pops?"
The lolliman snapped out of his daze. "Oh, my appologies Benson," replied Pops, "I was just watching the happy children. Tell me, what sort of games do they play here?"
Benson blinked. He knew Pops was a little naive, but how could he not know the names of simple playground games? "Well, there's tag, that's the most popular one. There's also pretend games, hopscotch, jump rope, red light green light, hide 'n' seek..."
"Oh! I know that game! That's where you're supposed to hide from it! Correct?"
"Yeah, that's right," answered Benson.
"Have you played any of these games?" Pops asked the gumball machine.
"Yeah, years ago," replied Benson. When he was younger, he and his mother would go to the park sometimes. The kids often gave him strange looks, but once they got used to seeing a talking gumball machine child, he was invited to play their little games. But even so, he always felt like the odd one, and felt morecomfortable at home where he could practice his drums or read a book.
"It was so long ago I barely remember it," said Benson. He looked over at Pops, "but I bet you played a lot of games, huh Pops."
"Actually, I didn't play any."
What? This was definitely a surprise to the gumball machine. "What do you mean, Pops?"
"Well, my father didn't like me out of the house," said Pops, his voice still happy but now had a little bit of sadness in it, "he said that I had more important things to do than play games. I had to learn to be a proper gentleman. Most of the time, I was in my room working on lessons or playing the piano. But it wasn't all bad, our house had plenty of rooms to play with. It was quite fun.
"I was let out of the house once a week when Papa gave me my weekly spearmint and cherry lolli, so I could buy a new piano book or a piece of cake. But even then I didn't play with the other children much. My father had passed a little of his reputation onto me I'm afraid."
"So, you never played hide 'n' seek, or tag, or anything like that?" Benson asked.
Pops shook his head. "But perhaps these children will invite me to join one of their games."
"Is that why you wanted to build this new playground," Benson asked, "so kids could play here?"
"Well, it is a playground," said Pops, "and a fun one at that!"
Benson couldn't help but smile at the lolliman. Pops had barely had a childhood, and yet he wasn't bitter about it. In fact, he was the complete opposite. He enjoyed life with the same attitude of a child, but he also wanted to make sure others enjoyed it too. He wanted to make sure these kids had the fun that he never had.
That's what the gumball machine really admired about Pops, his kindness and his ability to be happy no matter what the situation. Sometimes, at least for Benson, Pops was the thing that made working at the park tolerable.
"Hide 'n' seek!" they both heard a kid shout, "Winner gets the rest of the cupcakes!" All the kids, plus Mordecai and Rigby, began running to find a good place to hide.
"Oh, young man!" Pops shouted, getting the boy's attention, "May we seek and hide with you too?"
"I don't care," said the boy, before running again.
"Oh jolly good show!" Pops said happily.
'Looks like you're getting your wish,' Benson thought with a smile. He felt two soft hands grab his metal arm. "Come Benson, I know a great hiding spot!" the lolliman said before giggling.
Running along side his young-hearted friend, Benson no longer felt tired or exhausted. Like he had thought before, all this extra work was worth it, when he saw how happy it made the lolliman, and even himself, happy.
Okay, I hope this was okay. Please review, and the next chapter should be up soon!
