Bubbles awoke to a loud buzzing sound. She turned it off quickly and yawned. If Buttercup gets the bathroom first again I'll scream. She thought as she sleepily rubbed her eyes. Buttercup? Who was "Buttercup"? And what kind of silly name was Buttercup. Bubbles looked around the room. Everything was different but somehow the same.
Stuffed animals enveloped the whole bedroom decorating everything. The walls were painted a bright blue and the carpet was a pure white. She had a dresser and a vanity and a large closet. There were photographs in wooden picture frames everywhere! Bubbles looked down at her bed to find it was only big enough for one girl. There was an adorable Puppet Pals bedspread with images of Puppet Pal Clem and Puppet Pal Mitch bonking one another all over it. She noted she had a particular stuffed animal under her arm.
Octi? She questioned softly but shook her head. That was silly. She never had a stuffed animal named "Octi". This was her favoritist stuffed animal in the world. She lifted it up and examined it. It was a light pink monkey with a purple face, black shiny eyes, a purple tummy, and a big threaded grin on its insipid face. This was her little monkey she called, Jojo.
Bubbles held Jojo close as she stepped out of bed. An overabundance of toys littered the ground in a random manner. Bubbles placed a mitt to her mouth observing all the mass of animals. She glanced upward and saw all of the photographs on the walls. There were pictures of her and a blond man and a dark-haired woman together. They were all smiling. Bubbles clutched Jojo at the sight of the blond man. Despite his warm looks, he scared her. She glanced at another picture that was a framed newspaper article. The title read: "Townsville's Tiny TV Tot." Bubbles looked to see a colored photograph of herself. She had a bright smile on her face and her hair was up in pigtails with beautiful ribbons surrounding them. She wore a white dress with tap shoes on.
This picture puzzled Bubbles. She didn't remember being in the paper without someone else with her. But wait, that was just a few months ago. Bubbles held her head and shook it softly. Everything was too confusing.
The dresser stood plainly in front of her. Bubbles cautiously opened the bottom drawer with squeaks of protest from the piles of toys on the floor. She found a pretty white sleeveless T-shirt and a dark blue pleated skirt. She slipped them on quickly along with a pair of underwear with a little cartoon cat on it. Bubbles also found a pair of white socks with little blue fringe at the top. She located a dark pair of tap shoes. For no other reason than that it felt right, she slipped on the shoes. She was ready for school.
Bubbles managed to find her way through the surplus of playthings to open the door and get out of her room. The hallway was covered in photographs, much like her room. Pictures of the blond-haired man with different people. She walked down the hallway staring at all of the pictures. There were even some with her in it. A lot of the time she was wearing a pretty dress with lots of people watching and tap shoes on her feet. In one picture she was tap dancing. But…she didn't know how to tap dance…did she?
She found herself in front of a tall bathroom door. She placed Jojo outside, like as if saying for him to wait for her. Bubbles opened it and went inside. Perhaps if she washed up and splashed some cool water on her face, things would make sense again. The bathroom's tall sink was entirely out of the small girl's reach. A little frustrated, she dragged a tiny pink step stool toward the sink and stood atop it.
Looking in the mirror she found herself to look somehow different. Her hair was down to her shoulders and all a tangle from last night's slumber. Her eyes were still the same sparkling blue that shimmered in the light. But…but her arms had marks on them. Strange marks, that were red, but probably not permanent. But where did these marks come from?
Bubbles looked over herself again and carefully reached for some pretty, light cerulean scrunchies and a yellow brush. She began to brush calmly, her mind a jumble. Was this really supposed to be her home? But why did everything seem so unfamiliar? And this bathroom, she didn't recognize the cream tiled floor or the light green wallpaper. This was so new but…everything was still kind of right. There was her old baby blue towel hanging on the rack. It even had her name scripted in cursive on it. Bubbles. By the time she returned to her reflection, her hands were finishing the final touches on her pigtails. They hung at the top of her head with the adorable scrunchies holding them in place. Bubbles opened the bathroom door again, and picked up Jojo outside the bathroom door.
She reached the top of a long flight of stairs and reached up to touch the oak banister, but it was too high. Bubbles took the steps carefully, one at a time until she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her body directed where she should go while her mind wandered.
Where am I? At home. She answered herself, but I thought home was…different. But the familiarity of the place told her she was wrong. The smell of everything was so familiar, everything was like it should be, but something told her that it wasn't right at all. Suddenly she found herself at the kitchen. There was a brown-haired lady with her head resting on her arms. Her face was toward the table and the sleeves of her pink fuzzy robe covered her face.
"Morning Mommy." Bubbles smiled. Mommy?! Bubbles couldn't believe she'd said that. A mommy? The woman looked up, her face slightly red. Her eyes looked tired and her hair spread tiny strands messily in front of her eyes. She sat up pushing the strands away from her eyes.
"Morning Sweetie." Nancy Fisher sighed out in her usual tired voice. But on camera, her voice was always brighter and chipper. It's just at home she seemed…more tired. "How'd you sleep, Honey?" She asked getting up from the table and stumbling toward the counter.
"Um…good I think." Bubbles responded climbing onto the chair she placed Jojo on the table. She watched as her mother began to pour her a bowl of cereal.
"That's nice, Honey." Nancy scrounged with shaky hands and found the box of cereal she'd hoped for.
"I can't WAIT to go to school today! Ms. Green said there'd be a new student an'-" Bubbles began rambling. Now she was really confused. A mommy, no Octi, and who was Ms. Green? Wasn't her teacher someone else? No, no. Bubbles reminded herself You are Bubbles Bunny Fisher an' you go the Golden Acres Kindergarten, an' your teacher's name is Ms. Green an' your Mommy is that lady an' Daddy's sleepin'. She recalled.
"Honey please don't speak so loud." Nancy whined pouring the milk into the white bowl. "Your father's trying to sleep and you know how angry he gets honey." Mrs. Fisher yawned. Bubbles mouth instantly closed. The LAST thing she wanted to do was make Daddy angry. But...what was so scary about Daddy?
"Sorry, Mommy." She whispered softer. "Ms. Green said we'd have a new kid coming to our class an' that we might be getting to paint pictures at art's an' crafts time an' that if I'm really, really, really, really good, I can take home the pet bunny!" Bubbles squealed delightedly. Bubbles didn't know what she was saying. Pet bunny? Well, that was a nice idea. Besides, bunnies were cute and fluffy and nice. She was probably having an off day; she'd remember everything soon.
"That's great, Honey." Her mother's voice emphasized the "great" just a little bit more than the rest of the monotone sentence. She placed the bowl of cereal in front of Bubbles; it slopped in an unappetizing manner. Nancy sat back down at the other end of the small breakfast table and put her head in her arms again.
Bubbles ate at first in silence, admiring everything. Jojo was still smiling and staring off into space. He would provide no real answers. The house seemed perfectly quiet, the sunlight streaming in through the kitchen windows, illuminating the tiled floor. Today seemed especially beautiful.
"Mommy…my lunch." Bubbles reminded her mother. Nancy lifted her head and sighed.
"Oh, I keep forgetting that." Mrs. Fisher rose unsteadily from the table and went back to the clean counter. Bubbles hated to continuously remind her mother to make her lunch. Mostly because she had to bother her mother but also that a mother shouldn't have to be reminded to make food for her child. Her mother was just so spacey sometimes. Maybe it had something to do with all the medication she took…
"Mommy, you're peanut-buttering the counter again." Bubbles pointed out as Nancy spread a thick glob of peanut butter on the counter. She sighed. This person who was her mommy sure could use a wake up call.
"Oh Honey!" Nancy's voice suddenly became excited, a rather odd change of pace for her. "Your father is um going out of town for the weekend. I am just…so excited." Nancy smiled brightly, still keeping her voice low though. Bubbles's eyes widen in happiness and surprise. Her father was leaving town?
"REALLY?!" Bubbles cried obviously thrilled. Nancy nodded her head, brown strands of hair falling in front of her face again.
"Yeah-huh. And you know, maybe…maybe he'll even stay for the whole week. See he's got this whole business meeting with these big shots or something. Yeah, he might even get his own chain of dealerships." Nancy finished the lunch putting it in a brown paper bag. Bubbles leapt up from her seat, raising her voice loudly.
"YIPPEE!" Bubbles heart beat with elation. A whole week with just her and Mommy. No Daddy around. Wait…what was so bad about Daddy anyway? It didn't matter. Her and her mother were going to have so much fun. She stood on the tiled floor and began to ramble…loudly. "Oh Mommy! You an' me are gonna have so much fun! We're gonna go see a movie an' stay up real late an' eat nothing but ice cream an' we're gonna be REALLY loud an' we'll go to the park and feed the duckies an' we'll-"
"Honey, please try to be quiet." Mrs. Fisher pleaded with her adopted daughter, hearing some movement upstairs. Bubbles didn't seem to hear her though as she rambled on.
"-an' jump up and down on our beds an' we'll close our eye really tight and spin around an' around an'…" Bubbles mimicked the motion, caught up in the moment. She shut her eyes tight and was about to spin around when something happened.
Her eyes felt funny and kind of warm. Suddenly she felt a power surge through her body and into her eyes. There was a loud laserish sound followed by a huge crashing noise. Another bought of crashing and clanking ensued. Bubbles began to get worried. She opened her eyes slowly and gasped.
A huge hole in the wall stood in front of her, still smoking. Bits of plaster shattered to the floor as Bubbles looked through the hole to the living room. Did I…Bubbles thought Did I do that? Suddenly heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs. Daddy.
"What in the world is going on down here?!" Jack Fisher yelled practically falling down the stairs, his dark robe followed behind him. He rushed into the kitchen as fast as he could, his quaint pair of green slippers shuffling clumsily over the carpeting. Jack stood in the doorway and gasped.
In the midst of his perfect kitchen stood his five-year-old child with her deformed hands up to cover her mouth. There was a large gaping hole in the wall with whips of smoke sizzling from the top. Jack's eyes widened in shock as a piece of white plaster crashed to the floor. He looked to see his wife, Nancy, lying on the ground breathing hard. Her hair looked tousled and she had one hand over her heart and the other clutching the edge of the counter. She'd obviously fallen and knocked over a bunch of pots onto the floor. One metallic bowl spun on its side and finally stopped when Jack spoke.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" Jack yelled, his voice reaching dangerous octaves. Bubbles just held her hands up to her mouth. Nancy struggled and climbed to her feet shakily knocking over the remainder of pots and pans. Nancy grabbed her pink robe and stammered.
"I…I don't know Jack. I was just tryin' to make breakfast and I don't know. Suddenly these, these beams shot from her eyes and it hit the wall. And...and oh my God Jack, it, it was awful and the wall just broke and…" She clumsily spilled out practically hiding behind her husband. Bubbles looked hurt. Her own mother was blaming her and…and was afraid of her.
"YOU did this?!" Jack growled, clenching his fists. He'd known that sometimes Nancy would exaggerate or be too hyped up on her medication to think straight, but it was obvious that Nancy didn't do it. Maybe the part about the beams was off, but he had no doubt in his mind that his little "tornado" had done this. Bubbles winced. Her eyes were all ready filling with tears.
"Daddy, Daddy I'm sorry. Daddy I didn't mean to…" She whispered backing away from the hole. Jack approached her, his handsome face twisted into a snarl.
"Look at what you've done!" Mr. Fisher waved a hand toward the large hole. "Do you have ANY idea how much this is gonna cost?! And what will everyone think, huh? WHAT?! How am I supposed to explain THIS?!" He shouted, Bubbles winced again, wishing she could hold Jojo. "Am I going to have to explain the Jack Fisher's little BRAT did this?! IS THAT WHAT I HAVE TO SAY?!" He screamed. Bubbles began to cry. "Now you're gonna cry. Is that it? You think that's gonna solve ANYTHING?! You think that's gonna fix the hole in my wall?! DO YOU?! Well it's not, GOD DAMN IT BUBBLES!" Jack slapped her across the face harshly.
Tears flew from Bubbles's eyes as her father's hand hit her cheek. No Bubbles thought no this isn't right at all! Her cheek stung with the hit from his hand. She tried to choke back the tears. After all, Daddy just got angry sometimes, it wasn't really his fault. That's what Mommy kept saying anyway. Bubbles was now pressed up against the opposite wall, shaking visibly.
"P-please Daddy…please don't, I'm sorry. I'M SORRY!" Bubbles couldn't help start to weep again. Jack snarled lowly. Didn't she understand? It wasn't just the wall. It was what people were going to think. How was this going to look to his customers? Jack Fisher's sweet innocent daughter busts a huge hole in the kitchen wall. How? Jack had no idea. And what excuse could he make for that?! Now he'd have to get on the phone with his publicist before Friday and before he left for his meeting…THE MEETING! Oh DAMN it! What were those big shots going to think after hearing this? He let out a huge bellow that was more like a roar.
"GOD DAMN IT!" Jack continued in a string of cusses that would've made a drunken sailor blush. Bubbles covered her ears. Her cheeks still stinging. Nancy just shuddered by the doorway. Jack turned sharply to his little child. "DAMN IT!" His eyes were filled with a fiery hate. Nancy had known her husband's temper to flare up from time to time, but it was never this bad. That meeting meant the world to him and was certainly more important than his five-year-old child and his wife. Nancy couldn't even stop him when he raised his fist and smashed his blonde daughter across the face.
Bubbles hit the side of the counter hard, the feel of her father's knuckles against her cheek. She'd never been hit like THAT before. She brought her mitt unsteadily to her cheek. Bubbles looked at her huffing father, his blue eyes glaring at her, no shame found within them. Her tears only proved to further inflame her wound.
"Jack…" Nancy gasped at her husband's action. Time stood still. The only noise was Jack's heavy breathing. Bubbles shook her head harshly, her mind confused, her face hurting. She burst into to tears and ran. Bubbles pushed passed her father, out of the kitchen, her tears blinding her. "Bubbles, Honey, WAIT!" Nancy cried, but it was too late. The tiny child flung open the front door and ran into the warm air.
The sunlight felt comforting against her face, the sky the prettiest blue. Her perfect house with the white picket fence and light blue shudders was standing beautifully among the midst of green grass as Bubbles ran. But that's how things always looked to her. Beautiful on the outside but horrible on the inside. I wish I'd never gotten out of bed today.
