The tiny stuffed bear slumped down onto the floor; it's head faced downwards. Todd quickly rose from his cot and shuffled his way to his small companion. Picking up the stuffed animal, Todd squeezed it with all his might.
"I missed you so much," whispered Todd. So much emotion filled his small stature that he promptly sat down where he was standing. After weeks without his friend, Todd thought that he would be alone forever. It felt like everything was going to be OK again.
'It took a long time to get here, Todd,' said Shmee. The little boy rocked back and forth with his small bear. The nightmares were getting worse and there wasn't Shmee there to take them away.
"I had that one dream again, Shmee. The one with the toilet. It keeps talking to me and I don't know what to do. It scares me so much," said Todd. His voice began to rise as he spoke of the dream and by the time he was finished, he was sobbing.
'Don't worry about it anymore. I am here now and I'll take good care of you. Now be quiet. Someone's coming…' Shmee whispered as the boy's heaving chest began to slow. Todd looked up and saw a shadow approaching the door. He quickly pushed back from the entrance and didn't stop until his back touched the side of his bed.
"At this fucking hour of the night! What the hell is wrong with these people," said a rusty voice. A rumbling chuckle wafted through the opening in the door and Todd squeezed his eyes shut. The little boy heard the door swing inward and felt a cool blast of air.
"What's this?" said the rusty voice. Slowly opening his eyes, Todd looked up and saw a huge man with white scrubs. The man looked down at the boy and harrumphed. "How did you unlock your door? You can't go out at night. No one's allowed," said the man matter-of-factly. He waited for the boy to answer and when a reply did not come, the man reached down and pulled Todd's arm. "If you won't respond then you'll just have to go to the tank for tonight. That's where everyone goes when they break the rules."
Todd squeaked when he heard that bit of news. He did not know what the Tank was, but it did not sound encouraging. Shmee was clutched tightly in Todd's left hand as he was being pulled by his right. The man kept a fast pace and as they both rounded a corner, Todd lost his balance and fell down. The man did not even look behind him but continued to pull the small boy as Todd was being forced to slide along. They finally reached the end of a hallway and the man took out a set of keys with his free hand. After singling out the one he wanted, the orderly slid in the key and twisted the doorknob. The door was heavy and it took strength to open it. The door screeched out and blackness filled the entrance.
"Here you go," said the orderly as he flung Todd into the room and slammed the door behind him.
Slow, even breaths sounded from Todd's mouth. He was sleeping. The stuffed bear lay at his side. The stitched face of the doll faced upwards and its mock smile seemed to show through the pitch black.
Something began to happen within the small block of a room. The air became denser. The atmosphere became damp. Everything felt saturated but nothing physically changed.
'Greetings, Master,' said Shmee.
Whisperings of sounds and soft cries of humans shuttered through the room.
'I realize it has been three weeks, Master. Because of his state of mind, I could not get here faster,' said Shmee. A pause. 'Yes, I understand that I should have gotten here faster. I know there isn't much time. The dreams are becoming more realistic and vivid. I am absorbing as quickly as possible. I know the one dream is not going away. I do not know what it means either.'
Todd struggled in his sleep. Hands, no larger than a baseball, gripped the stuffed bear tighter. He whimpered and then the struggling ceased.
'Very little time, indeed.'
A twinkling of a bell bounced around the restaurant as a deathly thin man entered. The man winced at the soft sound but continued into the fast food place. A quick glance around the restaurant and Johnny knew that he hated it. Everything was exaggeratingly fake. It almost made him sick.
Walking in a little further, Johnny watched as the waiters and waitresses buzzed along around their assigned tables. No one paid him any attention.
'Psst. Johnny, over here,' said an all too familiar voice.
Johnny turned to his left and saw a huge stack of Bub's Burger Boys. They were all neatly arranged on top of one another. One off to the side particularly looked recognizable.
"How did you get in here?" whispered Johnny. He did not want to cause a scene in the restaurant so he subtly edged closer to the stack and pretended to look interesting at it. "What do you want now that I'm here?" asked Johnny.
'I am glad that you are finally indulging in this need for answers, Johnny. It had taken you long enough,' said Reverend Meat. His eyes flashed as he spoke.
"I am not indulging anything," whispered Johnny, "I am here because I am. Nothing is driving me but my car."
'Why try to cover up which is already obvious? Is it so hard to accept the fact that you have to-'
"I don't have to do anything!" screamed Johnny. Knowing that he said that too loud, he turned to see if anyone was staring at him. No one was.
'Fine, let's not have this conversation, then. Why don't you just go and have a seat at one of the booths, hmm? I am sure you are very hungry,' said the figurine.
Johnny turned from the plastic toy and walked up to the 'Wait Here For Service' sign. It took only a minute before a waitress walked up and escorted Johnny to a window booth. The man sat down as the waitress placed a menu in front of him.
"Tell me when you are ready to order," said the waitress and she walked away.
The window at which Johnny was sitting next to was large. It started from the top of the ceiling to the floor and it filled the width of the booth. The scenery outside showed the freeway and the turn-off, which was the one Johnny used to get to the restaurant. Beyond that there was a sizable hill covered in short blades of grass. The breeze blew and would make waves in the weeds; it looked alive. Atop the hill branched a beautiful oak tree. The reason why Johnny was so compelled by it was the fact that it was dead. A leaf hadn't grown from that tree for at least ten years.
Johnny watched the tree's branches sway back and forth with the wind. It moved so easily with the current of air. So languid. Like fire.
'Like fire?' thought Johnny.
Yes, like fire. Dangerous flames that ignite from a stick and it burns. Burns like a house would if one was so inclined and one was and the tree burned so brightly it hurt the eyes and it stung oh how it stung tears ran down and it hurt it hurt for so long it would not stop a knife cut into wood so long ago it so long ago from now cutting through bark and life and it was rough but still good you could still see the letters it wasn't so hard after all and it burned and pain and EW EW EW why did this happen why why can't this stop there is something wrong she knows it know it's true and I couldn't stop what happened where is she where am I who are you what's going on oh god the pain it won't stop where am I oh god stop oh god oh god oh god Elizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth Eliza-
"Sir?"
Johnny jumped at the noise and frightened the waitress. He looked up, wide-eyed at the girl.
"Sir…are you ready to order?" asked the waitress.