Jack the Action Figure
Chapter Five – Flipped
When The Girl turned, her eyes were wide and her brow was furrowed. "Who – "
Immediately, Buster started to bark wildly and Jack found one of his arms forcibly clasped in a sharp beak. Before he could open his mouth again, the pirate was buffeted by a heavy wing and swept backwards. He had just enough time to see The Girl half-smile with relief and crouch down to stroke the elderly white dog – then he was tossed gracelessly into a shadowed corner of the bookshelf. When he tried to rise, a foot of stone and talon was placed squarely on his chest, and he could not move. When his chest heaved with an effort to shout again, the owl's foot shifted until a cold toe covered his face and mouth. It was there that he remained while The Girl reprimanded herself aloud for forgetting that it was 'nearly Buster's suppertime' and followed the dog's cantering steps through the doorway. The room was deadly quiet following her departure, but the silence only lasted for a moment.
The first sound was Jack's bellow of surprise and rage when the owl bookend hauled him from behind the book pile in the corner and into the light again – and kept hauling until he was airborne and deftly flipped off of the shelf entirely. He landed in a heap in the blue carpeting and sprang to his feet.
The voices began at once and Jack was assaulted by a cacophony of shouts from characters spread throughout the room: there were unbecoming words from the collection of brightly colored Beanie Babies in the corner (how such innocent looking creatures had acquired such nasty vocabulary was completely beyond him), Pikachu growled menacingly, and there was a brief shower in his direction of miniature plastic weaponry from the Lord of the Rings diorama shelf. The owls were silent and staring, which was unsettling, but when coupled with the watchful dark eyes of the chattering degus, Jack was nearly unnerved completely. He looked up to see Frigid peering down from the top of the large bookcase. He was too far away to read an expression – though a the reading of the face of a plushie penguin is arguably a lost art in itself – and Jack was not surprised when Frigid simply stepped off of the dusty bookcase top and fell with a gentle plop before him.
Brown eyes and iridescent orange eyes met briefly, and then Frigid the Beanie Bay shook his head. Seeing Jack approached, the room quieted slightly. It was enough for individual shouts to be made out.
The very miniature Frodo Baggins: "You're a bloody coward! What're you trying t' do?"
One pink flamingo and one large-eyed frog Beanie Baby in unison: "Have you lost your mind!"
A voice out of sight: "Find his receipt and send him packing!"
Brightly colored letter magnets on a white board near what Jack could only assume was The Girl's bed swirled about momentarily. They then firmly arranged themselves into words Jack did not understand: "G-A-R-A-G-E S-A-L-E."
And then there was Frigid.
"I don't understand you, Jack." He waddled through the carpet until he was face to face with the pirate. "Honey, what made you do something like that?"
Jack, though far from comfortable, was unapologetic. "I don't understand you, mate. What stops you from doing something like that?" He gestured up and around the room. "What stops any of you?"
Frigid raised his feathered yellow brows. "The Girl - "
Jack snorted. "No doubt, friend."
" – and our love for her," finished the penguin, and Jack's retort died in his throat. "There is no place that we would rather be than here, with her. No place that we could be."
Jack found his voice. "You could be free! You could be gone from this place and into one that is so much bigger and with so much more! There is a world out there, my monochromatic friend, filled with wonder and fantastic adventure and living with … " The pirate trailed off when he caught Frigid's headshake.
"That," he said, "is not a world that you are part of at all, Jack. You belong here."
Livid disbelief: "Here?"
Gentle certainty: "Here."
And the explosion: "Ye gods animal! Who do you think you're talking to? I'm a captain. I'm a pirate. And I'm a man! You were made by someone in order to keep a child from crying, while I – I was once a child! I'm not the same as any of you! I have a life and memories. I can … I can tell you what the moon's reflection looks like on a summer ocean at night! I can tell you at least nineteen ways to empty a woman's pockets while giving her a kiss! I can tell you of men and women who would rather have salt and wind on their lips than bread! And I can tell you those things - " he cried, "because I have seen them and done them and known them in a life outside of this place! This place is a dream and a vision. And if it isn't, then I don't belong here." Jack's hands and voice shook.
There was silence in the room, and then there came a rough, slightly muted chuckle. "Are you finished? You should certainly feel better now that that's out of your system." It was Frigid's turn to go wide-eyed with shock but Jack did not recognize the voice that had suddenly spoken. The quiet in the room had changed from one of angrily-bitten lips to one of hushed awe. Jack was suddenly tired, and nearly without patience for the practices of these bizarre natives.
He lifted his lip in a snarl and drew breath to reply, but wordlessly, Frigid hooked his soft flipper around Jack's wrist and tugged. The pirate followed, making it clear with lofty chin and pistol in hand that he was neither resigned nor defeated, but curious. Frigid led him – slowly with his short legs through the thick carpeting – around the wooden corner of the bookshelf until the pair stood before a mammoth door. It was slightly ajar. The inside was black.
"The closet," Frigid said after a moment. He looked up at Jack. "No one goes into the closet, but – it seems that you've been called. Go on."
Jack's hand tightened around his pistol. He peered into the darkness before him. "No one goes in, eh? I suppose it's haunted, then."
"No," Frigid replied simply. "It's holy." Startled, the pirate looked back down at the penguin. Frigid said nothing more. He gave Jack a little shove towards the opening in the door, then made no move to enter himself. Instead he stood where he was and appeared content to watch and to wait. Jack eyed the doorway again, then straightened his shoulders and walked towards the black opening.
Author's Note –
Sweetlilbee, Raistlin and Carine, you guys make me feel completely awesome. Thanks for always telling me to get writing (careful – I'll start to think that you enjoy it or something). LinLin is beyond thanks because she makes me feel like a rock star and her baby is the most darling little thing I've ever seen (here's hoping she grows up to be a proper lil' pirate there, mum). Hobbit Lass and Captain Tish, I'm loving that you two love what is going on. My apology for how long it took to get this up (I'm sure Redberry can sympathize) and I'm very much pleased with what I hear abouther decorating.
Cheers with our action figures, AaidenKae! (bops Jack against Legolas) and thanks for the kind words! Hope you enjoyed the update, anonymous Girl, and I hope you come back just like Spoofmaster did, because her review made my day. And finally, no worries Calliope – as always …
More to come! I lurve reviews! They are the cinnamon sprinkles in my no-foam latte!
