Regina grumbled to herself as she stomped down the hall and into the Prize Corner.
"'Take pictures.' she said, 'It'll be fun,' they said! Well, I should just leave you in this reeking shithole and get a real meal!"
Regina liked stomping.
Stomping sounded good, it looked good, hell, it felt good!
Now she knew why Dollface wore those disgusting, muddy boots all the time.
Regina could never stomp in heels.
Regina turned.
Just a rat.
This place gave her the creeps.
Regina stomped over to the gift box and knocked on it.
Still closed, mostly.
A black liquid oozed from the underside of the lid.
She wrinkled her nose under the bandana, but felt the need to take a picture anyway.
Next to fall under her gaze, the prize rack!
Full of cheap toys she wouldn't have been caught dead playing with as a child!
She wanted all of them, right now.
Nothing like what Mommy sent for Christmas.
Putting the cheap flashlight in her mouth, Regina climbed the shelf, daybag swinging on her shoulder.
If she was careful, she could grab the best toy here and no one would notice. Regina already had one in mind, the one above all the cheap plastic figurines, watches, frisbee and overpriced plushies, a real, working GameBoy.
Something she didn't have access to here in Podunk, Missouri.
Regina grabbed the box, finding it silly that a child's game could have this effect on her and shook it.
Empty.
Shit.
No access to anything better than a black-and-white TV that only played three channels on a good day.
She tossed the empty box over her shoulder, already beginning her descent.
Hitting something with her foot, she turned her head, watching the puppet's gift box open with a squeal of it's neglected hinges, the animatronic rising out and swingin by a cord.
If she'd learned anything from her grandfather's side hustle, the Marionette was on a different circuit than the others.
Or maybe on some kind of pulley system?
As bad as William and Henry were at designing characters, they were still impressive engineers.
Deciding on what she wanted, Regina grabbed a small Chica plush that easily went for 500 tickets, a plastic minifigure of Balloon Boy for 1,000, and a tissue-paper thin tee-shirt with Freddy on it for only 50 tickets.
At the very least, she could give the cheap teeshirt to Dollface to get her to shut up.
Oh, how sad it was to be the only one to have a fashion taste in this town.
Soon, she'd be back with her peers in London, Dollface and her friends far behind.
Regina climbed down, knocking one of the old helium tanks she used to man over. Mumbling cuss words and righting it, she saw a small half-tray of baggies. Inspecting one while lifting the concealed tray, she dropped her loot.
"Jeremy!" She screamed, "I knew it! That scumbag was smokin' grass and browsing ass!"
A Maxim and a Playboy was hiding under the tray.
Dropping the box and the offending baggie, Regina picked up her stuff and shoved it into her daybag.
Her day bag was much cheaper than Dollface's leather one, but it did the job.
Regina adjusted the bandana on her nose and peered into the rotting Marionette's gift box, gagging by the dark, stinky sludge inside.
Ew!
Were those teeth?
She snapped a picture, knowing full-well that Dollface would be into it, then one of the mostly decayed latex face of the Puppet. It's brightly painted face was sagging off of its endoskeleton by now.
Shuddering, Regina slunk away.
