OH MY GOSH IT'S BEEN SO LONG! So long since I uploaded a chapter of Free. And after all this time all you guys get is a document that was only four pages long. Haha. Well, at least I'm finally back at it. In case you haven't noticed yet, this story is (sort of) a "slice of life" kinda thing, but also not really. In other words, most of it is just the daily lives of Lea and Alex with their new roommates BUT! There IS a plot! And things will happen. This whole story has been planned for years after all.
"What do you think we'll find in this one?" a man asked as he straightened his yellow hardhat.
"Not sure," said the other man with him. He brushed his messy brown hair out of his face as they examined the boarded-up building.
Before the demolition of all of the old buildings on the block, he and a few others had been tasked with searching through them to make sure that there were no hobos or squatters hiding within. This particular building was smaller and hidden by the slightly less older buildings built around it.
"The others didn't have anything of interest in them," he said as he smoothed the wrinkles in his blue button-up shirt. "And considering how boarded-up this one is, I doubt any squatters are living in it."
"Yeah," said the construction worker. "But that also means it might still have some cool stuff inside."
He took a large crowbar in hand and began ripping the wooden boards from what was likely once the front entrance to the building. The rotted old wood didn't break off in the ideal way, but instead broke off in moldy pieces. "You gonna help or what Michael?" he grunted.
The man in the blue shirt ran his fingers through his messy hair. "Heh, you look like you have it under control." He glanced up at the sign above the doors but couldn't make out what it said as that too was covered with wooden boards.
Finally, the other man had managed to remove the boards from one of the doors and tried to pull it open. The door didn't budge at first. He grabbed the handle with both hands, braced himself, then roughly yanked on the door. With a very unpleasant sound, the rusty hinges on the door gave up and he was able to pull the door open just enough for them to slip inside. He pulled out a flashlight as Michael followed him inside.
"Hello?" the man called into the darkness. "Any hobos here?"
"Nice greeting," Michael smirked and walked a little way past him.
They were standing in an open area covered with a dusty checkered floor littered with confetti. On their right was a large white and red object designed to resemble a giftbox with a big bow on top. Hanging from the ceiling were colorful streamers, and children's drawings covered the walls. Directly across from the entrance was a counter with a very old register. Behind the counter was a wall of shelves holding old toys and stuffed animals.
"Looks like one of those old pizza places for kids," said the man. "They've still got prizes. Wonder if the arcade machines are still here?"
Michael was only half listening to his companion. He had gone over to the large box and placed his hand on the cover. He stayed like this for a long moment, staring at the box as if expecting it to do something, then carefully opened the lid. He peered inside only to find it empty.
"Anything interesting over there?" the other man called.
"No," Michael placed the lid back down and went to join him.
They walked through the building curiously, stopping to peer into rooms as they passed. "Can't believe these lights are still working," the other man said as they entered a larger room with a stage and several long tables. There were red and purple lights above the stage that shone down on them.
"Guess you were right about it being a kid's place," Michael was looking around the room.
"Don't these places usually have some kind of animal characters on stage?"
Michael shrugged. "Maybe they took them away before the place was shutdown. Heck, maybe it was a live band."
They continued exploring until they came across the arcade room, where Michael's friend was ecstatic about some of the still working machines. Michael listened to his raving over the games for a few minutes until spotting something behind one of the machines. He walked over to it and called the man over.
"Hey, come look at this. Looks like a door's behind here." He pointed out the wallpaper that was peeling down from the top and revealing the corner of a shut door.
Together, they moved the old arcade machine out of the way then pulled the wallpaper down. There was no doorknob on the secret door, and it was covered with wooden boards.
"All right," the other man said as he brandished his crowbar. "Let's see what they've got hiding in there."
After several minutes, he managed to pry all of the boards off. In doing so, this allowed the door to slowly open out toward them, as if inviting them inside. The interior was pitch black and there was a peculiar smell emanating from the room.
Michael's companion shined his flashlight into the room. "Ah what the hell is that?!"
The dark room was small and empty aside from one thing. Sitting at the back of the little room, slumped against the wall, was a large raggedy creature that resembled a rabbit. It appeared taller than either of them, and may have been a bright yellow color at some point long ago, but was now a sickly yellowish-green. There were many tears and holes in its body that revealed bits of metal and thick wires.
"There's your animal character," Michael said as he stepped into the room for a closer look. "Hand me that light."
He took the flashlight and examined the old animatronic. It seemed like it had been there for a very long time. It was slouching with its head tipped to the side and mouth slightly agape, and its wide-open eyes were staring off into nothingness. "Almost looks like a corpse," Michael remarked darkly.
"It's ugly," said the other man from behind.
"Oh he's not so bad," Michael grinned. He scooted beside the rabbit and grabbed its bottom jaw. He turned its head so that it appeared to be looking at the man then closed and opened its jaw as he said in a goofy voice, "Yeah, I'm not so bad. Hehehee!"
The man snorted. "I can't believe you touched that thing. It looks filthy."
Michael chuckled and stood up, wiping his hand on his pants. "Let's take it. I can break it down for scraps."
"Okay, but I'm not touching it. You drag it."
...
"Okie doke," Lea said. She had just reentered the house. Chica and Bonnie looked at her expectantly. "The backyard fence is definitely tall enough, and since it's all solid wooden boards, I think it's okay."
"So we can play outside?" Chica was excited.
Lea nodded and Chica squealed happily. "But no one can leave the backyard," she added sternly. "And you can only go outside if Alex or myself is with you."
They nodded. "Can we go now?" Chica asked.
"Sure. Alex! We're going in the backyard!"
"Okay!" they heard Alex's voice from the other room.
Lea opened the back door and laughed a little as Chica rushed outside. She stepped outside and looked back at Bonnie, who was watching from the doorway. "Don't worry," she told him. "No one will bother us. The other neighbor doesn't go in his backyard. He just opens the door for his dog."
He hesitated for a brief moment then stepped outside under the patio. The yard was fairly-sized and several different flower bushes lined one side of the fence. Towards the back corner was a large old oak tree. Hanging from under the patio was a wooden swing, and a few different balls were strewn about the yard.
Lea picked up a plastic box and placed it in the grass. Inside were many different colored chalks. "We can draw on the fence if you want."
Chica dropped the soccer ball she had found and went over to the box to rummage through it. She collected one chalk of each color then set off to find a good spot along the fence. Lea noticed Bonnie staring up at the sky. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking…the wind feels nice."
"Yeah," she agreed. She held up a piece of chalk. "Do you want to draw?"
"Okay," he went over to her and bent down to look at the colors.
About an hour or so later the entire fence was decorated with colorful drawings of flowers and animals and the different colored butterflies that Bonnie kept drawing. After Chica had finished her last drawing of a dog, Lea stepped back to survey the art.
"Now this is art," she smiled and they laughed.
Alex came outside just after, carrying a plate stacked with sandwiches. "Nice," she nodded to the fence with a smirk and handed Lea the plate. "Here's some lunch."
"Thanks," Lea took the plate over to the patio swing and sat down.
Alex walked around to examine the drawings for a little bit before heading back inside. Lea took a sandwich then handed the rest to an eager Chica who gladly accepted and went to sit in the grass. Bonnie carefully sat beside Lea on the swing.
Lea picked her legs up and crossed them as he began to slowly start moving the swing. It had been a while since she had bothered to hang around in the backyard. She remembered spending a lot of time here with Alex and their dad. Sometimes they kicked the soccer ball around or played catch with a softball, other times they tried to see how long they could keep a beachball in the air before it hit the ground. And sometimes they would just sit on the wooden swing and chat or listen to the birds.
"You know," she said suddenly. "It's been a long time since I've felt happy. Like, actually happy." She exchanged a glance with Bonnie who was listening intently. "Ever since Dad died, life hasn't been much fun. But then I met you guys!" She smiled. "It's been really fun playing with all of you, and I actually look forward to each day now."
He blinked and smiled softly. "I feel the same way. And I think the others do too." He nodded to Chica who was smiling as she watched a squirrel balancing along the fence. "Even Freddy and Foxy seem happier with you and Alex around."
"I'm glad," she said. "We're like a big happy, totally weird family. Even Alex is starting to warm up to you guys."
Bonnie watched her for a long moment before looking down. "Lea…does that mean we'll always be friends?"
"Of course," she told him. "No matter what! We'll be best friends forever."
This seemed to cheer him up and he smiled and nodded. "Best friends forever."
Lea nodded. "Forever. I promise."
To be continued…
Finally, a name to the mystery man in the blue shirt.
Where does all the food Chica eats go? The world may never know...