Tuesday, July 28, 1987
Having been left all on her own in the barn, Mangle had spent a good amount of time crying before she finally decided to find something, anything to distract herself with.
She turned on the TV and browsed the various channels until she finally found something that looked interesting. It was a program that showcased some of the best places to visit in the country. As scared as Mangle was of the vastness of the outside world, she couldn't help but to find most of the destinations to be kind of nice, and she ended up watching the whole thing.
The travel program was followed up by a cooking show, where a middle-aged woman showed the audience how to make a soufflé. As Mangle watched, she wondered what it would be like to eat and to taste. It had to be amazing, she reasoned, given how much effort humans put into making food and the unfathomable number of dishes they had come up with.
Once the cooking show had concluded, Mangle switched off the TV and went to investigate the boombox. She looked it over with curious eyes and then pressed the 'play' button. Since it already had a tape in it, the boombox started playing music—pop music, to be specific—which she found to be quite soothing.
Mangle then went over to the workshop area of the barn and looked at all of the various tools and equipment. As she did, she couldn't help but to imagine them being used to make her a real fox girl, and the thought filled her with glee.
But then something occurred to her.
How could Evan's father possibly make her a real fox girl if he was too scared of getting anywhere near her?
That's when she realized that he wasn't going to.
Mangle let out a whimper. She curled up on the floor once again and sobbed to herself.
Once they returned home, William brought Evan down to the workshop in the basement to give him his first lesson. While William had initially only intended to teach Evan about basic animatronic maintenance, the boy picked things up a lot faster than he had anticipated. As such, William decided to teach him some of the basics of electrical engineering as well.
When the lesson finally concluded, Evan took his leave and excitedly made his way over to the barn, a battery pack in one hand and a device that looked like a wall light in the other. However, his excitement immediately melted away upon entering the barn and finding Mangle curled up on the floor and crying.
Placing the battery pack and the device on the TV table, Evan rushed over to her, knelt down and asked, "Mangle? What's wrong?"
"Why di-di-di-di-didn't you tell me?" Mangle sobbed.
"Tell you what?" Evan asked with a confused, yet concerned look on his face.
"That your fa-fa-fa-fa-father isn't going to make me a rea-rea-rea-rea-rea-real fox girl," Mangle replied with a whimper.
"Because I didn't know when we last talked," Evan said back. "I only got a chance to ask him on the way to the hospital."
Mangle sniffled and looked at Evan. "And wha-wha-wha-wha-what did he say?"
Evan took a deep breath and gave Mangle a sympathetic look. "He said that it would be too big of a project and that he's too busy to do it."
Upon hearing that, Mangle looked away and her sobbing intensified.
"But he said that he'd be willing to teach me everything he knows!" Evan quickly added. "So I should definitely be able to do it! It'll just take a lot of time… and a lot of studying."
Mangle's sobbing died down. She sniffled and turned to look at Evan. "You… You'd do that-at-at-at-at-at for me?"
"Of course, Mangle! You're my best friend," Evan replied with a comforting smile. He then looked away with saddened eyes. "My only friend…" He swallowed and then returned his attention to Mangle. "And… you deserve to be happy with yourself!"
She sniffled and then pulled Evan into a hug. "Thank-ank-ank you…"
Evan leaned into the hug, and for a few minutes no one said a word. Then, finally, he spoke up, "Hey, how about I replace that battery of yours? I doubt you have a whole lot of power left."
Mangle hummed a reply and broke the hug. She then laid down flat on the floor so that she would be easier to work with.
Evan looked her over and spotted a panel that was fastened onto the chest of her endoskeleton with four screws, and he figured that was the most likely location of her battery. He went over to the workshop area and fetched a screwdriver from a toolbox before returning to her. Evan then proceeded to unfasten the panel until it could be removed. Inside was a battery and a power switch.
"Um, Mangle? Is it okay if I power you down?" Evan asked.
"Mm-hm," Mangle replied, not seeming nervous whatsoever.
"O-okay, here goes," Evan said and then flicked the switch.
As he did, Mangle instantly went completely limp, and Evan couldn't help but worry about her not waking up. However, he did his best to push that thought aside and went to work. He disconnected the battery and pulled it out. Next, Evan went over to the TV table where he had left the new battery. He switched them out and then returned to Mangle, putting the new battery in place and connecting it to her. After making sure that he had done everything correctly, Evan then flicked the switch again.
Although he could tell that all of her systems were booting back up, Evan couldn't help but worry that Mangle wouldn't wake up. The time it took for her systems to finish the startup sequence felt like an eternity, and he felt a sense of relief wash over him when Mangle finally regained consciousness.
Mangle turned her head to Evan and asked, "Did you do it-it-it-it-it-it?"
"Yeah!" Evan replied with a proud smile. "But, um, don't move yet. I still need to screw the panel back on, okay?"
"Okay," Mangle replied and patiently waited for Evan to finish up.
Evan replaced the panel and fastened the screws. "Aaaand done!"
Mangle got up and hugged Evan again. "Thank-ank-ank-ank-ank you."
Evan giggled. "You're welcome, Mangle!" Once she broke the hug, he stood up and walked over to the workshop area. "Now, before we do anything else, I just have to set up this thingy me and Father made."
Mangle tilted her head to the side. "What thing-ing-ing-ing-ingy?"
"That thing over there," Evan replied and pointed at the device that sat next to the old battery pack. He put the screwdriver away, and then got a hammer and a nail. "It's basically just a doorbell. When Father pushes a button from inside the house, this thing will light up and make a buzzing sound. That way, he can call me over without having to go outside."
Evan went over to the wall to the right of the entrance and hammered the nail part way in. He then took the device and hung it on the nail.
"There we go!" Evan said with a smile. As he returned the hammer to the workshop area, he turned to Mangle and asked, "So what do you wanna do now?"
Mangle thought for a moment and then asked, "Can we do ano-no-no-no-nother one of those Choose Your Own Advent-ent-ent-ent-enture books?"
"Sure!" Evan beamed. "Lemme just go to my room, and I'll get all of them so that you can pick out which one you want."
Mangle giggled. "Okay-kay-kay-kay!"
With that, Evan left the barn and after a while returned carrying a stack of books. He set them down on the floor and allowed Mangle to pick out one of them—a story about wizards, castles, and a princess. They laid down next to each other on the blanket in front of the TV. There, Evan read the book aloud to Mangle, who got to make all of the choices in the story. Although some of her choices ended up with the heroic wizard apprentice either getting killed, imprisoned, or turned to stone, in the end she managed to get a good ending where he managed to save the princess, with the two living happily ever after.
After finishing the book, Evan and Mangle played for a bit before William called the eight-year-old to dinner via the buzzer on the wall. Although Mangle was a little sad to see Evan go, she knew that it wouldn't be for long. Sure enough, the boy returned to the barn about forty minutes later and the two of them laid down on the blanket to watch TV together.
Eventually, however, William called Evan on the buzzer again, and given how late it was, the eight-year-old knew that it was to signal his bedtime.
Evan frowned as he saw the buzzer light up. "Looks like I have to go to bed now."
Mangle lowered her ears. "Do you have-ave-ave-ave to?"
"Yeah," Evan replied with an apologetic smile. "But, um, I'll come see you tomorrow—"
"Please do-do-do-do-don't go!" Mangle pleaded, looking quite distraught. "I don't wanna be alo-lo-lo-lo-lone all night!"
"Mangle, I can't stay here all night," Evan explained, giving her a look of sympathy. "I have to sleep."
"But… ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-can't you sleep here?" Mangle asked.
"No, I can't," Evan replied, shaking his head.
"Why not?" Mangle asked.
"Because… Because I don't think Father would let me," Evan explained, but as he did he couldn't help but to feel awful for the animatronic. After all, she was used to spending most of her time being around kids, and now she was forced to be all alone for many hours each and every day. The more he thought about it, the more it just didn't seem fair to her. "But… um… I can ask him?"
There was a glimmer of hope in Mangle's eyes. "You will?"
"But, um, he'll probably say 'no'," Evan noted.
Mangle's head drooped upon hearing that. "Oh…"
"But either way, I'll come say goodnight to you, okay?" Evan added with an unsure smile as he stood up.
Mangle hummed a reply and watched as he exited the barn.
Evan trudged over to the house and went inside, finding his father on the sofa watching TV.
"There you are," William said before he switched off the TV, got out of his seat, and turned toward the boy. "You ready for bed, sport?"
"Um… actually, Father…" Evan began as he fidgeted with his fingers. "Would it… be okay if I, um… slept in the barn?" Upon seeing his father furrow his brow, Evan quickly added, "It's just that Mangle doesn't wanna be alone all night, you know?"
William let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead. At first, Evan was sure that he was going to get mad and perhaps even yell at him. However, much to the boy's surprise, he finally said, "Fine."
"Wait, really?" Evan asked, looking very surprised.
"Yeah," William replied. He then motioned for the boy to follow him as he walked over to the storage closet. "As much as I'd prefer that you sleep in your room, I'd rather not have your friend get desperate enough to sneak into the house at night."
Evan cringed. He couldn't deny that Mangle might very well attempt something like that.
"Besides, the barn is climate controlled, so there's no risk of you freezing to death or getting a heatstroke out there," William noted as he pulled out a rolled up foam mat. He handed it to Evan and said, "But I'm afraid that you're going to have to make several trips in order to set up a suitable sleeping spot for yourself."
"That's okay," Evan replied as he took the foam mat. He was about to go back out, but then said, "Um… thanks, Father."
William just smiled at him and then went to get more items for the boy.
Evan carried the foam mat out of the house and as he entered the barn, he found Mangle laying on the floor, patiently waiting for him. Upon seeing what he had in his arms, she raised her head and looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"Good news! Father said I can sleep here," Evan grinned.
Mangle gasped and then let out a glitched giggle of joy as she bounced up and down.
Evan giggled as well as he approached Mangle and handed her the rolled up foam mat. "Can you unroll this somewhere on the floor? I need to get a bunch of stuff to set up a bed here."
"Okay-kay-kay-kay," Mangle replied excitedly, grabbing the foam mat before scurrying off.
Going back and forth, Evan brought a thick mattress topper, a bed sheet, two pillows, and a blanket. With these, Mangle set up a bed behind the TV blanket. Evan then went back to the house one final time that night to brush his teeth, put on his pajamas, and to hug his father goodnight before he returned to the barn with a flashlight in his hand.
Once inside, Evan locked the doors, then took off his shoes and set them aside. He turned and smiled at Mangle, who was lying right next to his bed and looking at him with grateful eyes. Evan switched on the flashlight and turned off the lights in the barn, but when he did, he came to realize just how scary this place was when not fully lit up.
"What's wro-wro-wro-wro-wrong?" Mangle asked, tilting her head to the side.
Evan fidgeted as he looked at the darkness around him. "I, um… just didn't think it'd be this scary with no lights on."
Mangle tilted her head to the other side and then looked around. "But it's ju-ju-ju-ju-just us here."
"I-I-I-I know, it's just that…" Evan trailed off as he thought back to the monsters that haunted his dreams. "Um, Mangle?"
"Yeah?"
"If, um, someone or something tries to get me, you'll protect me, right?" Evan asked sheepishly.
"Of cou-cou-cou-cou-course I will!" Mangle reassured him.
Although Evan knew that she would say that, it nevertheless helped calm him down. He took a deep breath and then made his way over to the bed before he slipped under the covers. While it wasn't anywhere near as good as his actual bed in his room, it was comfortable enough.
He looked at his flashlight, now the only source of light in the barn, and mustered up the courage to finally switch it off. The pitch-black, oppressive darkness that it had held off up until now finally enveloped Evan, and he had to resist the urge to switch it back on. With a trembling hand, he set the flashlight down next to his bed. He tried his best to relax, but it proved impossible.
Evan's heart pounded in his chest faster and faster as he looked around at the darkness surrounding him. As he did, his mind began to play tricks on him, making him see faint silhouettes of monsters everywhere. The boy shut his eyes, reassuring himself that they weren't real, that they couldn't be real, but it was of no use. He let out a quiet whimper as his breath hastened.
Then, suddenly, Evan felt Mangle get up and move about. She proceeded to curl up around him and rest her head on his chest, and when she did, Evan felt his fears melt away. He felt… safe.
"Goo-goo-goo-goo-goodnight, Evan," Mangle whispered and nuzzled into him.
The boy sniffled and let out a shaky, yet contented sigh and gently stroked Mangle's head. "Goodnight, Mangle."