Hello everyone! It's been awhile. For those of you who know me, you know I usually do genderbends or anything related to Miraculous. Well, this time, I'm doing something different.
For you horror videogames fans out there, two words: Poppy Playtime! Chapter 3 is coming out in 2 days! In celebration, I thought I'd type up this Smiling Critters story I came up with. At first, I didn't know if it would be good enough to publish, but after a friend read it over, she encouraged me to do it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Poppy Playtime or the Smiling Critters. All rights reserved to Mob Entertainment. Enjoy!
Smiling Critters
Episode 18: Playing in the Park
S-M-I-L-E
Ev-er-y day!
When you are downing out
No need to frown and pout
The Smiling Critters are here to say
S-M-I-L-E
Ev-er-y day
It was another beautiful day. The sky was blue with only a few clouds in the sky and the sun shining down.
The Smiling Critters decided to have a picnic in the park. Before eating, everyone decided to play with DogDay's new bouncy ball in the grassy field. Everyone was gathered in a circle as he threw the ball to KickinChicken who threw it to PickyPiggy.
"This is so much fun, isn't it, everyone?" she asked.
"It sure is," Bubba Bubbaphant agreed as the ball was thrown to him.
"Great idea for bringing your ball to the picnic, DogDay," Bobby Bearhug said.
"It was nothing. I should thank PickyPiggy for packing the basket," DogDay said.
"Only the healthiest foods for my friends," PickyPiggy said.
"When are we going to eat anyway?" Hoppy Hopscotch asked as she caught the ball, "I'm one hungry bunny."
CatNap, a cat of few words, nodded his head as he caught the ball and tossed it to CraftyCorn. But the ball sailed over her head right into some bushes a few feet away.
"Whoopsie-daisy. Sorry, everyone," she apologized.
"It's ok, CraftyCorn. Why don't you go get the ball, and then we'll have lunch," DogDay suggested.
The little unicorn hurried over to the bushes to find the ball. There it was! On the other side. Just as she bent down to pick it up, a shadow fell upon her.
Her friends heard a scream and ran over to see what the problem was.
There was CraftyCorn crying on the ground.
"CraftyCorn! Are you alright? What happened?" they asked her.
"T-they pushed me and took the ball," she cried.
"Who?" Bubba asked.
"Them." CraftyCorn pointed a hoof to a trio of others.
Oh no! It was the Frowning Varmints! RoarinLeo the lion, MunchinHippo the hippo, and StripyZack the zebra. They were the meanest group in town who never smiled and had the ball.
"Hey! Why did you push CraftyCorn?" Hoppy wanted to know.
"We liked the ball she had and wanted it, so we took it," RoarinLeo answered.
"You didn't have to push her. Besides, the ball isn't yours," PickyPiggy said, "It's ours. Give it back." She and Catnap helped CraftCorn up and checked to make sure she was ok. Nothing was hurt except for her feelings.
"I don't see your name on it, pig," MunchinHippo laughed.
"Yeah. You're in our park. So scram," StripeyZack ordered them.
"Whoa there!" DogDay jumped between the meanies and his friends in the hopes of deescalating the situation. The park was a place where everyone was welcome to play. "Come on, guys. No need to argue. How about this: if you three apologize to CraftyCorn for pushing her and give us back our ball, you can join us at our picnic for lunch."
The Frowning Varmints looked at each other and started laughing. They had no intention of giving them back the ball, apologizing, or joining them for lunch. They would rather eat all their food and kick the Critters out of the park.
"That's not very nice," Bobby told them, "You guys are being mean."
"Good. We like being mean," RoarinLeo said.
KickinChicken stomped over to the trio and warned them to start being nice or else they were the ones that needed to leave. This kind of behavior was unacceptable.
The Varmints didn't care. Instead, they pushed KickinChicken, who stumbled back into his friends arms. He didn't cry though. He stood back up and asked "What's next?"
The trio began laughing again and began stomping over to the now scared Critters.
"Please, stop," CraftyCorn begged.
"Why are you guys so mean?" Bubba asked.
"You really want to know why we're mean?" StripeyZack asked.
The group nodded their heads. Maybe if they knew what the Varmint's problem was, they could help them fix it.
"We're mean because…we're tired!" all three said.
The Frowning Varmints hadn't had a good night's sleep in a very, very, very long time. They tried everything from exercise, counting sheep, listening to calming music, drinking warm milk, but nothing helped. The lack of sleep was what was making them so mean and cranky. If they could just get some sleep, they wouldn't feel so tired all the time.
The Smiling Critters had big smiles on their faces as they knew just what to do as there was a friend right there who had a special power.
"CatNap," DogDay said turning to their friend, "do you think you can help them go to sleep?"
"They might feel better after some sleep, Catnap," Bubba said.
"Please," they all pleaded.
Catnap didn't say a word as he stepped in front of the Frowning Varmints, his friends safely behind him. Red smoke came out of his big grin of a mouth towards the trio.
At first, they were confused, unsure of what was happening. But as they breathed in the smoke, they began to feel different. They felt sleepy. Smiles of relief appeared on their faces before they lay down on the warm green grass, the Smiling Critters happily looking down at them before they gave into the blissful gift of sleep.
An hour later, while the friends were setting up their picnic, the Frowning Varmints stumbled out of the bushes.
"Hello, RoarinLeo, MunchinHippo, and StripeyZack. Did you have a good nap?" DogDay asked them.
The trio looked at the group with big smiles on their faces.
"Yes, we did," they said at the same time.
"We no longer feel cranky," RorainLeo said.
"We feel well rested and happy," MunchinHippo said.
"We want to smile with our new friends, the Smiling Critters, forever," StripeyZack said.
"That sounds wonderful," Bubba cheered.
"Want to join us for lunch? I brought plenty of food," PickyPiggy invited.
The No-Longer-Frowning Varmints happily joined their new friends on the picnic blanket. RoarinLeo apologized to CraftyCorn for pushing her and stealing their ball. If it was all right with everyone, they would like to play nicely after lunch, something the Critters all agreed to.
"Hey, good job, Catnap. They're nice now thanks to you," Bobby thanked the purple cat.
He just smiled as he took a sandwich to eat.
Yes, everyone was now friends. They could not have done it without Catnap and his wonderful gift of sleep.
I hope you liked it. I was going for "innocent but also creepy and you don't know why". I'm not good with horror, but hopefully it still had the creepy feel. Just think, our two year wait for Chapter 3 will be over in 2 days! I'm gonna get so scared!