Night of the Living Malevolent Sentient Poogle Plushie: Part One

      There was a flash of bright, white light, and a scream broke out from the silence around him. Charlie shot up in his bed, beads of sweat racing down his face as he panted uncontrollably. Silence filled the bedroom.

      Charlie panted uncontrollably. He sighed when he realized that it was just a nightmare. Charlie turned his head to look at the Snorkle Plushie that he had owned for his entire life. He named it Pigga. And boy, was Pigga ever a ragged, torn, ripped-up plushie that had been hugged and squeezed literally over a million times.

      "Oh, Pigga," Charlie said to the plushie, "I had the worst dream ever! I had a dream Dr. Sloth broke into room and turned me into a Mutant Grundo! It was so scary!"

      Charlie picked up his plushie and lay back down on his bed. "At least I know I have you, Pigga," Charlie continued, "I know you'll be my friend to the end."

      The Blue Ixi hugged his Snorkle Plushie… and the head fell off.

     ***

      "Friendship: just another word for 'love'," Charlie spoke softly. The Blue Ixi was dressed in nothing but black. He wore a black shirt, a black vest, black pants, black shoes, and of course, a black hat.

      Charlie and his friends, a Green Gelert with straight, long, dark brown hair named Ani and a Yellow Yurble named Iri, had come together on that day to mourn over Charlie's loss. It had been three days after Charlie's Snorkle Plushie met its demise. He didn't even bother to sew it back together, because he knew it just wouldn't be the same. The original stitches of the plushie carried the eternal love and warmth. Introducing new stitches into that pattern would change absolutely everything.

      "And I lost that love just two nights ago… two nights ago, when I lost my Snorkle Plushie," Charlie continued to give his speech, "Pigga was its name. And I expected to keep Pigga my whole life. But I didn't get to."

      A hole about 1 foot deep and 1 foot wide had been dug in Charlie's backyard. Pigga was placed inside a shoebox with a red rose glued to the top. Charlie picked the box up from off of the ground and placed it gently inside the hole.

      "And now, I say goodbye," Charlie whispered, a tear falling down his cheek.

      He picked up a nearby shovel and slowly tossed a pile of dirt beside him into the hole.

      Iri sighed, "I'm sorry about your plushie, Charlie." She stared at the mound of dirt covering the plushie.

      "It's okay," Charlie replied.

      "Let's go back inside," Ani suggested, "it's scorching hot outside,"

      "Yeah," Charlie replied, tossing the shovel to the side. Ani and Iri made their way back inside Charlie's Neohome. Before entering, Charlie took one last look at his long lost plushie, and then departed.

     ***

      "Charlie," said Ani, pulling up a chair and sitting down at the table Charlie sat at, "guess what?"

      Charlie didn't turn to look at her, but looked at the wall behind her instead, "Hmm?"

      Iri walked up behind Ani. "We've decided…" Iri began.

      "…TO GET YOU A NEW PLUSHIE!" Ani and Iri exclaimed as one, smiling from ear-to-ear.

      "A--- a new plushie? I don't want a new plushie. I can't have a new plushie!" Charlie exclaimed frantically.

      "Calm down, Charlie!" Ani snapped.

      "We know you're still upset about Pigga," Iri said to Charlie.

      There was a long, awkward silence.

      "But we still want to get you a new plushie," Ani finished Iri's sentence, "ya know, so you won't be so lonely,"

      "No," Charlie replied, simply.

      Ani and Iri dropped down on their knees and put on their best, helpless, Puppyblew faces. "Pleeeeeease?" they said together.

      Charlie turned around and began to head outside. "No," he repeated, "now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go spend some time with Pigga,"

      He pushed open the backdoor and headed outside towards his beloved plushie's grave. Ani and Iri turned to look at one another, and then smiled evilly.

     ***

      "This is it," Iri said, staring at the building in front of her, "the Toy Shop,"

      Ani and Iri pushed open the front door to the toy shop. Plushies, board games, toys, and all that stuff lined the shelves of the store. A purple Chia stood behind a desk to the left of the front door. He greeted Ani and Iri as they made their way to the back of the store where the "Finest Plushies in all of Neopia" were kept.

      A white basket carried the plushies Ani and Iri wanted.

      "Okay," Iri said, "let's start looking for a plushie Charlie would adore,"

      Ani nodded. And at that, the two rummaged through the basket of plushies.

      "Ooh! I found one!" Ani exclaimed after about ten minutes had gone by.

      "What?! Let me see! Let me see!" Iri hopped up and down.

      Ani reached into the basket and pulled out a brand new baby Skeith plushie. She squeezed the doll, and it spoke nearly monotonously, "I love you!" "I'm a Skeith!" "WAAAAAH!"

      Iri smacked the doll out of Ani's hand, causing it to fling halfway across the back of the store. "Ani, let's get serious,"

      "Hehe," Ani chuckled nervously, "sorry,"

      After countless hours of searching desperately through the white basket of plushies, Ani and Iri finally found the perfect plushie.

      "Oh my gosh! This one's perfect," Ani uttered.

      "Ah, no more tricks, Ani!" Iri snapped, tossing a yellow Wocky plushie out of the way.

      "No, look," Ani said.

      She then reached into the white basket and pulled out a yellow Poogle plushie. The leg of the plushie got caught in a piece of wood jutting out of the basket. Ani tugged on the plushie, causing it to catapult out of the basket. The tag that was connected to the leg stuck to the basket and became separated from the plushie.

      The Poogle plushie was no ordinary Poogle plushie. It was quite large, and the right leg was covered with a blue patch with green polka-dots. The same type of patch was placed on the back of the plushie, as well. The eyes were red, and glowed ominously, and a set of jagged, sharp teeth lined the inside of the Poogle plushie's mouth.

      "It looks kind of… scary," Iri said after examining the frightful plushie.

      "Oh, come off it," Ani chuckled, "Charlie's a boy. Boys totally adore creepy stuff like this… thing,"

      "Well, I guess so," Iri finally gave in.

      "Great!" Ani exclaimed, gleefully.

      The two put their Neopoints together and purchased the plushie. The purple Chia put the yellow Poogle plushie in a plastic bag and handed it to Ani and Iri. "Enjoy!" he smiled.

      Ani and Iri took the bag and nodded. They exited the store. The Chia left his desk and headed to the back of the store.

      "Wow, those girls made a mess," the Chia said, staring at the appalling mounds of plushies scattered across the tiled floor.

      He began to pick up the plushies and drop them into the basket when he noticed the lone, white tag lying beside the basket. It was the tag that was separated from the Poogle plushie that Ani and Iri just purchased.

      The Chia picked up the tag and eyed it. The words 'MSPP' were printed in bold on the tag.

     ***

      Charlie had just finished his third cup of tea when the doorbell suddenly rang. By this time, it was evening. The sky was pitch black and the rain outside was pouring as hard as it possibly could.

      Charlie put the cup down on the kitchen counter and made his way to the front door. Whoever was there became quite impatient, because they rung the doorbell about fifteen more times and took to kicking the door.

      Charlie opened the door to find Ani and Iri, shivering and soaking wet with a wet, plastic bag in Iri's hand.

      "Have you ever noticed that it ALWAYS rains when something dies? That's just, like, so weird!" Ani said, grinning falsely when she noticed the annoyed look on Charlie's face.

      "What are you two doing here?" Charlie asked the two.

      "Have you noticed the rain?" Iri said. "We're not about to walk home in it,"

      "Why?" Charlie arched an eyebrow. "You walked from the toy store to my house,"

      Iri hid the plastic bag behind her back, "Erm… what gave you that idea?"

      The rain got more vicious.

      "What's in the bag?" Charlie leaned against the open door.

      "Um… the 'Adventures in Neopia' board game!" Ani lied.

      "Er… yeah… because our old games were boring," Iri played along.

      "Oh, really?" Charlie began to tap his foot, "Well, can I see it?"

      "Um… no," Ani said.

      "And why not?" Charlie glared ominously at the two.

      "Because a Meepit came with it, and it will eat your brains!" Ani suddenly exclaimed, shifting her eyes around.

      Iri slapped her own forehead.

      "Uh huh," Charlie grinned, "OH MY GOSH! DR. SLOTH IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!"

      Ani and Iri quickly spun around and yelled together, "Where?!"

      Charlie extended his arm and snatched the plastic bag out of Iri's hand. He bolted upstairs and ran into his room where he slammed the door shut and locked it. He heard the front door slam shut and the sound of Ani and Iri running upstairs.

      Charlie ignored them and opened up the plastic bag. Inside, he found the strange Yellow Poogle Plushie with patches, red eyes, and sharp teeth.

      Charlie stared at the plushie in awe, and then shouted with anger, "I told them not to get me a new plushie!"

      Charlie stormed towards the window in his bedroom and flung it open. He tossed the plushie out the window, listening to the pleasing sound of it hit the soggy ground below. Charlie suddenly shut the window, seeing as how the rain began to pour into his room.

      Ani and Iri began to knock on Charlie's door. Charlie turned around and gasped. His best friends spent their hard-earned Neopoints on a plushie for him, and he threw it out the window. Charlie hopped onto his bed and grabbed a pillow. He stuffed it into the plastic bag and opened his bedroom door.

      "Oh, hi guys!" Charlie greeted Ani and Iri.

      "Oh, so NOW you greet us happily," Ani rolled her eyes.

      Iri recognized the plastic bag lying on the floor, "So, how do you like the plushie?"

      "Er… it's great!" Charlie lied. He truly disliked the plushie a lot. It was too disturbing too hug.

      Iri began to walk towards the bag. Charlie quickly jumped in front of her.

      "Wait!" he yelled. "Um… you guys need to wipe your feet. You've already tracked mud throughout the house,"

      "Um… okay…" Iri said, confused.

      "There's a doormat downstairs," Charlie stated. "Now go!"

      Charlie shoved Ani and Iri out of his room and slammed the door shut. He then leaned against the door and sighed.

      "Oh!" Charlie suddenly exclaimed. "The plushie!"

      He rushed to the window and flung it open, where he was greeted by an immense amount of rain that felt like a collection of nails when it slammed against his face. He raised his arm above his eyes as to protect himself from the rain, and then looked down at the front yard where he had thrown the plushie.

      It was gone.

To be continued…