The Fall of the Aftons

017: Michael Song

"How does it feel? Can you walk on it?" the doctor, Doctor Ingissroy, asked Michael as she held out his cast to him. She helped him stand up, and he immediately fell to the floor. Both of them laughed.

Michael was so happy that his leg was okay. Felicity's friend's parents were going to take the three of them to Fredbear's in a few days. He hadn't even properly met her friend yet. He hadn't been able to stand in the woodchips at the park long enough to say, "Hi," without falling into the snow.

"It feels good?" 

Michael nodded his head. 

"Great!"

~ ~ ~

"Are you ready to finally meet my friend?" Felicity asked excitedly.

Michael smiled.

"I asked him to bring a stuffed animal for you. Is that okay?"

He didn't answer. He just opened the back door and darted across the empty, rarely-used street to the park. Felicity called after him, her voice filled with laughter as she chased him as they made their way to the park. Within a few minutes, the two of them were in an odd puddle of laughter-bounding limbs.

"Felicity?"

Felicity gasped happily. "Noah!" Somebody helped Michael up, probably planning to grab Felicity's hand instead of his. He was greeted by a boy with umber brown skin, dark chocolate brown hair, mismatched eyes, and freckles that peppered his rosy cheeks under his eyes and along the bridge of his nose. He was dressed in a tightly-fitted black polo shirt, a wide-open turquoise parka, pale blue jeans, and yellow rain boots. A gray backpack straightened his slight slouch, which pulled his spine back a little higher than you'd expect out of a four-year-old boy. "You must be Michael!" he exclaimed cheerfully, a huge grin unfurling across his face. "I'm Noah Wright. It's great to finally meet you! Felicity has told me so many stories about you. You sound like such a fun person to be friends with! You look even better than she described."

Michael waved his hand shyly, smiling at his friend's friend's extrovertish ways. 

Noah giggled and took off his backpack before he knelt on the ground, his pants instantly becoming soaked in the thin layer of snow on top of the woodchips. He gently set the backpack down and opened it, then pulled out a purple teddy bear with a white belly and coal-black button eyes. He politely handed the bear to Felicity, who squealed and trapped Noah in a sudden embrace, knocking them both to the ground. The two laughed as she laid on top of him, hugging him tightly around the neck in a friendly hug.

"Felicity!" he exclaimed, his words filled with exuberant laughter. "I can't give Michael his plushie if you're on top of me, silly!"

Michael gasped quietly, surprised. This boy barely knew him. Noah had just met him today. Had he actually brought Michael a stuffed animal as Felicity had asked? By the looks of it, yes, because Felicity got off of Noah and laughed, clapping her hands as Noah slowly pulled out a stuffed animal from his backpack. He held out a yellow-green bunny plush with a paler version of the color for a stomach. 

"I'm sorry that it's so ugly," Noah muttered sheepishly, his hand resting on the back of his neck. "When my sister took me to the store to get the stuffies for you and City, I had tried to find one I normally wouldn't bring her." He pointed to their mutual friend.

So that's where Felicity retrieved all of her stuffed animals, Michael thought.

Felicity giggled. "I had asked for an ugly one last year, so he brought one covered in his doggy's doodoo and his baby sister's barf. He shoved it in a bag, and when he got here, he threw it at my face!" The two of them burst out into fits of giggles at the silly memory. "I don't believe anything is ugly. Everything is charming and cute in its own way. Same thing with people."

Michael smiled. That was a good moral to live on.