Smiling Critters: A Turn To The Story.

Thanks To The Angels.

(☀)

The hallway of the cells was immersed in the worst of silence, a silence that I had to get used to.
I got used to startling at the slightest noise, to becoming distressed by pure silence, to relaxing only when I knew he would take a while to return.
That was one of those periods that he left me with a respite between torture and torture.
I lowered my head and rested my neck, since my crucifixion posture only allowed me to move my head. I exhaled, but had to gasp for air, as I almost lost my breath.
As for my legs...I haven't felt them in years. In fact, I haven't had them in years.
My legs being taken away was the first torture of many more.

CatNap tortured me in every way possible; from the biggest injuries to the most horrible insults and threats. In one way or another, he always found a way to humiliate me, to bring down my spirits, to make me feel inferior, to convince me that I brought this torture on myself by opposing him.
Even then, I never stopped considering him as my friend. We had been friends for too many years, and surely, CatNap was just confused. Or crazy. Or both.
But it can possibly be solved.
What I don't know for sure is when it will be solved.

Of all the psychological tortures, there was one that still saddens me to this day; CatNap constantly and tirelessly reminded me that my friends, the other Smiling Critters, had died, that it was my fault they all died.

And the truth is, I believed it at first.

I never knew if it was true or just one of CatNap's wicked little games; Having no proof or news, I just told myself it was true, since the desolation and the despair was stronger than my hopes of seeing them again.

At that moment, I heard the metal door creaking. I didn't look up; I knew it was CatNap.
That smell of blood was already too familiar. But, for some reason, it didn't smell like lavender...

I looked up slightly. Some steps approached.
And soon, he ended up in front of me.

It wasn't CatNap.
It was a...
...a human.
Or maybe...Poppy's rumored angel...?

(🟠)

I think that, to this day, I have never regretted having left that place with my siblings.
10 years ago, when my twin sister and I left college, we were offered a job at the prestigious children's toy and entertainment company PlayTime Co.
We accepted the offer; I started working in the management and creative team to plan the launch of toys; Maya, instead, went to work as a caregiver at PlayCare, the company's orphanage.
Normally, we took our little brother, Oscar, to play with the other children, since we didn't have our parents and no one could take care of him. Leaving him alone was never an option- he was just almost six at the moment.

From a very young age, Oscar suffered from both sight and speech problems. He had this visual snow, like static that clouded his visual field, which was also a little more limited than the rest's, being unable to see things that were far away from him, even if it was on a table a few meters away.
Still, we never had to be careful with him, because he was not a naughty child; He was discreet, clean and quiet, much more mature than other children his age. And overall, more intelligent than them.
He usually was in Game Station, but sometimes Maya would take him to PlayCare in order to play with other kids.

We were happy with our work, but soon strange rumors began to circulate about the mascots' behavior.
Many workers began to say that the toys acted strangely towards them, but they were still sweet to the children.
I never let the gossip bother me; until the rumors began affecting Maya.

Maya worked as a caregiver at PlayCare, and she loved taking care of children and playing with them. She explained to me that, apart from the caregivers, there were several mascots who cared for and played with the children.
They were the Smiling Critters, a chain of stuffed animals, for which the company had also created an animated series, and later, bigger mascots for PlayCare kids to play and talk with.
These mascots seemed to be appreciated by the caregivers and other adults, as many times the Smiling Critters encouraged the caregivers to join in the children's games.
But soon, it reached my ears, thanks to a friend, that something strange was going on with the Smiling Critters.
One of them, CatNap if I remember correctly, was behaving strangely, scaring the children, the workers, and even the rest of the mascots.