Furby

Furreal?

"No. Don't!" Ian pleads as Toby, carelessly, grabs the Furby from his hand.

Toby peers down at the Furby and his face scrunches, clearly annoyed by both the toy and his brother. "I'm gonna shut this thing up once and for all."

"No!" Ian screams, trying to grab it from him. Ian lifts it out of his reach. "Toby, you can't!"

Laughing, Toby turns the Furby upside down and, with one flick of his finger, opens the compartment cover on the base of the toy. He rips the batteries out and lets them drop to the floor. Its eyes close as it promptly shuts down.

"There." He says with a sigh of relief, handing it back to Ian. "Problem solved."

Ian glances down at the toy as if it was a foreign object and slowly pops the compartment cover back into place. He twists the Furby back over to face him, staring at it in utter disbelief, and begins to stutter. "I—I don't understand."

At this point, Toby is digging around in the refrigerator. He finds a plate with leftover lasagna from last night's dinner and takes it out, turning to face him as he removes the plastic wrap. "Yeah well, that makes two of us. You hungry?"

Ignoring him, Ian continues to stare at it. He softly runs his fingers along its belly.

Toby turns to him, sighing heavily. "Ian?"

Suddenly, a faint metal gear begins to spin and Ian freezes, staring at the Furby as he feels it vibrate roughly in his hand. Its eye twitches open and it blinks slowly, the eyes shifting left and right as it gazes around the kitchen.

"Hey!" It shouts, its voice more high pitch than usual. "Why do you not want to play with me?"

Shocked, Toby drops the plate—porcelain shattering against the tiled floor and around their feet. Next to the batteries.