Naive Enough

Part 1 - Bonnie

"Hey, kids! You came early - we didn't even get a chance to warm up yet! It's nice to meet you - if you don't happen to know us yet, my name is Freddy Fazbear! I sing, I dance, I also like to let loose with a fun story every once in awhile. On my right you can see Bonnie - he's a fellow musician! To be more specific, he's our guitarist. He's also my best and dearest friend. On my left there is Chica. Lots of songs pair up nicely with her sweet southern voice - but rest assured, that's not all she can do. Chica knows everything about food! What to eat, how to eat, when, and how much. She is very wise when it comes to all different types of food. And even the slightest mention will set her off about it! But let's not forget about Foxy! That old rusty pirate has sailed on every ancient seabed! He was even the first to discover most of them, but let's keep that between us. He prefers to save some of the fun for himself..."

Each day starts more or less with this longish introduction. To not ruin the fun for our frequent visitors, Freddy often changes it - sometimes saying less, sometimes more, but for the last dozen or so days it's sounded more or less exactly like what you just heard. He might introduce Chica first, or quickly sum up our whole band - he really knows how to improvise. That's why he's the leader of our band. He's the best, and every day he gives us a lot of different ideas. We love him. For years, he's shown us how good he is. Nobody could lead our band better than him!

Today promises to be full of fun. It's early, and the whole room is already full! There'll be even more kids later, so I won't be surprised if we end up having to leave the pizzeria and go outside to make room for everyone. But honestly speaking, sadly, we cannot leave the stage during the show. And that isn't our fault. It was somebody who broke the rules years ago: one of the actors who did something wrong when he was walking among the customers. It wasn't anyone from our band, but even so, they don't let us leave the stage even now. Well, that's the way it has to be. We're not too worried; a couple of boring rules couldn't ruin our fun.

Every seat was taken, every kid was happy, we wouldn't get tired of that even if we stayed there for a hundred years. Today, Foxy was telling the tale of how he wrestled with the biggest of all the pirates - well, the second biggest after him - I was helping Freddy with one of our songs by playing a fairly simple tune alongside him, while Chica was recommending the pizza of the day to the customers. She had a plenty of work to do every day: especially when parents were asking her what to choose, what to buy. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, but Chica was dealing with it extremely well. She really knew everything she needed to know here, she was perfect for that role. I mainly assist Freddy, but I often talk to the children or play my own, personal songs too. Sometimes I get my own time on the stage; sometimes I even talk to the parents. I don't mean to brag, but I even have my own little fan club here: a couple of the kids show up almost every day, overjoyed just to sit under the stage near me.

I saw a little guy in between the customers today who intrigued me. I was sure I'd seen him before, but I couldn't recall who he was. He felt very familiar. We have been on this stage for many years, so I could forget one of the clients, but I never really got a feeling like this - it felt pretty weird to me. But the important thing was that he was happy. With his friends around him, he was just happy to be there. There was an older kid, maybe even a young adult, who was taking care of them all. It looked like they were having the best day of their lives, or at least that's how I saw it.

"Bonnie, play our song!" said Freddy, and without a moment of doubt, I prepared myself. It was a perfect time. It was almost evening; we had been working for many hours now. Our last song was about spreading happiness, encouraging and comforting sad and lonely kids, and empathising with one another. We loved it a lot, and we identified with it; we were actors in a pizzeria for kids after all. The song itself tried to cheer everyone on. And the chorus repeated some very important keywords - "Tomorrow is another day. Don't give up! Be strong! Try again!" Every time we sang it I had tears in my eyes, and I wasn't the only one.