Naive Enough

Part 2 - Foxy

I'm not entirely sure what happened after the evening - we all went to sleep, I think - but from the very start of the next day, Freddy had us back to work. That bear never gave us a day off to calm down and relax - we work seven days a week, but what can we do in a pizzeria for kids? There was still plenty of time before 6 AM to prepare everything. Some typical pirate "Arr", tales, stories, there was always something to cheer up the kids, especially as we were giving everything we could to make it interesting. And today wasn't any different. The whole room was flooded up with happy kids coming here today. You really could feel like a real pirate here! A pretty big crowd of children showed up around my scene, and I was there telling some fake pirate stories - nothing new or special, but the kids enjoyed them, so I saw no problem with that.

I sometimes get the question: do I feel bad about being separated from the rest of the band? But it's cool. I'm still part of this crew; I still have amazing, true friends and having a separate stage doesn't change much. If you think about it, they're the ones who should feel jealous of me having my own, special place, not the other way around. I like my privacy so I'm cool with it. I don't have any real problems with entertaining our customers, but I don't like when someone is watching me during my free time. Sometimes I manage to encourage the kids to watch what's up on the main stage with me, and that gives me a moment to rest if the day has been a hard one. The guys up on the main stage don't get a chance like that very often - that's why my work is more or less really simple, nice, nothing to worry about.

"Umm... Mister Foxy," A shy boy spoke up.

"Aye, aye, matey, call me Captain Foxy! Go ahead, I'm here!"

"Are... A-are you real?" That was a pretty unusual question. "Some of the older kids laughed at you and said you aren't real. That you're just dolls."

Well, that really surprised me, but I'm sure situations like these happen from time to time. Sounds like some 12-year-old kids, who think they're so mature, they won't be amused by anything, and anyone who seems to be too happy with them is accused of not being serious, or being stupid! Of course, I'm real. I'm standing right here, flesh and blood, am I right? But I'm not exactly a pirate, I'm just playing that role. That's the truth of this awkward situation...

"By my troth! Arr, if I'm not th' real one! Don't listen to these landlubbers, they clearly don't understand how it is to be a real seadog! Anchors aweigh, get underway and to the very ends of the seas!"

The boy was clearly very impressed with my response, as were the rest of the audience. I wasn't being completely honest with them, but my job is what it is, and anyone else would do exactly the same thing in my position. But at the same time, I was really unhappy with what some of those older kids did. Telling those harsh truths so the performance would lose its charm. A little imagination never hurt anybody, and believing in the stories - believing in the roles we are playing - helps our audience to enjoy a nice and happy childhood.

"Hey, do you remember last night?" I asked the others at the end when clients already left.

"Yeah, we ate pizza, right?" said Bonnie, although he didn't sound too sure about that. "You know how time flies when you're having fun."

"No, I remember that we got up to go get pizza. But I don't remember us actually getting there or doing anything specific after that."

"Nah, you're overreacting - we spent practically the whole night eating pizza. I was sitting over there, I'm sure of it - I'd know if anything different happened," said Freddy.

"I think I... I was backstage yesterday? I don't know, I don't remember that well," added Bonnie, following the topic.

"You see? It's no biggie! There's no need to worry about exactly what happened yesterday. It's time to prepare for tomorrow! Listen, I have some ideas we could add to our performance."