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Stuffed Monster

  by

  Dan Absalonson

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  PUBLISHED BY:

  Stuffed Monster

  Copyright © 2012 by Dan Absalonson

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  Dedicated to my kids who love their stuffed animals.

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  Stuffed Monster

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  I was the ugliest, weirdest stuffed animal in the claw machine, but that didn't matter to Zack. He picked me out on purpose. You see it sometimes, where you can tell a person is trying to win a certain stuffed animal, but they end up getting a different one. Not Zack, he chose me.

  I am a monster. Most of my cell mates were dolls, farm animals, and Teddy bears - cute little snuggly things. None of them expected me to be chosen, and here I was, riding in the backseat of a minivan next to my new human Zack. He had a little army man he pretended was a knight and we had an epic battle on the ride to his home. When we arrived I got to sit next to him for a while and watch TV. He picked a movie with monsters in it. He wasn't like most kids though, who are scared of monsters. When the big yellow thing came out of the swamp and chased kids away Zach said, "awesome." Then we went to his room.

  There were all kinds of other cool stuffed animal monsters. Some of them were even cute, not scary like me. Others were from Zach's favorite movies. I got to know them once Zack left for dinner. A few of them even came from claw machines like me. I finally fit in.

  That night I got to sleep next to Zach, and the one stuffed animal who wasn't a monster, his teddy bear Brownie. Brownie was used to having monsters around and he was really nice to me. He made me feel at home, all of them did. It was perfect. Everything was going great until the next day when Zack left the door open on his way to dinner. That’s when I met the cat.

  We were all just hanging out around Zack's pillow talking about the different games he had played with us when the cat sauntered in with his tail swaying around in lazy arcs.

  "Quick, under the pillow!" Brownie said.

  I just caught a glimpse of the cat's mean yellow eyes before I was buried under the pillow. Then I felt the thump of the cat landing on the bed next to Brownie.

  "You stay away Thompson! Chew! Get out of here!"

  I heard Brownie cry out in pain, which made me feel bad, so I came out from under the pillow. This cat might not be scared of Brownie but he should be scared of me. I am a monster after all, and I'm pretty big for a stuffed animal. It was a big mistake. While I do have long claws and pointy teeth, they are all made of soft fabric. The cat’s claws were the real deal.

  "Get away from him!" I screamed.

  I came at him with my arms raised and my teeth bared. He scratched me, ripping a large gash into my side and pulling out some of my stuffing as he tore his claw away. As my world exploded in pain and I grabbed my side to hold the stuffing in, he snatched me up into his mouth and carried me away.

  We raced through the door, down the hall, and past more rooms and through a tiny door until we came into a cold dark place. It was the first room I had seen where they kept the van we rode home in. Thompson took me up into his little house. It was high above the floor, and he jumped from one platform to another until we reached the top. Up there he spat me out and played with me like a ball for a long time. I screamed for him to stop but he just kept pawing at me, smacking me from one side to the other. Then Zack’s mom opened the door.

  “Thompson. Come get your dinner kitty cat.”

  He gave me one last look and then leapt down and walked out the door. Zack’s mom closed it behind him and left me in there alone. I knew I had to get out of there right away if I wanted to remain in one piece. I crawled towards the edge and looked down. It would have taken me awhile to reach the floor by jumping from one platform to another so I just jumped all the way to the floor. Us soft guys can do that without getting hurt. I lost a little bit of stuffing from my biggest tear, but I shoved it back in and started looking for a way out.

  I hated to leave Zack but I could not be in the room when that cat returned. I knew if I tried to hide it would only be a matter of time before he found me and tortured me again. I was already ugly, I didn't need to be maimed and disfigured too. If I ever found a way to get back to Zack, he might not even want to keep me. Other than the Brownie bear, us stuffed animals usually get traded out as favorites pretty quick. The door they had left through was no use, so I walked around the room looking for another way out, but there was none.

  Then the big door we first came in through when Zack brought me home opened. His dad drove in and parked his sporty red car next to the minivan. I made a break for it, hiding behind a paint can against the wall and then running to my freedom once his headlights had passed over me. The night was cool and I could feel it the most where my fabric scales were still wet from Thompson’s slobber. The wind blew into me through puncture holes and scratches he had made with his teeth and claws. It felt horrible and I will never forget that feeling. It was like death blowing his icy breath into my soul. I ran to the end of the driveway and kept going across the street into a park. In the center I saw a big lamppost shining bright like a star. It looked warm and inviting against the cold dark night. My feet were starting to freeze from walking on snow. Luckily I was light enough to not sink down into it as I ran to the lamppost, wishing I could fly to its top and lay on its warm glow. When I got to it I felt no warmer so I decided to try and climb up to the light on the top and make my wish come true. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to, but when I grabbed the post my hands stuck to it. The moisture left from my cat friend combined with the frost on the lamppost provided me with the right amount of grip. I supported my body weight as I climbed up, which isn’t much, but could still pull my hands and feet free to keep climbing.

  Once at the top I cleared off the snow with my tail and was rewarded for my climb. My perch above the park was nice and warm and the view was amazing. Above I could see branches of nearby trees reaching up to the dark sky. Below were stories of people enjoying the park in their many footsteps which broke up the rippled surface of the fallen snow. My favorite thing though, was the pattern of light stretching out in big V shapes from the base of the post, fading into the shadows of the night. Being on the light made me feel safe from all the things that could be out there waiting for me. After a while I warmed up and was able to fall asleep. I dreamed of living with my new friends back in Zack’s room.