A Christmas Poppy Playtime Fanfic by:
This story came to me in an actual dream I had a few weeks back, and I wanted to get it out before Christmas ended, so here you guys go:
I remember that it was during our third season when we were all together as the Smiling Critters. By then our faces had practically been all over every child’s television when Playtime Inc. approached us about the prospect of airing a Christmas special that year. Miss Delight had told us that the network was looking for something that we could promote ourselves for the company to give to a child not in Playcare but across the States. All of us Critters found it wholesome and even philanthropic of Playtime Inc and the network to come up with this promotion for Christmas. All we had to do was name something Playtime could give a lucky viewer for the final segment of the Critter Christmas Special, and we even had the privilege of selecting the kind of gift that Playime would manufacture just for the children who had won.
“I’m going to give away a Crafty Christmas Crafting Kit!” Craftycorn had said “And teach them how to create so many cool things for decorations!”
“I’m going to give away Bubba’s Book on the Nativity” Bubba explained. “And teach him about the story of Christmas with cool pictures and facts!”
“I’m going to give away a Kickin Snowboard!” Kickin bragged. “So they can learn how to do cool tricks with it down hills!”
“Hmmph!” Hoppy scoffed “Well Kickin, I’m going to give out a Hoppy Sled’N Ramp set so they can learn how to fly into the air with just their sled!”
“I’m going to give out Picky’s Christmas Cookbook!” Picky exclaimed “They can learn how to bake and decorate holiday treats and foods with their parents!”
“I’m going to get them a DogDay Holiday Clock!” Dogday proclaimed. “They can have a holiday start not just on Christmas Day but anyday!”
“Well…I’m giving a special CatNap Plush Blanket” Catnap declared. “When Christmas and its festivities have tired them out, they can finish their best day by sleeping with it.”
Then it was up to me, Bobby Bearhug, to come up with a gift for a child, but I struggled hard to come up of what to donate. Sure, a Christmas card, a make-up set, or some poinsettias would’ve been great options but ultimately, I felt something inside tell me that that the true meaning of Christmas was giving the most important thing you could ever give. And if you ask me, the Critter best known for her love and care of everything, the answer came to me in that moment.
“Hmmm… I’m giving a child the biggest bearhug I could give!” I concluded. “And teach them the importance of not just showing you care for them but to be there for someone who needs it!”
The other critters looked at me confused, as we had been instructed that this was a toy giveaway, but I just couldn’t help but think that no toy in the whole world could ever be worth as much as love. Even Miss Delight, with her smile painted on her face, didn’t seem to be too thrilled with my idea of a Christmas gift.
“Bobby! That’s so sweet!” she tried to fake her true thoughts. “But, we need something for Playtime to make. How can a child have a bearhug without you showing up there?”
“I guess I’m just going to have to make a special trip!” I replied gleefully.
“A special trip...” Miss Delight processed.
“Yeah! I can see that working out for the show! It would be good publicity for Playtime!” she exclaimed in agreement. “I’ll go tell Mr. Ludwig and see what he thinks.”
Once I was told Mr. Ludwig was enthusiastic about my proposal for Critter Christmas, that episode’s production was the most fun we had ever had. We all had filmed our special and its various vignettes as well as recapped the misadventures we had that year. Little did any of us know that we would be making our series finale. Whether it was Kicken and Hoppy’s competitive snowball fight, my shopping story story with Dogday, or even Picky eating all of the Christmas dinner, we all waited for those to finish on airing day, so we could get to our live segment. Finally, after fifty-five minutes of waiting, we could then go live for our present sweepstakes.
In front of us was a table containing a fish-tank full of children’s names that had been submitted to us from all over the United States, where each of us were going to reach in and pull out names of the winners of our Christmas items. All of us had Santa hats on, and as the red lights of the cameras came on, none of us were eager to wait any longer for our little contest..
“Hello everyone!” Dogday said. “And we are almost finished with our Critterific Christmas! But before we say goodbye until next time, we would like to announce the winners of our Christmas Giveaway!”
The others pulled out names one by one, reading them and announcing the prizes until it was lastly my turn. I placed my hand in the tank, grabbed a sheet of paper and pulled it out.
“The winner of my special bearhug is… 8-year-old Johnny Doyle! From Syracuse, New York” I read aloud to televisions everywhere.
“Get ready Johnny because at some point next year, we’ll film a special segment of me visiting you!” I shouted before we said our farewells to see them next season.
Even with that, I still couldn’t believe that was the last episode of Smiling Critters that was ever made. Johnny’s parents as well as Playtime were obviously cross with the network for giving the boy a promise only to pull the plug on him due to the show’s cancellation. The legal trouble that heartless network avoided was due to that excuse, but no matter what both Playtime nor I couldn’t tell how sorry we were to Johnny. So that August after everything had settled legally, I entered his office.
“Mr. Ludwig…” I stuttered while creaking the door open.
“What is it Bobby?” he asked, seated at his desk with curiousity.
“I was just thinking about Johnny.”
His tone softened as he sighed. “I was just doing that too…I was going to tell you a little later, but I have plans for to visit him on his birthday to surprise him. I talked to his parents on the phone and they seemed excited about a surprise visit to make up for the whole debacle. It’s not a televised event but at least it would make him feel better.”
“That’s great!” I shouted. “Johnny will get his promise after all.”
“I know!” he gleamed. “Only a disaster could prevent something like that.”
And just like the saying goes, the disaster he tempted ended up happening just a few days before we were ready to leave. The Hour of Joy had arrived, and in the chaos and bloodshed CatNap declared that we bow to the Prototype who started this mess. Kickin and Hoppy were killed first for refusing to worship such a barbaric cyborg, and then he walked up to me. I told him he was insane but didn’t get the chance to spit out my final thoughts as I saw his eyes turn white, and a massive sharp pain tear into me. I screamed as everything went dark.
But when I awoke, I wasn’t in Playcare anymore.
I found myself alone in a public park, a place that in the late summertime should’ve been radiant with sunlight on a scorching August day. Instead, I felt the bitter chill of a howling wind and noticed the sky above me was pitch black with a blanket of snow covering the ground. Wandering aimlessly around the park scared and vulnerable, I noticed my body had become illuminated, allowing my own light to shine my way through the early morning darkness.
“Wh-where am I?” I asked myself, knowing no one would answer.
I walked until I came to a bench next to a fountain in front of me, with a dark, shapeless mass laying on top of it. Inching closer I came to see it was a man who appeared to be in his late-thirties covered with a thick blanket and coat that proved to be not enough for him to be protected from the elements while he slept. He looked ghastly pale, his gloveless fingers turning black with frostbite, and from his semi-covered face I could see long, patchy and ungroomed facial hair. He shivered as he laid there for a few minutes, until suddenly he opened his eyes to see me hovering over him, as though he felt my presence. Despite the fact he showed signs of snow blindness, he stared directly at me in disbelief once his sight had adjusted enough under a nearby streetlamp.
“B-Bobby?” he asked, with a voice weak and raspy, with each breath sounding agonizing for him to exhale.
“You know me?” I replied surprised. This man seemed way too old to know about me or any of the Critters for that matter, but the soft crying I heard from his blanket indicated a mixture of extreme sadness and happiness at the same time.
“Oh Bobby!” He exclaimed. “After all these years I had nearly forgotten…”
All these years? We hadn’t been on the air that long… realization hit me as I asked how long he’d been waiting for me to visit.
“Thirty years, Bobby.” He replied. “Since I won that contest of yours.”
I knew then I was a ghost, and that the man on the streets before me was Johnny. I had been killed by The Prototype only to return decades later. But why was my soul called back to Johnny at this time? Why did I wake up decades later?
“I’m no longer the plucky little Johnny I was…” he began.
I remembered his pictures that were submitted to the network and that of his family. They had seemed so joyful, innocent and proud of him, showing how smart and good he was early on in his life. It didn’t make sense to me that this man with nothing and nobody had been that same person.
“Wh-what happened to you?” I stuttered.
“My life…” he began. “I never imagined I would end up like this on Christmas Day…Johnny the football star. Johnny the valedictorian. With the reputation and scholarships I had earned, everyone set me up as the kid who would go far. I was beloved by my family, my town and my school. Everyone loved me, Bobby. Everyone would be there for me and I all thought it was genuine. Until…”
His voice trailed off before he continued.
“Until when?” I asked. “What did you do?”
“What did I do?! HA! NOTHING!” he tried to shout. “I did nothing to anyone! She was jealous of me for getting better grades in college! That’s why she made that whole thing up about the damn freshmen party! I was with my parents that night enjoying a spaghetti dinner across town, but even they didn’t dare lift a finger to defend me just to save their own skins from scrutiny. Even a confession in court and a serious fabrication charge against her didn’t give me my life back. ”
He hacked some blood up in his anger.
“No one would take me in. Not even the school I worked my ass off to get into. No job, no church, no university, no friends or even my own family! Not one of them cared about my wellbeing but every day I still have to watch as those who betrayed me for clout and money are paraded around as humanitarians and such ‘great people’. They refuse to look me in the eye now, the look of shame and guilt they attempt to hide when the cameras stop rolling makes me wonder how any of them sleep at night after grooming me for success only to rip it away from me the second they could.”
There was a long silence before I spoke up to question him. It all sounded horrible so far, but I could tell there was no way that accusation was the sole reason for his predicament.
“Surely that’s not just why you’re out here…” I whispered. “You know there is more you need to say.”
“I was desperate…” Johnny confessed after swallowing. “I…needed the money badly after I was kicked out. So... I robbed a convenience store…at least the jail gave me a warm bed and something to eat for a few years. Been out for a few months now and already I miss it…but it didn’t help me get back on my feet. Now I’m marked as a criminal for life.”
Johnny began to sob bitterly. His tears freezing to his face as he turned to me.
“Oh, Bobby I’m sorry!” he cried. “I don’t deserve your visit! I may have once but now look at me! A street rat who doesn’t deserve love or affection from anyone!”
I wish I didn’t hesitate. This man had been corrupted sure, but I made a promise to him I would visit him to give him a bearhug. And the things that let him to his desperation came from the malice of another. So, I buried my doubts and went to hug him.
“Why are you hugging me?” Johnny barked. “After I confessed I shouldn’t have it? To pity me? It’s just pretend love, Bobby. You of all people should know that.”
He was right. I was just a toy who gave superficial love through hugs for children. But again, I couldn’t let myself deny it to him after everything both of us had experienced, so I continued to walk toward him.
“I don’t deserve it Bobby! Let me die in peace!”
He kept shouting, but I couldn’t stop myself until I reached him. I was able to embrace him which made him stop his weak kicking and screaming. He looked at me for a moment and hugged me back until we were locked for many seconds. We both cried and felt ourselves feel a release of something in our chests that had been there for a long time.
“I’m sorry Johnny…I’m sorry I never came to you like I promised! I could’ve been able to stop it all…”
“Bobby, please…” Johnny began “None of this was your fault.”
“But Johnny… The education! The family! The job! Everything your future had for you! They were all denied like my Christmas Bearhug!”
He looked at me with a soft smile.
“No…my Christmas Bearhug wasn’t denied to me…it only simply waited until the time I needed it most…I know that know that I have received it in my final moments.”
He was ready to let go not just of me, but of his soul as well. I didn’t want to know if he would die in my arms once we let go of ours hug. Then I heard the clock tower nearby ring five times.
“Trust me Bobby…my time has come…” Johnny whispered.
“I just want you to know.” I babbled. “Everyone needs love in their life…It’s the greatest gift God ever gave us.”
“And I will thank Him in a few seconds…after all, isn’t that what Christmas is really about?”
At this point I could hold him no longer, and as I let go he said with his final breath “Merry Christmas, Bobby. I love you…”
And with that his spirit had left him. Had gone to his Maker, Johnny was dead. I set his body on the bench before I walked away and disappeared back into the snow. I felt myself disappear from the world too, my purpose fulfilled, and my spirit put to rest. And if you believe in and accept the love enough, be it from beings above or those around you, I will see you there. And we will be in a place where treachery, abandonment and betrayal shall never rear its ugly head ever again.
And the moments just beginning
From last night when we wished upon a star
This day is just pretending
If we pretend long enough
It just might be who we are
-Trans-Siberian Orchestra, “Promises to Keep”
2087
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