It's Alive! [closed solo]

(Part 1)

Walking to the courtyard, Bridget let out a sigh. Just a few minutes ago she’d gone to the thrift store to buy some more stuffed animals and now she kind of wished that she hadn’t gone in the first place. All she wanted was to get some more friends for Rex, but she’d met a girl who was a bit… odd per say. Not even really able to understand the girl she’d bumped into made things even more awkward and for some reason, Bridget felt as if there was something that the girl wasn’t telling her. Was something wrong with her uniform? Thinking about the worst, Bridget looked down at her uniform and let out a sigh of relief. Nothing was wrong, she was just being paranoid.

Making her way to the center of the courtyard, Bridget sat down on a bench, a bit surprised by the cold that clung in the air even though the sun shone brightly from above. A little too bright for her taste. Letting out a sigh and watching as her breath disappeared into the frosty air. Setting down the stuffed rabbit and placing him right next to her so he’d be able to lean up against her side, Bridget took her phone out from her school jacket pocket. Turning it on and shuffling through the numerous apps she had but never used, the girl landed on her digital book app and clicked on it, opening her library with three books in it. It wasn’t like she liked reading, in fact, she hated reading. But what the hell, why not?

For what seemed like ages, Bridget got lost in "The Great Gatsby", an old classic her brother had told her about forever ago. So far all she’d followed was some kid going to New York trying to seek fame, or was it fortune? Eh, whatever. She had no idea how many chapters she’d made it through but the sound of fall leaves crunching snapped her out of the fantasy world. Jesus Christ, could she ever get a moment's peace without some bimbo coming along and talking to her? Clenching down on her phone and placing it back in her pocket, Bridget looked up, brows furrowed. But the sight that she saw wasn’t something she was expecting.

In front of her, waddling around in the leaf covered grass was Rex, her stuffed rabbit. Blinking, she swore she was seeing things. How in the world was he walking around without her gift? Looking down to her side to check if it was an illusion or some sort of sick prank, it apparently wasn’t for the plush rabbit was nowhere to be found. Blinking once more, she rubbed her eyes. This wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be, and as much as she wanted to scream, she stayed quiet, finding herself in awe of the small "creature."

Picking up leaves with its stubs for hands, it threw them up in the air and ran under the leaves when they fell back down to the ground, as if it were playing a game. She could’ve watched the little plushy for ever but like any other shocked person, she wasn’t able to stay quiet forever. Letting out a small squeak as if a scream was trying to come out, Bridget immediately slapped her hand over her mouth. Shit. Somehow hearing the girl, the little rabbit turned around. Holding its arms out like it wanted a hug, it made its way towards her and at this point, she was freaking out.

Grabbing onto the nearest large looking stick, she climbed onto the bench and held the stick in front of her like a sword, and shut her eyes. "Stay away from me!" she yelled, her heart starting to race. Nothing made sense and trying to focus, there was no sign of her gift at work. What the hell. What made this even more confusing was how her little best friend had suddenly gained a magical ability. Wait, was this that girl's doing from the Thrift Shop? Going through tons of possibilities, there was silence, a bit too much silence. Opening her eyes, the stuffed animal still stood in front of her, looking up to the girl and tilting its head in a cute and curious sort of way. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn't be enough to sway the girl. "I said stay away!" Bridget yelled again although it wasn’t like it could understand her, right? Although the plushy hadn’t attempted to speak, it was evident that it’d become sad for there was a droop in its shoulders and it let its hands fall to his side.

Still trying to process things, when the stuffed animal looked sad, Bridget couldn’t help but feel a bit bad, although she couldn’t figure out why she was feeling anything about a stuffed rabbit for crying out loud. Letting out a sigh, she tossed the stick a few yards away and looked back to the little "animal" thing, a confused look upon her face. Was she really about to make conversation with a stuffed animal? Apparently so.

"Uh, hello there," she said with uncertainty, still not daring to get down from the bench. Besides, you could never be too safe these days, her former best plush friend could be a vicious flesh eating monster!

(Part 2)

At first he thought nothing of his playing in the leaves, but now that he stared up at the girl who could obviously see him, everything started to get confusing. Looking down to his stubby little hands hands that looked pretty real and not like a transparent ghost body, he was shocked. What had happened to him?

Trying to think things over and still unable to fathom what was happening, the little stuffed rabbit stayed silent, staring up at the person. This girl, he knew here, she looked just like his sister. B-bridget? But no, it couldn't be, could it? He was dead and unless death included really realistic dreams, he was somehow in the physical world. How was he here with her?

Turning his gaze away from the girl who he was assuming was Bridget, the plushy looked around the courtyard. From the time that his soul left the world of flesh and blood, he'd never seen everything so clear and beautiful, so this couldn't have been a dream. Besides, death didn't come with the luxury of dreams. A cool evening breeze ruffled the grass and for the first time in forever, he was able to feel it. Yep, definitely not a dream. Being a ghost or trapped in whatever realm he'd been in for the past five or something years, he hadn't been able to feel anything physical and had to admit, it felt pretty weird. Not to mention the fact that he was so short and his body was... plush? Could today get any weirder?

Ever since that fatal day, Max had been watching over his little sister. He'd watched her grow up, become more mature, constantly longing to speak to her. Now he stood in front of her as a plush rabbit, watching as she stood on a bench, probably trying not to freak out.

Bridget! It's me, Max! he internally yelled and took a step towards her, though he wasn't able to hear his own voice. Hm, that was odd. She didn't respond.

Wait, could she not hear him? His sister could see him, but was he unable to speak? Well, it honestly made sense, seeing that he was somehow embodied in her favorite plush rabbit. Embodied in her favorite stuffed rabbit... what a crazy notion. He'd have to figure everything out later. For now, he needed to deal with the obvious. He... he was with his sister. He was with his sister!

Meeting her gaze as she kneeled down to be closer to him, he was suddenly filled with joy and emotions instead of confusion, and couldn't believe any of it. After all those years of lonely silence, he was finally reunited with Bridget! Of course it was odd, being in a stuffed rabbit and such, but anything was better than nothing, and he wasn't going to complain. Without taking his sister's possible reaction into consideration, the plush made his way of to the girl and onto her lap. Hugging her stomach, Max held on tight, not wanting to ever let go.

At this point, he didn't care how the heck any of this way possible. Him and Bridget were together again and for the time being, that's all that mattered.

~~~

Well this was awkward. Her and a plush animal that had somehow gained a the ability to live, staring at each other, both apparently speechless. Still standing on the bench and not letting her guard down, Bridget waited for a reply and soon realized that she wasn't going to get one, for now at least. Watching as it took a step forward, the Winter didn't know what to think anymore. It seemed pretty harmless, but she still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Rex, her toy rabbit had somehow magically been given life. Was that even possible? Letting out a sigh, she prayed that she wouldn't regret this.

Stepping down from the bench, Bridget kneeled down to the ground so that she was close to her little "friend." First thing's first, get down to business, though she doubted that it was even going to answer her. "Who are you?" Just like she'd guessed, she got no reply, but instead, a small shrug. Alright, so he couldn't talk, that was something good to keep in mind. Ask questions that he could possible answer.

"Where did you come from?" she pressed, almost like the rabbit was some sort of alien. Once again, there was no reply and instead, a shrug. Great start, Bridget thought to herself glumly. How the heck was she supposed to figure out how this happened without it being able to speak? Sign language?

Before she was able to ask anymore questions, the stuffed bunny suddenly waddled over to her, almost falling over and she let out a squeak, closing her eyes tight. This was it, she was going to die, her former favorite plush toy was going to murder her. What a way to die.

Still reciting her last words and wishes, Bridget waited for the pain of being eaten alive to set in, but it never came. Maybe dying wasn't as painful as she'd thought?

Opening a squinted eye, the girl looked down to see the rabbit holding onto her stomach, it's little stuffed arms wrapped around it in a hug. Uh... Not really knowing what to do or say, she stayed as still as possible, barely breathing. Note to self, apparently plush rabbits like hugs. Well, at least she could confer that it wasn't going to kill her, and although she still had way too many questions about everything that'd just happened, it was a start.

(Part 3/final part)

Jesus Christ, why did he have to be cute? Looking down to her stuffed bunny, Bridget let out a sigh. Fine, so he wasn't a flesh eating beast, at she had some closure on that aspect of things. Lifting up Rex or who ever this rabbit was, she could tell the difference of him now versus early, him being not so floppy and more stiff, like any other living being. Although his eyes were still sewn with black string, it was as if she could see his emotions and the girl couldn't help but smile.

"I have no idea where you're from or how the heck you're here, but I still love you, I think" she said softly, still gazing into the rabbit's "eyes" as she held him in front of her face by his stomach and watched as his ears perked up when she spoke to him. Well, there was no going back now and thinking more about the situation she didn't really have a choice. Her guilt wasn't about to let her get away with leaving Rex alone and it's not like she was going to abandon her favorite and most treasured stuffed animal just because he started living. And who knew, maybe, just maybe, this little incident was for the best.

Setting him down on the ground, Bridget stood up and grabbed her book from the bench. "Well, let's get going then." With that, the Winter started heading towards the Courtyard entrance and stopped a after a few feet of walking to turn around. Still where she left him, Rex the (plush) rabbit was taking tiny baby steps, slowly but surely making his way towards her, looking as it he was about to fall over. Great, now she had to babysit her plush too.

Walking back to the stuffed rabbit, Bridget let out a soft sigh and shifted the book to one of her hands. Squatting down, she lifted the rabbit by the rump so he sat in the palm of her hand and pulled him close to her chest. As if he was a small child, he clung onto her shoulder with his stubby arms, making sure not to fall out of her arms. Don't get too comfortable, she wanted to warn him, but stayed quiet, soon lost in thought as she internally went over tons of different reasons and possibilities for this odd phenomenon.

And off they went, a confused girl and a 'happy as could be' soul that was trapped in a stuffed rabbit, both of them somehow siblings, best friends, and total strangers towards each other at the same time.