Strange Symphonies (Request)

Nedd Bear was always a weird one.  He had been in Hoppy Hippo’s band of Battery Buddies for as long as anyone could remember, but to Orville Elephant, he never seemed like a real Buddy.  Sure, he wore a battery on his back like the rest of the gang, but he was a weirdo. He wasn’t as wacky as Happy Frog, nor was he as sensible as Mr. Hippo. He wasn’t funny like Pigpatch, either. Orville didn’t hate Nedd, but he didn’t know what to make of him. He always seemed off, for a variety of reasons.

He was noisy, for one. Nedd always rattled when he walked, and he walked real funny too. His leg would go limp when he lifted it up, dangling in the air like a pinata. It was just like his hat, which was always popping up in the air.

Orville once asked him why his hat was like that, and Nedd laughed. Then he said, “Why, because my noggin's just BURSTIN' with thoughts!” Nedd laughed some more, and exclaimed “I got twice the brains, and I gotta let them go free!” Orville didn’t understand what that meant, but refrained from asking about it.

In the daytime, Nedd Bear ran the Prize Counter. Or so he said.  In truth, he didn’t really run it. There was an assistant supervising all transactions, to ensure Nedd didn’t ask the customer for more tickets than he really needed, or attempt to persuade them into buying something more expensive. He had done that in the past. Nedd never did anything blatantly cruel, but his oily business habits confused Orville. Again, Orville didn’t comment, but wondered about Nedd. What did he have to gain from swindling kids out of their hard-earned tickets?

Orville was really more bothered by Nedd’s appearance, though. From a distance, he looked like a knockoff Freddy Fazbear, who he had been mistaken for on multiple occasions. Up close, his eyes always goggled, and bounced around in their sockets. Combined with the springy hat, Orville thought it made him look like he didn’t have any insides.

Orville knew where all his friends came from. Happy Frog was swept out into a river stream when she went hopping on lily pads in her favorite creek, eventually finding herself at Hoppy Hippo’s doorsteps after a series of hilarious hijinx.  Mr Hippo himself came from his family in the east to build the restaurant. Pigpatch was hired straight from a farm, while Orville was an intellectual recruited from a nearby circus. Everybody knew each other’s backstories.

But Orville found it odd that he couldn’t remember where Nedd came from. As everyone knew, an elephant never forgets, and Orville’s trivia contests were the stuff of legend. And yet, it was as if Nedd had always been a part of Hoppy Hippo’s Backyard Barbecue.

All of these things disturbed Orville, but he had never considered sharing these thoughts with the others until one night, when the gang was waiting for the place to reopen. Orville heard some very strange things when he walked by the Parts and Service room, and lingered at the doorway to hear them better.

Nedd was muttering rapidly, like an actor preparing to perform. But he was talking too fast to be understood, and he was staring at a shelf of spare performer helmets while he did this. He pulled down on his jaw, and it smacked back up like a slinky toy when he let go. In his babble, he did say one thing that was decipherable- “Get it off.”

Orville left without being noticed.

Orville decided for a meeting with the others in the daytime- minus Nedd, of course. He asked Mr. Hippo first, who then passed it onto Pigpatch and Happy Frog.

“What’s wrong with Nedd?”, Happy asked. They were all gathered backstage, while Nedd was “working” the counter.
“I think he might be getting unstable,” Orville said, taking care to keep his other fears to himself. “Last night he was muttering to himself, and standing in one spot.”
“We don’t want another Bite,” Mr. Hippo said. “But we don’t want a witch hunt, do we? Everything has to be taken with precaution.”
“Yes, but how much do we really know about Nedd?”,  Orville asked. “Do any of us know where he comes from? Or who he is?”

An awkward silence filled the room. and then Orville remembered. It came back to him a little muddled, but he remembered nonetheless.

He asked the room, “Whatever happened to that blue guy?" He paused, and added "Melvin Macaque."
There was silence again, but they soon remembered.
Pigpatch’s ears perked up. “I remember Melvin. He was real nasty. Always stealin’ what wasn’t bolted down.”
“I think he went back to his jungle,” Orville said.
“Really? Because I could’ve sworn he went off to start his own business,” Mr. Hippo said. "That's what they told me."
“Well, that’s strange,” Happy said. “How long’s it been since he left, again?”
“About six months back.”

Orville racked his brains. “I thought he was here for longer, are you sure that’s right?”
Mr. Hippo sighed. “Well, this just gets curiouser and curiouser!”, he exclaimed.

The four of them agreed to keep an eye on Nedd throughout the week, making sure he doesn’t do anything unsafe. Hoppy Hippo’s had weathered the other restaurants’ incidents, and wasn’t about to start having problems now, after all this time.

Nedd Bear went without incident for the rest of the week. Until 5 am, on a Saturday morning. Nedd stood at the Prize Counter, while everyone else went back to their rooms. He stared off into the distance, thinking about what was next.

Nedd walked to the parts and service room, and locked the door. Inside, he tore his power battery from his back before flinging it across the room. Nedd collapsed in a heap, clawing at his helmet. He pawed at them futilely, before tearing off one of his hands' costume pieces. Underneath the blocky fur was a five-digit hand, that tore his jaw off with primate-like dexterity. Nedd tossed his lower jaw to the side, joyful that part of him was freed; that this facade was soon to end. But was more left to do. Behind the jaw was a blue, bestial chin.

Melvin powered down before he could finish his work, and was recovered in the morning by the employees.

The gang was told that Nedd Bear went back to his cousin’s home. The men from the big Freddy’s company came to help Orville and his Buddies stop feeling so bad. A week later, they came back with a brand new friend- Peter Parakeet. Peter wasn't anything special, but he did make cool sounds when he walked. Peter said that was the sound of his laugh-box, which was "always bursting with good jokes!"  He eased into the Buddies very well, and soon it was as if Nedd was never there at all. Peter had always been here, just like Happy Frog, Pigpatch, and Orville.

Mr. Hippo and the others accepted Peter, but Orville didn't. Not entirely. There was always a creeping doubt, at the back of his mind.

An elephant never forgets.