Humpty-Dumpty

	Unlike the rest  of my friends, I can actually recall my previous life quite clearly.

Or, rather; our previous lives.

I know it sounds complicated? You want an explanation?

That comes soon, just hold on...

I was born a healthy little baby that looked like a shaved mole-rat. I was in kindergarten. I was your typical kid; fast-mouthed, energetic and a little naive as anybody expected.

It was around the second month of Kindergarten that I was called to the school's office early in the day, and driven away by one of the teachers. Mr. Lich was a close family friend of ours; and had the permission of my parents to pick me up from school because Mom and Dad's shifts sometimes coincided. He sat in the driver's seat, laid back in his brown hat and lumberjack shirt while enlightening us to rock. While I was waiting in the office, I thought something bad had happened to my Mom. Her stomach was getting noticeably fat a few months before that day, making me think it would burst open like a balloon. Then again, my parents were very happy and cheerful that morning; they were whistling while making eggs and bacon.

Mr. Lich wouldn't answer me, just saying "It's a secret". He'd look back at me in the car, and gave a reassuring smile; every so often. It wasn't too long before I realized we were going to the "hos-pittle" as I wrote it down in my diary that week.



"What's that?" I asked my mother as I was handed what I could only identify as a baby pig.

"Your brother," my mom said.

"Gross", I said. With assistance from a doctor, I handed him back to my father.

Wasn't too long before I came around to appreciate the position and power "big sister" bestowed upon me. He giggled, gurgled, and followed me everywhere when he learned to crawl. It did take a while for me to get over the attention shift onto him, but that was okay. I could use a little time of my own, and his mind could use some sharpening. Teaching him the ways of the land ; the politics and each cog's purpose in the machine that was "the neighborhood"... Teaching him  was what made me decide I wanted to teach other kids when I became a grown-up. Or maybe help them. The kind doctors and nurses, helping Mom;  I loved Manny dearly. We were inseparable, to the point that we attended the same school when he got old enough.

One day, I was called to the office again. This time with company. By now I had pieced together why Mom had been so fat before Manny had come around; and tried to piece the puzzle together again. Mom wasn't fat this morning. They weren't singing in the kitchen. So what was it?

Mr. Lich was quiet. He gave a few worried glances at us in the overhead mirrors, but that was it for interaction. He looked lifeless, slouching in the driver's seat.

I entered the hospital again, and was led down the corridors to a patient's room. The positions were reversed, with my mother at the side of the bed my father laid in.

He gave a look at us, smiled, and closed his eyes.

I didn't realize the ramifications of this until later. Much later. I thought he was just sleeping. I didn't realize it was his final nap at the time.

I didn't like hospitals very much after this, anyways. I didn't want to help people much anymore, though I still held onto Manny like an anchor.

Life got a little tougher.


Mr. Lich began to drive us around more often after Dad stopped coming home. He drove us to Freddy's Pizzeria one day, and it was wonderful. I wished I could stay there forever.  He gave us twenty bucks, and told us to go crazy. Of course, Manny and I stayed in sight of each other, making it easy for him to keep an eye on us. Meeting Freddy and his two partners was the best day of my life, and it only got better when his golden cousin introduced himself.
The golden bear bent down to us, and asked us our names.

"Scout!"
"Manny!"

 We didn't see him in the cartoons and merchandise, so we excitedly asked him for HIS name, and HIS story, and he told us that he wanted to be independent and find work for himself in the South. The sun turned his fur gold, and the locales gave him the Southern voice he has. He found his senses, and came back to Freddy's.

"I could never leave this place, y'know? It's ma homestead!"

We hung onto every word of this bear. Because we were such good listeners, he and another employee took us to the kitchen to get some free toys. He also asked us to fill out a coupon for the Friendly Freddy Fan Society to get free slices every time we came in. We'd get our badges in the mail.

We gave him our names, our phone number, and our address.

Home was a startling pinch, back into reality. We learned to pour our own cereal, but couldn't make eggs or bacon. Mom was too sleepy and didn't really understand us in the mornings. I began to wish I could teach her and make her smart again, but she slept when we got home often. We learned how to make our own Macaroni because of this. School passed by at a grinding pace for my fifth-grade mind.

The following month, we were called in yet again. This time I felt unease for what was coming. I felt that something was wrong, that Mom had gotten hurt perhaps. This time I had an advance in five-years of education; but I still had those childhood fears. What if, you know...

What if?

We got into the familiar navy blue car; Manny and I feeling a bit worried.

We tensed up as Mr. Lich drove towards the hospital, and relaxed when he passed it by. He didn't chat with us at all, though. Just played his old Hendrix tapes.

We were elated when we  came to a stop at Freddy's. He got out of the car, and walked around to my window.

You probably figured this part of the story out by now. He wasn't Mr. Lich, and his checkered shirt was stained with blood. His brown hat, too large for his head, shaded his eyes to the point that they glistened in the afternoon's light.

He tranquilized me before I could scream.


	I woke up to the sound of music.


I tried to move, but found my limbs bound by duct tape. My eyes and mouth were covered as well, but not my ears. My nose stung with the smell of copper. I tried to tear myself free, but found it impossible. I couldn't feel one of my arms or legs. I couldn't tell which because my mind was scrambled by the rush of sensations. Bleeding from so many different places.

I soon realized that I wasn't hearing music.

The mechanical whirling came closer. Closer. Closer. Until it was right next to my ear. I heard a low chuckle.

The power drill drew closer and closer, until it hurt my ears to hear it's spinning so close. I sweated bullets as it drew away.

And then my world came crashing down.

The last thing my right eyeball ever saw was a whirling silver metal, caving in towards it. The drill was covered in blood, most likely Manny's as I later found out. It bore deep into my eye, and I had no time to react as it reached my brain. A massive, sharp head-ache, and then...

Silence. Nothing.

My mind here, is scrambled. Lots of things are, including my body.

Screaming. Lots of screaming. And shadows; hellish, demonic shadows of people and things. I saw Manny somewhere in there.

It felt like an eternity inside wherever I was, and maybe it was.

I woke up in a hospital room.

No, the kitchen.

I was being worked on. My skin was pale. White, a faded gray, some color. I could see parts of me mixed together with other bits I couldn't name like patchwork. A quilt, sorta. A cloth of red and black covered my eyes.

Above me was a doctor. He was helping me feel better. A few other nurses and doctors paced back and forth through the room, assisting the main doctor- the one in the funny mask- in my operation.

All the king's horses and all the king's men were able to put me back together again.

But...Wait, I feel something new. Another presence.

I felt another object. Other than the table.

Manny.

Manny was here.

Deep down, I could feel it. My bones. My core.

My skeleton.

I could feel...

Two legs!

Two arms!

Two eyes...

I felt something close over me, snuffing out my thoughts.

I took one final nap, shutting my eyes.

I woke up again one day.

Outside, the Golden Freddy's voice boomed.

"Girls and boys, I give you.."

I felt myself step forward, into the lights and camera.

No, ourselves.

"FOXY!"

The kids are gonna love us, Manny.

Right?

They will.