* * *
I woke to the sound of kids laughing, screaming and running. They were all throwing snow at each other. It was very cold and the light had gone out. I stayed for a while though, because it was so much fun seeing them play from up high. I could tell a kid was going to get hit well before he felt the cold ball smash into him. Then seeing all the children playing and having fun reminded me of Zack and I knew I had to get back to him. He would have missed me last night. Even though it wasn’t my fault, I felt bad about not being there. He was so excited when he brought me home and showed me to his other stuffed animals.
I didn’t know what I was going to do against that cat, but I jumped down from the post anyway and sunk into the snow. I sat up and looked around. No one had seen me. They were all too caught up in their epic battle to notice a little guy like me. I started across the park, careful not to draw attention to myself. I hid behind trees when I could and made my way back towards Zack’s house. When I got to the edge of the park I looked around for the biggest snowball I could carry. I found one about as big as my tummy and picked it up. I saw Zack’s house and ran to the yard, waiting to get in. I waited for a long time and I was getting really cold when I heard the sound of the big garage door opening again.
I ran inside as the red car pulled out. The door closed behind me trapping me in. It was much darker than outside, but there was a dim light on the ceiling. Then the light went out and it was hard to see. I walked around in circles not sure what to do next. Then I saw a yellow pair of eyes peeking out from the cat’s house on the top platform of his domain. I turned my eyes away and acted like I hadn’t seen him, and waited. I heard his soft paws hit the cold gray cement floor. I gathered my courage, then turned. He stopped, looked at me, looked at the snowball in my hands, and then crouched low to the ground. We sat there for an eternity. I knew I had to wait until he was close to make my throw count. If I missed it was all over for me.
All of the sudden he charged. His sharp kitty paws scurried across the floor hurling him towards me so fast it was a fight to keep my eyes open and not turn away, but I waited for my moment. When he was another step away I hurled it at his face as hard as I could. The sound was amazing as it smacked him right on the nose and exploded across his mouth and into his ears. He screeched and tried to stop but he ended up sliding forward on the slick cement. I dove out of the way, just avoiding being knocked over, and he sailed past me right into the garage door. Zack must have heard it because a moment later he burst through the door.
“What was that loud bang? Oh, Thompson! What have you done to poor Longclaw?”
Longclaw? I thought. I have a name? It warmed my heart to hear that he had named me.
He came over and picked me up, giving me a great big hug. Then he went over to Thompson and picked him up.
“What was that loud noise and how did you get all wet? Is that snow in your whiskers? Bad cat! How could you do this to my nice monster friend Longclaw?”
I had won, but I was still nervous that once Zack had a good look at me he’d throw me away and go out to get a new stuffed animal monster. I think most kids would have thrown me away. I spent a lot of time watching them from inside the claw machine, and most of them are not very nice. I’m lucky to have Zack as a human because he proved me wrong. He took me to his mom and she fixed me up all nice with new stuffing and every tear sewn back up. I came up with a way to make sure the cat never got anyone again too. I found a fluffy white ball under Zack’s bed one day that looked a lot like a snowball and whenever Thompson would poke his head inside the room I would pick it up and run at him with it. It worked every time. There’s been talk of trying to fill the squirt gun on Zack’s dresser up with water somehow too. That would be really fun.
I don’t know if it was because he felt sorry for what I had been through, but Zack kept my spot next to him at night. It took me forever to get used to Brownie the teddy bear’s loud snoring, but eventually I slept really well knowing I was safe next to my great human Zack. The nicest kid a monster has ever known.
THE END
Thank you for reading my short story Stuffed Monster! For more about me check out my website where you can read about my writing journey and find links to many more free stories both in eBook and audio book formats:
https://www.DanDanTheArtMan.com
Stuffed Monster Page 2
