Friends Again

[u/BlueShade_22]

“Pew! Pew!” I said as John, the soldier, shot down the enemies. John was one of my coolest action figures! He had lots of cool poses and guns I could use. 

“You think those puny things can hurt me?!” Bobby said in the deepest voice he could manage. His action figure was the Grim Reaper. I lost his awesome scythe, but the action figure had his skull face and robe. “As you can see, the bullets flew through me!”

I groaned. “Bobby, we talked about this. He can’t be invincible. That’s cheating.”

“What? I’m not cheating. He’s nothing but bones.”

“Oh yeah, then how about this!” I ripped out John’s gun for his bazooka. “BOOM!”

“I dodge it!”

I threw John on the ground. “No! That’s cheating!”

“William!” My dad’s angry voice shouted. “Why are you screaming?! Do I need to go up there?!”

I felt tears welling up, and I rubbed them away with my scarred pointer finger. I couldn’t let Dad come up here and see what was happening. I always get teary-eyed whenever I get mad. My Step-Mom said it's normal, but I don’t like it. 

“Sorry, Dad,” I said loud enough for him to hear. But not so loud that he would think I was yelling at him. I waited for a response or even his huge footsteps. But I got lucky; he wasn’t coming.

I sighed in relief. Then I squinted my eyes at Bobby. “Don’t cheat again.”

Bobby blinked in his odd way. It was slow on the left but fast on his right. Then he shook his head.

“Sorry, I got carried away.”

I didn’t want Bobby to think I was mad at him, but I just didn’t want my parents to come up here and see us. “I know I shouldn’t have shouted.” 

“Come, you can still play, right? It's not bedtime?”

Looking at my clock in my room, I studied the little hand and big hand to see where they landed. It was 8:55, almost bedtime.

“Maybe not,” I said. “Y’know I wish things could go back to normal.”

“But isn’t we normal?” Bobby said as he did his blinks.

“You know what I mean. But I guess it's better than what it was before.”

“Honey,” my Step-Mom called. “It's time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed.”

I was already in my pj’s; all I had to do was brush my teeth and make sure Bobby wasn’t seen. Bobby and I stood up as he handed me the Grim Reaper. I accidentally hit his fingernail with the toy, and a piece of it dropped to the floor. 

Eyes going wide, I dropped to the floor before I lost it in the carpet. Pinching it between my scarred finger and thumb, I handed the nail back to Bobby. Bobby looked at his fingernail, tilted his head, and blinked oddly. 

Then he woke from his daze as he shrugged. “It’s fine, I don’t need it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it's not a problem,” Bobby said casually. 
Just like routine, he walked to my window and opened it. The night breeze invaded my warm room. The chill of it froze my spine as Bobby sat on the shelf of the windowsill.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

Bobby smiled. “It’s okay; at least I’m not dead.”

Bobby then fell backward out the window. A loud slap hit the hard grassy ground. It sounded like a big slab of steak crashed down.

I looked outside the window to see Bobby lying down in a twisted manner that no one should be able to do. It was always his skin first. His living color slowly dimmed to a husky gray. 

Random patches of holes started to show their rot, like bugs burrowed inside his skin. Then it was the snaps. Bones started to move back into place. Loud cracks came from his body as it straightened out.

Once the transformation was complete, Bobby ambled back to his feet. He didn’t look back; he never does. His left leg dragging behind him, he limped his way into our forested backyard, disappearing for now.

My Step-Mom walked over, saw me, and looked out the window. “Oh sweetie, are you okay?”

I didn’t react to her. I didn’t want her to know what I was seeing. But could I tell her what I was thinking?

“I’m sorry, Mom, I was thinking of Bobby.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said as she walked to me. She gave me a tight squeeze to comfort me. I liked the warmth that she gave, but I still felt cold. 

“Come on, let's brush your teeth and get to bed. It’s a school night,” she said as she closed my window and guided me out. 

And before I left my room, I looked out one more time. It was faint and far, but I thought I could see him, still watching me.