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Mommy loved all of her children, truly she did.
But recently she had been finding it more difficult to have any kind of real... connection with them since they came and went in a flash. Every day it was new faces and names; hairstyles and clothes; shapes and sizes. It was all becoming a bit of a blur, really.
She wasn’t even sure why she was here, in this wonderfully colorful yet painfully bleak place. There were...memories in there, somewhere, of laughter and screaming and yummy sweets and agonizing pain. But no matter how much she tried to focus; she just couldn’t pluck anything out of that plastic head of hers.
Which only left confusion and rage and—
“Hi kids! Welcome to the Game Station!”
Snapped out of her trance by the callout, Mommy immediately made for the train station and forced the corners of her lips upwards, hoping to make some resemblance of a warming smile as the next batch of children hopped off from the carriages.
Most of them just stood there in awe as they took in the grandeur of the hall, others had no hesitation in making a beeline for the soft-play area and punching the buttons of the cut-outs while a select few made their feelings be heard loud and clear by crying at the top of their lungs.
That was Mommy and Huggy’s cues to step in.
As she picked up and soothed a young boy, Mommy couldn’t help but glance up at the adults in white coats as they watched the children with beady eyes and hastily scribbled down on their notepads. It would be so easy just to reach up and tear those scribbling hands right out of their—
Mommy took a breath. She couldn’t. Not in front of the children.
The boy seemed to calm down and wanted to play on the swings, so Mommy let him down, patted his head and let him be on his way. Another nameless face to blend into the crowd that she would never see again.
Only he wouldn’t leave.
Mommy blinked as he grabbed her hand and tried to lead her to the playground and, as he ran ahead, didn’t seem to process that she wasn’t following. Only realizing when he stopped and saw that her arm had stretched all the way across the hall.
She didn’t even register the kids that were poking her elongated arm as her gaze was fixed solely on the boy. There was a whole range of expressions as he tried to process what was happening; first there was confusion, then fascination, and then of course the fear...
It always took her aback when kids were afraid of her stretchy limbs. She tried to show them that they were meant to be fun and silly and used in games like skipping rope. Now, she understood why the adults were afraid as she’d make a different kind of rope for them.
Mommy felt a tug and was surprised to see the young boy pulling to make her arm longer before swinging it from side to side, grinning from ear to ear as the others started to hop over it. Were...were they...?
“Candy, Candy, in a dish!” They started to sing in time to the swings, while others clapped along.
Beaming joyfully for the first time in years, Mommy couldn’t help but join in:
“How many pieces do you wish? 1...2...3...4!”
As they finished their song, the kids cheered and made a start for the other attractions.
Wait. Was that it?
Mommy’s heart plummeted and her free arm instinctively reached out to prevent them from leaving.
“W-Wait! Just one more go!” she pleaded, detesting the uncertainty in their eyes. Did they not want to play with her? Was it really that much of an ordeal? To make her happy? After everything she had went through for them?
“If you do, then you can get as many pieces of candy as you want!”
That seemed to sweeten the deal as the children glanced at each other and shrugged before going again. Though with a lot less enthusiasm this time.
Mommy watched the group stampede their way towards Candy Cat and demand their treats like she told them to, much to the dismay of the feline. Bribery was an easy way to get what you want, but it was sad that such cheap tactics had to be used.
She hadn’t even noticed the little boy from earlier had closed the gap between them, still holding her hand.
“Don’t...don’t you want some candy?” She asked, the break in her voice betraying her happy-go-lucky demeanour.
He shook his head, pointing towards the playground.
“Oh, that’s right, you wanted to play on the swings,” Mommy said as she ushered him along. “Go on then. Mommy will be right here if you need me.”
Shaking his head again, he pointed with new determination.
She frowned, wondering if the boy couldn’t talk or simply chose not to.
He frowned back, almost making Mommy chuckle a little, and then pointed at her. Such a gesture had the toy a little taken aback.
“You...want me to push you?”
Relief washed over the boy’s face as he nodded and pointed repeatedly. Mommy was almost mesmerized by the look of pure delight etched across his face and twinkle of triumph in his bright amber eyes. His hair brought on a hazy memory of golden wheat fields that swayed in the wind; a scent of sweet autumn leaves.
Her eyes trailed down to the sticker tag stuck to his yellow and blue striped shirt. ‘Isaac’ was hastily scribbled on it.
“Why, Mommy would love to, Isaac!”
Now it was his turn to be taken aback, a strange glazed look coming over his eyes as if his own name was foreign to him. Or perhaps he had never heard anyone actually say it. The thought made Mommy’s heart sink a little.
Deciding to snap him out of his little funk, the toy picked him up and placed him on the swing, thanking her lucky stars that it seemed to work as he started to swing his legs and looked at her expectantly.
“Okay, hang on tight!”
They played for what seemed like hours. Mommy hadn’t even bothered to check on anyone else because Isaac was the only one that gave her the attention she craved. He didn’t get bored and discard her like the rest of them did, he wouldn’t push boundaries and break the rules like they did, and he looked at her with those large doe eyes that silently pleaded for...she wasn’t sure what, but the other kids didn’t look at her quite so adoringly.
The perfect child.
“Where are your parents, Isaac? Your...mother?”
Mommy hadn’t meant to blurt out such an insensitive question, but she knew that the children who came here lacked a stable family life. The adults in the white coats made sure of that. For what reason, she wasn’t quite sure.
They were sitting on a play rug; the kind with colorful houses and tiny cars on roads weaved into a sort of neighbourhood. Isaac stiffened and shrugged before going back to his toys with a strange laser-like focus. The lion and lioness in his hands were butting heads with increased force.
Mommy picked up the tiny lion cub that lay nearby.
“Okay, so let’s pretend that this baby lion is you,” Mommy said. “ Hi! My name is Isaac and I looooove you!”
Her high-pitched voice earned her a little giggle, and it was more than enough to make her feel a bit better about the conversation that she was about to attempt.
“This can be daddy lion,” she pointed, trying to ignore the boy’s flinch. “And mommy...lion.”
Strangely, the name left a sour taste in her mouth.
“And they all live here in this house,” Mommy picked one at random, pushing all the toys together. Isaac started to fidget a little; rubbing his hands together and focusing his attention on anything but the toys.
“Pay attention, Isaac,” she said, her voice firm but gentle enough not to spook him too much. It was a skill that had taken time and dedication to master, but it could be a useful tool when dealing with—or ordering around— the other toys.
“Now, it’s a lovely day outside! What does little Isaac like to do with his mommy and daddy?”
No answer.
“Does he...go to the park to play?”
A shake of the head.
“Well, how about the pond?” Mommy suggested, pushing the toys along. “To... feed the ducks!”
Shrug.
Sighing, Mommy looked back down to the rug. She was running out of places to go, perhaps this hadn’t been the most tactful of ideas. But these were the kinds of things parents did with their children, weren’t they? That was what she had heard from the other orphans.
She would relay these ideas to Daddy Longlegs; they often talked about what activities they should do with the other toys, if only to distract them from their pain and rage-inducing thoughts for only a moment.
Isaac slowly dragged himself across the rug and pulled the toys back towards the house. Mommy blinked for a moment, but quickly got the message, and observed.
The lion and lioness were tapping noses at first, as if they were kissing, and tending to the cub. The lion seemed to get less interested though, and tried pulling the lioness away, to which she seemed to refuse and stayed near the cub as if to guard him. Then they butted heads.
Harder.
And harder.
Until the mother’s head was bashed in and rolling along the rug.
“Oh, Isaac...,” was all Mommy could whisper.
But it wasn’t over. To wrap things up, Isaac tied a piece of string around the lion's plastic mane and held him up for Mommy to see.
All she saw were his glistening eyes.
“Oh sweetie , come here,” she said, wrapping her arms around Isaac and holding him up against her shoulder, with one hand on his head while the other rubbed circles along his back. Cooing and shushing as he started to sniff and whimper into her neck.
Good thing too, or else he would have seen the massive grin spread across her face.
She was ecstatic.
Obviously, it was a shame that the poor lad had to go through something so traumatic, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“Isaac...,” she started tentatively as she lightly bounced him, praying to whatever God there was that her idea wouldn’t backfire horrifically.
“Can I be your mommy?”
The silence was deafening.
“I-I mean, nobody could replace your real mother,” she quickly added on in a panic. “But if you wanted to stay here, then I could take care of you! We could play games and eat candy and have lots and lots of—”
“I’m Stella and we’ve got three super duper fun games to play!”
“...fun,” she trailed off as she glared up at the speakers.
“These little tests show us just how crazy strong and smart you are! Follow Mommy Longlegs down the stairs and we’ll start by playing Musical Memory! See you in a bit!”
That woman. That woman. She always did this. Interrupting playtime. Ruining everything. Making the children nervous. So, of course it was up to Mommy to make everything better and force them down the stairs to do those stupid tests. They weren’t even fun. They were awful. Why did they have to do them? Maybe...maybe they didn’t have to. They could make a break for it. Mommy could hang the adults from their high and mighty walkway. Huggy could tear them to bits. They could. They...could...
Eyes stared at her from every direction. From the silent wide eyes of the children surrounding her to the narrowed eyes from above, the only sound a faint scratching of pen on paper.
The other toys had seemed to have read her mind as they looked to her for the go-ahead. One nod was all it took. A thin stream of drool trailed down Huggy’s furry chin. Candy Cat’s claws slowly unsheathed. Bron was the only one that appeared a little uneasy.
Issac's’ eyes were the most intense; they tore through to her very soul, begging for consolation and safety. To make everything alright. Like a mother should.
A massive grin spread across her face.
“Alright children! Let’s do what Stella says and follow Mommy to Musical Memory! We’re going to have oh so much fun!”
There was a collective sigh of relief as the children started to form a line while the adults hurried along to their respective posts to get ready for the test, their tinny footsteps echoing across the hall.
Their opportunity was gone.
Trying to ignore the disappointed stares that were being directed at her from her co-workers, Mommy let Isaac down and clasped his hand, bending her head down to his level.
“Don’t worry little Isaac,” she said, smiling when he grasped her hand even tighter. “You don’t need to give me an answer right now. How about we complete Stella’s games and then we can play together when we’re done, would that be alright?”
We’ll play forever...and... ever...and ever...as mother and son.
The boy considered it for a moment—as if he actually had a choice in the matter—and held out his pinky finger. Mommy caught on immediately and linked hers with his, almost engulfing the tiny, fragile digit.
“I pinky promise!”