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CatNap awoke. Or at least he thinks he did. His bedroom was so dark he couldn't tell. He felt around himself, picking up his phone as he felt. He tried to turn it on, but a symbol displaying that there was now power left in it popped up on the screen instead. He sighed. Great. It started already.
See, CatNap was well aware when he went to sleep last night that it was the day before his birthday. He foolishly thought that maybe this year would be different. He had friends now. They seemed to care about him, at least enough for his standards. He didn’t think they actually cared. They just took pity on him being such a pathetic loner. He was fine with that, though. It gave him people to talk to.
Alas, it appeared today would be no different than it has been all his life. Starting small and mildly infuriating. How did this happen anyway? He could've sworn he plugged his phone into the charger last night before he lied down to sleep.
This was already a horrible sign. He knew how today would go if he even attempted to be positive. Misfortune event after misfortunate event. It was quite tiring at this point. He'd much rather sleep the entire day away, trying to ignore the fact that his birth was a bad omen.
*Ding Dong!*
Oh. Right.
Friends talk to their friends on their birthdays.
How unfortunate for CatNap.
It's not that big of a deal though, right? They can take a hint. If he ignores the bell, they'll think he's asleep and just leave, hopefully for the next twenty-four hours. So he did that, not getting up from the bed. They'll leave soon.
*Ding Dong!*
*Ding Dong!*
Silence.
*Ding Do- Ding Do- Ding Do- Ding Do-*
CatNap growled as the annoying bell circled around in his head as it rang through the air. Or had it stopped and now he's just hearing things? No, with the way his head keeps pounding with each ring he knows it's really happening. He grumpily got up from his bed, throwing his blanket off of himself as he stomped out of his bedroom.
He swung the door open. "WHA—"
"Happy Birthday!!!" He was attacked with the synchronized expression by all of his friends. When he saw them, all smiling and excited, the annoyance and aggravation evaporated from his body. He sighed, relaxing his tensed body. "Guys—"
"We baked you a cake!" Hoppy said, motioning to the double decker birthday cake Picky had in her hands with a smile. It was purple and black with white literation made from frosting on the top saying, "Happy Birthday, CatNap!" Picky glared at Hoppy. "I baked you a cake. They watched and wrote cards.” She corrected. Hoppy shrugged. “Exactly. We made him a cake.”
“I would just like to point out, I decorated the cake. So actually, we—” Crafty motioned between Picky and herself. “Made the cake.”
“Today’s gonna be so fun, dude! We’re gonna make this the best birthday ever! You’re gonna eat so much cake!” Kickin said, as the group of friends started walking into CatNap’s house. The purple cat went to say something, but was interrupted by Bubba speaking. “Hold on, Kickin. We can’t have too much cake because of the amounts of sugar and ca—”
“Booooring!” Everyone, sans CatNap, groaned aloud. DogDay smiled. “Come on, Bubba, one day of careless eating won’t do anything too bad… aside mess up our stomachs.” He said, his voice was brighter than CatNap had ever heard it. He seemed really excited about this. “Yeah, come on, Bubba. Everyone loves birthdays! It’s the one day we can have birthday cake!”
Picky snorted. “Speak for yourself.”
“Right… well then, go nuts, I guess!” Bubba smiled, approving just this once of the unhealthy dietary decisions.
At this point, CatNap stayed quiet. He really didn’t want this. Celebrating his birthday never went well.
Then again….. he hasn’t celebrated with anyone in years…
They all looked so excited for this. Wouldn’t it be mean to just tell them, “I don’t want to, get out”? Well, the answer is no, but CatNap thought so. So, in that moment he decided to just stick it out. Maybe having this many people with such positive energy would keep away the bad luck.
As soon as he thought that, his vision started to faintly catch the red smoke that was filling the room. He looked around confused. Red gas? But it was coming from his mouth. His mouth wasn’t even open. His breathing started to pick up as he became more and worried by the situation. He looked to his friends. “G—guys?”
Everyone turned to look at him. “What is it, CatNap?” Bubba asked, a worried look crossing his face.
“I… I don’t… red gas…” He said between his breaths. He knew he should hold his breath, avoid breathing in the red gas at all costs, but his body was disobeying his logical thinking. The red gas started becoming more and more opaque. He couldn’t even see two feet in front of him. He started to get more panicked. More overwhelmed. This has never happened before.
“Guys?” He turned around multiple times to try to make his way to anywhere. “Kickin? Hoppy? Bubba? ….DogDay?” He called out, trying to get an answer from any of them. He could hear whispering all around him, disorienting him more.
Suddenly, he bumped into DogDay. The dog turned around with a glare. “Oh hey, Buddy! What’s wrong? You seem lost. Lost in your own mind? Pathetic.” The words were spat with so much vitriol that CatNap was not only mentally taken aback, he physically took a step back. “What..?” CatNap bumped into something behind him. He turned around to see Bobby, with the same hate filled glare in her eyes.
“So lonely, even with friends surrounding you. Are we no good?” She gave a twisted, sarcastic smirk as she finished the sentence. “Maybe you should go back to talking to your shadow.”
“N-no…” CatNap whispered under his breath. He’d never told anyone about that. That dark time in his life. Only a few years ago, before he met the Smiling Critters. He was so lonely, he would spend days on end rotting in his bed as he spoke to the shadow on the wall. If he imagined hard enough, his shadow would talk back. “Stop.”
“I baked you a cake, CatNap!” Picky and Hippy popped up in front of the purple cat holding out a cake. It was green, blue and yellow. It looked disgusting, specs of black were all over it. The only frosting being used was the letters on the top, reading, “Maybe Next Time, ‘Nap!” Her smile reached her ears in what CatNap believed to be the worst possible way as Crafty spoke. “Oh, is it rotten? Even better! It matches the person we made it for!”
“S-stop it!” CatNap yelled as he bumped into yet another one. He turned to see Bubba glaring down at him with an unamused and offended look on his face. “Oh, CatNap why do you look so upset? We set the tables for your special disaster!” He motioned over to a space to CatNap’s left. They had tablecloths haphazardly thrown across them, with multitudes of knives, forks and cups of red punch.
Suddenly, CatNap was pushed to the ground. He looked up and saw Kickin and Hoppy both standing, towering over him. Each had mischievous grins, but nothing like the ones CatNap had grown accustomed to. “Drink the punch, CatNap!” Hoppy encouraged. Kickin laughed. “It’s poisoned!”
CatNap looked up at the seven critters towering over him. A banner strung above all of them unrolled to for the cat to read the haunting words,
“YOU NEVER MATTERED!”
“Please…” CatNap covered his head as tears pricked his eyes. He doesn’t cry. He hasn’t since he was a child. But what’s happening right now is terrifying. Where are his real friends. This can’t be them. They would never do this. They would never say this. “They’re just illusions. Hallucinations. Figments of your twisted head, CatNap. It’s not real. Wake up. Wake up, wake up!” he tried to tell himself this, tried to calm himself and lull himself into some kind of faux comfort. He couldn’t feel his chest. It was numb. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He should’ve known not to let them in. Both emotionally and physically. There’s a reason he calls this month “Suffering Season.”
He felt a hand on his shoulder. It sent shivers up his spine. He didn’t dare to look up and see what was touching him. “Oh, this is more than real, ‘Nap.” He heard DogDay say. “This is your reality. Running from it makes it all the more true.” Now he’s glad he never looked up. He couldn’t bare looking DogDay in the eyes as he said that.
He shook his head with closed eyes. His body was trembling and he was desperately trying to breathe any fresh air. “Please, wake up….” He whispered to himself as he felt the tears finally fall down his cheeks.
“Please…”
“G-guys?”
“What is it, CatNap?” Bubba asked, a worried look crossing his face. CatNap didn’t look too good. His breathing was getting heavier as he looked around the room.
“I… I don’t… red gas…” He said between his breaths. His eyes slowly started to droop before he started collapsing. DogDay, who was closest to him sprung to catch him, and fortunately did so before his head hit the ground.
“Oh shit!” Kickin exclaimed as everyone gasped. Immediately Bubba jogged over, putting a hand to CatNap’s head. As soon as his hand made contact with the fur, he pulled back. “He’s burning up!” He grabbed CatNap’s legs. “Help me carry him to the couch.” The dog he spoke to nodded and did as told. When they set him down, the critters all gathered around him.
“Jeez he’s breathing like he just ran a marathon.” Hoppy pointed out with a concerned expression.
“Yeah, and he’s out cold…” Kickin highlighted another (obvious) problem.
“Do you guys think we might’ve… I don’t know… overwhelmed him?” DogDay asked, ears hanging low as did his tail. “I hope not… I just wanted him to be as excited as we were. He almost never smiles… I wanted to make him happy.”
“Though it’s most probable, I’m sure when he wakes up he’ll understand.” Bubba said with a reassuring smile. “Good thing is, his heart seems to be fine, and his breathing is calming down. Hopefully he’ll wake up within the hour.”
Bobby gave a sympathetic look to CatNap. “Maybe next year we should wait for him to come to us. Or at least leave the house?” She suggested. Everyone nodded.
DogDay looked down at CatNap and pet the fur on his head. He let a sad small smile stretch on his lips.
“We’re sorry about how this turned out, buddy. We’ll try again next year.”