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It’s another cold, dreary, seemingly endless night, deep within the bowels of the playtime factory, and two women and a small plush toy are sitting against a wall, taking a short break from their arduous journey.
Catherine was sitting next to Daphne, who was holding a sleeping Mae.
For some reason, she felt compelled to stare at her, and take note of all her features.
She looked so familiar…
Same reddish-auburn hair… same sparkly hazel eyes, same sun-kissed skin… even her penchant for wearing yellow was the same…
“Hey Cath…?”
Daphne whispers, snapping Cathy out of her daze.
“Yes…?”
She answers quietly.
“Why do you keep staring at me…?”
Cathy feels guilty.
“O-oh…”
She looks away. “I… I didn’t realize I was staring, sorry…”
“Oh no, I don’t mind.”
Daphne whispers. “I’m just curious why.”
Cathy hums a bit.
“It’s kinda silly…”
Daphne smirks.
“I’m fine with silly.”
Cathy smiles a bit.
“Well, it’s just…”
She looks up.
“You remind me a lot of… someone I used to work with.”
Daphne tilts her head.
“Someone you used to work with…?” she says. “Who?
Cathy turns to look her in the eye.
“Do you remember… Daisy Douglas…?”
Daphne thinks for a bit, trying to remember.
Recalling her old memories, she remembers a woman.
A woman the same age as Cathy and her and Mae’s dad, with hair the same color as her own, hazel eyes, and tan skin, who always wore half her hair tied back.
Daphne nods.
“Hmm….”
She says. “The really nice counselor lady, who helped the kids with their issues?”
Cathy smiles warmly.
“That’s her.”
She says. “She was one of my closest friends…”
Daphne smirks.
“Yeah I remember her.”
She says.
“The one you were always gawking at.”
Cathy blushes a bit.
“Yeah… I admit I was pretty smitten with her…”
Daphne then remembers more.
“I remember, you two were always together, but… then one day you refused to talk to each other.”
She says. “What was that about?”
Cathy’s smile fades.
“Well… that was after she revealed how she felt to me…”
She says.
“One night, she pulled me aside, and confessed she was in love with me…”
She says. “I was happy she felt the same, but I knew we couldn’t be together…”
Daphne looks sad. “Why not?”
Cathy looks her in the eye.
“Romantic relationships between employees of any kind were not permitted.”
She says. “If anyone found out about us, we’d be fired… or probably worse…”
She sighs. “You must know what the company was really like by now…”
Daphne nods. “I see…”
She says.
Cathy looks away. “Anyways, I explained as such to her, and accepted it, despite the heartache.”
She sighs again.
“But after that night, we couldn’t talk to each other without feeling awkward… so we decided to stop speaking to each other entirely…”
Daphne frowns.
“Well that sucks…”
Cathy nods. “Indeed…”
She smiles a bit.
“I’m a little ashamed to admit this… but…”
She laughs quietly. “When the smiling critters had their own cartoon… I kinda hoped that Catnap would get together with Dogday… because they reminded me of Daisy and I…”
She sighs. “But, of course they didn’t because Catnap was a flop… through no fault of his own…”
She says. “Because instead of scenting him lavender like they were supposed to, they just HAD to give him that dreaded red smoke…”
Cathy scoots away, sniffling.
“A-and my poor Theo had to suffer for it…”
She buries her face in her knees.
“Why does everything that happens in this godforsaken factory have to be hell…”
Daphne gently sets Mae down next to her, then scoots over, gently patting Cathy’s shoulder.
“Hey, Cath… it’s okay…”
She smiles softly.
“What happened to Theo wasn’t your fault…”
Cathy lifts her head up, wiping her tears.
“I know… but… It feels like it…”
She looks at Daphne, her eyes still wet with tears.
“I always dreamed of a happy future…”
She says. “Where me, Daisy and Theo would all be a happy family… far far away from this place…”
Daphne smiles sadly.
“That sounds like it would have been amazing…”
She looks down at her feet.
“I’ve had dreams like that too…”
She says. “Where me, Mae, Dad and Mom would’ve been together… even though she’s gone…”
Cathy looks at her.
“Wait… you had a mother…?”
Daphne nods.
“It was before Dad started working here…” She says.
“When I was really little, he married a nurse named Rebecca, and she became my mom.”
She says, smiling happily.
“She was wonderful too, and the three of us were a family for a few years, with her providing for us since Dad had trouble finding a job, because he was transgender.”
Her smile fades.
“But then, when I was about 5, almost 6, Rebecca disappeared under mysterious circumstances… and we never saw her again.”
Cathy looks sad.
“Oh dear…”
Daphne looks away.
“Not long after that, Dad started working here.”
She says. “With Mom gone, we couldn’t afford the rent anymore, so we moved into the factory as well.”
She sighs.
“Dad enrolled me in the playcare, and soon after that…”
She gently pets the sleeping plushie beside her.
“He adopted little Mae, who was only 1, as part of the initiative.”
Cathy smiles.
“That’s sweet…”
She says softly.
“I actually adopted Theo as part of the initiative…”
Daphne nods.
“Oh yeah, lots of kids got adopted, but… some weren’t as lucky as others…”
Cathy’s smile fades.
“Yeah…”
The two ladies kept sitting against the wall, in silence…
Then, Daphne remembers something else.
“Wait…”
She says. “I remember now…!”
Cathy was confused.
“Remember what…?”
Daphne looks her in the eye.
“Daisy wasn’t killed during the hour of joy.”
She says.
Cathy’s eyes go wide.
“Before I was sent away, I heard rumors that since Miss Daisy had been going against policy…”
She shrugs. “I don’t know what she did, but still, they had planned to turn her into a new bbi project.”
Cathy’s heart filled with hope.
“You mean…”
Her eyes sparkle.
“She might still be alive?”
Daphne nods.
“I’m not sure, but it’s possible.”
Cathy smiles happily, hugging her.
Daphne smiles as well, hugging back.
The two ladies shared the tender moment, both their hearts filled with hope.