A friend too dark

You are alone again, they locked you in your room again, didn't they?
-someone started talking.
I didn't know where that voice came from, but I felt it wanted to help me. I remembered
my golden teddy bear, he always gave me advice when I
needed it most, he listened to me and was the only one who accompanied me at night. I am
sure that my nightmares are real and they don't let me sleep until six in the morning,
that's why I always have dark circles under my eyes and, although I tried to talk to my family about it,
they think I'm crazy. I was always alone, no one ever accompanied me.
-Mhm...can you get me out of here? I don't want to be alone, please -I begged
so my stuffed animal wouldn't leave me.
I hated loneliness and I didn't understand why he always did this to me. Although
was partly my fault too. I just cried and cried, I never tried to defend myself because of
the fear I felt and the little energy I had.
-I can't get you out, but you have to be strong. You know I'm here for you
-that's what the stuffed animal said.
Even though I always listened to him, I could never be strong. I was always terrified
of my dad's work, those machines called animatronics were scary. There were only
two of them, a golden bear, (just like my stuffed animal, only mine is not scary) and a
golden rabbit. Still, even though I was horrified by these animatronics, my parents
decided to have my birthday party there. I don't understand what led them to make such a
decision, but I knew my brother Michael might be behind it. He always
bullied me for being so weak and such a crybaby.
It was two days before the party. Every moment that passed felt like a
day closer to massive torture. Not this time, my brother left me alone for a
while. I was able to go out and visit the neighborhood, and for some reason there were a lot of kids.
Some greeted me nicely, others just laughed at me for having dark circles under my eyes and being

recognized as the "crybaby". There was a girl who caught my attention, she was very
nice to me; it was strange coming from someone I had never seen before.
-All the kids are going, that's why you have to go! Don't worry about the animatronic
, they won't do anything to you -she said with a smile.
I don't remember her name, I only know that she looked a lot like my younger sister
but she wasn't, she was with mom. After this talk I went back to my house, which seemed
to be empty. I checked everywhere to make sure no one was there. I went back to my
room and just before I sat down on my bed, my older brother came out from underneath and
tormented me with a mask of an animatronic fox from another pizza place. I threw myself on the
floor once again to cry, hugging my stuffed animal with all my might.
-Tomorrow will be another day," he said, repeating his same phrase from yesterday.

The party is one day away. Fear invades me as time goes by.

I didn't want to go, I really didn't want to go, I was very afraid of what was going to happen,
taking into account that my brother was going to be there with his friends, I knew that they were not going to leave me
alone.

Today, like any other day, I was left locked in a dark room.

I couldn't see anything, until my sight adjusted to the darkness, I discovered several animatronic
that were never built; the wires and their heads were sticking out
leaving me cornered next to the door.
-Please let me out! I protested, but there was no one who could
hear me. Somebody help me...please...-I fell to the floor and continued crying in the
darkness.
This time my stuffed animal was not with me, Michael took it from me before leaving me
here. Even so, the same phrase he always repeated to me, kept playing in my mind:
"you know I'm here for you.
-Tomorrow will be another day -I said to myself.

Today is the day, the moment I dread the most: my birthday.

I'm pretty sure that if my birthday had been somewhere else, I would have been a
little happier about going. I prepared for the worst, my parents drove me while
I begged them to leave me at home. However, to no avail. As soon as
we arrived, I saw Michael with his friends, they all had a scary mask of
animatronic. My parents left me there while they went to greet the other
families that had attended the party.
Then, my brother and his friends surrounded me, leaving me defenseless. As
was to be expected, I again threw myself on the floor to cry, but this time I just fell to my knees,
begging to be left alone at least for the day. They just laughed,
ignoring my pleas.
-Guys, I think the boy wants to give a big kiss to one of the
animatronics. Why don't we go help him? said one of them as the others
bent down to lift me up.
-No! Please, I don't want to go! I said again, crying and screaming at the same time,
hoping to escape from the situation.
However, it was no use. They kept approaching the two animatronic
while fear invaded my whole body, leaving me completely
immobile.
-Come on guys! On the count of three we put him in the bear's mouth!
One...Two...Three! I heard one of them say.
As soon as they said three, I could only see the inside of the bear, its endoskeleton.
I cried with all my strength, waiting for them to put me down, but they only laughed and when
I least expected it, the bear's mouth closed. I heard screams from several people, but I didn't
know any more, I fell unconscious after that.

-You're still with me, remember? We are friends," said a voice.
I looked up and could see my teddy bear. Behind him were more
teddy bears, there were four more. They all disappeared one by one while I was still
crying.

Don't forget about us," he spoke again, this time there were only three left.
Remember all the times we spent together," I watched another
disappear every time my bear spoke.
Is this a dream? It felt very...strange.
-We will always be together - without realizing it, the last
two stuffed animals disappeared, leaving just me and my bear.
I looked at him afraid that he would leave too. I didn't want to be alone.
-I'll bring you together again -those were his last words before disappearing.
I was alone, with no one to accompany me, as it always was.
I was always alone...although...now that I think about it, maybe in every
moment there was someone else. I was in this dark world that never left me,
that was always with me. Here I realized that my only friend was always the
darkness.