Another day on the showroom floor of the Rental Central. There were very few people meandering about. Actually, that’s usually how it was. For all the stuff in here, it seemed like visitors were few and far between. That didn’t matter though. Izzy, Bolt, and Kiki were not allowed to talk to one another. They had to stand stock still and keep smiling at customers who weren’t even there. If one of the employees meandering about the place caught them not following instructions, it would mean a cattle-prodding or some time dunked under wawa.
An hour or two passed before anyone even came up. Finally, a rather doughy looking morbidly obese woman and a gaggle of her rather filthy children walked up.
“Moooom! Look! A fluffy! I want it! I want this one!” Said a little girl clutching a lollypop in one hand, using the other to scoop Kiki up. The foal gave a terrified ‘eep!’.
“Bad upsies! Pwease nu bad upsies ‘fo Kiki!” She said, scrabbling her back hooves around in a panick.
“Put that down you ‘lil idjit, we’re here to get a mattress.” The mother said, but the little girl didn’t relinquish the foal.
“But look! She can dance!” The girl bopped the fluffy around by her mane, Kiki crying out and pleading. Finally, the fur on her mane came loose with an audible tearing noise and the foal went directly to the floor. Crashing to the floor, the fluffy gave a screeching warbling cry of distress. Her legs were splayed in different directions. Izzy could see a bone poking out from one.
“WEGGIES HUWTIES! OWWIES! HEWP! MUMMAH HEEWWWWWPPPP!” The pitiful little thing cried out, voiding her bladder and bowels onto the floor in her distress. One of the boys in the uncontrolled group of children pointed and snickered ‘gross!’. Izzy gave a small ‘huu’.
Finally an employee rushed over, angrily thrusting an index finger at the matriarch of this gang. “What the Hell is going on here!?”
The woman puffed up her cheeks, looking toadlike in her totally false fury. “Your little so-called toy just bit my daughter when she picked it up! We should sue you!”
Looking down to Kiki, legs broken and blood dripping from her mouth, the employee rolled his eyes. He knew it wasn’t worth it to call the police on these dumpster people. “Just get the fuck out of the store.” He shooed them off, the mother leaving with a huff. The lingering smell of cat piss and unwashed bodies lingered long after their departure. The employee picked the foal up, not even being all that careful and walked over to the cash register desk. Fumbling around for a few minutes, he got a dispenser of cheap plastic tape out and began to try and bind her legs to at least be straight again. It was clear that it wasn’t working and only caused her more distress. The guy sighed. “Alright, you’re going back to your kennel until closing time.”
Izzy and Bolt stood at their podiums for the rest of the day without a single other visitor. Izzy kept looking over to the empty place where Kiki had been. Was she OK? Did she get huggies to feel better? Sunlight passed to darkness, finally the lights in the place switched to overnight ones which cast the place in an eerie glow. An employee walked over to grab the two fluffies up, bringing them back to their little kennels for food and rest.
Kiki was still sobbing in her kennel. She’d was trying to hug up against the advertisement flyer in there that served as her only friend. The tape which had been wound around her in a dumbass attempt to salvage multiple broken limbs caused the pages to stick to her fur, a great ticky-tacky mess that became soaked with blood that had dried awhile ago. Finally the kennel was opened after Izzy and Bolt had been deposited in their own, the foal taken out by the same guy who had tried to mend her with office supplies.
“Pwease huggies ‘fo Kiki? ‘Nee huggies ‘fo weggies. It am huwties. Pwease daddeh.” She said pathetically, huge eyes overflowing with tears that dripped down her fuzzy little cheeks. The man took a rubber stamp out and smooshed it against the foal’s forehead. ‘DAMAGED INVENTORY’ it said in big red letters. Opening a trashbin in the room, he’d deposit her in there with a small fwump as she landed on old papers and bubble wrap. With that, he was out of there. Work day done, time to go home and jerk off.
“Kiki nu am twashy! Kiki awibe! Kiki scawdies! HUUUUU! HUWTIES!” The foal cried as she was left in the darkness and crinkly trash of the bin. Screams reverberating against the plastic.
Bolt seemed to like all of this very much. In fact, it was the only excitement he’d gotten for quite some time. “Babbeh am twashy naow! Meanies am gib wowstest huwties! Naow yew hab fowebba sweepies! Nu wubs ‘o huggies ‘fo dummeh babbeh!” He stuck his tongue out, as if she could see the rude gesture to begin with.
“Pwease hewp big sissy! ‘Nee hewp, Izzy!” The foal pleaded. There wasn’t anything that the mare could do though. Just sit there behind bars. Turning to face the wall of her kennel, she tried to ignore it the best she could. She didn’t want to talk to Kiki. Bolt was yelling too loudly anyways.
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She thought of the days that she had spent with Charlotte, her bestest mummah. One day the girl had packed a few sandwiches and juice boxes and they’d played in the backyard all day. It had been warm day and they spent it best as they could. Izzy had nummed pretty flowers, kicked a ball around, gave her mummah huggies and did her bestest dancies.
They had gone out back behind the trailer where there was a creek. It was only a small trickle of water going down a muddy bank with a few rocks but it was maybe the most magical thing Izzy had ever seen. Even if she was scared of wawa, there wasn’t enough to really hurt her. Prancing and dancing in the trickle of water, Charlotte joined her and they even found a pinchy-bug named a cwayfish.
“Wook out, mummah! It am meanie pinchy-buggy!” Izzy had declared valiantly when they’d overturned a rock and found the little brown thing.
“Silly! It’s just a crayfish. Just leave him alone.” Charlotte said with a giggle, ruffling the top of the fluffy’s head.
Afterwards they went home and had a bath together, the girl washing off all the mud from the day off her best friend. Her mom would have her ass later at the mess left behind but that didn’t matter at the moment.
The two snoozed heavily that night. It was a night that meanie daddeh was away so they didn’t have to listen to dishes breaking or yelling.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Izzy laid there remembering these things, tearing up. Kiki still wailed. The fluffy knew that she had never had a nice mummah or daddeh. There were no pretty things for her to remember. All she had was this place.
“Sowwy, Kiki…” She said glumly.
Bolt continued ranting at the top of his lungs. “Kiki nu hab wub! Kiki dummiest fwuffy! Stinkeh, hab fowebba sweepies!” He giggled and rattled his hooves against the kennel bars, though the foal had stopped screaming and sobbing so hard awhile ago. Now she only peeped and chirped. Inside the trashcan, she hugged against a big waddled up cluster of bubblewrap. Imagined it was her mummah. Tried to suckle against it or get some warmth. She died there, desperately clinging to whatever sense of comfort that she could fantasize about.
Izzy felt relieved when the sounds inside the trashcan finally stopped.
