“Oscar, your daddy tells me you’ve been having bad sleepy pictures again. Do you want to tell me about them?”
The little turquoise Pegasus with orange mane shifted awkwardly in his seat, he knew he could tell Dr Bruni – or Frank as he insisted he be called since his Christian name Francisco was too hard for Fluffies to pronounce – anything and not have to worry about getting in trouble, but he still felt iffy about speaking up.
“Os-ka nu wan tu.”
“That’s your decision Oscar, but I might be able to help you if you tell me what you see when you’re asleep. Are the dreams about Nikki again?”
Oscar slowly nodded. “Os-ka hab same sweepie-pictas, see Os-ka an Nik-ee wiv babbehs, hab famiwy, hab heawt happies. Bu den Os-ka wake and Nik-ee…”
“Nikki is still just a stuffy-friend.”
Oscar sniffled. “Os-ka wub Nik-ee, eben if Nik-ee nu say she wub Os-ka. Bu daddeh say Fwuffies an stuffy-fwiends am tuu diffawent, nu can hab babbehs. Os-ka wisten bu… Os-ka bewieve if he wub Nik-ee enuff, she wub him bak an we can be famiwy.”
Francisco made some notes on his clipboard and smiled. “Thank you Oscar, you’ve been very helpful today. I’m going to have a quick talk with your daddy, feel free to play with the toys until I get back.”
“Ok Mistah Fwank.”
Oscar took a short hop off his cushion and waddled over to Dr Bruni’s play area, picking up a few blocks and carefully starting to stack them. Francisco watched him for a moment, making sure Oscar was safe before standing up and leaving.
As he left he felt a pang of pity for the poor young stallion.
“Is he still the same?”
Francisco nodded. “The dreams are the same, he still wants a family with Nikki.”
Oscar’s owner, Darren Harper, sighed. After three months of taking Oscar to see Dr Bruni he knew the answer would be the same, but still he held out hope every time that Oscar might grow out of his infatuation with the stuffed toy.
“Is there anything I can do? This can’t be healthy for him.”
“It’s hard to say Mr Harper, Fluffies don’t perceive the distinction between reality and fantasy like we do. Oscar genuinely believes that Nikki is alive, she’s just different, and if he loves her enough, then one day she’ll come to life and love him back. It’s a level of personification that has been seen in humans, but without the emotional trauma to instigate it, it’s hard to know where to begin to heal, if Oscar even needs to be healed to begin with.”
“Trust me Doc, he needs healing. I see him all the time, feeding her, nuzzling on her, even… well you know.”
Francisco smiled. “I do.”
“And don’t get me wrong, I knew Oscar would be like that when I got him, I was mentally prepared for some awkward talks with him once the urges hit. But all he humps is Nikki, and every morning I hear him asking her if she feels ‘tummy babies’ yet, then getting depressed when she doesn’t answer.”
“I see, we might be able to rule out a sexual confusion. If he recognises Nikki as a mare and a willing one at that then he’s got the right order for intercourse, but the pieces don’t fit together. Why did you get Nikki in the first place if you don’t mind me asking?”
“It was my sister Lizzie’s idea, she works at a Fluff-mart and told me to get another Fluffy so Oscar wouldn’t be lonely, but I didn’t have enough money at the time to feed two fluffies so I bought him a little plush mare to keep him occupied. Not necessarily an enfie-toy, but I had an inkling he’d use it in that capacity some day. Turns out I was right, I just didn’t realise he went so far.”
“Have you tried introducing Oscar to other Fluffies, see if his loneliness is countered by friends, maybe even another mare to take his interest.”
“I tried that, he’s had a ton of play-dates with the neighbours, even had a one-on-one session with my neighbours prized Alicorn. And sure he’s happy to play with them and he has a great time, but the moment he tells them that Nikki is his ‘special-friend’, then they enable him, they congratulate him, ask him about babbehs and shit like that. That prized Alicorn went in with the expectation that Oscar was to give foals, but once she found out about Nikki she got all pissed off at her owner for trying to break up a happy couple.”
Darren signed, feeling himself getting worked up again. “Look, I don’t want to hurt Oscar, I know that technically there’s nothing wrong with what he’d doing. But this isn’t healthy, and I fear if I don’t do something about it soon, he’ll be stuck fixating on Nikki for the rest of his life, loving an inanimate object that will never love him back.”
“I understand Mr Harper, and I think I have a solution albeit a rather unorthodox one.”
“I’ll take anything you have Doc, hit me.”
“Well, Oscar says he wants to love Nikki enough to bring her to life. I say, let’s bring her to life.”
Darren got home with Francisco’s words ringing in his ears, it was crazy but it could work. He sent a quick text to his sister before opening the door and placing Oscar on the ground, instantly Oscar run to his safe room to where Nikki was laying.
Nikki was a toy, a stuffed toy in the shape of a Fluffy Alicorn mare, her yellow Fluff and pink mane were ethically sourced - whatever that mean for Fluffies – her face constantly smiling and when hugged, she let out a comforting scent to help Fluffies sleep better. While not technically an enfie-toy, Nikki did still have anatomically correct features as a way of helping young stallions should they become curious, Darren knew that when he got her for Oscar, believing that she should distract him enough so that he could work his eight-hour shifts without fear of Oscar growing bored and scared alone at home.
Then he came home one day to Oscar proclaiming joy that him and his ‘special-stuffy-friend’ were going to have a family. At that point it was too late and Oscar became convinced that Nikki would be the mother to his foals, no matter what Darren told him.
“Speciaw-stuffy-fwiend, Os-ka an daddeh am bak fwom Mistah Fwank, Os-ka miss yu su mush.”
Oscar gave the toy a tight hug, letting her comforting scent burst wash over him.
“Am speciaw-stuffy-fwiend ok? Wan nummies, wawa? Feew tummeh-babbehs yet.”
No response, Darren saw the flash of hurt across Oscar’s eyes but the little stallion was back to being chirpy in seconds.
“Dat am ok, Os-ka wook afta speciaw-stuffy-fwiend anee-way.”
As Oscar settled in to cuddle up to Nikki, Darren got a message back from his sister.
“Hey Oscar, daddy has to go out for a little bit, I’ll be back in a little while ok. You want any food before I go?”
“Dat am ok daddeh, Os-ka stiww hab sum nummies fwom bweakfast. Bu fank yu.”
“Alright, well I promise I won’t be long, you be good ok.”
“Ok daddeh. Os-ka an Nikki be gud Fwuffies.”
Darren fought back a sigh and quickly turned on Fluff TV before he left, hoping that the bright colours would keep Oscar distracted. Once satisfied that Oscar was happily watching the screen, Darren quickly left and jumped back into his car.
As soon as Oscar heard the front door shut and lock, he turned to Nikki and gently licked her cheek.
“Daddeh an Mistah Fwank stiww say Nik-ee am jus a stuffy-fwiend, dat Os-ka nu can hab babbehs wiv hew. Os-ka knyo dat speciaw-stuffy-fwiend an diffawent tu udda Fwuffies, bu Os-ka nu cawe, Os-ka wub Nik-ee. An Os-ka knyo dat Nik-ee wub Os-ka tuu.”
Oscar rested his head against Nikki’s and smiled as they watched ‘No Fluffy Is A Monster’ together.”
Darren arrived at the Fluff-Mart with a haste that was hard to ignore, he burst inside expecting to fight off a hundred other customers, only to find he was one of three people in the store, the other two being the workers. One of them was Kathy Parker, a family friend and manager to the store, the other was Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Harper, his younger sister.
Both women were laughing at him.
“Hold up Daz, where’s the fire?” Kathy giggled.
“Eat shit Parker, I got overexcited is all.”
Lizzie snorted. “For buying a Fluffy? You’d be the first.”
“For helping Oscar, you know that.”
Lizzie rolled her eyes but walked over and gave her brother a hug. “I know, I’m just playing with you. I’m happy to try and help however I can.”
“You sure this will work?” Kathy asked, her voice not even trying to hide her uncertainty.
“It’s an idea, I gotta try it right. If it doesn’t work out then Dr Bruni says he’ll take care of things until he finds her a good home.”
Kathy smirked. “Ah DOCTOR Bruni, I still remember him from when he was a priest. Never could’ve seen him becoming a Fluffy Shrink. Anyway, Lizzie you show Darren where the girl is, I’ll keep an eye on the front here.”
Lizzie nodded and took Darren further into the store, he’d been in a number of times once Lizzie started working, he even picked up Oscar here when he was just a colt. But something about this felt different, this time he wasn’t browsing, he had a purpose.
“You’re in luck.” Lizzie spoke up after a moment. “We had someone interested in this girl yesterday but he gave off something sketchy so we never went through with the sale.”
“Abuser?”
“Nah, more like a breeding sort, Alicorns attract that type. Just up here.”
As the siblings passed the display cages, Darren was accosted by a barrage of ‘Nyu daddeh’ and ‘Pwease take Fwuffy’ and ‘Bestesh babbeh wan bestesh home’. He’d gotten used to it, but the high-pitched assault still grated on him.
Lizzie ignored it all and led Darren to the Alicorn exhibit, pointing to one cage just below eye-level on the wall. Inside was an Alicorn mare just a little bit older than Oscar, and while her yellow Fluff was just a little too dark and her pink mane just a little too bright to be absolutely perfect, Darren could’ve sworn he was looking at a living, breathing replica of Nikki.
The mare shifted in her cage and turned to face Darren, smiling at him and waving. “Hewwo. Am yu nyu daddeh?”
Darren couldn’t stop the smile from growing on his face. “Yeah, I think I might be.”
I wish there were more Fluffy psychologists and Therapists; I could see former Child therapists/psychiatrists going into this field as a post-retirement gig.