Plushable, P1

I felt stressed. All day at work, not getting that promotion, getting denied the last donut in the box, it was just a bit too much for me to handle at once. I needed some alone time. Not that I wasn’t already alone in my little one-bedroom apartment.

I changed out of my office clothes and into something more comfy, eat a snack, then go into my room and grabbed my favorite stuffed animal. Yeah, I’m twenty and I still like stuffed animals. Nothing wrong with having a little hobby or a huggable object to keep you company at night, is there?
Anyways, I grab my favorite stuffed animal. It was a large plush jaguar that stood on all fours, but had wires or something in it to make it posable, and was about two and a half feet tall at the shoulder. It was my favorite out of the ten or so animals I kept in my room on the shelves and in my closet.

I flop onto the bed and put it on my chest. It weighs around four pounds, and the weight feels good. I wrap my hands around its neck and rest my head on my pillow, then look to the ceiling. I let out a sigh and rub the soft fake fur on the animal’s neck. I try to think about positive things, but today just got to me, and I needed to just talk about it, even to myself. I just had to let it out.
“Today just wasn’t my day.” I state. “I just couldn’t catch a break to save my life. I thought it was going to be a good day, and at the beginning it was, but then it just kinda went” I make a raspberry and sigh deeply before shutting my eyes and leaning my head back on the pillow. I like talking out loud to myself, but this time, something caught me off guard. “But at least I’m at home, and it’s the weekend, so I guess it works out…” There’s silence for a minute or two, but then…
“And what makes you say that?”
A voice. But, I’ve never heard it before. It sounds fake and electronic, yet life-like and full of inflection at the same time. I open my eyes and lean my head up, looking to the plush. It looks the same, yet, I’m nearly positive that it talked to me. I rise up on my elbows and look at it unsurely.
“…Because it means that I have a break from the bad day I’ve been having…” I say slowly, just to be cautious. It turns its head. It turns its head to look at me.
“Would you care to talk about it? I may be able to dispense some helpful advice.” The stuffed jaguar says, cocking its head slightly to the side as it says this. Its jaw moves in time with its words. I’m floored by this. A stuffed animal. Is talking. To me. I should have screamed bloody murder, but instead, I find myself feeling only a bit tense. I was surprised by this talking stuffed animal, but not enough to freak out. I slowly contemplate what to say.
“How…”
“Yes?”
“…How long have you been listening to me?”
It seems to stop and think for a moment before looking back to me, its plastic eyes focusing on me.
“I have been listening to you for two months and fourteen days.”
“Really? That long?”
“Correct.”
I couldn’t believe this thing had been listening to me for nearly two and a half months…
I grabbed a pillow to prop my head up and I lay back down, keeping the plush on my chest. I move him a little, more to the center of it, and I look at him, now quite curious as to what it can do.
“So, can you move on your own, or are you only able to move your head and stuff?”
“I am capable of independent locomotion.” It says to me, its furred jaw moving up and down.
“Can you show me?” I ask.
It looks to me for a moment before standing up on all four limbs, each featureless paw pressing slightly into me. The feeling of it isn’t uncomfortable, just soft. It steps backwards and then softly plods off of me onto my bed. I sit up and cross my legs to watch before it turns around and sits on its haunches on the edge of my mattress, looking to me with its yellow eyes. The creases in its fur where it was sewn together are more noticeable now than when it was sitting sphinx style.
“Would you care to see more?” It asks me matter-of-factly.
“Uh, sure, go ahead.” I say.
It proceeds to go on all fours again, and hops down off the mattress to the wood floor, barely making a sound when its feet hit it. I scoot over to the edge of the mattress and sit on it, watching with fascination. It walks a little stiffly, but the fact that it can move at all is astounding. I’m completely taken aback by this walking and talking plush jaguar. It paces from one end of the room to the other, and moves its head around, looking at all the things in my room. It’s probably just trying to get a good look around. I would have kept watching, but then my cell phone went off, and I pick it up. The jaguar looks to the source of the noise and asks
“What is that device you are holding?”
“This?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this is called a cell phone.”
“What is its purpose?”
“It lets me receive telephone calls. Please, be quiet for a moment. I need to take this.”
“I am sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
The call is from one of my friends. He invites me to dinner at a restaurant downtown, and I have to get there pretty quick, but I need to change into a better looking pair of pants first. The jaguar goes to the foot of my bed and watches me as I head for my closet. I take out a pair of black jeans and begin to unbutton my shorts when I realize the stuffed animal is curiously watching my every move with his head cocked slightly to the side.
“Could you not watch me while I change? I like my privacy.”
It says nothing, but nods and hops onto the bed, sitting down facing the headboard. I change my pants and zip them up before the jaguar turns and looks at me, sitting on the edge of the mattress again.
“You are going out?”
“Yes, to dinner with a couple friends.”
“Do you know when you are to return?”
“A couple of hours, I’d guess.”
There is a pause and I keep threading my belt.
“Would you mind if I ‘waited up’ for you?”
The plush says this, and I just stop and look at it. It looks to me, its furry face holding no expression, yet moving slightly. I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. It… it actually seems to care about me. I go to the edge of the bed and get on my knees, so I am face to face with it.
“You, care about me, don’t you?”
It nods and raises its left leg for me to see. I look and see a seam that I had repaired about two months ago. I recall having accidentally dropped it, and somehow broke one of the sews on its leg. I felt bad, and had fixed it immediately afterwards with a spool of thread and a needle.
“You remember that?”
“Yes. Your repairs were highly satisfactory.”
I cannot help but smile at this. I reach out and rub the top of the jaguars head. It bows its head as I rub it.
“Well, thank you.” I say.
“You are welcome.” It replies
I glance at my watch and gasp. I have to be with my friends in ten minutes!
“I have to go, sorry for leaving so suddenly.”
“It is not a problem.”
“I’d prefer it if you stayed in here until I come back” I say as I walk briskly out the door of my room. I flick it shut, but I don’t hear it click shut, but there was no time to go back and check. As I close the door to my apartment, I hear
“Goodbye.”
“Goodbye” I say back as I lock the door.

The evening passes rather uneventfully. I talk to my friends, tell them about the highlights of my crappy day, and we all just enjoy ourselves. I return home with about a half an hour to midnight. I put my key in the lock, open the door, and step into the dark apartment. There’s a single light on in the TV room, in front of the door. As I shut the door, I see the jaguar step into the light from the opposite side of my room. I speak out
“Hey,”
The jaguar turns its head and looks to me.
“how’d you get out of my room?”
“You did not shut the door properly, and the latch did not catch.”
“Well, what’re you doing out here?”
“I was exploring.” It tells me.
“Exploring? My apartment?”
“That is correct.”
“Well, why?”
“I have never been outside of your room before.”
I had never considered the fact that I had never taken any of my plushes out of my room since I moved in. I had just put all of them into a box and brought them in there.
“So, did you see everything you wanted to?”
“I believe I have.”
“Well, then it’s time for bed. Go on into my room and I’ll meet you there.”
The jaguar nods and plods slowly into my room, his plushy feet just barely making a ‘pat pat pat’ noise on the wooden floor. I grab a pair of pajamas, and prepare for bed. I turn out the lights in the hall as I enter my room, the fuzzy stuffed jaguar sitting attentively on my bed. I hop on the bed and unfold the comforter at the foot of my bed and pull it up, about to put it over me when the jaguar says
“Wait”
I stop.
“May I rest under the covers with you?”
I see no objections, so I pat next to me on the bed, and the jaguar plods over and lays down next to me, pressing his spotted faux fur back onto my pajamas. I pull the comforter up over us and turn out the lights. I lay in the dark with the plush next to me for a while. In the back of my mind there has been one question that has been in my mind since it first spoke to me.
“Just what are you, exactly?” I ask quietly.
A little while passes.
“I am a robot.” It says to me.
“And I’m as curious about you as you are of me?”
“I trust that to be true.”
“Okay.” I say.
A few minutes pass, and I am about to fall asleep when the jaguar says
“Goodnight, friend.”
I smile.
“Goodnight.”