Two Different Bunzoes | Chapter 5

Melanie’s Point of View:

Present Day, 17-year-old Theresa is here with me in 2005.

I don't know what is going on with her because she is tossing and turning in the bed that Melody & Ariel let us use until we can go live with Theresa's Uncle Carter. Carter says that a lot of the “toy” kids have moved out into homes made for tiny people. I hope to own a home one day.

Theresa's dream must be awful. She's yelling in her sleep. What is she even dreaming about?

Within The Realm of Dreams…

Theresa is passed out on the floor and panting in fear, she gets up and feels like she's in immense danger, hearing the sound of moaning and this low whisper.

Theresa looked around to see where it came from, she kept asking, “Hey!” Theresa ran to a cage and saw a Bobby Bearhug “Doll” and Theresa inspected her.

Theresa growled and sniffed the Bobby Bearhug, Theresa then asked her for her name, to which the Bobby Bearhug replied “Bobby Bearhug!” Theresa replied, “No, your real name.” The Bobby Bearhug “Doll” said, “Tiny.” Theresa paused… Then said, “You know who you are. Stay that way,” In a whisper.

Theresa backs away and then looks at the other cages and shivers, sights of torture upon those who disobeyed. All are reminders to stay in line for the prototype and Catnap.

Speaking of which, here comes Catnap right now! Theresa saw him look down at her with the calming poppy gas surrounding her. This gas is made with opioids.

Opioids made from or with poppy flowers, like morphine and codeine, have several side effects. Common ones include drowsiness, nausea, constipation, and confusion. In higher doses or with prolonged use, they can lead to more serious side effects like respiratory depression (slowed breathing), dependence, addiction, and overdose, which can be fatal. It's crucial to use these medications as a healthcare professional prescribes to minimize risks.

Theresa found herself engulfed in a thick red smoke, an ominous cloud produced by Catnap, whose “creators” had devised a way to weaponize the essence of poppy flowers into an airborne opioid. As the dense fog surrounded her, she began to experience a cascade of side effects that seemed to tighten their grip with each passing moment.

Initially, Theresa felt an overwhelming drowsiness wash over her, as if her very bones were being coaxed into slumber. Her eyelids became heavy, battling against her will to stay awake and alert. Alongside this drowsiness, a wave of nausea crept in, unsettling her stomach and twisting it into knots. It was an effort to keep her bearings, not succumbing to the urge to lie down and give in to the sleep that the smoke beckoned.

Constipation and confusion followed suit, adding to Theresa's discomfort. The world around her seemed to blur at the edges, her thoughts muddied and slow to form. It was as though she was trapped in a haze, her body reacting to the invasion of opioids with rebellion and resistance.

But the most terrifying of all the side effects was the slowed breathing. Theresa found herself gasping for air, each breath shallower than the last. It was a silent struggle, fighting for oxygen in a sea of red. The realization dawned on her that this could be the end, that the red smoke could claim her life if she didn't escape its grasp.

Catnap, oblivious or indifferent to the suffering he caused, continued to release the red smoke, a sinister grin on his face. He was the puppeteer, and Theresa caught amid his toxic performance, was the puppet struggling against the strings.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Theresa's will to survive ignited a spark of defiance within her. She knew she could not let the red smoke win, could not let Catnap have the satisfaction of seeing her succumb. With every ounce of strength she could muster, Theresa pushed through the fog, determined to escape the clutches of the opioid-induced nightmare.

It was a testament to the human spirit, a battle fought amid confusion and clouded judgment. Theresa's ordeal with the red smoke was a harrowing reminder of the potent and often detrimental effects of opioids, even more so when wielded by hands with malicious intent.

Theresa fainted. When she awoke in the dreamscape, she was lying next to Catnap. Catnap wasn't smiling, which was odd. He looked… Somber. He asked her “Are you gonna go to sleep?” This dream is a memory… Some of it, anyway.

It's… it's… A bad memory. Theresa was only 9 in this memory and had been working for Catnap for 5 weeks. The bond was still budding and she did not trust Catnap.

Theresa sniffed Catnap and asked, “Why do you smell like the mixture of a Poppy seed and Morphine? Isn't Morphine that stuff that makes you pass out and isn't it made from poppy seeds?”

Catnap asked, “How do you know that?” Theresa replied, “Mommy taught me because she lives in the ghetto and they take those things for fun. Well, they take morphine for fun… The doctors give it to them because they need it and then they take it like candy, but it's evil.”

Theresa sniffed his mouth and coughed, asking, “Why does your mouth smell like Codeine? Are you on drugs?”

Catnap is confused, smells his own mouth, and asks “How do you know what that smells like?” Theresa replies “Momma’s cousin Mimi liked Drugs and would lick the envelopes of her letters to me in play care and I’d smell them, but they’d smell funny.”

Theresa’s nose oddly yet cutely twitches like a bunny’s nose. Theresa then lays her head down cautiously next to Catnap saying “Mommy loves her, and she was super nice, so you’ll be, too, I suppose.”

Then the dream fast-forwards to the day Theresa decided to leave. It was 2 weeks before their great, big escape. Theresa was sitting in the same room as Catnap. Catnap was chatting with the Prototype about the children who were still within human bodies. Theresa was Protestant, so she silently prayed to Christ as she sat on her knees with her hands clasped together.

Theresa was worried about praying out loud in fear Catnap was so obsessed with the Prototype that he’d kill her for praying to anything other than The Prototype. However, despite this, she still silently prayed in front of him in an ironically bold move, hoping he mistakenly thought she was praying to the Prototype.

        It was then that she felt a sudden dislocated urge to bounce that place. It was… infuriating. Infuriating that she had to avoid being a martyr. Infuriated, she demanded in her sordid thoughts to abandon this place — to leave it behind for good.

Then Theresa Awoke in the present day.

        Theresa had been released from the asylum. She was sent home to recover here. Her therapy is not over. As such, Melody has started getting her into High School & a G.E.D. I was sent to high school when she found out we're late teens.

        Theresa and I went to a special school for toys, it was cool! Weird, but cool! I wonder who owns it? Playtime Co? Whatever, probably not. That company is somehow defunct. But how? Most likely a company could go on. Whatever.

To be continued…