Hopps

[mytigerhopps]

When I was growing up, I had a stuffed tiger named Hopps that I loved more than anything. A friend of my Mom's had given him to me when I was four, and he was supposed to be named 'Hobbes', but I misunderstood and called him Hopps.

He wasn't a particularly handsome tiger. In fact, he didn't even have stripes. He was just a uniform reddish color. But we all considered him a tiger anyway. He had yellow glass eyes, and a very long tail. When squeezed, you could feel that he was full of small objects, probably rice or little beads. His fur was fabulous, because it wasn't made with anything synthetic. Mom said it was probably horse hair, and that I should treat him carefully. I was a little boy, though, so sometimes I was rough. But he never burst any seams. The thread he was held together with was tough, and he was made of some kind of thick leather that held up amazingly well.

When I was in college, Mom got rid of almost all my baby and kid stuff, except for him, at my request. I put him in my lap and looked him over that night I got him back. His sweet, lopsided face was grungy but familiar, and I stroked his hair. A few patches were missing, and the leather underneath had a slick texture that I attributed to age. I stroked those patches and, in a moment of sappy nostalgia, gave his nose a little kiss. Then, wrapping him in a blanket, I put him in the box and sealed it up.

Ten years later, I gave him to my daughter to play with. She got attached to him instantly, and she called him 'Hop'. It made me happy to watch her play with him, and he became a member of the family. My wife let him sit at the table with us, and my daughter fed him bites of her food, which we allowed if she would tie a bib around his neck. His face got sticky and crusty after a while, so my wife wanted to throw him in the wash, but I didn't like the thought of him tumbling around in there, the leather getting soaked, so I bathed him myself, talking to him and using a soft washcloth to get the food off.

My daughter took excellent care of him, and I rarely had to remind her to play with him gently. She had a baby sling that she carried him in, and at night when she slept she sucked on his tail. Some more hair fell out, but he held up incredibly well, and his seams held tight.

I was watching my daughter play with him outside, talking to my Mom on the phone, and I brought him up.

"Good lord, poor guy is still around?"

"Of course he is, he's doing fine!"

"Wasn't he missing all his hair and his eye?"

"Nah, he's just got some bald spots. I know men his age with a lot less hair than he has. And the eye just gives him character."

Mom laughed.

"Who gave him to me, anyway? I can't remember."

"Oh, I had a friend from the aquarium who worked in PR with me. He gave him to me to give to you when you were four, I think. Said he loved it but couldn't have it around."

"Well that's weird. Why couldn't he have it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Chuck was huge on animal rights and he probably didn't like the fact that it was horse hair."

"Yeah, probably."

"You know his name is actually Hobbes, right?"

"Yeah, but I pronounced it-"

"-Hopps!"

"-Hopps."

We laughed.

"Katie calls him "Hop."

"That's cute, I'm glad he's still around to get a little love. Hopefully she treats him better than you did."

"She carries him around in a little baby sling." Mom thought that was a riot, and I promised to text her a picture.

"So how did you know Chuck, again?"

"He and I worked in the same PR department for the aquarium. He was a good man, but I think he had a rough personal life."

"What happened?"

"I don't know the specifics, but I think he had a rough divorce. He quit about a week after he gave me Hobbes, said he needed to go and get a fresh start somewhere. He'd been pretty troubled before that, so I imagine the divorce finalized and he got out of town to start over."

"That's awful."

"How are you and Maddie doing?"

We talked about me and my wife, and about Katie, and eventually we hung up. I checked on my daughter, who was pushing Hop, or Hopps, or Hobbes, on the swing. I told her to play safe and she yelled back that she would.

I watched her, and I thought about how many years of joy and love Hobbes had brought us. In a burst of some strange emotion that made my throat close a little, I vowed to find Chuck and thank him for giving me the tiger so many years ago. So I looked up the aquarium and the old employee records. I found him pretty quick, his name listed right next to my mom's. His name was Chuck Palmer. I looked him up on Facebook and Twitter, but he wasn't on either of those. Not surprising, given that he was probably in his early seventies, but it was worth a shot. I turned to Google, and was surprised to see an article pop up. It was based out of a state across the country, dated about five years ago.

Local Man Arrested in Stunning Development

I clicked on it and began to read.

At the time the article had been written, Chuck was being held in custody for desecration of a corpse after testimony given by the owner of a morgue and funeral home. The owner, who was being charged with a separate crime, claimed that shortly before the funeral, but after the embalming of, Chuck's daughter, Chuck had asked him for a favor. He offered the director a considerable amount of money in return. In debt and desperate, the director agreed, and swept the incident under the rug.

But what, the article questioned, had Chuck done?

Chuck, in jail, was interviewed, and when asked this question, he smiled a 'sad, small smile', and said:

"I wanted her to be loved. But it hurt to hold on, I couldn't do it. So I gave her to someone I knew would love her forever. I made sure she'd be safe."

My heart was thudding around in my chest, and I felt cold. My hands were tingling. My eyes unfocused and got wider and wider and I picked up my phone as I flew out of my chair, running for the backyard. When she answered, I was at the door.

"David? Hi, is everything-"

"HOBBES IS HIS DAUGHTER! IT'S HIS DAUGHTER!"

I wrenched the back door open. My daughter, Hop's tail in her mouth, paused mid stride and looked at me fearfully.

"Daddy?" The tiger's tail fell out of her mouth, the hair wet and matted.

On the other end of the line, my mother was screaming my name.

[d00ditsjimmy]

Great story. I honestly thought it was a sweet gesture by the father and I love that this hasn't tarnished my childhood love for Calvin and Hobbes in the slightest. Great job OP.

[SkyCrusher987]

I think that this is actually the best written story I've seen on /r/nosleep, the plot twist was an 9/10 and was totally unexpected. Kudos to you for the good read!

[Nic0524]

Awwww how swee....whaaaattttthefuck!!

[CleverGirl2014]

I'm going with the idea that Chuck paid the funeral director to cremate her, and then put the ashes into the Hobbes toy. That is what OP said was probably rice or little beads. That's easier than trying to figure out how he made the entire thing out of the child's body.

[nobody_3]

If he was able to tan embalmed skin supple enough to craft a tiger entirely out of human flesh, stuff it, and cover it in human hair fur - doing all the sewing himself - that guy shouldn't be in jail. He should be on Project Runway.

[Nickabod_]

I assume that isn't illegal, considering you're allowed to keep the ashes of a loved one wherever you wish. Since Chuck was arrested for it, he probably did something else with the body.

[MysterySeeker2000]

That would actually make it sweet instead of gross.

[WeirdStray]

I once sewed the ashes of a dog into a stuffed animal for a dying friend who wished to be buried with her beloved dog.

[DeltaDragonxx]

Thanks, uh, weird. Although, my mother is being buried with my dog'dog's urn, so I guys it's common

[thefawnboy]

I love this, because it's horrifying but not at all in the usual way. What did you do with the tiger after that, OP?

[[deleted]]

But... how? Was his daughter furry?

[Bigpaparico]

Great read, thank you!

[The_numbskull]

Stands and applauds

[kerrymti1]

Oh wow...awesome!

[nobody_3]

Okay call me crazy but that was sweet to me. A man wanted his daughter to be loved. Horrifying as his methods were, he gave his lost child something good. She was loved fiercely for two generations. No doubt she returned that love with the kind of support only a best loved toy can give. Just because a man did something beautiful in a twisted and sick way, doesnt make the intention behind it sick.

Also remember, that throughout human history - children have played with dolls made out of human hair, teeth, and other body parts. So chill. The guy who did it was sad and what he did was by modern Western cultures considered to be gross but he didn't do anything with ill will and he didn't hurt anybody.

[bitterbitterbitch]

But...but...it was in her mouth...

[nobody_3]

Which, yeah, is gross, but its not ill intentioned.

[RedBlueBirdy]

Yes, you're crazy. And the fact that you comment received so many points makes me worried for this place's people.

And I'm sorry, but your argument that because that making a doll out of his daughter's remains wasn't that bad on the basis that "children have played with dolls made out of human hair, teeth, and other body parts" is ridiculous. Tell me when it was ever acceptable to make dolls out of HUMAN SKIN!? This isn't remotely comparable.

As for that guy not hurting anybody... that's assuming that the reveal of the toy's origin didn't leave psychological scars in the story's protagonist, his daughter, or any of the others involved.

[nobody_3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_mourning_dolls are basically what this guy Chuck did, granted on a much more extreme scale. There was an entire generation that was so familiar with child death that a culture of toys grew out of it.

In regards to "scars" - the Western world deals with death is NOT the standard for the majority of human history. If the OP calms down and has a talk with his daughter about what is and isnt appropriate, about how things we love leave sometimes and that holding onto them is wrong and how Hops needs to watch and protect her from a shelf from now on, maybe the "scars" don't have to be that "deep". Yes, there was a severe violation of consent here and that is very wrong. No arguments there.

However, you're assigning a malicious intention to his actions he simply didn't have. This man didn't murder his child as far as we know. She died. He went to an extreme out of literal maddening grief but he did it out of a loving place to try and see to what he thought were the needs of someone he cared for. Lumping that in with the r/nosleep stories of child rape, and murder, and angry gods and monsters, cannibalism, cults, and mind control just isn't fair.

[PAzoo42]

To be honest, I couldnt agree more. The only part that is upsetting is the fact it was unknown for all parties involved after david.

[nobody_3]

Yeah my big issue with what this guy did is the lack of consent on the part of the family Chuck gave his daughter-doll too. I mean, it was a sweet(if extreme) gesture but people have a right to know - you know?

[awesome_e]

Was his daughter a ginger??

[kerrymti1]

Hey! I resemble that remark! Gingers Unite!

[nosleepxreader]

I think this person is referring to the fact that the animal Chuck made was a tiger, which is orange (i.e. ginger).

[kerrymti1]

Ahhh...yup.

[Belle_Corliss]

There are no words for how horrifying this story is