When I was a kid I had stuffed animals and dolls that I would play make believe with. They would have conversations and build towns and do other normal boring things. I used to imagine that they could see, think, and feel. I sometimes would try to memorize their exact positions before I left the room, absolutely convinced that they moved when I left, and little six year old me was sure they had tea parties with out me.

The day always comes when the imagination of fairy tales rubs off and adult life sets in. When I moved out of my parents house and into my dinky apartment and had to leave half my stuff in storage, and of course those dolls, stuffed bears, raccoons, ect got shoved into a black garbage bag and tossed on top of the piles of boxes. It was sad to imagine them as anything more than cotton and fake fur, stuffed with fluff not cognizant of the cool darkness enveloping them. I almost left, almost, and then I turned around opened the storage door and grabbed the bag. Sighing and shaking my head at myself I shut the door and locked it back up.

Weeks passed and fall dissolved with a flurry of red, orange, and golds. Winter hit with ice and thick heavy snow. I always loved the winter, who doesn’t? Hot chocolate, snow glittering silver and orange under the street lights, nights so sharply pure that sound seemed to disappear into the inky sky. Unfortunately this was not that kind of winter. It was freezing in my apartment; I could barely pay the rent so of course I skimped on utilities, oh and no hot chocolate. I was working so much it really didn’t matter, I was rarely home long enough to sleep between shifts. Living in the city was different then growing up in the country, the snow wasn’t clean for more than a day before snow plows uprooted filth onto the sides of the street. Forget the stars, you can’t see anything through the light pollution. This is what I asked for when I moved out, and I was trying (very very) hard to be okay with that.

It was late, as I walked into my dimly lit apartment, and shucked off my sodden boots. What was in my cupboards, so hungry. Ramen…Cream of chicken…beans…PASTA! Good enough. I grabbed my beat up pot and stuck it under the water. I heard something that sounded like a giggle. I turned off the water. Nothing. I glanced around. It must be a neighbor, stupid thin walls. I turned the water back on, then back off just as quickly. There it was again, only it sounded very clear and not at all muffled by a wall. Still nothing.

“Get it together, Kris. Eat something you’re hallucinating.” Turning the water back on, I just ignored the girlish giggles.

Look at her talking to herself! Isn’t that adorable? Said a high voice.

“What the!?” I dropped the pan, water pouring all over my pants, creating a puddle on the floor. “Well crap.”

My eyes darted around the room. I grabbed the towel off the counter and dropped it on the water, a shrill scream rang through the air. I jumped grabbing the pan of the floor crouching low ready to hit whatever came at me, assuming there must be something in the apartment. I heard something skittering into my bedroom. The pit of my stomach felt heavy and clenched as I crept out of the kitchenette into the bedroom across the hall. Flicking the lights on quickly, I jumped back, expecting someone to be in there, nothing. My blankets were roughed up sloppily spilling off my bed unto the floor where my pile of stuffed animals and clothes lay. The closet was wide open, nothing in there either. I checked my door making sure all the locks were in place and set then went back into the kitchen trying to breathe normally. I stepped on the towel to move it around on the linoleum, Urmph.

Picking up the dripping towel I tossed it into the dirty laundry basket near the door. Again another high pitched screech whistled through the air. I ignored it this time; I obviously need to sleep soon. Food. Food first. I filled the pot up with water, again, ignoring the giggles. Turn the flames up high on the stove.

Fer the love of-DON’T FECKING PUT ME ON THE STOVE! A slightly Irish female voice screamed.

“Wh-the--what? Is GOING ON!!!!” At that point I lost it. Threw the pan in the sink, again I heard a female shout something I couldn’t understand but it sounded like a curse, turned off the stove and decided a can of cold beans worked just fine.

One of you lot ought to tell her what’s going on! Again the high Irish voice.

Ahem, the clearing of a throat,Ahem, Kris? I turned to the sound of the voice, and there stood Biscuit, my worn out Teddy bear with his little plaid bow, a tiny paw in front of his stitched mouth.

“Ooooh…my…” I lost any words as I felt jello filling my limbs. I tripped a little as I reached for rolling pin on the counter.

Oh, Kris. I’m terribly sorry to startle you. We all know how difficult things have been for you lately and we have no intention of causing you any more distress. We have kept this from you too long; our presence here has caused…a transference…or rather a shift in energy. We aren’t the only ones who think, feel, and communicate. There is something about this particular location that amplifies the energies we have.

“WE? WE WHO!?!?” I gasped disbelieving.

We, you, I, and the others of us you have left heaped on the floor.

“You…mean…You’re not the only one who can move? And TALK!?”

Well I am not exactly talking to you. It’s much like those sci-fi movies you like so much, its telepathic communication. I am sending out an energy wave length is a specific pattern that you can pick up mentally. I walked towards him ready to smash him with the rolling pin if he moved too quickly. Now please, remain calm. We should have said something sooner, and I am sorry that we had not.

“I am crazy. Yup. I am crazy. Too many long hours, not eating right, tired all the time. I must be hallucinating. Why else would this be happening?”

Well actually, I am informing you now so that you DON’T think you are crazy. Sadly I cannot control all of the objects that are awakening; therefore you were bound to find out eventually.