Sir Huggles
How long as he been fighting? How long has he stood against the nightmares that threaten his charge? It has been- years, fighting nonstop almost every night. He had been given to her as a gift, a present for her for her third birthday. How her eyes lit up and shone in delight that day! Hannah had played with him all day. She showed him her home in a mad dash around the house, enthusiastically showing her toys their new friend. Days after that were blissfully joyous. Tea parties, dress-ups, and games of “house” were plentiful. And Sir Huggles would die before he would let them harm Hannah.
Sir Huggles was curled up in the arms of his princess, looking over the room. His companions sat with him. Snuggly-Bunny and Porky-Pie the Unicorn were dispersed in various places over the bed. Darkness slowly blanketed the room, the only lights coming from the grinning duck night-light and the bright moonlight streaming in through the window. The air became cold enough for Sir Huggles to see the frost in his breath.
Slowly, Sir Huggles the Teddy Bear wiggled out from Hannah’s soft grip. She murmured in her sleep as she felt the soft fur of Sir Huggles leave her arms. Night has fallen, and that means they will come. They will come to hurt his ward; they will come to harm the one he loves. But he will fight, just like every night to keep Hannah safe. Scars plague Sir Huggle’s body like chicken pox. His limbs had been stitched back together so often that he sometimes felt like those weren’t even his arms. His stuffing was awkwardly pushed to one side after years of being hugged. His beautiful polyester sheen was long gone. One ear was entirely missing, taken from him by one of the monsters. It was a small price to pay it if he could spare his ward from harm.
Standing on the bed, Sir Huggles surveyed the room. It was quiet. The calm before the storm, a brief period Sir Huggles will get to rest before they come. Porky-Pie, the bright pink unicorn stood beside Sir Huggles. After years of combat, her horn was still as sharp as ever. Her body was in worse shape, with various patches of cloth covering almost every surface of his body. Her eyes were a mismatched pair of buttons after losing them repeatedly in fights. Her once luscious hair was tangled and stringy. Still, her horn stood proud and deadly, ready to taste the blood of her enemies.
Snuggly-Bunny stood next to Sir Huggles holding his comically large carrot in his one arm. His other arm was completely missing, devoured by the nightmares that haunt Hannah. Snuggly-Bunny was looking awfully thin, his stuffing torn out of him more times than he could count. He had a few missing whiskers and his nose was entirely gone. His gorgeous fur had now grown matted and slightly dirty. A bright red Kool-Aid stain covered the left side of his chest. Still, a knitted smile persisted on his face and his ears stood up happily.
In the distant, the mighty nightmares roared and growled. A great host of them was approaching, they would swarm out of the closet, underneath the bed, out of the window, and from every nook and cranny they could find.
The trio needed no words in-between them. They knew their duties. This horde of nightmares would be the biggest they seen. The sounds of the nightmares echoed throughout the home, with only the toys listening. As the nightmares neared, Sir Huggles quickly equipped his own weapon, a star-tipped pink fairies wand that light up the night with its flashing colors. Tendrils of pink and purple fabric hung from the star. Sir Huggles, pressed the button on the side of it. A bright pink shine emitted from the star on the wand. The glow of the wand illuminated the room in in bright colors. It was blessed by the magic of childhood innocence.
Suddenly, all the baying, howling, and cries of the nightmares halted as if they had all been cut down like the animals they are. Not one of the toys moved a muscle as they strained their ears to catch a single sound of the nightmares. In the distance, a bird let off a chirp and flew off. Each of the small toys scanned the room for any sign of the nightmares. The temperature was dropping rapidly and the air was as still as a doll. A floorboard creaked in the hallway. Hannah turned around in her bed, pulling her blankets closer to her chest as if she was cold. Her sweet innocent face now faced them. Golden locks curled down to her face. Her arms hugged a non-existent Sir Huggles. A faint smile was on her lips, displaying her slightly crooked teeth.
“CRAAAAWW”, a loud scree pierced through the air. Bursting from the darkness of the closet like water bursting from a dam, the nightmares came. Misshapen lumps of flesh and limbs stumbled out. They were a mess of appendages. Some had a multitude tentacles and arms coming out of them. Others, had trunks of elephants. One had giant praying mantis claws. They looked like were turned inside out because their flesh and muscle was displayed for all to see. It was as if someone had flayed off all their skin. Sir Huggles knew who they were, Anger Nightmares. Hannah was always mad that some animals ate other animals and thought it was mean.
They swarmed the ground floor, their numbers swelling up by the second. Sir Huggles wasted no time in dealing with these nightmares. Leaping down from the bed, he charged at them. His pink wand was held high as he dove into their ranks. As he reached their front line, Sir Huggles swung the weapon with the force of a raging tornado, scything down three nightmares before they can even properly react. Blood and limbs flew across the wooden. Sir Huggle’s companion had quickly followed from behind. Snuggly-Bunny gracefully lunged and stabbed with his carrot, while Porky-Pie simply charged at them with her horn.
The Anger Demons still kept up their steadfast march to Hannah, their numbers seem endless as the inch closer and closer to Hannah. Sir Huggles swung his wand like a graceful dancer, each sweep cutting down two or three Anger Demons at once. Their blood painted the floors, forming a grotesque painting of red.
More ruckus calls rang through the bedroom. Sir Huggles looked to the left to see a horde of Depression leap out from beneath the dresser. Their skin were jet-black and their face twisted in sadness. Sir Huggles glanced at his friends fighting desperately against the Anger. Porky-Pie received a thick lash across her back from a tentacle. Snuggly-Bunny was clubbed hard in the leg and tackled violently by a another Anger.
Even with his friends in peril, protecting Hannah was more important. Sir Huggles detached from the Anger and leaped into the midst of the Depression. They were small disgusting creatures about half the height of Sir Huggles. Sir Huggle’s wand was a blur as he hacked and slash at the Depression swarming around him. It became less about killing them all, and more about staying alive amidst their ranks. His arm was slowly becoming tired. His wand began to feel heavier as he fought.
More came out of the darkness like rats out of a sinking ship. Greed, with their bat-like leathery wings and red eyes, flew in from the window. Envy crawled out from behind the toy box. They were seemingly beautiful women decked out in stunning jewels with the faces of supermodels. Sir Huggles knew better.
The trio slowly lost ground as they gradually retreated to the bed. Hannah’s face was lit up by a slight smile in her sleep. No doubt dreaming about some sort of new adventure with her toys. Even when sleeping, she was beautiful and innocent. There was not a single scratch on her. Sir Huggles was determined to keep it that way.
The unending onslaught of nightmares attacked them from all sides. The trio had been fighting for years, their skills honed by experience. However, no matter how skilled they all were, they were simply unable to handle just the pure mass of nightmares swarming them like rats. Sir Huggles received a thick lash across his chest. Stuffing flowed out from the wound like a water flow. The stitching on his reattached arms was slowly becoming loose. His wand was now dim, the battery running dry a long time ago. They barely had time to catch their breaths. Each moment was spent hacking and bashing wildly at the storm of enemies.
Sudden as lightning, the Nightmares halted the assault. All their cries and roars also s
topped. The silence was deafening. The Nightmares simply stopped as if frozen in time and stared at the toys with their dull eyes. They had been fighting for several hours. Various cuts and scratches coated the trio’s bodies. Snuggle-bunny had lost his carrot in the chaos and had been desperately fighting with his single hand. Their bodies were weary and stitches loose. They nightmares simply stared straight ahead with their dead eyes at the trio.
Sir Huggles glanced about nervously, the nightmares stopping their attack is absolutely unheard of. He had never seen this phenomenon before. Using this lull effectively, he slowly stuffed his stuffing back into his body. Whatever was going to happen, he had a feeling he was going to need himself to be at a hundred percent. Snuggly-Bunny spotted Sir Huggle repairing himself and moved to help. Even with one arm, Snuggly-Bunny was extremely useful at mending Sir Huggles.
In the distance, a large shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. The minor nightmares parted way for it. Not a single one stared at it or touched the terrifying figure. It possessed grey gnarled and leathery skin. Long double jointed arms hung down, reaching its knees. Black eyes sunk into its face like two holes. It wore a ragged cloth hanging down from its torso. Its mouth was a black abyss filled with knives and swords. Stuck in its teeth were various scraps of cloth and stuffing. This was a nightmare that Sir Huggles had only heard whispers about. This was a nightmare that never lost. And it was here in Hannah’s bedroom. Its name was Corruption.
Corruption would strip away her love, kindness, and innocence. In its place, would be pain, hatred and fear. She had been untouched by any of these nightmares for all these years. Sir Huggles readied his wand. Tonight, he would slay Corruption. He would take down this monstrous nightmare that threatens his little princess. No matter how dangerous it was, nor how bleak, he was going to fight. He would not leave Hannah defenseless against Corruption. The trio looked at each other. They were going to fight until the bitter end. They would fight tooth claw and nail to make sure Hannah is not plagued by Corruption.
Corruption slowly made its way forward to her bed, toward her angelic face. A single hand was twisted hand was outstretched. Its face was impassive as it moved forward. Hannah smiled at something in her sleep, completely oblivious to the incoming dangers.
Sir Huggles leaped through the air, his weapon held overhead. With all his might, he smashed his fairy wand across the hand of Corruption. The wand shattered like glass the second it made contact with Corruption’s flesh. The already dim light of innocence was forever broken. The explosion of the wand sent Sir Huggles tumbling onto the ground. He could feel the Corruption’s magic tear apart the wand as well as rip through his own fragile body. The magic of Innocence was no match for Corruption. Porky-Pie and Snuggly-Bunny ran forward as well in their own feeble attempts to stop it. The second they made contact with Corruption, they too were shocked with the magic of Corruption. They both tumbled onto the ground. Their bright happy eyes were slowly darkening. Sir Huggles struggled to move, his body frozen by the magic of Corruption. He desperately forced his limbs to move, to stand up and fight Corruption.
Corruption’s magic burnt away at the magic of childhood innocence in Sir Huggles. He could barely feel his own limbs, much less move them. They each felt like they were attached to bricks. All those games of dress-up, tea-parties, and house were soon going to end. And he was going to go to the Great Big Box. If only he could have defended Hannah one more day. Let her have one more day have happiness. With every passing second, he felt his life fading.
Sir Huggles could only look helplessly at Corruption as he slowly placed a single delicate finger on Hannah’s forehead. Sir Huggles could feel in his heart, her innocence slowly peeling away. Corruption was slowly taking her, and she was finally growing up.