BFDI Prequels | A BFDI Fanfic

Chapter 29: The Ways Life Finds

The thin sleeping bags Golf Ball had provided did little to cushion his pliable plastic back from the freezing, unforgiving floor. He tossed and turned endlessly, trying to find a position comfortable enough to drag himself back to rest. Even when sleep did come, it was short and unsatisfying; lasting mere moments until he rolled over another small pebble. He grumbled and groaned—green with envy at all the other objects who found their dream islands and were all dozing off without him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Pen finally settled on a spot not laden with uneven paving or a tiny landmine that would pierce through the nylon fabric supposedly protecting him. He let out a delighted sigh, shuffled around one last time for good measure, and closed his eyelids. Seconds later, Pen, too, had finally won his dream island.

That's when a deafening boom awoke Pen from his uneasy slumber.

The blast made him flee out of his advanced potato sack, then just as quickly into a protective position—crouching and covering his head with his hands. Pen waited there, still and unmoving. Not a single other object was alerted by the explosion; he could hear the easygoing breaths coming from whoever was nearest to him.

When it became apparent that no other bangs had planned to threaten his existence that day, Pen tentatively stood back up. The only thing visible to him was a hallway on the other side of the factory, where a small lightbulb in the ceiling provided a subtle source of luminance. He glanced at the distressed sleeping bag by his foot. There was no way he could find that ideal location again. Pen kicked at it in frustration.

With nothing to do in the cave full of sleeping objects, he trudged towards the lit corridor. It was not a long walk, by any definition of the word; GB's factory was only about as large as a basketball court. Yet it still took him the rise and fall of an empire to cross the factory floor. The bodies, for one, did not help in the slightest. Neither did his sluggish, under-rested brain or his sore, weak legs.

Once in the hallway, Pen finally took a moment to stretch out his limbs. He felt at least a thousand joints snap, crackle, and pop. With this bone-crunching noise, almost all of the stress he had accumulated also fizzled out.

A sound from inside the hallway filled his ears that he didn't have. It sounded a lot like Golf Ball, except it was celebrating. Even from the few hours that Pen had known her, GB did not seem like the type to celebrate for anything, much less in the dead of night. But he was sure it was her—the voice of a boy even though she was a girl.

Pen tiptoed into the hall, then hid beside the door to GB's office. By now the cheering had died down. He cupped his hand against the door, placing the side of his head onto his hand to enhance the volume.

"Pen, I can see you out there," Golf Ball said from behind the door, causing goosebumps to form all over his arms.

He immediately peeled away from the door, laughing awkwardly. "That's-that's great! Just came by to say hi. Totally not doing anything out of the ordinary, no sirree."

"Okay? You can say it now."

Pen could hardly hear Golf Ball's voice over the sound of his beating heart. "Yes, okay, I will do that. Hi! Hello! Salutations! Please don't throw me into the incinerator!"

Golf Ball sighed. "Seriously, I don't get it. What's with everyone thinking that I throw objects into incinerators or kill them for fun?" she exasperated, "Sure, I don't care that much about the health and safety of my test subjects- I mean clients, but still, I'm not evil!"

"That sounds like what someone evil would say," he pointed out.

The door to the office opened by a thin margin. "Fine. If I can't prove my nice intentions to you personally, maybe this will."