Hopper

Intro

"What's that noise?" Light peered through a door that creaked as it was opened. I had woken up from my hibernation, to see a shadowy figure peering in the doorway- looking around the room. The figure didn't even notice me. They snuck over to the closet door, turning on the light. I saw the figure snooping through the drawers, unsure of what they were looking for. Then their communication device rang and the figure answered it.

"Yeah, I am here." then a pause. "alright, perfect. well I will see you tomorrow then." and then the figure, which voice I recognized as a man's, hung up. This man was larger than most I had ever seen- although, there was a slight familiarity that I could not put my finger on.

I was very old, so a lot of things looked familiar. Back in my prime, I traveled all over the world and met a lot of people- but I had been stuck in my home for the last few years, not being able to get out and go do things. My legs didn't move like they used to. I started to reminisce about the time that I met Ben and we became best friends. We ran around the block, pretending to be ninjas and defeating bad guys. That would come in handy right now, as there was a stranger invading my home.

I just watched, as he cleaned out the closet- throwing clothes and items in the middle of the floor. I didn't know what the figure was after, there was nothing valuable in this room. I had wondered if they already hit the living room, with all of the electronics or the jewelry box in the bathroom. They didn't seem to be in a hurry.

This room hadn't seen a mess like this in nearly 8 years. My last client before retirement was a girl named Beth. She used to run around this room and make it a disaster. I hadn't thought of her in a long time. One day, she left the house to go to school and that was the last time I ever saw her. I waited days for her to come back but the only people that ever came in that door ever again were her parents. The tidied up the place and then periodically came in here to cry before collecting themselves and leaving the room.

The figure closed the closet and examined the clothes on the ground. He carefully picked them up one by one, checking them out. He then went back into the closet- the door blocked him from my view.

My name? Well that depends who you asked. I have had many names over the different years- each of my clients calling me a different one. The earliest one I could remember was Bonnie but my most recent one was Hopper. That was the name I had stuck with since retirement. As well as a career as a body guard, I have been many things throughout my life. I was a firefighter, a ninja, a cowboy, an astronaut- basically, you think it and I have been it.

I sat, perched on my shelf, anxiously waiting for the man to return to my sight. When he did, I did not expect what I saw. I could now see him pretty clearly, with the closet light shining and being adjusted to the dark. The man returned, with no clothes on except a familiar article of clothes- a pull-up. Not just any pull-up but a pink Disney Princess pull-up.

I had obviously seen them before, they were Beth's. I wasn't sure what to think- at first, I was upset because he stole something of Beth's but then I remembered that Beth wasn't going to use them anymore. I couldn't judge the man, throughout my life I dressed up as a princess, a maid. a cheerleader, again, whatever you could think of. He looked a little too big to be wearing one but it did fit on him. He walked back over to the pile of clothes.

I stared, as the man put on one of Beth's dresses and twirled around. He looked happy. He took a few photos of himself, giggling before undressing and getting into another outfit. Again, these clothes were a little small for him but they all got on his body and he posed and laughed throughout the whole process.

He eventually walked out of the room, wearing leggings, socks and a pink hooded sweatshirt and did not return for a few. When he did, he went straight to the closet. He pulled out a pair of Beth's old pajamas, ones with the feet and put them on over his pull-up. He approached me, before reaching past me for one of Beth's old stuffed unicorns and climbed into her bed. He pulled back the Disney Princess sheets and climbed into bed- placing a pacifier he must have found in the house in his mouth and he slowly drifted to sleep.

I stared, watching him. It was obvious that this man meant no harm. Who was he? What did he want? That I did not know. What I did know, that even though he was a grown up- it felt good to be watching over somebody again. The life of a body guard is hard. You are constantly dragged by the arm or stuffed into a small container, tossed around and even slammed against things. But when you lay down next to your client and get to protect them from all the bad thoughts and demons that come for them in the night, the toll is worth it.

I have made it through 7 kids- the average body guard is lucky to make it through two before being put into retirement, hibernation, or dying. The rules of being a body guard is simple, protect your client and if you are found out to be sentient, you are sent to retirement and your soul is snatched from your stuffed body. I was placed into hibernation, which means I was just forgotten about- which is a worse fate to dying in my opinion.

I checked in on the human that was sleeping in the bed- I noticed him starting to toss and turn. Looking around the room, I saw them- bad thoughts creeping towards this man- and a lot of them. While I had yet to decide whether this man was good or bad, I knew nobody deserved what he had coming for him. I tried to move but was stiff, as I hadn't moved in 8 years. The thoughts got closer. I was able to wiggle off of the shelf, falling straight to the floor. The fall, broke my stiffness and I was able to slowly stand.

I hadn't fought off demons or thoughts in so long, I wasn't sure I would be able to- but my duty was to protect and I was going to try. It was easier when the client dressed me up, whether they gave me a wand or a weapon but that was all put away in storage, so now it was just me. I stumbled towards the bed and looked at the enemies- who by now had heard the ruckus I was making. It was time to go.

I was rusty, boy was I rusty. I fought off a few of them at the base of the bed- they were surprisingly tame. The larger ones stayed away, sitting back and watching. I was knocked down, allowing the troop of thoughts to climb up the bed post. As I climbed to my feet, I saw them at his feet. He was tossing and turning and kicking- putting up a valiant effort. But he needed help, humans weren't great at fighting off thoughts or demons- their weakness was comfortable and soft things. As they pulled away at his covers, the human had some protection. They couldn't penetrate the footed pajamas but he wasn't clear yet. They worked their way towards his hands and his head. I had to hurry. I climbed the bed and sprinted towards the herd.

They scattered, which allowed me to isolate them in to smaller groups and attack. I looked back at the human, who was now mumbling and moaning in fear. They were getting inside, I had to hurry. Every punch or kick with my soft limbs was enough to evaporate them- it just obviously wasn't efficient as a ranged weapon and couldn't hit multiple at once. I was confused by the larger creatures sitting back- but I couldn't stop to think about why. Instead, I approached the human's head, fighting off all of the thoughts near his hands. Again, I was met with some blows and some set backs- but I eventually got them all.

I was exhausted, but the human was safe. I couldn't even get up to walk, so I crawled. Plopping off of the bed and towards the base of the shelf. But I had no strength to climb and instead, lost consciousness.

I woke up, being examined by the figure. He looked at me with a look of familiarity. "Hopper?" he said. He looked back down at the clothes, which were now in two piles. "I'm keeping you for sure." He then tossed me onto the larger pile. He then took off the footed pajamas and showed off his very wet pullup. In the daylight, I noticed how hairy he was- he was a grown male. His face was shaven clean but his arms and legs reminded me of Sasquatch. His phone rang again.

"Hey, yeah things went well. Thanks for letting me stay. All of this will be out today. Is the realtor going to be here soon?.... okay, well I'm sorry I missed you guys, it has been forever. When I come home on Christmas break, you will have to invite me out... Oh, it is no problem. I miss her too, this was hard for me so I can't even imagine what it would be like for you two... okay, I love you guys too. Bye"

He picked me back up, looking at me. I looked back at him, finally realizing who he was. It was Brandon, which was Beth's best friend from down the road. He must have been clearing out Beth's room so her parents could sell the house. And by the looks of it, he is keeping a lot of her stuff. He grabbed a pair of her leggings and slid them up over the pull-up, followed by an old Bratz shirt. He picked me up and posed with me before sending the picture to somebody. He took a load of stuff downstairs, including me, stuffing me inside of his bag, before loading up his truck.

We then headed down the road. It looks like I have a new client to protect.