Fazbear Frights #9: The Puppet Carver

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Frustrated by an unfair arcade game, Colton throws himself into re-engineering the device at any cost

The little kid's grating voice blared through Colton's headphones, as high-pitched and annoying as a smoke alarm. "Did you just kill me? That was harsh, dude!"

"It was a mercy killing, squeaker," Colton said, emphasizing the new deepness of his voice. He was going for a tough and sarcastic tone, like an action hero. "Too bad you can respawn."

Colton hated the little kids who tried to play Hammer of Odin, his favorite online role-playing game. The little brats dominated the chat function, trying and failing to make the more mature players think they were cool. Hammer of Odin wasn't appropriate for little kids anyway. It was rated T, so it was for teens like Colton. The little pip-squeaks should stick to playing Block Builder like Colton had played last year when he was still in middle school.

When Colton looked back at middle school, he didn't even recognize the person he had been. For one thing, his dad was still alive. Colton had been a happy, carefree, regular kid, not worried about anything more serious than how long it would take him to save up his generous allowance for a new video game. But on an icy road just over a year ago, the accident happened, and everything had changed.

Life had changed. Colton had changed.

Colton couldn't get over the unfairness of the accident. His dad had been relatively young and took good care of himself, but none of that mattered because of a stupid patch of ice and a strip of road without a guardrail.

When it first happened, Colton had kept all his sadness inside. He hadn't cried, not even at the funeral. But over time, his sadness had hardened into anger. How could a person not be angry living in a world where good people died for no reason?

Colton knew that his mom and some of his teachers were worried about how cold and bitter he seemed. What was he supposed to do? A happy dance? His dad was dead, and he lived in a world where people rarely got what they deserved. If he lashed out sometimes, so what? He was suffering, and if other people ended up getting a taste of that pain, then at least he didn't suffer alone.

Colton jumped in surprise when a hand touched his shoulder. He looked up to see his mom, dressed in her light blue scrubs. Her curly brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun, like she always wore it when she was going to work. She gestured at him to remove his headset. He sighed in exasperation but reluctantly complied. "What?"

His mom shook her head at him, though she was smiling. "I'm going to work is what. I'm pulling an eight-to-eight shift tonight, heaven help me.

Here's a ten-dollar bill if you want to go out and get a soda and play some games. That way, at least one of us will be having fun."

"Okay, thanks, Mom." The ten-dollar bill was a once-a-week treat. Once a month, right after payday, she would give him a twenty.

"You've got your key, right?" She put on the lanyard she kept next to the door.

Colton resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, Mom."

"Remember to lock the door if you go out," she said, grabbing her keys and purse. "And call the third-floor nurses' station if you need anything.

One of the other nurses can come find me."

"I will," Colton said, putting his headset back on to block out the barrage of nagging. After he got to a good stopping place in Hammer of Odin, he probably would head over to Freddy Fazbear's. The pizza place was less than a ten-minute walk from their apartment building. He knew he was really too old for Freddy's, and he had no interest in the creepy animatronics or the bland pizza. But some of the games were still fun, and there was the lure of tickets that could be redeemed for prizes.