ANGST
Word count: 1234
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"Next time I'm letting dad clean his own garage."
Y/n wiped away a stripe of sweat from their forehead as they carried heavy boxes around. Putting them outside to be picked up by a garbage truck tomorrow. Most of it was old stuff like broken parts of his broken motorcycle he stored in case he could still sell them.
But after a few years it was really was only catching dust and serving as extra obstacles to break your neck over.
Speaking of that, they bumped into a shelve with the Christmas decorations that got knocked onto their head before hitting the ground resulting in another near death experience, their mothers impending heart attack once she saw her precious gold topper in hundred little pieces and it revealed a single old tape that apparently had been gathering dust.
"Welcome Home. Huh? I don't recall watching it."
They walked over to the spare television that was standing in the far corner, knowing it had a old VCR connected to it.
They figured they could see if it worked, just out of curiosity.
How you now wished you hadn't.
The old tape contained a recording of a puppet show, it was a show that seemed to have slipped into obscurity, with no one remembering it's existence.
"Okay, okay. Cute puppets, let's see_"
Y/n tried skipping through the recording to the end just to check how long it lasted or if there was any extra credits at the end but the screen glitched as one of the characters made it's appearance. As soon as a yellow puppet stepped in view there was a pause before it resumed in it's normal pace. Trying to skip or even rewind didn't do anything.
Prolly cause the tape was from the stone age it didn't work properly compared to modern technology.
"I'll just let the tape run it's course and check up on it later to see the end."
As the flickering images appeared on the screen, the viewer would be introduced to Wally Darling, a peculiar yellow puppet with a striking blue pompadour, adorned in rainbow pants and a blue cardigan.
Sad to say the viewer was busy elsewhere. Bumping into another shelf. Important stuff like that.
But what's is a show without a audience?
The star of the show felt a rush of excitement, unable to recall the last time he was put in position to move again, to show his crafts, to entertain, to feel alive again, to simply exist.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. A new neighbor? It's been so long..." He laughed statically.
Staring straight ahead through the screen he scanned the other side of the world he couldn't reach, oh so happy to have someone to interact with again. But confusion began to set in as there was no one there anymore.
How...
He knew he had seen a face just briefly.
Oh! There they where.
The puppet couldn't look away as the human returned, for a moment they both held each others gaze, it truly had been too long since he was presented with an audience. Experiencing it now after such solitude was hitting him strong.
He took in everything, branding it into his memory. How he wished to paint them, right here and now, capturing their presence forever.
The person who revived him, his viewer, his new neighbour, his darling.
While looking for the sweeper, the human spared a fleeting glance at the television, they halted in their actions as the puppet's large, unblinking eyes seemed to pierce through the screen, creating an unsettling feeling of being watched.
"Okay... you definitely have a intense stare. Blink twice if you need help-"
They awkwardly laughed, immediately wanting to pretend they didn't just say that.
"And I need to stop talking to a screen."
As Y/n watched, as they got welcomed into the show with a melancholic tone. Wally's voice, high-pitched and slightly distorted, echoed through the room as he greeted the audience.
"Welcome home, folks! It's me, Wally Darling, your friendly neighbor!"
His exaggerated gestures and wide smile seemed almost too cheerful, especially against the backdrop of the decrepit set. The movements of the puppet, though fluid, seemed unnaturally lifelike, bordering on uncanny valley territory. Yet, despite the unease creeping up their spine, they couldn't tear their eyes away from the screen.
It wasn't long before Y/n noticed subtle changes in Wally's behavior. He began to deviate from his scripted lines, addressing them directly through the screen in a voice tinged with bitterness and longing.
"You there, watching from the other side. Do you ever feel like you don't belong? Like you're trapped in a world that's forgotten you? I know what it's like. Ha. Ha. Ha."
His words sent shivers down their spine, his unblinking stare intensifying with each passing moment.
"But enough about me, tell me about yourself!" Wally's voice echoed through the room, his words dripping with an unsettling blend of eagerness. "I want to know everything about you. Your hopes, your fears, your deepest secrets. Your name."
They shifted uncomfortably in the floor they sat on, the weight of his gaze pressing down on them like a suffocating blanket. They hesitated, unsure of how to respond to the puppet's probing questions.
"I... I don't know if I'm comfortable sharing that with you, Wally." They stammered, their voice barely above a whisper. "You're just a character on a TV show. You're not real."
It felt weird saying that out loud, even if it felt like the character from the show was interacting with them in a personal manner the fact remained that it was a old pre-recorded tape, so that wouldn't be possible.
It simply wouldn't.
And they just broke their promise not to talk to a screen again. Geez-
Wally's expression remained the same, yet his voice had a chilling edge to it. "What? No! I am a real person. Maybe we have a bad connection, I'm sorry about that."
Y/n felt their unease grow exponentially. "Will you tell me you are a puppet. Just say you are a puppet. Please..."
They where starting to loose their mind!
Obviously there had to be someone who was controlling the puppet on strings and speaking in the words in the background added with additional weird edits.
But it was creepy how whoever's behind this went through all the trouble to create such a scene or hack their television specifically.
"I am a real person...." He said with a soulless haunting look before going back to his cheerful silly smile.
"I think it's time for me to stop watching." Y/n declared, their voice slightly more shaky. "Something is clearly wrong with this recording."
But no matter how many times they tried to turn off the television, his presence lingered, his unblinking eyes following their every move. It was as though he had found a way to transcend the confines of the screen, infiltrating their reality like a parasite with his twisted version of companionship.
So.....
Y/n just forcefully removed the tape, chucking in the boxes that would he picked with the garbage. It landed between the broken ornament.
Wally was not happy about that, that wasn't very neighborly at all. Clearly someone could use a lesson about manners.
>:O
He wouldn't be discarded like that ever again, he would be back for them.
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