Overdue Check-Up (Poppy Playtime)

(Chapter 3) Part 22: Will I Lose You?

"But that cat is dead."

My eyes open with a gasp, I sit up and look around, seeing nothing but darkness again, I groan, "Already? I was just here."

I stand up as my father's words reply around this dreamscape, "That cat is dead, that cat is dead, that cat is dead." Echoing over and over.

I grit my teeth, "Dad, why won't you give him a chance?" I bawl my hands into fists, "He's not evil."

"He's... not that bad, not like how everyone describes him as, especially that chicken." Bobby's voice says, I look up and see the source.

An image of a memory not too far from me stands Aunty Bobby, she was looking away from me as she was frozen in place, in the middle of folding laundry it looked like. I started to walk forward as more dialogue left the oval entrance.

A younger voice of myself asks her, "But then... why would Kickin say that about him?"

I reach out and touch the memory, the image of it becoming the only thing I see, Bobby now moving into a sagging position with the towel lowering, "It's just... hard, for us to talk about him, or get close. He kinda scares most of us, not Dogday though, those two have known each other longer than any of us."

I stand on my tiptoes and put away a folded piece of towel, then ask, "Then why? He's so nice, I don't understand."

Steps are heard before Bobby places down a towel next to me, "I know, but there are just some things you just won't understand until you're older."

I pout, cross my arms, and look away, "I'm plenty old... wait."

She giggles and pulls me into a hug, "You're so sweet!"

I'm pulled out of the memory as I cry out, "Bobby, stop!"

I smile sadly at that one, I knew that she didn't like him either, but she at least tried to confront it by giving him a chance, she tried to get closer to him. I sigh as I also remember that she never really got far, not giving him the opportunities she should have, but Aunty Bobby had at least tried to get close to Uncle Nap.

I look around the black void, "But she could've tried more, there were a lot of things she blamed him for when he didn't deserve it, and she wasn't exactly subtle with her distaste of him either."

The sound of purring surprises me into looking around, only to find another memory image at the end of this void (which isn't far), it looks like the bedrooms I slept in when at Playcare. I started to approach it as the purring got louder, filling me with a sense of safety that Dogdad usually gave me with just a wag of his tail.

Younger-me says, "Catnap?" he huffs softly to let me know I'm heard, "Why does everyone not like you?"

I reach for the memory and get sucked into it, just as the purring stops abruptly, the creaking of breaking wood occurring in its stead, he's digging his claws into the floor, after a second of silence, he says, "Nothing to be concerned about Kit."

I pout, "But Catnap, everyone says you're bad, that you're dangerous, that you're creepy. Though I can't argue that last one," I quickly add, "But that's not your fault! I just want to know why no one wants to try and get to know you, everything that they're scared of you for is not your fault, I hate it!" I yell.

A groan from a few beds startle me into looking at them, seeing the kids stirring and shifting, but ultimately staying asleep. I sigh in relief and hold a hand over my chest, but I harden my expression again, looking off to the side to let him know I want an answer.

Catnap sighs, "That's just how it is Kit, me and the other Critters, except for Dogday, have a unique history. A history that paints me in a bad light, something I can't fix, nor do I blame them for it. Then they spread that fear to the kids, can't say I blame them for that either, they're just being careful."