No More Ice Cream

New Discovery

'By the time night came, she tried to envision the fun she'd have tomorrow. With all her friends there, her boyfriend there, her family there, the animatronics there, she smiled as nervousness and excitement overwhelmed her mind and stomach. Although thoughts rushed through her mind from earlier today, she found it surprisingly easy to fall asleep.'

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Haisley was in an endless black room. She opened her eyes and blinked numerous times but darkness remained. Until suddenly, a single spotlight beamed on, revealing what looked to be, a shut down animatronic. The animal was unknown to Haisley, as its head hung low with metal and wires exposed. Its arms drooped down to its sides, and its body was slumped in an uncomfortable position. Its legs were positioned as if it stood upright but its hunched body told otherwise. Horns protruded from the top of its head and hooves were placed at the bottom of the animal to resemble feet. Haisley jumped as the robots torso snapped upright and its posture straightened. A music box-like tinkle played somewhere in the darkness of the room. The animal's eyes opened gradually, looking around and unclenching its damaged jaw as if performing in a show. It lifted its right arm up and down in a chopping like motion; a cleaver was perfectly placed in its paw. Its torso bounced from side to side, singing out to an absent audience. Haisley was so fixated on its movements that she didn't realise a giant golden ring pierced through the robots big square nose. "Its a bull." Haisley confirmed at last. The bull was mangled, with wires sticking out of odds and ends and parts of its metal skeleton peeked through its fabric fur casing. Its body was splattered with gashes and wounds, as if it were beaten up. The horn on its left was almost cut clean off, leaving just a sickly yellow stump on the top of its head. Unexpectedly, the music stopped playing and the bull character came to a halt. Only when the robots arm was in mid-swing, did she recognise the dark glossy substance on the cleaver's sharp blade. It wasn't a pattern, or some form of food, it was a deep crimson. Possibly fresh from whatever poor soul had to encounter it. Haisley's survival instinct kicked in, and her mind was telling her to run, but she couldn't move her feet. She could move her head, but her body was paralysed in place. She looked to see the space around her, but the spotlight did no use in lighting up her surroundings. She looked back up to the bull which was now shut off again. It had fallen limp into its hunched over position, but a figure stood behind it. Someone had turned it off. There was silence for an agonisingly long time, until the figure stepped into the light. It was the man from earlier today. The exact same, ragged clothed man. His smile was maniacal, his clouded eyes wide, with dark -almost purple looking - bags underneath them. The man stared unblinkingly at Haisley, until he slowly slid the cleaver from the bull's hand and sped towards the girl...

Haisley jolted awake. She scanned her room with panicked movements, gasping for air. Once she was satisfied that she was in her own room and was safe, she checked her phone; it was 7am. She took a deep breath and laid her head back on her pillow. Images of her nightmare flashed through her mind. It was so surreal. Haisley tried to fall back asleep, but she was too uncomfortable. Her stomach churned at the thought of being so close to that man, and a robot that she would have loved if she had seen it in person and seen it fixed.

"Why did I dream that?" Haisley questioned to herself. She took a few more minutes to relax, and then heard three precise knocks on her bedroom door. David pushed the door open with his wheelchair and remained in the doorway.
"You alright? We heard you moving a lot in your sleep." His brows furrowed with worry.
"Just a nightmare..." Haisley sighed, rubbing her eyes from sleep.
"Oh honey," Haisley heard the faint whirring of her father's wheels scoot across her carpet and stop beside her bed. He looked at her with reassuring eyes and held his arms out wide, gesturing for a hug. Haisley smiled and leaned over to hug him. They stayed there for a long while.
"We're going to the parlour at around 12 okay?"
"Okay." David left the room, turning back one more time to flash her a grin. She giggled as he left. Bored and relaxed, she decided to spend an hour or so, watching YouTube on her phone, to speed up time. She eventually went onto her laptop to go digging for some more information about the crime.