Chapter Text
December 20th, 1998.
Five days before Christmas.
Parker woke up on December 20th, 1998. He woke up in his bed. The 8-year-old sat up, pushing his covers off. The blond child got up, put on his pink slippers, and walked over to the calendar on the wall. The zoo-animal themed rug beneath his feet rustled as he got onto his tippy-toes to look at the calendar date. It was December 20th. Five days before Christmas.
Parker was really, really excited. Five days until Christmas? It was so short, yet too long.
The kid thought about it. A little peek at his presents couldn't hurt, right?
The 8-year-old left his room, making sure to close his door quietly. He looked around the dark hall before he walked into the living room. The fireplace wasn't lit, but somehow it still gave off a warm, fire-y glow. A small noise, like a little tune, sounded out, from what Parker assumed, under the tree. He thought about looking, but decided not to, as peeking at his presents was much more important.
He giggled as he ran a couple of circles around the kitchen before tippy-toeing down the stairs to the basement. The basement was big, and normally, he’d be scared, but he was just too happy.
After looking in all of the rooms, the boy finally found the presents. There were lots of presents under and behind a small wooden table. There was a stocking on the floor. But, on top of the table, was one single gift. Maybe it was newer? Parker was glad his mom never used wrapping paper, and instead used the present boxes, because then she wouldn't be able to tell he opened the present later.
Parker got on his tippy-toes and opened the present box. He put a hand over his mouth so his giggling would be quieter. Inside, from what he could tell, was another box. But the box inside was red and had some labels on the top. He pulled out the box and put it on the table.
Woah!
It's a Tattletail! I’ve been asking for one for my whole life!
The Tattletail in the box was a baby one. It was a purple color, with blue eyes, and a heart nose. Parker opened it fully and took out the Tattletail. It turned on, sensing it was being held. The purple Tattletail’s voice box whirred quietly to life, “Me l-love playtime with y-you!”
The 8-year-old had to hide his squeal as his Tattletail ‘came to life’. Parker held the toy as he walked quietly back upstairs, the Tattletail looking around and blabbing random phrases,
“Play t-time for me! Big fun.”
“Happy birthday!”
“Me love p-playtime with you.”
Once Parker got upstairs and into the kitchen, the toy shook a little bit, like it was shaking its head, and it almost screamed, it was so, so loud. Parker almost cried. His mom were definitely going to wake up and see that he opened his present early. She's going to ground him and not let him have the Tattletail if she sees this.
“Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat. Give me a treat.”
The boy finally hurried over to the fridge. He opened it and took out some grapes. He shoved them into the Tattletail’s mouth. The toy stopped and mimicked eating noises as it quieted down.
Parker sniffled. He was still scared.
He shuffled over to the living room and curled up on the couch, clutching the toy close to his chest. The Tattletail made ambient humming/ murmuring noises. Then it told Parker, “Brush me! Brush me!”. The boy hurriedly sat up. He looked around for a brush, hoping Tattletail wouldn’t be loud again, and he saw his mom’s hairbrush in the middle of the couch. He grabbed it and started brushing the toy’s short fur, watching as it hummed.
The boy kissed Tattletail’s plastic forehead and shuffled out of the living room. He heard a noise that he couldn't make sense of. The toy whirred, “yawn, me tired.” Ignoring the Tattletail, the boy focused on the earlier noise. Was his mom waking up? Parker stood still, hoping his mom hadn't woken up. The noise didn’t happen again, so he assumed he was safe to keep going.
“yawn, me tired.”
Back downstairs into the basement he went. When he got down there, he passed the middle of the basement, and into the room where he found all of the presents. He put the purple Tattletail back into its original box. He then put that box into the present box.
Parker climbed back up the stairs, ignoring the small giggle from the Tattletail down in the basement. He didn’t think to question how he could hear it from so far away. He flinched harshly as the phone on the wall started ringing loudly.
I remember my mama saying I shouldn't talk to people I don't know.
Parker ignored the phone and quietly snuck over to his room. He stopped before he got in, though, when he saw the front door was open. He didn’t think anything of it, especially when he saw an egg on the porch. It was a shiny pink egg, with a slightly lighter pink ribbon tied into a bow on it. The boy picked it up and went into his room, closing the front door. He put the egg in his closet and climbed into bed. He snuggled into his blanket and quickly fell asleep.