- Da Gweat God Badpoopie
- Part 4 (The conclusion)
- >You pull Bruno from the toilet, let the water run back into the bowl.
- >His breathing is fast and shallow.
- >His eyes seem to be focusing on something very far away.
- >You run a nice warm bath and carefully, almost tenderly, bathe him.
- >Use this opportunity to sponge pony piss off your chest.
- >Bruno doesn’t say anything, he just shivers, even though you know the water is hot.
- >Blow-dry his fluff, cooing at him all the time.
- >Carry him to the kitchen, get the bag of Pone-treats.
- >Carry him to your bedroom, sit on the bed, cradling and rocking him.
- >Try to give him a Pone-treat. You press it against his quivering lips.
- >When you let go, it just falls to the bed.
- >”Bruno, buddy, he’s gone now. Talk to me!”
- >The best he can manage is slow babble.
- >”B…bu…ba…b…bad….buh…ba…”
- >Great. You went too far, didn’t you?
- >Check the time. You need to go meet your editor. Cancel?
- >Sigh. Nothing you can do about Bruno anyway, not right now. Maybe what he needs is sleep.
- >You tuck him gently into his bed.
- >Leave a nightlight on.
- >As you pass through the dining room, the smell of pony shit assails your nostrils.
- >Gotta clean that up… what came over, you anyway?
- >Plug your laptop into an external monitor.
- >It works. Whew. Put files on a thumb drive.
- >You feel a little less bad about your actions, knowing this is gonna cost a mint to fix, a mint you don’t have.
- >Your cheapskate brother better be ready with his checkbook.
- >* * *
- >The meeting goes okay.
- >Your editor chews you out a bit about the quality of your last article.
- >You explain that you’ve been distracted.
- >Family troubles. Broken computer.
- >He’s sympathetic, at least.
- >Return home, clean up dining room, crack the windows.
- >Hesitate outside saferoom door. Do fluffies commit suicide? Or die of trauma?
- >Screw up courage, open door.
- >Bruno, thankfully, is asleep, though it seems fitful.
- >Sigh, plug laptop into external monitor, do a bit of research online.
- >Seems most authorities believe that fluffy ponies have terrible memories.
- >Except for three things: remembering sources of food, very happy experiences, and very traumatic experiences.
- >Great.
- >* * *
- >The next morning, you awaken to the sound of silence.
- >No whining or bucking or pawing at the saferoom door.
- >No cries of “Hungwy.” or “Wet out, pwease.”
- >You open the door and peek in.
- >Bruno is standing in his litterbox, shivering slightly, staring straight ahead.
- >”Good morning, Bruno.”
- >He just whimpers.
- >Walk over to him. “Ready for breakfast?”
- >He looks up at you fearfully.
- >”Come on, I’ll make oatmeal with maple syrup.”
- >You pick him up.
- >He panics, squealing and thrashing in your grip.
- >”Nuu! Wet down! Hafta make poopies in wittabox!”
- >You look.
- >There’s a little pile in the litterbox. Fresh, too.
- >”It looks like you went, Bruno.”
- >He breathes heavily. “Onwy good poopies… pwease…”
- >Well, at least he can talk.
- >You carry him into the kitchen. He whines and whirs his legs but you tuck him under your arm and he gives up.
- >He walks in nervous little circles as you make breakfast.
- >You put his bowl on the floor.
- >He grabs a mouthful and trots toward the dining room.
- >”Where are you going, Bruno?”
- >”Gwta gff fddi tw bwdpippi…”
- >Oatmeal sprays everywhere.
- >Fluffy trying to talk with his mouth full is hilarious, as well as messy.
- >”No, Bruno. It’s okay, Badpoopie is gone.” You step into the dining room and point to the empty nail on the wall where you hung the mask before. “See?”
- >He sees, but he puts the mouthful in the dish anyway.
- >* * *
- >Bring computer to shop.
- >Drag crappy old laptop out of closet. Still boots up.
- >Bruno is very quiet.
- >Before, you would have given a lot for this kind of silence, but now…
- >Maybe out of guilt, and maybe out of concern, you set up shop in his saferoom.
- >He’s actually quiet enough that you can work with him in the same room.
- >He noses his ball around a bit.
- >Bats at his legos half-heartedly, breaking up what he built before, not making anything new.
- >Doesn’t snuggle with his teddy bear.
- >Spends most of the time either standing and staring in random directions, lying down in the middle of the floor, or standing in the litterbox, softly grunting.
- >”Hey, Bruno. Let’s go watch TV.”
- >He whines and cries. Doesn’t want to leave his litterbox.
- >You put in his favorite of his three DVDs, but he watches listlessly.
- >Finally, you stop it, grab him, cuddle him to your chest. You rub and tickle his belly.
- >He loved it before, and he does squeak a little, but even that doesn’t get much of a reaction.
- >”Bruno… talk to me. What’s wrong?”
- >Bruno sniffles. Big tears roll down his cheeks, off the end of his nose.
- >”Bwuno… go to… fwuffy heww.” He sobs.
- >”Why do you say that, Bruno?”
- >”B…Badpoopie say.” He hiccups. “Bwuno faiw test. Make… bad poopies… on fwoor.” He cries harder. “Nu wanna… eat poopies, dwink peepees… fowevah…”
- >I’m, er, pretty sure he was kidding, Bruno.”
- >”Nuu… He no kidding. He… Gweat god… Badpoopie.”
- >Good job, fuckface. You permanently damaged a fluffy. And for what? He didn’t know any better. He’s dim as a doorknob. He didn’t TRY to bug you, or break shit, or crap all over. It’s just his nature.
- >Well, okay, Bruno was also a spoiled brat fluffy. But that’s your damn brother’s fault, not his. If the dog bites, it’s on the owner, not the dog.
- >Fwuffy bwoken. Er, the fluffy is broken. Now you have to figure out how to fix it.
- >* * *
- >Your hopes that Bruno will simply forget are in vain.
- >He seems to improve slightly the next day.
- >But then you wake up at 4 am to the sound of blood-chilling screams.
- >Burst into the saferoom.
- >You find a ball of fluff crammed into the corner, eyes squeezed shut behind trembling hooves.
- >”Nuuu! Wet down! Bwuno sowwy! Nu mean make bad poopies! Nu mean bweak widdle TV!”
- >You wake him from his nightmare.
- >You catch him the next day, listlessly wandering the house, bloodshot eyes staring, whispering “Nu wan’ go fwuffy heww… nu wanna eat poopies…”
- >Your brother will be home tomorrow. Think, damn it…
- >Bingo.
- >Two thrift stores later, you have what you need.
- >That night, tuck Bruno in, wait until you’re sure he’s asleep.
- >Unpack the bags.
- >Adult male-size party dress (either from a really big girl or a tranny), ratty blonde wig (you hope it doesn’t have fleas), an old pair of shoes that you paint with glue and dump glitter on.
- >Plastic magic wand.
- >And the crowning glory… a Disney princess mask from a kid’s Halloween costume.
- >Check in the mirror.
- >If anything, you think you look more terrifying in this get-up than the Badpoopie one. But at this point, you got no choice.
- >Start singing in the hallway… “La la la la la!” in as high-pitched a voice as you can muster.
- >You hear Bruno’s voice from behind the door. “Wha… who dat?”
- >Open the door, click on the light.
- >Bruno’s eyes go wide.
- >”Nuuuuu! Munsta!” He shrieks. “Hewp, daddy! Hewp!”
- >”I am not a monster!” You try to squeak, but it comes out as a banshee wail. “I am your friend!”
- >Bruno is shaking, making his little basket bed creak. “N…no huwt fwuffy… pwease…”
- >”Darling Bruno, I would never harm you! I am… The Great Goddess Goodpoopie!”
- >Bruno stops shaking so much. “G…Goodpoopie?”
- >”Yes! I reward good fluffies and give them nummies and toys! And you are a very good fluffy. Bruno!”
- >You’ve never felt so stupid in your life… but you remind yourself it’s your own damn fault.
- >”B…Bwuno not good fwuffy. Bwuno bad fwuffy. Bwuno faiw poopie test, an’ bweak thing…” He starts to cry.
- >”But you have been very good since then, so all is forgiven!”
- >”Nuu… Gweat God Badpoopie say Bwuno go to fwuffy heww an’ eat poopies…”
- >Sigh. You sure planted it deep, moron. One more shot.
- >You cock your head, hand to ear.
- >”Hark! Badpoopie comes!”
- >Bruno shrieks and spins in his bed, trying to hide under his blanket.
- >”Stay here, Bruno! I will dispatch him!”
- >You close the door.
- >”WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? I HAVE COME TO GET BRUNO AND TAKE HIM TO FLUFFY HELL!”
- >”Oh, no you don’t, you big bad meanie monster! Take that!”
- >You slam against the wall.
- >”OW!”
- >”And that!”
- >Throw yourself into the bathroom door.
- >”AAARGH! CURSES! FOILED AGAIN!”
- >You run to the front door and slam it.
- >Run back to the saferoom and gently open the door.
- >”He is gone, Bruno!”
- >Bruno peeks out from under the blanket.
- >”Weawy?” He chirps.
- >”Yes. I gave him big ouchies!” You wave your wand. “And I have cleaned your soul! You are a good fluffy, Bruno, and you will go to fluffy heaven and eat sketties forever!”
- >Bruno charges out of his basket and hugs your leg.
- >”Fank ‘oo, Gweat Goddess Goodpoopie…”
- >He shivers.
- >Farts.
- >Thunk! As a turd lands on the floor.
- >Bruno turns and looks at it.
- >”Sowwy.”
- >* * *
- >Bruno is his usual self the next morning.
- >He babbles on and on through breakfast about how he met the Great Goddess Goodpoopie.
- >Runs through your legs, almost tripping you.
- >Bounds around the house, running into things.
- >Plays loudly with his toys.
- >You’re actually glad.
- >But even gladder that your brother is finally coming to take the little shit off your hands.
- >He arrives just after dinner.
- >He has a tan and looks beat.
- >”Hey, little bro.” He hugs you. He sniffs. “Why does your house smell like shit?”
- >”I fucking wonder.” You growl.
- >Your bro sees Bruno. He kneels down. “Hey, there’s my big guy!”
- >Bruno trots over, looking at your brother cautiously.
- >”Hewwo, hooman.” He says.
- >Your brother laughs.
- >Bruno looks at you. “Who dat, daddy?” He turns back to your brother. “Hoomin new fwend? Pway?”
- >”Ha ha, you’re such a kidder.”
- >Clear your throat.
- >Explain about your computer, the extra supplies you had to buy, etc. etc.
- >Your brother tries to laugh it off.
- >You shove him against the wall.
- >He gets the message. He signs a blank check and gives you a big fancy box.
- >”Souvenir.” He says. “Come on, Bruno.”
- >Bruno blinks. “Why go wif new fwend?”
- >”He’s your daddy.” You say.
- >”New fwend… daddy?”
- >He’ll figure it out.
- >Watch the lights as they drive off into the night.
- >Go inside.
- >Open the box, unwrap tissue paper.
- >It’s a mask.
- >THE END