Dreams of a Better Place - Part 4

As Mr. Bumbles was wrenched from little Trevor’s arms, he didn’t have time to cry and bawl until he got the bear back. He didn’t even have time for his eyes to begin to brim with tears. The cargo of screaming metal and men hurtling towards him and his father cut everything short with a flash and a bright spark of sharp pain, more brutal than any boo-boo or any teething, and then everything was black, just as it would be for Mark.

Steve and Trevor’s father would survive, because that’s just the way God works, and sometimes He has to take the good ones early. Trevor’s mother would forever tell herself that he was too precious for this world, and belonged in heaven with the other angels. His father would forever feel guilt and misery that he would always deny and would try to drown in an ocean of alcohol.

****

And then Trevor woke up here, in a world that seemed like a better place to him. All the toys he could possibly need stretching as far as his little blue eyes could see. There was no more ouchies, his teeth didn’t even hurt, which was good because he didn’t have his dummy. The toys could walk and talk and they played with him too, and he was as happy as a clam.

That was until Mr. Bumbles came back, and all the toys ran away. Those who didn’t got nasty ouchies like the men in the films his papa watched late at night, only without the tomato sauce coming out of them…

And now he was crying, and Mr. Bumbles had come to make him sorry because Trevor let him go, and the hurt was back and the world was sad again, and he missed his mummy and even his papa. The giant bear smashed down the Lego buildings as if they were… well, made of Lego, as he made a bee line towards little crying Trevor, leaving a wave of children’s TV show destruction in his wake. The bear stopped beside the boy and lifted its foot slowly, savouring the chance to finally break free from its old master.

Despite it being made of soft fluff, its sheer size left no doubt that its huge, huggable foot would crush tiny Trev like a bug. The shadow of the foot settled over Trev like a solar eclipse as the bear brought its foot down with incredible force, roaring with a primal rage. Mark made it just in time, scooping the child into his arms. He leapt forward and rolled over, shielding Trevor with his body and as the bear’s foot hit the ground with earth shattering force, Mark felt the gust of air and realized just how close he and the toddler had come to becoming jam between the bear’s paw.

The ground bucked and cracked like there was an earthquake raging, and Mark quickly got back despite the shaking earth, and moved as fast as possible with the baby bawling in his arms, as a flood of childish debris surged after them like a tidal wave in a day care centre. The bear slowly started to notice that it had missed its target, and began to turn laboriously, causing the earth to tremble even more beneath its massive furry girth. Mark made tracks for the nearest skyscraper that hadn’t yet been dismantled and curved around the corner, trying to break Mr. Bumbles’ line of sight.

The bear began to walk, and there was a rumbling. It began to run and the rumbling turned to an almighty roar and Mark thought that this entire world might get crushed under that sort of force. The building that Mark (and bawling Trev) had just passed was obliterated into rainbow coloured dust, and any vague hope that Mark had that he couldn’t get hurt here because he possibly already dead evaporated.

A stray chip of Lego sped towards him with the force of a bullet and zipped through his left earlobe, ripping most of it off. He howled in pain and stumbled, almost squishing the baby beneath his body. Dark blood splattered his shoulder and dribbled down his neck as he kept running, occasionally mewling from the blazing pain. Trevor looked up at him bemused, his eyes red and raw from crying.

The bear carried on like the Juggernaut from Mark’s old X-Men comics, unable to stop itself because of its sheer force and momentum, crashing through countless more buildings and crushing innocent plastic animals between its paws. The sound of its rampage became a distant echo and eventually quieted until the only sounds Mark could hear were his footsteps hammering the ground, the blood rushing in his ears, and his labored breathing and Trev’s gentle snores. How he could fall asleep in a situation like this was a mystery. Mark slowed down and ducked into one of the rare buildings that actually had a door at ground level.

Inside the floor was made from the same material found in a bouncy castle, and the ceiling was covered in Velcro. Mark didn’t think anything odd about this, when he was a kid this would have been his idea of a dream world too and by this point he was somewhat desensitized. He began to climb to the highest floor, up stairs made of pillows. By the time he reached the top he was more exhausted than ever, and he flopped down on the soft floor with the child on his lap, and bounced slightly.

Trevor began to wake up and rubbed his eyes, looking around the room with a bemused look on his face. Mark craned his neck to look out the window, checking for signs of the bear returning. The tips of the Lego skyscrapers towered into a cloudless and sunless sky. He looked down to see Trev looking up at him, his big blue eyes full of questions that he wasn’t old enough to convey yet so settled for keeping it simple.

“Big bear? Bumbles?” He babbled.
“You bet little guy, a very big bear.” He didn’t usually like kids, but he felt responsible Trevor.
“Where go?”
“Don’t worry he’s way way away. Get some sleep kid.” He ruffled his fine blonde hair.
“Sweep…” And he was already drifting off.

Mark’s ear stung with pain, and he gingering reached up. His lobe was hanging on by a flap of skin; the blood had stopped flowing and had caked all down the left hand side of his face, neck, and shoulder. He’d need to find somewhere to get a look at it and clean it up; it would probably scare the little guy.

Shifting his weight slightly, trying not to disturb the child, he rested his head against the wall. He would just get his breath back, and watch out for the bear through the window. Then when he was a little less exhausted they would start heading away from the town, and see what lay further in this strange world where he could bleed and hurt, but not hunger or thirst. Just a moment’s rest before they headed on…

Of course, he fell asleep and he had no way of telling for how long. When he awoke the room was darker, as if night was falling. Trevor was sitting in the middle of the room with his back to him, a few toys he had found lying in front of him forgotten as he stared into space.

Mark chastised himself for being so stupid, and was relieved beyond words that the child hadn’t crawled off and fallen out a window or down the stairs, not that stairs made of pillows could hurt much. Mark got to his feet, stretched, yawned, and then walked towards him, speaking to him softly,
“Hey little guy, what’re you up to?” Trevor made no response.
“Hello?” He said, in his best I’m-talking-to-the-child voice, dragging the ‘o’ out nice and long.

There was still no reply. Not that he was expecting Trev to chip in with ‘Don’t worry dear boy I’m alright, just gathering my thoughts and giving a good old country try at not defecating my trousers!’ but at least some disjointed toddler speak would have calmed the worry and fear that was building in his chest like a tumour. Distantly in Mark’s head, alarm bells were ringing out. He put his hand on the child’s shoulder and looked at his face. There were silent tears running down Trevor’s face, and his mouth was curved down in quiet misery, preparing to turn into an all out no holds barred bawl. His eyes were fixed and blank.

Mark followed that stare without thinking and saw that night hadn’t fallen; the window had just been covered. Covered by a giant black beady eye, that was watching them with a cold stare. Mark thought he could feel that stare on his body like being dunked into cold water. Before he could even react, Trevor began to scream, and the bear began to roar, and Mark began to scream too. The building shook on its pathetic foundations and Mark wished that they had just stayed on the ground level.