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Everything was peaceful in the little pink house. It seemed to be that way at night, mostly. The darkness and silence were oddly comforting, compared to whatever insanity awaited in the daytime hours. There were some exceptions, of course, but for the three friends who lived there, any opportunity at some form of normality was treasured immensely.
The youngest member of the house was fast asleep, dreaming about horses. To most, this wouldn't be anything remarkable, but to him, it was horrible. Every time he would try to leave, or change the dream's direction, he'd find himself on the back of a huge stallion.
Yellow Guy hated horses. He feared them. Something about their blank, staring eyes and giant teeth had always unnerved him. Not to mention they were basically huge pounds of muscle that could run up to great speeds, and trample someone like him quite easily with their sharp, powerful hooves. They were also very loud. It didn't take much to set them off. They were too unpredictable for him.
After tossing and turning for almost an hour, Yellow Guy jolted upright in a panic. He looked around before realizing he was awake, and drenched in sweat. He put his hand to his chest, trying to control his breathing. A couple minutes passed before he stopped hyperventilating.
He leaned back onto his headboard, heaving a sigh of relief. He turned to look out the window. It was still dark. Sighing again, out of annoyance, he figured that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep without some kind of aid. He decided that maybe a warm glass of milk might help. He stood up, and was about to make his way to the kitchen, when he realized that something felt off.
He wasn't quite sure what it could be. He surveyed his surroundings intensely, fearing that somehow, someway, a horse had escaped from his dream into the real world. But no ugly farm animals reared their heads, so he looked around some more, trying to see if something was out of the ordinary. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something other than his dreams that was bothering him. Something subconscious.
His friend Duck was sleeping soundly in his bed. He hadn't even noticed that Yellow Guy was up. That was to be expected. He wasn't that concerned for his well-being on the best of days. Yellow Guy shook his head as his gaze then drifted to the other side of the room. He then realized why something felt wrong.
His other friend, Red Guy, wasn't there. He wondered where he could've gone to. Since he was planning on getting a glass of milk anyways, he figured he'd check the kitchen. Maybe he had gone there too, in search of a midnight snack. He tiptoed past the sleeping Duck, and entered the living room. He couldn't see any lights on in the house. He looked around the corner into the dining room. Red Guy wasn't there, either.
Now he was becoming concerned. Where could he be? His mind began to race as he tried his best to look anywhere he could think of for his friend. He looked under books, inside a flowerpot, he even looked behind the armchair where he usually sat. Nothing. He was about to go wake up Duck, when he heard a noise outside. He stopped in his tracks, and thought about what he heard.
It sounded like sniffling. Yellow Guy wondered what it could mean. Maybe an animal was wondering around the house? Maybe Red Guy had gone to check it out. Was it aggressive? Could it have eaten him? Or maybe he had made a friend of whatever it was. It could be someone trying to take in a smell, but there wasn't much to do that with around here. Maybe it was someone smelling flowers. Maybe it was an animal smelling flowers. Or an animal smelling Red Guy when he went to go smell flowers? Wait, no. Too many thoughts. Feeling sick now...
Yellow guy held his head and sat down on the floor. He had just run mental laps around his own brain, and it was exhausting. He'd finally calmed his mind when he heard another sniff. He decided the best thing to do would be to investigate physically. He quietly opened the front door and peeked around the corner. He couldn't see anything. He thought for a moment. If there are four sides of the house, it would make sense to look around all four to find the source of the noises. He walked in front of the house and swayed back and forth, looking on either side of it. Still nothing. Whatever was making sounds must be at the back. After a minute of deciding which side to go around, Yellow Guy crept around the bushes near the back, first squatting, then going to all fours like the animal he was trying to find. He looked around the corner.
"You!?"
Red Guy was sitting on the ground, knees to his chest, and his head in his hands. He was caught completely off guard by his friend's sudden presence. He jumped to his feet, only to see him down behind the brush, looking up at him. He sighed and put a hand to his head.
"You're not an animal. Are you?"
"Why are you out of bed?"
Yellow Guy stood up and fidgeted with his hands for a moment. "I was thinking there was an animal out here. I heard noises and I didn't know where you were. I thought maybe you were both out here, but it wasn't an animal at all."
Red Guy looked at the sky, trying to think of what to say next.
"You don't have to worry about me. Besides, loads of animals come out at night, and we've been just fine."
"Yes, well, usually you're not out here at night either. Hey...what are you doing out of bed?"
Red Guy wasn't expecting his friend to turn his previous question on him. He was expecting to deal with whatever was concerning him, and leave it at that. He was pretty well versed in the pseudo-parental role he played. But when the thing of concern was him? He really didn't want to get personal right now, especially with someone who wouldn't understand. He quickly turned away, trying to feign bemusement.
"Well, um, the house was....too hot. I came out to cool down." Technically he wasn't lying. He had come out to do that, and he didn't need to delve into anything else, lest his facade fail. Yellow Guy quirked his normally invisible eyebrow at him.
"But...the house isn't...hot."
"Well, it's too hot for me." Red Guy hated to be stern with his friend, but he really wanted to be left alone, and he should be getting sleep.
"You're talking." Yellow Guy pointed at him, as if accusing him of something. Red Guy sighed once more.
"Look, it's just... this string. It makes things warmer and... I need air more than you do." He heard his voice crack, and squirmed, hoping Yellow Guy wouldn't notice.
..."Are you okay?"
Oh, God, no. Not this. He didn't need this right now. He took a deep breath and turned toward his friend again.
"Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't I be, right? Nothing's wrong, everything's fine!" He put some inflection into his response, hoping Yellow Guy would fall for it. He didn't.
"But you're acting strangely." He put a hand on his hip as if trying to enforce his point. Red Guy swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.
"Why-why don't you just tell me why you're awake, huh? Then we can both go back to bed." He sat down and leaned against the house, taking care not to slump over. Yellow Guy looked at him for a moment, before sitting down next to him, holding his knees.
"I had a dream about horses."
"Again? When will those things ever stop bothering you?"
You're one to talk, a voice in his head seemed to say.
"I don't know."
There was silence.
"Now you."
"Wait, what?"
"Your turn" Yellow Guy moved closer to Red Guy and put a hand on his shoulder. "You get to tell me what's bothering you." Red Guy put a hand to his head.
"It's not important, we're talking about you right now."
"But you're out here sniffling around and...wait..."
Red Guy tensed up. Oh God, please no. Please make his idiot brain think of something else for Christ's sake!
"You were crying."
Red Guy jumped up to his feet once more. "No. No, no, no, absolutely not. Why would you think that?"
Yellow Guy looked up at him. "Your eyes. They're red."
Red Guy forced out a chuckle. "Everything is red on me!"
Yellow Guy stood up, studying his friend's face intently. "You were crying, weren't you?"
"Don't say it again!" Red Guy shouted desperately, then covered his mouth. He really didn't like yelling, especially at his friends. Yellow Guy shrank back in fear, and Red Guy fell to his knees on the grass. "I'm...sorry."
"Why?"
He looked at Yellow Guy in confusion. What exactly did that question mean?
"Why were you crying?"
He looked down.
"Why don't you want to talk about it?"
His hands met his face for what seemed to be the millionth time that night.
"I cry." Yellow Guy pointed at himself. "I don't see what's wrong about it."
"Yeah, but you- I- this isn't..." Red Guy grappled for an explanation. His friend clearly wasn't going to let this go, but what was he supposed to say? That he was older? That he was better than this? That he didn't deserve to be sad because his friends have gone through worse?
Yellow Guy looked with concern at his friend, who had stopped talking, now making occasional noises in confusion. He thought about what he should do. What would his friend do for him if he was feeling this way?
Red Guy was at a loss for words. He'd experienced many things in his life, but never this level of utter cluelessness. He felt as if his mind was trapped in a storm of questions, none of which he had the answers to. His crumbling train of thought was interrupted by a new sensation. Yellow Guy had wrapped his arms as far as he could around him. He could feel new tears coming to his eyes, and he tried to blink them back
"You're okay." Yellow Guy leaned on his friend's shoulder, trying to offer comfort. "It's gonna be alright."
Red Guy heaved a sigh of resignation. He knelt back, moving Yellow Guy's arms down so he wouldn't lift him off his feet. He wiped his eyes and spoke.
"I'm sorry. I'm an utter mess. I guess I haven't felt the same since we got back from the dump. Do you even know how that happened, by the way?"
Yellow Guy thought back to the day the gang had learned about transport from a rickety old train man. He remembered someone talking. In his head, maybe? He wasn't sure.
"Um...no."
"Things were weird that day. I can't remember all of it. But it was hard to know that after all we went through, we just ended up back here." Red Guy lowered his head. "I don't understand why we can't just...leave."
"You were crying then, too."
"What?"
"At the dump. When everything was weird and sad. I heard you."
"Oh, God." Red Guy's head went further down. "I was hoping nobody noticed."
"We both did. But the other one just went on about his visual inventory. You know how he is."
"Don't I ever." He was very thankful for his red coloring, otherwise his friend would definitely see how much he was blushing.
"Why did you lie?" Yellow Guy put a hand on his knee. "Why did you say that everything is fine?"
Red Guy didn't respond.
"Why are you upset about...being upset?"
"Because I'm the proper one. I'm the one who's supposed to have it all together. I can't fall apart on you guys. I just can't."
"I think you could." Yellow Guy moved closer to his friend again. "I could be there for you, like you're here for me."
The tears came again. Red Guy was tired of rubbing his eyes raw. "I wasn't really here for you tonight, was I? I don't want to fail you again."
"You don't fail me. You're nicer than most other people." Yellow Guy leaned back, falling onto the grass. "I know you want to escape."
"What?"
"I'm happy here, with you, but I know you want to leave. I don't remember much, but I saw some things. I think, up? It might have been dreams."
"You mean the time you went up the staircase? What did you see?"
"I...I can't remember. It was more, I think."
Red Guy noticed that his friend was getting groggy. "Come on, let's go inside."
"No." Yellow Guy put his head on his friend's lap. "Let's...stay here. No horses...out here...no dumps..."
Red Guy relented, and within minutes his friend was sleeping soundly. It felt nice to him, that he could be of comfort.
And maybe...after that night, he could accept comfort too.
As the sky turned pink with the dawn, he laid back on the grass. He'd never felt so relaxed, but at the same time, he couldn't sleep.
He relished in this new, safe feeling, and let the tears fall.