//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 Cartoon Watching Cartoons // Story: More Silver Than Gold // by Stepany1234 //------------------------------// She fell asleep on my bed and I took the time to change and take a shower. After that I walked out in some new clothes and saw that she was still sleeping. I tiptoed out of my room as quietly as I could. I closed the door but didn’t shut it completely, just in case she needed to call me or something. I walked to the living room and placed my hand over my face. “Ugh!” I groaned. What am I supposed to do? I hadn’t been so confused in my entire life. I took in a deep breath before walking over to my cell phone. I also took some bubblegum to chew on, to relieve my tension. I looked through my contacts and wondered who to call…should I even tell anyone about this? That’s when I heard a knock at the door. I put down my cell phone and rushed over to the door. I looked through the peephole and saw it was a man in a hat and matching uniform. I opened the door. “Uh, can I help you?” I asked. He looked at me strangely. “You called to come fix up your internet, cable and telephone,” he replied. “Do I have the wrong address?” He said. He looked around and I quickly stopped him from walking away. “Oh! Right, come on in. I kind of forgot you were coming,” I said. He walked in and I shut the door. More like forgot you were coming at all. I called these guys days ago and they barely showed up now? Well, better late than never. I looked at my room door and gulped. Hopefully this guy will work fast and quietly so he doesn’t wake Silver Spoon up. He dropped his bag and looked around at my living room. I flinched at the loud sound his bag made, crashing against my wooden floor. I began getting frustrated with how long he was taking, just staring around my apartment and scratching his stomach. “Could you please just start?” I asked a bit rudely. He glanced at me before beginning his work. I watched as the time went by. An hour already had passed and the man was almost done. His noisy working was frustrating me though. A bang here and a thump there. I seriously was ready to snap at the man to be quieter but he was already almost done. So I just patiently waited for him to finish. I checked in on Silver Spoon and saw she was sleeping calmly. Poor thing. All the stress of being in another world, away from the comforts of her home…she’s probably emotionally exhausted. I walked in to grab her glasses off of my dresser and snuck back out of the room. “Well, that should just about wrap it up,” the man said. I saw that my computer and TV was set and was glad he was finally finished. “The phone connections in this building isn’t very reliable so I’d say to wait about a day or two before using it. Other than that, you’re about set,” he said. He walked to the door and gave me his card and told me to call in case anything went wrong. “Thanks. Hey, do you know if there are any places I can go to that could repair some broken glasses?” I asked him. He nodded. “Yeah. A place down the street from here. My son goes there to get his glasses fixed. Here,” he said. He wrote on a scrap of paper from his clipboard and handed it to me. I looked and saw he gave me the address, number and name of the place. “Thanks,” I said. “Sure thing, Miss,” he said before leaving. I closed the door and locked it. I read the paper and took out my cell phone to dial the number. ------------- Two hours later, I walked back into my apartment to find some boxes knocked over. I wondered then if Silver Spoon was awake. I locked the door and set down the bag that contained her fixed glasses. “Silver Spoon?” I called. I walked over to my room and saw she wasn’t in there. I was just about to walk back out when I heard a small sob. I turned around but didn’t see her anywhere. “Silver Spoon?” I repeated. I listened again for the weak breathing and heard it was coming from under my bed. I knelt down and saw Silver Spoon tucked under my bed. Scooted back as far as she possibly could. Shaking like crazy. “Silver Spoon? What are you doing under there?” I asked. She quickly got out from under my bed and ran into my arms. “Where were you?! I woke up and you were gone! I thought you left me alone!” She cried. Her large purple eyes stared at me. Purple…my favorite color. I patted her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be a problem. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone,” I said. The sound of her nose sniffling as she tried not to cry anymore was very familiar. I smiled to see her act like the little child she was. “Next time, you can come with me. Okay?” I said. She smiled and nodded slowly. What am I doing? She can’t be seen out in public…I can’t get her used to living with me. She has to go home. I keep telling myself this but the more I see her heartwarming smile, the harder it was to let her go. “Hey! Wanna see what I got for you?” I said in an enthusiastic tone. She smiled widely and nodded. I carried her to the living room and sat her down on the sofa. I brought her the bag and she looked at it strangely. “You got me a bag?” She asked as she eyed the bag strangely. I laughed. “No,” I said. I looked through the bag and brought out her glasses. She smiled widely at the sight of them. I grinned at her cheery excited smile and placed them over her eyes. She adjusted them and jumped off the sofa and ran over to my room. Seeing how I have a long mirror that rested on the ground and leaned against the wall. She looked at her reflection and couldn’t stop smiling. “Oh thank you! Thank you so much! I can see so much more better now!” She said in a cheery tone. I walked in and stared at her as she continued to look at her reflection. She noticed me and turned around to look up at me. “I look okay, right? I don’t look dorky or different?” She asked. I was a bit surprised to hear her ask such a self-conscious question. I knelt down to be eye level with her and smiled. “You look great,” I tell her. “Are you sure?” She asked. “Why do you care so much about what other people think?” I asked her. She looked at me and shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. Usually if someone does something… I just follow in on it,” she said sadly. Someone, she said someone. My vocabulary’s rubbing off on her. I smiled. “It’s okay to have your own opinions and thoughts,” I told her. “I don’t know. I have one friend back home. She's pretty mean though,” she said. “And you followed everything she did,” I said, as if I had already knew. I saw too much of that in high school and was glad to have left it there. Silver Spoon nodded slowly. “Well you shouldn’t be afraid to make your own choices. If she really was your friend then she would respect it. And if you don’t like her being so mean then tell her to knock it off. You don't have to laugh along with it. Not always at least,” I said with a shrug. She smiled and gave me another hug. “Thank you,” she said. I hugged her back and watched as she jumped out of my arms shortly after. She ran back to look back at her reflection in the mirror. “Wow. I’m so happy that they’re fixed. I look like myself again!” She said cheerfully. I was glad to see her so excited. Seeing her smile was a change for the better. I walked over to my TV and had an urge to turn it on. I thought about it but figured Silver Spoon might want something to watch for a while. So I turned it on and the first thing I saw was a cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid. A cartoon about some talking dogs that are always getting into crazy situations. I smiled to see that it was playing again, reruns of course. I saw Silver Spoon walk into the living room and I noticed the show caught her eye. It wasn’t long until she was watching and laughing along with it. I smiled warmly to myself. It was like looking at myself when I was younger. I used to act just like her when I would watch the show. I used the opportunity to go onto my new computer. I saw she was totally captured by the show that I she didn’t see me search her home again on Google. I spent hours reading up on it. Lucky for me, they were showing that cartoon all day. Some sort of marathon or something. How ironic, a cartoon watching cartoons. So after almost an hour and a half of researching, I realized that the cartoon that Silver Spoon is from…actually has a very popular fan base. So many drawings and fan stories. There’s even fan made music! Wow! I was blown away. I didn’t dare watch one of the episodes online. It was too much of a risk of Silver Spoon catching me. I looked over to my right and saw Silver Spoon laughing at the cartoon. I reached a site that had all the characters to the show and scrolled through it until I could find Silver Spoon. I clicked it and there she was. Her bio and picture. I looked back at her and the screen constantly. It was her alright. But how!? Pictures of her and quotes from the show. By what I’m reading, she isn’t a very nice pony. Not that popular in the show either, not like the others at least. I did a little more research and found something called Bronycon. Some sort of convention where all the fans get together here in New York. “Hmm.” I then heard a knock at my door. Silver Spoon snapped back to reality and looked at the door before looking at me. I minimized the windows on my computer and ran to the door. “Open up, Jayme!” I heard a tough voice say. Oh God. I know who’s voice that is. My brother, and if I’m sure, my other brother is here too. I looked at Silver Spoon and she shot me a worried look. I looked out the peephole and saw I was right. Both my older brothers were outside my door. “Come on and open the door, Jayme,” they said. I picked Silver Spoon up and ran to my room. “Who is that?” She asked. “Shh. It’s my brothers.” “Really?” “Yeah, now look. I want you to stay in here. I don’t want them to see you,” I said in a whisper. She nodded. I smiled and kissed her forehead before standing up. It’s then that I realized what I did when I walked towards the door. Did I just kiss her forehead? Why? I used to do that to my old pet but…she isn’t a pet. I shook off the thought and opened my room door. “Go ahead and do whatever you want but stay quiet, okay?” I tell her. She nods. “Wait,” she tells me. I stop halfway out the door. “Can I finish watching that show?” She asked. The most innocent tone I’ve ever heard. I walk over to my small TV in my room and set it to the same channel she was watching. The show was still playing and she seemed happy to see it back on. I kept the volume low and left the room. I closed the door and ran to answer the door my brothers were waiting behind. I checked myself in the mirror before opening it. “Jayme!” My oldest brother cheered before hugging me tightly. The body builder lifted me up off the ground and laughed. “Put me down!” I ordered. He puts me down and I rub my sides. “Sorry, Jayme. I forget you’re not a little girl anymore,” he tells me. “Yeah. She’s all grown up now. Got her own apartment and everything,” my other brother says. Not as strong and well built as my older brother but still fit. “Yeah well, you’ll always be little to us. You still chew and blow bubbles with your pink gum. Just like when you were a little squirt,” my brother teased. I smiled and punched his stiff arm. “Knock it off,” I laugh. I shut the door and look over to see one of my brothers walk towards my room. “Uh…what are you doing?” I asked a bit nervously. “This your room? What’s in there? What took you so long to open the door?” He asked. “That’s my room and I don’t want you going in,” I say as I walk over to my brother. “Why? You hiding something?” He laughed before running to my bedroom door. My eyes widened as he opened it. “No!” I shout as I ran after him.