sᴏɴɪᴄ ᴛᴏʏ

      Sonic, Shadow and Silver were trying to find Silver's second hand, which the latter had lost somewhere in Oscar's room. They searched the entire room for so long and tried to be careful not to run into mutant toys that they did not hear the door open with a slow creak and Andrew and Stephanie entered. — “Well, there just weren’t enough of them here!” — Silver was spinning in his head. The hedgehogs did not have time to hide and simply froze in the middle of the room. But at the last moment, Silver felt someone grab his legs and drag him under Oscar's bed. — “Silver, no!” — Sonic shouted in his thoughts and was about to break the rule of toys and come to life when he felt the warm children’s fingers. — I found one, grandpa. — Stephanie said, showing the blue hedgehog to the toy maker. — But where are the others? — I don’t know, honey. Most likely, they managed to hide so that we would not find them. — the old man answered, after which they began to search further. — “Are they hiding so as not to be found? But where...? Oh my God! Stephanie, why did you tell him everything?!” — Sonic was upset that the girl still spilled the beans. Suddenly, the slamming of the front door and a dog barking were heard below. — It's Oscar! Stephanie, let's get out of here before he sees us! — Andrew said, after which he and his granddaughter left the room, leaving everything as it was before they arrived. Grandfather reached his room and they locked themselves in there. Meanwhile, when Silver found himself under the bed, he quickly stood up and looked around. Gerald himself stood in front of him, but without the dynamite on his back. — You three! What have you done?! I told you not to get noticed by any of the family members! You were in the room of one of a crazy family and caught the eye of a child! — Gerald was furious that no one listened to him. — Calm down, Gerald! If you're talking about Andrew, you can rest easy. He’s not as bad as he seems... — the silver one began, but was interrupted. — NOT SO BAD?! HE'S AN ALCOHOLIC! All he does is drink! EVEN MY OWN SON IS AFRAID OF HIM! — Robotnik screamed at the top of his lungs, forgetting that he could be heard. — Quiet! Quiet! They might hear us. — Silver said, looking around nervously. — Oddly enough, but I agree with Silver. — Shadow said, finding himself next to his comrade. — Oscar's grandfather is not so terrible. He was even able to fix me. As proof, the hedgehog showed his hand, on which his almost severed fingers had previously dangled. — Her fixed it, but not completely. — Gerald remarked, pointing to the trail of fluff. Looking around, the hedgehog realized that the fluff was falling from the hole that the pests had gnawed at him in the raspberry bush. — You better get this out of the way before Oscar notices. — said Silver. When they collected it all and even tried to shove Shadow back from where he had fallen, the latter thought: — Wait a minute! How did you survive? — he asked Robotnik. — In terms of? — the doctor did not understand the question. — We saw you being dragged under the bed by one of those cannibals last night. We thought they ate you. We even saw them eating those two toys on the table and floor. - explained the black and scarlet one. — A! Here's the thing. Honestly, I didn’t know about it myself and I thought the same as you, but... When that... One of them dragged me under the bed and my whole life flashed before my eyes, I even began to pray. I really thought that he would eat me. But he just helped me untie that dynamite from me and took it off. And they had no intention of eating those two toys at all. They just wanted to fix them, but the problem is that Oscar tore off their arms so that they can’t put them back without tape or sticky tape. But since last night he took the tape somewhere and hid it, and neither they nor I can find it. — the doctor explained. The last fluff was stuffed into the hole left by the raspberry pests. All that remained was to somehow sew it up, and at that very moment a toy galloped up whose body and arms belonged to a jock, instead of legs there was a spring, and the head was made from a spool of thread. She held a needle in her right hand and a black thread in her left. At first, the hedgehogs were afraid of him, but remembering what the doctor said and considering that he remained safe and unharmed after that night, he is clearly not lying to them about them at all. They even forgot that Sonic was not with them yet.

At the same time

      Andrew and Stephanie, hiding in their grandfather's room, kept Sonic with them. Or rather, the grandfather was holding it, and the granddaughter was still looking through the key hole with her left eye, in case Oscar suddenly went back to his room. — There is no one yet. Stephanie said as she continued to watch. — Fine. Be sure to tell me if someone shows up. — said the old man and turned to Sonic. — Buddy, I understand that you should stay out of people’s sight so that no one finds out your secret. But I want to help you. I myself don’t like that my grandson breaks toys for fun. Do you believe me? Sonic sat motionless the whole time. He still did not dare to come to life and break the main rule of toys, even though he knew that it had already been broken and he would have been sentenced to death if toys really had such a punishment. But on the other hand, they are now in a hopeless situation and people’s help will not hurt them. And he saw that Andrew really did not harm the toys. Also, Stephanie herself posed no threat. What he and Silver saw was just a simple child's game and it seems Shadow was not at all against such treatment of him. — Okay... — the hedgehog said hesitantly, still risking coming to life in front of people’s eyes. — I believe you. Andrew looked at the blue hedgehog with wide eyes, and the girl squealed in surprise, jumping up at the same time. — So that means... It’s true that you’re alive... — the toymaker couldn’t believe that the toys were really alive. — Yes, we are alive, but no one should know about it. — The blue one replied, then looked at Oscar's sister. — I asked you not to tell anyone what you saw. — Sorry! I was just scared. — Stephanie blushed with shame, rubbing her foot on the floor. — Moreover, we now live in the era of the Internet, when, for example, you can show someone a video with real aliens, and everyone will think that it is a fake and no one will believe it. So of course I was scared. And who would even believe me if I told someone about this? Everyone will immediately laugh at me. — Fal'shivki, Stephanie! — Grandfather corrected her. — You know that I don’t like these English words that are pronounced mixed with Russians. I just want to say that it was better before, because then all normal people spoke only Russian. — I cannot disagree with you, but foreign words were also used during the Union. — Sonic decided to intervene. — Of course, I didn’t live in those days, but as far as I know, foreigners also came here. I do not deny that they could not get into the Soviet Union without knowing the Russian language. But they didn't always speak it. Sometimes it was more convenient for them to speak in their own language. Andrew thought about it. But really. During his youth there were quite a few people who came from other countries. He saw students, ordinary hard workers who came to work, and even saw a couple of times people in business suits, clearly holding high positions, who spoke a foreign language. Usually it was English, since it was much easier to understand for those people who spoke Russian. This behavior made the man very angry, because back then people were already mixing foreign words with Russian ones and it seemed stupid to him. — Okay... Let's assume that you convinced me. — the old man decided not to enter into an argument, but would simply agree. — But anyway, Stephanie, I don’t want me to hear any English words if it doesn’t concern your lessons at school! — these words were addressed to the child. She just nodded silently, realizing that it was better not to argue with her grandfather. — Stephanie. — Sonic was already looking at her. — I'm not angry at you. Your reaction was very obvious. I hope no one else knows about us? — Nobody. — the girl answered confidently. — Mom and dad are busy with their own affairs, and Oscar was not at home at that moment. — Fine. — the hedgehog extended his hand. — My name is Sonic. — I know. I knew the neighbors opposite our house. When I was young, and they were about Stephanie's or Oscar's age, I then gave them a couple of my toys that I made myself, and one of them had the same toy as you in his hands. What was that boy’s name?... — The old man, scratching the back of his head, tried to remember, and then Buratino intervened, also coming to life after him, because since Sonic was the first to come to life before their eyes, then what does he have to hide? — Drayton... His name was Ivan Drayton. — resembles a wooden one, because although he himself was an old toy, he had a good memory. — This is incredible! — Andrew said, opening his mouth, seeing that his very first toy, which he made in his youth, also came to life and even reminded him of the name of someone whom he could not remember. — Ivan Drayton? — Sonic asked himself, scratching the back of his head from what he heard, also trying to remember where he heard this name and surname. — So this is my old master. David's father. Yes-yes. I remembered that day. You were young then and had a red mustache. You even had your own personal shop near your house, like a market, and you organized a sale of your toys for fifty kopecks. — Yes-yes. And then I was not yet locked in this room with him alone, but lay on the bed and sometimes went out to the window to watch how he worked and sold his products. — Buratino finished. — Wait, Sonic, did you say about David? I know him! — Stephanie all this time was trying to remember the boy the blue hedgehog mentioned. — Really? — Sonic and Andrew couldn’t believe their ears. — Of couse! He went to my school for preparatory assignments. We even played at his house a couple of times. I... I... Dad took me to classes then... — the girl answered and immediately became sad. - Yes... I remembered you! You played together a few years ago. His mom even took you to school sometimes. — Sonic, without expecting it, remembered that almost two years ago a girl, a little older than him, came to his little master. — Lili treated you to homemade cookies back then. — Who? — Grandfather did not understand who we were talking about. — Lili Drayton. David's mom. She also lives next door, like Ivan. — Wait, did she happen to have a hedgehog doll? He looked almost like you, just a different color and looked like a rag doll. — Andrew remembered a girl with two tails who often came with Ivan and who had a black hedgehog toy in her hands. — Yes... Holy tree-sticks, it’s Shadow! — the blue hedgehog was shocked. It turns out that the old man knew about them a very long time ago. — You haven't been fixing it for a long time! They sewed the fingers into place. — Now I remember her! I also sold her several toys. Only then she had a different last name. It turns out that she is now married. — suddenly it dawned on the toy maker. — So it turns out that I was fixing Lily’s toy then?! God, you need to be returned to our neighbors! They're probably going crazy there... — Sonic, how did you get here? Did Oscar steal you? — Stephanie asked. — This is a very long story, but it all started on David’s birthday, when he was given Silver the hedgehog a couple of days ago. White hedgehog, based on the character of the same name from the recently closed animated series. Half an hour of Sonic's explanations later — And then we decided to hide in this room, you were sleeping then. I didn’t even think that you would become so sad and bored with your job that you would become an alcoholic. No offense! — It's Okay. I really really let myself down. — Andrew said thoughtfully, realizing how long his depression had lasted. — It's time to end this. Stop yearning for the past... Although it is sad, of course, that children no longer need wooden toys. — We’ll figure something out so you can do what you love again. — Sonic reassured him. — First, we need to save your friends. You said that my grandson is waiting for some kind of parcel... I'm willing to bet that it's some kind of thing for explosions again. — It is not that simple. Besides us, there is another toy there. Scientist doll. White robe, long gray mustache, bald head... — blue hedgehog listed and fell silent, because he could not remember anything else. — You don't have to continue. I know what this toy is... It's Gerald Robotnik, right? — Grandfather asked, narrowing his eyes a little. — Yes, but how...? — This is my son's toy. In those days, he liked everything connected with you and your universe. Then I decided to please him and sewed a Gerald toy. I know you've heard that I don't like toys from abroad, but then I wanted to try something new. — Impossible... Andrew, you made the toy not from wood, but from a piece of fabric?! — Buratino was sincerely surprised by such recognition from the creator. — I then wanted to do something new and hoped that it would attract children. It was much more difficult to plan it out of wood. Denis loved him very much and did not want to part with him. He still played with the toys I made for him, but it was clear who was his favorite. It turns out that Oscar now has the toy. I'm surprised he hasn't destroyed it yet... — Oscar wanted to blow up Gerald, but Silver stopped him. — It's risky, but he's great. I'm glad that another toy besides you is still intact. — Grandfather, I remembered something. Dad and Uncle Vanya used to be very friends. I remember how they often discussed something while David and I were playing. — You're right, honey. — Andrew answered, starting to remember. — It seems they have been friends since school... — But one day, mom and Aunt Lili had a big fight and after that we didn’t see each other again. As far as I know, she even forbade my dad to communicate with the neighbors... — Yes... Your mother is capable of a lot. She was the first to talk about the nursing home. — the old man sighed sadly. — I don't want to go there. If only you knew how terrible it is there. It's not like in the West, where older Americans are taken care of and given basic amenities. If elderly Russians end up there, they will simply be left there to die. Even if I moved to the USA, they wouldn’t take me to that nursing home to surround me with the same care. After all, to do this you had to be born an American! And now we live in harsh times. I would give everything, I could even make a time machine myself to go back to the early nineties and prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union. — But, grandfather, then we would not have met him and would not have established contact with him. — Stephanie hinted at Sonic. — And you probably would never have met Ivan and Lili. — If you lived with us in our family, I’m sure David’s mom and dad would never have sent him to a nursing home for anything in the world. I am sure that they may still remember the past you and would want such a kind and honest person to live with them, and not just next door. — assured the blue one. They chatted with each other so much that Stephanie was even distracted from surveillance and they not only didn’t notice, they didn’t even hear how Oscar returned to his room, carrying a large box with him.