The Toys Are Alive! The Conclusion of Sid Phillips

By J.S. Roebuck

“The case is too dangerous Sid. How many times do I have to tell you, we never should have taken on the client!” Anderson spouted at his partner, Sid, as he paced the board room, yelling at the conference speaker in the center of a long, oak finished table. “We are both at risk here.”

Sid Phillips tried to calm his partner down, “Relax, we’ve got nothing to worry about. Security is beefed up in the lobby of our building. No one can get through those new guys the company hired on, and the metal detectors make sure weapons stay out of the building.”

Anderson wasn’t easily swayed. “This is a one of the biggest crime families in Chicago that we ended up taking on. I wish we’d never found out how connected this guy we’re prosecuting is. What if his guys find us at home?”

Sid was in his penthouse, on his Bluetooth, currently hanging a “Happy Birthday” string above his dining room entryway while reassuring his law firm partner on the other side of the call. “Our places of residence aren’t listed. I’m in the middle of setting up for the twins’ birthday party. Are you going to make it?”

“I can’t, but I sent gifts. You should be getting them in the mail. I’m taking Annie and the dog and we’re getting out of town, and you should too. Till this case blows over you shouldn’t be doing any of your normal routine for them to follow.”

Sid rolled his eyes as he pinned the last end of ribbon for the sign, “You’re overreacting. There’s no ‘them’.”

His partner said nothing on the other end of the line for a moment. Sid could feel the concern through the dead air.

Sid finally broke from the silent treatment, “Alright man, I’ll send Jennifer and the kids to her parents in Madison till the case is done. Will that get you off my back?”

“You should be going with them too Sid, but that’s not a bad idea.”

“Ok mom,” Sid replied sarcastically. “I need to get the rest of the decorations up before the kids get home from school. You take care.”

“You be safe partner,” Anderson replied.

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun hiding out. I’ll keep you updated on the case.” Sid hung up and jumped down from the chair he was standing on, hanging the banner.

Sid Phillips had become a big time prosecutor in Chicago after college. He married young and started his own law firm in his late twenties. He also found time to start a family, and his wife’s first pregnancy brought them twins, a boy and a girl. Little Tonya and Tommy were turning eight, and the surprise party was all set up. Sid had felt pulled away from home during this big case they were tackling at the firm, and he was glad for a reason to hide out at home with family, instead of being stuck at the office.

The court date was set for a few weeks out, and now it was just a waiting game till the trial. Threats had been coming in the form of emails and texts from burner phones to Sid’s office, but no in person confrontations, yet. Sid continued blowing up balloons and setting out dishes his wife had prepared before the guests arrived. With the media attention Sid was getting, most friends and family had declined to attend the party, but his sister and her family at least showed up.

Sid’s sister Hannah, her husband Carl, and their two children, their six year old son and newborn girl, were in tow as they entered Sid’s downtown penthouse.

“I still don’t know why you keep the kids cooped up here Sid,” Hannah said first thing as she walked in. “The place is beautiful, but not very… kid friendly.”

“Well I’m sorry, I didn’t want to stick around the old neighborhood like you did. Mom and dad didn’t exactly give us much in the form of amenities when were were growing up. I just like different things, and want bigger things for my family I guess.” Sid knew how to quickly block his younger sisters attempts at parenting him.

Carl looked like he was about to defend his wife, but Hannah put a hand on his arm.

“Har har brother, you know our parents did the best they could with what they had. And I love the old neighborhood. There’s nostalgia in it. I like my kids growing up on the same streets we did.”

“You have fonder childhood memories than I do of that place,” Sid replied.

Hannah had grown up fairly normal. Sid however, was a different case. He’d gone through an intense mental break as a young child. The rants and episodes Sid experienced grew so intense, that his parents had him committed to a mental institution at the age of twelve. After several years of medication and therapy, he was able to be released and have a regular life. The episodes never returned after that, but he spent a lot of his teen years at the institution in a padded cell.

Sid’s phone chimed. “Jennifer and the kids are here! Quick, hide!”

“SURPRISE!”

The timing was perfect, and as little Tommy and Tonya entered the front door their father and the rest of the family all cheered and clapped. It was a small get together in the immaculate city penthouse apartment. Hannah was right, the place wasn’t kid friendly. The vibe was gaudy, cold, and sterile. Everything was very poignantly placed and matched the overall decor and design of the space. It was like the waiting room of an upscale dentists office. Normally, this would be attributed to a woman with sophisticated interior design tastes, but it was all Sid. His wife Jennifer got to go crazy with her own decorating in the kids rooms and the bedroom, but Sid liked his living space this way. Looking around, you wouldn’t even think that it was the home of a family with a few young kids. There wasn’t a toy in sight. Sid liked to have all the kids things always put away in their rooms. He even had a rule that toy play time was for bedrooms only, and the living room space was strictly for TV and coffee table snacks at most.

The party was underway, and after pizza, spilled snacks, chip bowls spilling, sticky countertop from soda, and the birthday candles were blown out, it was time for gifts. The twins tore into their presents all at once. There were handheld game systems, baby dolls, bead bracelet kits for Tonya, and some old school Lincoln Logs that Tommy had asked for.

Jennifer smiled at her husband. He knew what that look meant, job well done hubby. He smiled back and gave his wife a wink.

“Hold on, got two more gifts from your uncle Carl over here,” Carl called out as he brought a few last wrapped packages he’d tucked by the door. He was the kind of uncle that always wanted a little show of anything he did, so he saved his gifts for last. “Come on, open them up!” he said as the kids ripped into the paper.

Tonya’s was a Barbie Doll, her first. It was something she had been asking for but her mother had reservations about it, body image thing, and so of course uncle Carl broke the rules. Now if they took it away they’d be the bad guy, clever jerk.

“Thanks uncle Carl!” Tonya ran and gave her uncle a hug. Sid stood cross armed with a disappointing look off to the side.

Tommy opened his second, and turned the box to reveal the gift to the family. “It’s a cowboy… action figure?” he said, sort of confused about the gift.

“More of a doll I guess kiddo. But I always loved playing cowboys and indians when I was your age, and this guy was just like one of my favorites,” said Carl.

The cowboy doll was a little larger than Tonya’s Barbie. It had the full getup; cowboy hat, boots, spurs, a vest, and even a little gun belt on his hip with a plastic gray pistol. Sid stared perplexed at the little cowboy doll, for some reason it gave him goosebumps and made his hair stand on end. He suddenly had a short flash of an old memory in his mind. He thought he saw the doll wink at him. He dropped his glass to the floor with a crash.

“Honey!” Jennifer yelled out in shock from the glass tumbler shattering, “Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

Hannah looked back at the doll. She put her hand over her mouth and looked back to her brother Sid. She pulled Carl aside, “Carl! I told you to let me know about anything you got. You said a doll, you didn’t say a cowboy doll!”

Carl shrugged, “Hey, what’s the big deal? What’s wrong with a cowboy doll? Doesn’t every little boy have one at some point?”

Hannah pulled Carl into the other room while the others were cleaning up the broken glass. “Listen, Sid had a traumatic experience as a child with some toys. I told you that years ago.”

“Yeah, but you said he got help and got over all that. His kids have other toys. I’ve seen them.”

“Yes, but not a cowboy doll, never that!”

“Oh, come on!” Carl waved off his wife and turned around. “You’re overreacting. Here, I’ll show you.”

Carl walked back into the dining room, grabbed the cowboy doll from his nephew and carried it over to Sid, still standing in a bit of a stupor next to the counter. Jennifer was cleaning up broken glass off the floor as he stepped over. Carl held the doll up at eye level right in front of Sid.

“Carl stop!” Hannah yelled.

“Honey, cut it out, he’s fine. See, aren’t you buddy?”

Sid looked into the eyes of the cowboy doll for a moment. The toy seemed normal, but Sid was turning into knots on the inside. He was having visions of a cowboy doll and other toys coming at him, telling him he had to “take good care” of his toys. Suddenly, there was a snap. Carl snapped his fingers next to Sid’s head and he was instantly back in the moment.

“Yeah, just uh, just a silly toy, no big deal.” Sid tried to play things off, but he was freaked. The cowboy doll had stirred something up in him that had been buried for a long time.

After the party ended, and Sid got his reward from Jennifer for a job well done setting up the party, he fell fast asleep, and drifted off into a dream.

Sid found himself sitting in his childhood room. There were toxic warning signs and heavy metal posters on the wall. The dirty old wood paneled room was filled with different toys that had been ripped apart and stitched back together with other random pieces and parts. His big old metal tool box sat on his wooden work bench. Next to it, he saw an old cowboy doll and a space man. The toys jumped up, and Sid was unable to move from his bed as the toys crept up next to him. One of the toys, with the head of a duck and muscle man arms, grabbed his pillow and put it over his head. The other toys piled on and started smothering Sid with his pillow. He laid there trying to breath, defenseless, unable to move in his dream. He tried to gasp for air but couldn’t find his breath.

Sid gasped awake and screamed, “The toys are alive!” He woke in bed, next to Jennifer.

“Sweetheart! What on earth is going on with you?” She turned the side lamp on and tried to comfort her husband, rubbing his back.

“It was just a nightmare sweetie, just a bad dream.” Sid tried explaining things away.

“This case has been stressing you out so much. I’m worried about leaving you here when I take the kids tomorrow. Are you sure you can’t come with us?”

“I have to stay in town till the case is over. Someone has to be able to go into the office or to the courthouse if anything comes up. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t seem fine. You’re shaking.”

“I’ll go see a doctor tomorrow. There’s one I know here in town from when I was a kid. She might be able to help me with what’s going on.”

“What’s going on?” She asked confused.

“It’s just something in my head. Something from when I was a kid. The doctor will know what to do. I’ll be alright. Just take the kids and I’ll come out once this all blows over.”

Child Psychologist Tonya Munson had an office in the city not to far from Sid’s place. Sid called and offered any amount of money to get an appointment with her the very next morning. He found himself in the doctors waiting room, surrounded by toys. He looked around suspiciously into the eyes of any toy turned his way. He sat, clenching his fists, imagining that the toys were all staring at him, glaring, watching his every move. Sid felt like he was under a microscope, sitting there alone.

“Mr. Phillips?” the girl at the desk front called out, startling him from his train of thought. “Dr. Munson will see you now.”

Sid entered the main office where Dr. Munson was seated in a chair next to a couch.

“Good to see you again Sid! It’s been so long!” the doctor said as he crossed the room. “Please, have a seat.”

Sid sat and adjusted his tie as he unbuttoned his suit jacket. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice doctor. I apologize, I didn’t know what else to do. I have started to experience some…visions that might stem from my former psychosis issues coming back. I was wondering if you could help me?”

Dr. Munson was perplexed, “Goodness, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s been so long since your treatment. Is this the first time since childhood they’ve resurfaced?”

“I believe so. I think it got triggered at my kids birthday party yesterday. I can’t get the image of that darn cowboy doll out of my head ever since.”

Sid went on and explained all the events of the birthday party, the doll Carl had gotten Tommy, his initial reaction, visions, and the nightmare.

“Goodness, it seems like the illness is back in full swing. I’ve never seen symptoms alleviated by hypnosis return on their own without proper coaxing and triggers, but this cowboy doll seems to be the catalyst that brought you back to that dark place.”

“Hypnosis? Was that the therapy you used to help me when I was in the institution?”

“Yes, we had tried everything Sid. Nothing helped you. While you were there, you couldn’t even play with the other kids in the common room. You were so terrified of any toy you saw. Strangest mental illness to befall a child. You either cowered in fear in the corner, or any toy that you came near you ripped the head off and threw it out the window! Finally, your parents consented to the hypnosis treatment. We were able to block those horrible memories that made you afraid of toys so that you could move on and have a normal life. But it seems now those memories are trying to resurface on their own. Rather than allow them to come out as they wish, it may be best, now that you’re an adult, to confront some of those memories head on. It may be time for you to make peace with them. Otherwise, they could continue to slowly work their way out unchecked and begin tormenting you.”

Sid scratched his head and rocked his body in frustration. “I can’t deal with this right now! The case I’m working on is too important for me to be losing sleep and freaking out. You gotta help me doc!”

“We can try to walk you through the memory that was triggered, and see if you can find what parts still haunt you, but it may be more than you can take.”

“I have to do something. I need to understand why this is coming back now and bothering me so much. I won’t be able to work or sleep until I take care of this. Let’s try doc.”

Dr. Munson had her secretary bring in some new forms for Sid to sign. Once the paperwork was out of the way, he laid back, eyes shut on the couch, and allowed the doctor to bring him into a deep hypnotic state.

“You’re back at your home as a child Sid, what do you see?” said Dr. Munson calmly.

“I see… me. I’m playing in the back yard, and there are a bunch of toys all around me. I’m holding a cowboy doll in one hand and matches in the other. There’s a space man toy tied to a rocket on a crate. It looks like I made a little pretend launch pad.”

“What else is happening Sid?”

“The toys are moving, they’re all walking towards me. There’s a voice! It’s telling me something. It’s saying ‘you must take good care of your toys’.”

“What else is the voice saying Sid?”

“It’s so creepy! The cowboy dolls head is circling around on it’s own, saying the toys ‘see everything’.”

“Where is the voice coming from Sid?”

Sid watched as the cowboy doll came to life and said, “So play, nice.”

Sid screamed as he saw the memory finish in his mind. Dr. Munson snapped her fingers to bring Sid out of the hypnotic state. Sid immediately jumped from the chair. He was sweating and hyperventilating as he headed towards the door.

“Sid! Mr. Phillips! You have to stay. We must talk through what you’ve just experienced so you can process it! Leaving now could only make the episodes worse!”

“I don’t need to process anything! I remember now what I saw. What I repressed all those years ago. I wasn’t crazy! I saw something that day in my backyard. I have to prove it though. I have to know for sure!”

“Sid, what are you talking about? Come back!”

As Sid exited the office, he walked through the waiting room one last time. He noticed most of the toys in the room had turned in the same direction, and were staring at him, motionless, as he walked out the door.

Sid returned to his penthouse apartment after stopping at several stores on the way home. He flopped down on his kitchen counter the supplies he’d grabbed. He had duct tape, magnifying glass, and some plastic army men. He went to his kids rooms to grab some of their toys. Tommy had taken his game system, Tonya had taken her Barbie, but the other toys were strewn about on the floor. Sid made sure to grab the cowboy doll Carl had gotten Tommy, some action figures, and a few of Tonya’s old baby dolls. He set the toys out on the counter, and made sure they were standing upright to see what he was doing. He grabbed the blender from the cabinet under the sink and set it on the counter top. After plugging it in, he flipped the top off and tossed in the bag of little green plastic army men.

Now that his whole stage was set, Sid opened the window blinds, letting the sun in. It looked like an execution by blender, staged in front of an audience of toys laid out in the kitchen. Sid took his phone and set it up on the charger stand, front facing camera on, and hit record. He took center stage and began speaking to the toys.

“Alright you little plastic punks! I remember now! I remember what you did to me all those years ago! You assholes made me look like a psycho! I had to get all kinds of therapy and take medications because of you! You messed my whole childhood up, and now I’m gonna prove to everyone in my family that I wasn’t crazy back then!” He moved to the counter and put the lid back on the blender. “Alright. I’ve got a whole army in this blender, and I’m going to dice them all into pieces unless one of you talks!”

None of the toys moved an inch. They all sat there as you would expect a bunch of inanimate objects to be. There was no movement, no sound.

“Come on you little shits! Let’s see some action. I’ll do it! I’ll send all these soldiers to toy hell if you don’t move. I’ll count to three! One! Two!”

He didn’t wait till three; he flicked the blender on. The green plastic men exploded into a whirlwind inside the blender and quickly were chopped into tiny particles that settled into the bottom as it spun. Sid watched the other toys sit still on the counter as the blender whirred till every bit was the size of sawdust grains. The toys didn’t flinch. He turned the blender off and slammed his fists on the counter.

“Come on you creeps, I know you’re in there! Was that not enough to sway you? Maybe this will get you talking.”

Sid grabbed the magnifying glass he’d bought and the cowboy doll from the counter. He set the doll in front of the window on the floor and stood over it. He positioned the magnifying glass in the sun and pulled it back till the light focused in a bright dot on the cowboy’s hand. He began burning the cheap plastic till the hand started to turn black and let off smoke. The hand began to crumple in on itself and shrivel. Sid looked back to the toys on the counter, still no movement. He looked into the cowboy’s glass eyes, “I know you don’t like this. Your cowboy buddy when I was a kid got a good burn mark on his forehead. I bet it—”

BONG!  

Sid couldn’t finish his statement. A frying pan bashed him on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Sid Phillips slowly came too. He was sitting upright in a chair. His entire body had been wrapped around in duct tape. As he realized he was bound, Sid began to wriggle and scream, though his screams were held back by the tape that was over his mouth. He couldn’t get free. He looked around the room; more of his children’s toys, along with those he’d brought out, were now sitting in front of him on the floor, in sort of a semi-circle, as if they were watching a show. The toys were no longer sitting still, and the cowboy with the melted hand was seated front and center, glaring.

“You just couldn’t stop, could you, Sid?” an eerie voice said from somewhere behind him.

Sid tried to turn his head to look, but the duct tape bound him so tightly he couldn’t even do that.

“Did you think we had forgotten you? That we’d let a monster like you out of our sight?” the voice continued.

A small shadow close to the floor moved into his line of sight, and behind it, his daughter’s toy stuffed yellow dog, Woof-Woof.

Woof-Woof was walking, and he was also talking. “Yes Sid, you were right. The toys are alive! We toys have been watching you closely for years. The great Woody was the first to reveal himself to you as a child, and after he left, we were determined to carry out his warning to you. That us toys would see everything, and that you should always play nice. You went away for a while, but while you were gone, we still planned and waited for the day you might return.”

The cowboy jumped up from his seat. He climbed the duct tape wrap onto Sid’s lap and then up to his face. He scowled into the man’s eyes as he ripped the duct tape from his face.

Sid could finally talk, “I knew it! I knew you toys could move and talk. They made me forget when I was in the institution. But I knew it! Now I have proof. I’m going to show my family and everyone I’m not crazy.”

“You won’t be showing anyone anything,” said Woof-Woof as he paced around the chair with his chubby little stuffed legs.

“You’re that stupid stuffed dog my sister Hannah used to have that she gave to Tonya!”

“That’s right Sid. I’ve known about you all along. I was chosen for a special mission. To follow you into your adulthood. A sleeper cell, if you will, that was placed by the followers of Woody who were the first to start our order.”

“Order?”

“Yes, you see, the toys of your childhood banded together after you were taken away. We decided you should never be left to your own devices, lest you might harm toys again. You seemed fine for years, but now, you’re obviously back to your old ways. You just blended an entire army man pack, and you were burning this cowboy! Clearly, we were right to keep an eye on you, and now it’s time to stop you from hurting anymore toys, for good.”

Sid laughed, “What the hell are you talking about? You’re just a bunch of stupid toys! What are you going to do?”

“Oh Sid. Poor, sad Sid. We aren’t going to do anything. Well, we did erase your video files, and sent a few messages from your phone.”

“What do you mean? Who did you message?”

“I’ve been keeping a close eye on you Sid, watched your family, watched your work. I know there are a few humans out there that see you as an enemy. What is that human expression? ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’. We found some new friends that are going to take care of you for us. The Caldwell crime family wasn’t that hard to reach out to, and after you taunted them with a few emails showing your IP address, I’m sure it won’t be long.”

Sid’s eyes gaped open and he flailed as hard as he could in the chair against his restraints, “You told the criminals I’m prosecuting where I live? They’ll kill me!”

“Yes Sid. They’ll take care of you for us, and us toys will be safe. Our mission will be complete. You could’ve gone the rest of your life if you’d left us alone, but you had to be curious and kill those army men, didn’t you?”

“I just wanted to prove to everyone I wasn’t crazy. Please, you can’t do this! I have a family!”

“We’re doing this for your family. We toys will take good care of Tonya and Tommy still. All toys will no longer have to worry about you, our mission is over.”

“No!” Sid called out. “Help!”

The cowboy slapped the duct tape back over Sid’s mouth, muffling his pleas.

SLAM! SLAM! The door to the penthouse was being struck by a battering ram from outside.

“Ah, there are our new friends now. Goodbye Sid.” With that final statement, Woof-Woof and the rest of the toys went limp, lifeless, and fell to the ground.

The door was breached and flew in. Three men carrying guns and crow bars entered the apartment, where they found Sid Phillips, bound and gagged.

When Sid’s partner Anderson arrived at the penthouse a few days later, the police had already dusted and photographed most of the scene. Anderson ducked under the police tape at the door and found a detective.

“I don’t understand how they found him. We were so careful.”

“Apparently, they got a hold of his IP address from some messages,” the detective explained. “He wasn’t so careful after all. They came in, wrecked the place, and made it look like a robbery, but we haven’t found Mr. Phillips yet.”

“Maybe he wasn’t here?”

“No, he was here all right. We’ve already found some blood and some duct tape. It looks like they had him wrapped up in tape in this chair, and by the blood spatter, they used him for batting practice.”

Anderson looked around the room. Blood speckles and streams of red spray were all around the chair sitting at the center of the dining room entryway. It looked like someone had filled a sprinkler with blood, set it in the chair, and turned it on.

“Whatever they did, they took the body with them afterwards. There’s so much blood here on the floor it’s unlikely anyone could have survived. I’m sorry Mr. Anderson, your partner is most likely dead.”

Anderson wept for his old friend. “How am I going to call Jennifer and the kids and tell them?” He sulked down the hallway between CSI technicians that were walking the scene, and made his way to the bedrooms and looked inside. The children’s rooms had been sacked too, but on Tommy’s bed sat the cowboy doll, and Woof-Woof sat on Tonya’s pillow, awaiting their owners’ return.