Chapter Text
"Annnd... Thats enough."
Before you, the screen shut down, its farewell being a simple, fading white line mounted atop the wall. The two children you'd been babysitting were nestled up beside you with blankets and some snacks you'd been kind enough to grab for them at the gas station.
Though the dimly-lit room, you could see the little one to your left whine, giving you the saddest eyes they could muster. "What!? Why? Come on, please let me watch one more! The episodes are so so short!" They protested, fighting sleep with every word and harsh blink.
A simple chuckle left you as you shook your head in response, gently moving to lift up the leg-rest of the couch and allow the children to get more comfortable. You'd babysat before, and this was no different. By no means were you jobless or even broke, you just wanted to try and pitch in to get extra money on the side, afford a few luxuries, you know? Although, it is hard to deny that you've grown fond of these two kiddos. They were very sweet and playful, as cheerful as a kid could be in this day and age! To top it all off: their parents were very kind to you, and paid you extra to clean up the house after the children headed off to sleep, even more if you made them fresh food instead of reheating small portions of leftovers. All and all, it was a very nice side hustle.
You set down the TV's remote on a small coffee table infront of the couch, "No more Charlie, sorry bud. What if I get in trouble for letting you stay up?"
"Please Y/N? I won't say a word to mom or dad!" One desperate last plea to try and haggle some more screen time out of you.
How could you resist? You were bound to cave at the sad puppy expression they gave you.
With a defeated sigh, you agreed, only because you were half asleep. Seeing as Charlie was also fighting sleep, maybe the kid would drift off in the middle of an episode, seeing as they're already fighting to stay awake. The opposite child, a little girl, was peacefully snoozing away with her blanket pulled up to her neck and a comfy stuffed animal cushioning her head. If only the first little creature could find it in himself to get some sleep.
"Alright, ONE more episode. We'll do the one with.. Sally? She's cool, don't you think?" You'd tucked them in, standing to go shut the lights off from their already dimmed state.
"Noo... Can we watch the episode with Barnaby and Wally? Where they paint together?" Charlie asked hopefully, excitement evident in every word. You chuckled, shaking your head in defeat.
"Why do you ALWAYS pick the one with the creepy yellow guy? His eyes are so weird." Rounding the couch, you took the loop around to find your seat, leaving the seats with leg-rests for the kids.
"Hes not creepy!" They protested, wiggling further into his blanket and wrestling with it for a moment to find the balance between having their upper-body and legs inside the blanket so he wouldn't get cold. "He is really nice, and he knows your name! Hes said it before."
An audible laugh almost left you. That sounded like such a cliché horror movie kid thing to say. "Has he now?" The absolutely animated nod they gave you in reply got a single HAH out of you. "Lets see about that."
With a swoop, you leaned forwards enough to snatch up the TV remove once more from the coffee table before you. You pressed the power button, and turned the volume down to a comfortable amount for sleeping. You could both hear it, so it was no issue when you went on the little deep-dive for the show within the TV's different output/input settings. It always seemed to hide from you... But you didn't mind. It never quite came with a warning or much of anything, and if you looked for the show publicly on the internet, all you'd get were a few old details about a show from the 60s to 70s.
Inherently, there is nothing really unsettling about it, but that yellow puppet... Wally Darling they called him? He was a real piece-a work. Every time you watched the show, you could feel those black dots stare holes into your face, which only served to creep you out more and more when you thought about it.
Granted, you didn't hate the guy, his voice was soft and sweet, charming in a way! And he was obviously portrayed as charismatic by the show, so he had that going for him. But god that hair was awful...
You often made jokes about him having an entire snail on his head, to which both children usually laughed in agreement. Though, there was an episode where his hair comes down... Now thats a little better.
Finally, after your search, you found the right input for the DVD player. The Welcome Home title screen faded into view featuring the entire main cast on the cover. Considering how old it was, you were surprised it came out on DVD. It never made it to streaming services since it did die out, but apparently it had many VHS copies. The DVD version was a remaster, with clearer visuals and clean up and all that jazz, but even with all that work, it had its blurry moments.
Overall, it was charming and welcoming. As it should be, its a kids show!
"Alright, settle in, I'll press play when you're ready." You leaned back into the seat beside them, and as soon as you finished your sentence, they stopped fighting that darn blanket for enough space to cover up to their neck.
"Ready!"
And so began the show.
Like every episode, Wally was introduced through his usual visuals. Sitting on a hill, underneath an apple tree, staring at a blank canvas with a pondering expression. You wondered why, of all places, under an apple tree? Well, not really. At this point, you'd seen the intro so many times you began to notice the smaller details. A few dumb ones that you thought were funny were his lack of brows and a nose. The strangely cat-like mouth was cute, but his eyes always unsettled you. They were half lidded, and usually just a little too large. It felt like they were always on you too. Along with the strange eye imagery, you noticed a small cross on his wrist cuff... Strange. Technically, it would've been upside down. It should be facing outward, but instead, its facing in, a side of vanity and glory to ones self rather than sharing of glory and victory. However, it didn't really bother you much. This show was older than your MOTHER, censorship and what was allowed to be portrayed back then is VERY different from now.
Just after you caught the glimpse of the cuffs, Wally's face became the main focus, along with Barnaby. They were having a conversation while sprawled out on the ground, talking about what they liked doing in their free time. Your interest in small details depleted on the spot and you turned you attention to your phone to evade the show since it was no longer of much importance.
You got a few good minutes of scrolling and checking socials before the chipper voice of the young child beside you spoke out with hushed glee, pointing vivaciously at the screen.
"Hes looking at you Y/N!"
You froze, looking at the kid as they watched the screen with pure glee. It was easy to see the reflection of it through their eyes, half blue, half yellow. With a small weight in your stomach you looked towards the TV, and your face went pale. Goosebumps littered your skin when you did, infact, see two very large eyes staring right at you from the screen. Usually, the puppet's eyes would be half lidded, normally portioned, but on the screen were just... Two large, black eyes, staring right at you. It was dark, the only visible white was the sclera, even the setting around them was grim and dark-- as if the subject were in a dark room or place. Your mouth dried, and bile soon made itself apparent from the fear. Out of instinct-- you reached for the TV remote and shut the TV off. Just as you reached for it, you SWORE the eyes followed your hands and widened when they saw you flip the TV off.
That was no it. You're not messing around like that today, absolutely not. It is late, dark, and the only company are two children who are on the brink of falling asleep and would NOT be helpful if something happened.
A few minutes of silence followed before Charlie broke it with some playful protest, half noticing your expression and feeling concerned.
"Hey! Why did you turn it off? Wally was trying to talk to you! You didn't participate you know." They huffed, crossing their arms beneath the blanket.
"No.. No more of that. Lets get you and Loreyna to bed. Its way too late." You quickly interjected, extending your hand out to them so they could grasp it. The chilly feeling hadn't left, and you figured it'd be best to put them up in their beds.
Somehow, Charlie decided to obey and quietly got up, taking their blanket. Lots of people say kids can't read a room, but it seems like the worried panic on your face made it clear something was up, and they didn't want to make anything worse. You took the little girl up in your arms, carrying her and leading the other child to their respective rooms for the night. After quickly tucking them in, you headed headed into the living room again and proceeded to take your phone with you. At this point, the house didn't feel safe, none of it did. On top of it all, you couldn't even look at the TV in the living room without shuddering almost violently...
If you didn't know any better, you'd have tricked your mind into actually seeing the two large eyes there again, and hallucinating giant puppet eyes was NOT on your list of things to do.
Though, it probably would have saved your life if you had just spared a simple glance.