Flash Fiction #13 - My Warren

Picture Prompt

300-word Flash Fiction

Post # 13

Week Ending: 09/05/2025

Genre: Drama

Title: My Warren

   Talk about a symbiotic relationship. I had no voice, but I was a cuddly, cute puppet in the form of a teddy bear. I was so damn cute … one look and people fell in love with me. Warren Poutine had an amazingly talented voice. He could make any sound you could think of and imitate everyone’s voice, even women. He could sing, sounding like dozens of artists. But, man, was he shy. 

   35 years ago, he found me at a costume shop in the heart of Denver. He realized that, through me, he could express his voice, his humor, his suppressed performer. He named me Cuddly Cooper. I was his persona and he was my voice. We were such a great team on the streets of Denver’s 16th Street Mall. People started wanting us to go all over the country. We had the greatest routines. Every year, we would start a new one. 

   The first 30 years were a huge success. Warren hauled me from city to city in my own cozy, brown suitcase. I slept so well in there between shows. But over the past 5 years, we've slowed down a lot. I don't know why, but I suspect something is wrong with Warren. His voice has been faltering during some of our shows. 

   He never took me out of my suitcase unless we were going to practice or perform a show. But this morning, he opened me up and started to pull me out, but halfway out, he let go and sat on the grass in front of me, breathing heavily, gasping until he laid down and stopped moving. He stopped breathing. 

   Fittingly, I lay here, with my head hanging toward the grass in a sorrowful posture, mourning the best friend I ever could have. My Warren. 

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