Entry: 1

I feel like I’ve accomplished so little. I’ve taken apart so many boxes filled with things covered in that substance. Grime, mold, or whatever. I tried to preserve what I could. Baking soda, white vinegar, bleach- it doesn’t matter what or how much. It doesn’t do anything. The products fall apart in my hands. Everything is brittle and discolored with old age and any toys I find are matted with gunk. When it's paper goods, I don’t have much choice but to rip pages out of books that cannot be saved. I get nauseous seeing how much is being destroyed under my care. I’m the only thing Welcome Home has and I can’t even maintain it. Sometimes I wonder why this all showed up here. Why not leave me a note? Why not tell me anything? It’s frustrating and the longer I toil away at my work the more I think about it.

The boxed toy from before feels like a ray of hope, though. It’s another reminder that I’m on the right path. I’ve managed to retrieve it from its container without too much trouble. The box is unsalvageable, but the items inside (an instruction manual and an egg shaped toy) are brand new. The leaflet refers to this toy as part of a series from the Marlo toy line called “Grow-a-Pal.” It was a transformation bug toy that would go through three stages of metamorphosis; an egg, a nymph, and then something else. The instruction manual also suggests there are other variations, but the version we have is a creature called the “Buggle.” It’s supposed to come with an accessory that’s used to move the transformation process along, but I couldn’t find it in the box with everything else.

This is all exciting news and my head is buzzing, but I feel exhausted. I’m going to begin cataloguing it tomorrow for the restoration website. I think this will be a wonderful addition to the Frank Frankly items I’ve found!

Entry: 2

I don’t know what happened. I woke up this morning and the egg was cracked open. I can’t believe this happened. I left the garage last night and went to sleep in my bed for a change, but I made sure I locked the door behind me. I’ve checked everywhere in my home since then. Nothing was broken into or moved, but it must have been stolen, there's no other explanation. This is ridiculous and I don’t know what to do.

I’ve decided to go back to sleeping in the garage. I don’t know why I ever strayed in the first place. I’ll never let this happen again. I’m disgusted with myself and I can’t stop thinking about the Buggle. I never even got to see it for myself. I’m going to take care of this though. I have to.

Entry: 3

There was scratching at the garage door this morning. I remember looking up from where I was sleeping on the ground when I heard it. Whatever it was looked like a wild animal at first, but the bright colors stood out so much against everything else. All I could think about was how much it looked like a pet waiting to be let outside. I felt myself get up and go to the door. When I opened it, it didn’t go far. It bumbled out only a few feet instead and then stayed completely still.

It turned around to look at me, or at least I think it was looking at me. It couldn’t move its head or its bead eyes. How could it? But when it faced me, it stopped moving altogether. It didn’t move for the rest of the day after that.

Maybe this was a dream I had. I don’t remember waking up and this all feels like a blur. I only remember standing in my living room, picking it up, and holding it in my hand.

I guess it doesn’t matter. I found the Buggle toy. It’s with me. It looks just like it does in the instruction manual. I will hold off on posting about it publicly on the restoration website for now. I need more time. I also need to find the accessory to get it to transform. The egg photo looks awful too, now that I look at it. For a moment, I forgot how I lived. My hand feels tacky.

Entry: 4

I decided to put all my time on the Buggle today. I wanted to write more about it now that it’s out of its shell. I’m still not sure how I found it to be honest. The egg’s shell could have been very brittle and the plush toy might have fallen out and rolled somewhere I couldn’t find it. I’ve been having trouble keeping track of things, so this was probably just a small oversight.

The Buggle toy is a unique piece of Welcome Home memorabilia. I wanted to revisit the instruction manual to understand how the transformation part of the toy works. The “Grow-a-Pal” is supposed to come with something called a ‘tool ring’, which you’d use to move the Buggle through its metamorphosis. The tool ring was made up of different tools, like a small hammer and pliers, that children would use to pry open the egg and reach the Buggle inside. There is also a tool shaped like a leaf that would be used to pretend to feed it. The final tool on the ring is a key that would open a segment on the Buggle’s back hidden underneath its plush wings. Presumably, this lets the Buggle reach its final stage, but it’s not known what that looks like. The Instruction manual only has a silhouette and a question mark. A selling point for this toy might have been the mystery aspect of what you would receive once you opened it up.

I still haven’t managed to find the tool ring. Prying the small lock off the back without breaking it has been impossible. I’m kind of surprised how hard it is. I don’t want to mess this toy up by ripping it apart with tools just to get inside of it though, even if it's as small as a lock. It’s in such good condition and it's one of the few products of its kind that I have. I know I’ll find it eventually.

Entry: 5

Ever since I’ve found the Buggle, I’ve been assured that no one has been inside of my home. I’ve had trouble keeping track of where I put it down sometimes, however. I would put it down in one place, but then it would resurface somewhere else. I decided to place it in a box under my bed for peace of mind. Leaving it out in the open again feels like a dangerous idea. But I’m pretty relieved overall. These small things have helped stave off the feeling of eyes on me. I’ve felt better about sleeping and eating, even if it’s difficult to stay asleep and keep food down. The ringing has gone silent.

Occasionally I hear something moving around in my garage when I’m not inside. It’s always scratching against the door or knocking things over. When I run in to check, it goes into hiding. I can’t find any signs of it being a wild animal, like pellets or holes chewed in boxes. I put out traps for now anyways. If it really is just a rat that should take care of that problem.

It’s forced me out of the garage in the meantime though, which has been making me feel antsy again. I’ve tried to focus on other things. I still haven’t been able to find the tool ring.

Entry: 6

The Buggle toy has gone missing. I don’t know how long it’s been lost. I’ve never gone this long without running into it again. I don’t know what happened. I never took it out of the box, I don’t even remember the last time I’ve seen it.

I went into the garage thinking I could have put it back in, but I didn’t find anything. I checked the rat trap. It went off, but nothing was caught. It’s getting frustrating to stay away from my work for so long, but I’m worried what I would do if I was bitten by a wild animal. Admittedly I’ve stopped paying for insurance so I could put all my savings back into my work. I just need to be able to hold out a little while longer. It’s only a matter of time before that stupid rat is caught anyway.

But the Buggle. I don’t know what to do about the Buggle. I still hear something in my garage.

Entry: 7

Last night I heard the same sounds I’ve been hearing before, but they weren’t coming from the garage this time. It was coming from my living room. I could hear it moving along the floor, then a second sound like it was clawing at my windows. I thought it was the rat, but when I got up to try to catch it for myself, I saw the Buggle. It was pushed up against one of my windows. The sound of the beaded eye scraping against the glass of the window pane stands out in my memory. When it heard me, it stopped and faced me just like it had before. Then it went limp and fell onto the ground. I walked over and reached down to pick it up. I felt a shock of pain in my hand, and when I looked down all I could see was black grime on my palm.

When I woke up I was in my bed. I was so angry. I hate being reminded of that stupid Buggle toy. More stupid mistakes. I didn’t even get to catalogue it properly. The garage door is still locked and I can still hear the sound of whatever’s in there. It’s just as annoying as all that annoying ringing.

Entry: 8

I can’t find it and I can’t sleep anymore. I can’t work. I can’t eat. I can’t focus. But I can still hear it scurrying around in my garage. The mouse traps are starting to go untouched now. The Buggle is missing. I don’t have that tool ring, not that that matters anymore. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. All I can do is think about my work. I’ve been thinking about leaving the garage door open and letting it run into another room instead. I’m tired of waiting for nothing to happen.

Tomorrow I’m going to rip the place apart and get it out.

Entry: 9

I went into my garage and knocked things over and did what I could to scare whatever was inside out of its hiding spot. That’s when I saw it. It ran out of a box, past my feet, and into a mousetrap. I heard a snap and then a terrible sound. The noise made me so lightheaded that I nearly fainted. I heard it dragging the mouse trap behind it and saw a glimpse of something shoving itself into a hole in the wall. I can’t believe this is happening to me. I don’t know how to take care of it but I have to do something.

Entry: 10

I got it out. I trapped it in a box and threw it into the closest room I could get to. I didn’t know what to do with it once it was in my hands. I couldn’t throw it out of the house, it’s too important. But it was making an awful racket again and even just holding it was too much, I just wanted it away from me and out of my garage. Now it’s living in my bathroom, trying to get out. I can hear the beaded eye scraping against the door. The buzzing. The groaning. The suffering. I shoved towels under the door to muffle the noise but it’s so much louder now. I still can’t believe it. It’s not a rat, it’s the Buggle. It’s alive. I swear to God it's alive.

But what now? If I opened the door and missed grabbing it, it could just get deeper into my house. So deep that I couldn’t reach it. Even if I did have it in my hands again, what would I do next? When I picked it up, I felt that feeling from before. Dizzy and confused, like I was going to collapse. I’m scared it could happen again.

I’m going to start sleeping in the garage again. The sounds have been keeping me up, and they’re even louder now than they were before, but at least the garage door muffles some of the sound.

I think I’m going to wait. If it's really alive, it will stop moving on its own eventually just like anything else. I just need to be patient. The hand I touched it with is covered in that black grime. I can’t wash it off.