Spongebob woke up before dawn, eyes wide in surprise and delight. It was today. The day he had been waiting for for as long as he could remember. Or at least a week. Today was the annual Soda-Slurping Patty-Flipping Fatty Food Relay (SSPFFFR) of Bikini Bottom. Spongebob hadn't won the last one, but he was determined to be victorious this time. There were three people on each team; his consisted of himself, Sandy, and Patrick. And they would win. They had to win. Patrick was going to start the race with the soda slurping, and Spongebob would pick up for him in the second bit, the patty flipping part naturally. And Sandy would do the Fatty Food Relay, since she was the fastest of the trio when she wanted to be. He slid slowly out of bed, careful to avoid the large bullhorn next to his bed. Gary popped an eye open and meowed at him before dozing off.
Less than a minute later, Spongebob and the sleepy Patrick opened the door to Sandy Cheeks 'bubble'. Carefully placing water tanks over their head, they scampered in to greet their friend. Sandy wasn't on her wheel, and she wasn't in any other easily visible area. Spongebob almost began to panic. Who would do the Fatty Food Relay if they couldn't find Sandy? Then he heard a weak coughing noise from Sandy's tree, and his eyes grew wide. The pair cautiously entered Sandy's home, not wanting a repeat of the hibernation incident. Sandy was lying in her bed, looking amazingly small. She was also pale, and didn't have any of her trademark energy. Now Spongebob felt he was allowed to panic.
"Sandy?" he asked, voice quivering. "Sandy, you're not sick. You can't be sick, Who'll do the relay for us?"
Sandy gave a weak laugh, opening her eyes to look at Spongebob. "Yes I'm sick, Spongebob. Find someone else to do the relay for you. I'm sorry…" She closed her eyes again.
Spongebob gave a squeak that was more of a whimper, looking around in fear as Patrick chewed thoughtfully on the walls. "But there is no one else, Sandy! We need you!" When no response came from the pale form on the bed, Spongebob turned white. His eyes grew to an unnaturally large size, and he began muttering to himself, the words not quite loud enough to catch. Patrick naturally didn't notice, and Sandy seemed more dead than asleep.
A not-quite-sane giggle burst forth from Spongebob as he clutched the wooden edge of Sandy's bed, starting to rock back and forth, then bursting into a song that only lasted about a minute and a half, getting no response from Sandy other than a groan. "I'm a little teapot, short and stoooooooout!" He hunched in on himself, becoming a slight bit more short and stout than normal. "Here is my handle, here is my spoooooout!" Spongebob put on hand to his hip, holding the other out to his side like a spout. Then his song changed, to more of a chant that he repeated over and over to himself in a singsong voice. "Crazy? I was crazy once. They put me in a rubber room. It was cold. I built a fire. I burned to death. They buried me underground. The worms, they drove me crazy… Crazy? I was crazy once. They put me in a rubber room. It was cold. I built a fire. I burned to death. They buried me underground. The worms, they drove me crazy…" He continues this chant, faster and faster until it seems more like a hum than anything else.
Patrick had fallen asleep, drooling from one side of his mouth and Sandy just cracked an eye open to gesture feebly at the door. "Go 'way Spongebob. You're driving me crazy…"
With a slight whimper, Spongebob woke up Patrick and they left.