Hey guys, long time no see. Fell out of SP for a while but recently got back into drawing the characters and writing about them is a little story I just thought of recently. Nothing too crazy. Tell me what you think! Thanks, now on with the story.
It was a crisp and cool morning in the mountain town of South Park. The birds were chirping, the snow on the ground was melting into the rich brown soil and the sky was clear and oh so blue. It was the first day of spring.
The three boys, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman were standing at the bus stop as they usually do, waiting to be picked up for school. "Man, it's the first day of spring and it's still freezing out!" Cartman huffed.
"Oh, come on. It's not nearly as cold as its been all winter, right Stan?" Kyle declared, looking for a third opinion. No answer. "Uh, Stan?"
"Huh? What?" Stan answered, startled.
"I said, it's not as cold as its been all winter right?" Kyle repeated.
"Uh, yeah. Whatever you say man." Stan's answer came off distant. As if he was lost somewhere else.
"Dude, what is your problem? You've been acting spacey as hell lately." Cartman barked.
Stan's expression went from blank to forlorn in almost an instant.
"You can tell us man." Kyle said, with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Well," Stan sighed. "I'm worried...about Kenny."
Kyle and Cartman wore the same look of confusion. Kenny McCormick? He died back in December. He hasn't been back since.
"Stan..." Kyle began. "Kenny is dead."
Stan furrowed his brow. "You think I don't know that?" he snapped. "It's just that. He's usually back by now." Stan could feel a lump start to form in his throat. "I just want to know what's taking him so long."
Its been just recently the boys started to realize that Kenny had a habit of dying at least once a week and he would would usually regenerate sometime in the middle of the next week. The boys were slightly older now, only 12 years old. Nothing had changed much other than the boys discovering that Kenny was some type of weird cult baby who would regenerate and be reborn every time he was killed by some type of freak accident. And each time he was back, he was still the same old Kenny as if he never went anywhere in the first place. Always returning with a giant glowing grin on his round face. His sky blue eyes twinkling. Stan missed him.
"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Kyle said, trying to reassure him. "Maybe he's just taking a rest right now."
"Yeah. A rest in peace." Cartman scoffed. Kyle gave him a swift kick in the knee. "Ouch!" he cried.
"Not now." Kyle hissed. Cartman stuck his tongue out at him. He was just as childish as ever.
Stan's breath hitched. "It's cool guys, I'm ok." he said. "I'm sure he'll be back, I just. Need to take my mind off of it for now." Kyle nodded in an understanding manner. Cartman just huffed again. By now, the school bus finally came to take them to school.
The school day came and gone in an instant. Stan claimed he was going to keep his mind off of Kenny, but he was literally all Stan could think about. Sometimes he thought he could hear Kenny's muffled quips as if he was right next to him. Stan's chest ached. He just wanted to see his friend, giving him his goofy toothy grin he always did. Stan has been worrying about Kenny for quite some time now, but he did not really wanna talk about it. No one else seemed to be as concerned, so why should he be? He couldn't explain it so he just kept it to himself.
Another week passed and Stan could feel his sorrow deepening. He even considered stopping by the McCormicks house to ask if Kenny was around but he wasn't sure if that was the smart thing for him to do. Kenny's family family was wildly unstable and unpredictable, he didn't want put himself in any unnecessary danger. His parents have even caused Kenny's death from time to time. Stan thought back to when he witnessed Mr. McCormick strangle Kenny to death. Stan shuddered. Definitely something he did not want to remember.
One day after school, Stan was sitting at Stark's Pond, staring off into the distance, his elbows resting on his knees, his backpack set carefully up against the old musky bench. Stan wasn't sure how to cope with the pain at this point. He could almost feel his emotions whirling around and swelling up inside of him. Stan could feel a lump forming in his throat again.
"Stan..." Stan heard a voice from behind him. It was Kyle. The sight of his best friend made his tears finally spill over.
"Oh, hey dude." Stan said casually, as if he wasn't crying. Kyle took a seat next to him and put an arm around him.
"Come on dude. It's gonna be fine." Kyle said, rubbing Stan's arm. "Kenny is always fine."
Stan let everything out in that instant. "I know," Stan sobbed. "I just really miss him."
"You've been bottling up your emotions." Kyle told him, pulling him closer. "That's why you're feeling so much sorrow. You just need to let everything out."
And that's what he did. Stan sat there and cried and vented while Kyle comforted him. Afterwards, Stan did feel a bit better. The sorrow was still there, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.
"Thanks man, I needed that." Stan said, rubbing his eyes.
"Anytime! We are best friends after all." Kyle said, giving Stan a tender smile.
"Thank fuck." Stan said, cracking a smile. Kyle laughed. "Come on dude. Grab your backpack and let's head home." Kyle said, standing up from his seat. Stan eyed his bright orange jacket. It was covered in little wet spots from his tears and snot. Stan nodded, wiping his nose with his sleeve and they headed back together.
Another two weeks passed and it was now April. The rainy season had begun and little flowers started to pop up around town. Stan loved spring. Spring reminded him of Kenny a lot. He remembered a time in fourth grade when spring was in full swing. Kenny was excitedly sniffing and pointing out flowers.
"Look Stan! Forget-me-nots!" Kenny had exclaimed. Stan could still remember the look on his face. Nothing but pure joy, despite everything he goes through.
Stan really did miss him, but he didn't feel as alone. He had Kyle to support him no matter what and even Cartman was showing a few acts of kindness. The other day he shared one (1) cheesy poof with Stan! He must miss Kenny too.
It was getting warmer in south park and spring was now in its prime. It was a Sunday evening and Stan was sitting at Stark's Pond again, taking in the setting sun. The breeze was warm and gentle and subtle ripples spread throughout the clear pond water, reflecting the pinkish-orange sky. Spring really was here.
Stan took a deep breath and sighed dreamily as the warm evening air descended around him. Almost unseasonally warm, but he didn't mind it. The smell in the air sweetened to what smelled like, sweet Honeysuckle nectar. Stan liked it.
"Hey dude." Stan heard a familiar voice say behind him.
"Hey Ky-" Stan stopped mid-sentence at what he saw.
Standing behind him was a blonde kid around his age, with blazing blue eyes, an orange parka, and a disc of light hovering over his head.
Stan almost choked on his next word. "Ke...Kenny?"
And that's the end of chapter one! I might make another chapter after this and then we'll see what happens after that. Let me know what yall think! Thanks for reading!