Summer break; taking place in Colorado springs and across the states of America. The snow had cleared and everywhere, lush green blossomed among flowers. Despite this, the mountain air was still cold; kids of south park colorado remained snug in their winter coats, wooly hats and gloves.

The bell rang loudly throughout their elementary and kids of all grades burst through the door screaming with joy. Three in particular were extremely excited. They walked down the footpath from their school, almost skipping.

"Wow! I can't believe its summer already" the boy in the green hat and orange coat exclaimed with a smile. Kyle.

"Whoa dude. Chill. Its just summer. Nothing ever happens in summer. Well, except for that one time" the boy on Kyle's right replied with the brown coat and blue hat. Stan.

"Not this year dude. This year, this year is gonna be the best summer ever!"

Stan looked at him skepically before replying "K"

Kyle soon realized Stan had no idea what he was talking about. They stopped walking. "Haven't you heard Stan?"

"Heard what?"

"About Cartman"

"What about him?"

"Turns out, he's going to his Grandma's" Kyle then paused for dramatic effect. "The. Whole. Summer"

"What!? Why didn't anyone tell me? Why am I only hearing this now?"

"I thought you knew!"

"Mmmff nff" The boy in the orange hoodie muffled behind his coat. Kenny.

"Everyone knew!?" Stan gasped.

"Yeah dude! Didn't I tell you? I'm sure I did; I think I did. I mean I told everyone else"

"Not me! Wow. If I'd known there was gonna be a summer with no Cartman around. I'd have planned it a whole lot better"

"Well what do you have planned?"

Stan threw his arms up "Nothing!"

The boys continued to walk on, completely ignoring the larger boy, who was trudging sulkingly behind them, frowning fiercely. His hands in his red jacket pocket, his blue hat pulled low over his ears. Eric. Going only by Cartman from his 'friends' and most of the other kids at his school.

"No wonder you've been so stoked this last week. I can't believe you didn't tell me" Stan said, adding a hint of mild annoyance to the last part. Kyle and Stan stop again, Kenny just in front.

"Jesus Christ" Eric mumbled as he had to stop himself from colliding into them.

Kyle put his hand on Stan's shoulder, his other hand raising in front of him. "Just picture it Stan. No racist remarks. no constantly being ripped on. No loud mouth voice shouting crap like "Stupid Jew" "You can't cause you're too poor Kenny" Stan laughed at Kyle's impersonations. They were pretty lame, but still hilarious. "The sound of silence, from Cartman's big fat mouth"

"Ay!"

"Mmf mmmf ffh tff ooo" (And his big fat ass too) Kyle and Stan laugh

"I'm standing right here assholes!" the boys turn to look at him. There was silence for a moment, then they carried on walking. Eric frowned at their backs, then continued to follow. "God damn it" he was in a particularly bad mood since it was walk to and from school day. He didn't even know that was a real thing. He found the whole thing stupid and was sure they did it on purpose; just to piss him off. On the last day of school no less. "This is bull crap! don't they know its like a mile to my house"

"Don't complain so much Cartman. You can stand to lose a few calories" Kyle said with a grin

"Dude, calories?" Stan asked

"Yeah. Cause it'll take more then a mile to lose anything more then that for Cartman"

The three boys in front laugh again. Eric drew his hands out of his pockets, clenching them into fists. "That's it!" he quickly made it to the front of them. "Screw you guys, I'm going home!" he walked as fast as he could. Trying his best to stay in front- way in front "Fucking Jew"

A smaller kid, waved from the other side of the road. His blonde tuff of hair bouncing a little as he did. "Have a nice summer Eric" Butters. The only kid who ever called him by his first name.

"Fuck you Butters!" Eric replied without even looking up. He continued to walk in a hasty fashion. Trying not to let it show it was causing his legs to burn. His frown evident on his face, ignoring the surprise look on Butters' face.

"What'd I do?" Butters then waved at the other three he considered friends.

"Have a good summer fellas, see you around maybe"

Kyle waved back and replied "You too butters. Don't worry bout Cartman, he's just sulking cause he has to go to his Grandma's for all of summer"

Eric stopped and span around. "I'm not sulking Kahl! You're just assholes!" he then turned back and walked on.

The boys try and contain their giggles as much as possible. They failed and all three burst, screeching with laughter.

Eric gritted his teeth. Why the hell did he hang out with these guys? I hate you guys, hate you guys so damn much. Especially Kahl. No good stinking Jew boy.

The next day, Stan and Kyle were making their way to Kenny's house. They crossed over the broken run down train track that's never used anymore. It was the very first day of Summer, the offical day that declared freedom for Two whole months. "What should we do first?" Stan asked

"Don't worry, I've got it all planned out" Kyle replied as they drew closer to their friends house.

"First, we're going to have a whole week of gaming time"

"Oh yeah, that sounds right"

"Then, I thought we could get in some quality play time with the guys. Craig said he and Token are looking for new recruits for their pokemon go team"

"Sweet"

"And, I know it sucks. But my Mom wanted me to at least get some sort of exercise this summer. You know, do something active. So how about we get all of the kids that have laser quest guns and go out just after sunset. It'd be like, call of duty"

"Dude. That's really awesome. You really did plan ahead. I can't believe I didn't know about Cartman. But, at least you're prepared"

"Totally dude. Just leave everything to me. This summer is gonna be sweet"

"My Mom said if I do a load of chores soon, she'll let me have a massive sleep over and we could have a Terrence and Phillip Marathon"

"Awesome! See? Best summer ever"

The two boys rang the door bell of their friends run down house. They waited for a few seconds, until Kenny opened the door.

"Hey dude. We're going to see the fat ass off"

"Hm" (ok) Kenny replied and shut the door behind him. From there, they doubled back and began to make their way to Eric's house.

"Kenny, you are gonna be so stoked for Summer. Kyle has the best plans for us. Tell him Kyle"

Kyle relayed all his plans back to Kenny who listened intently. "Oo mf od ude" (Oh my god dude)

"I know right?"

"Best summer ever" Kyle repeated. Stan knew that Kyle was going to play on that for a long while. He didn't mind though, it was a simple thing to endure for what excitement was to come. Kyle wasn't the only one that was looking forward to a summer without Eric Cartman.

The boys reached the Cartmans house just in time to see Lianne placing a suitcase in the back of a cab. The boys mother wasn't going with him, which was what annoyed Eric the most. That he was putting up with his own messed up family on his own. The cab was expensive, but Eric argued with his mother, that he'd rather die then have to 'Risk any kind of terrorism from a plane or train'. The boys spotted Eric next, coming out with his yellow back pack on one shoulder. His frown and pout still evident on his face. He looked up when he reached the edge of the path, rolling his eyes when he saw them. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"We thought we'd see you off fat-I mean, Cartman" Stan replied, quickly changing his fat ass comment to his chosen name for his friend.

"Screw you guys. You're a fucking liar, I'm not stupid geez"

"Well whatever. We're here anyways"

Lianne turned around after shutting the boot of the cab once she was done placing the suitcases in the cab. "Oh how nice. Eric's little friends have come to say goodbye"

The three boys surpress a laugh "Yes Ms Cartman. We wanted to see Cartman off. Cause we'll miss him a lot" Kyle replied sarcastically

Eric got angry and clenched his fists "Fuck you Kahl!"

"Eric, Language poopsykins. You know Grandma doesn't like that sort of potty mouth" Lianne cooed

Eric mumbled the next part under his breath. "Grandma can suck my balls"

"Oh! I almost forgot. I packed all your favourite snacks for the trip. I'll just go and get them"

Lianne walked back into the house to retrieve the food. Eric sighed and continued to frown at his friends. "I hate you guys"

"Dude. How come your Mom's not going with you anyway?" Stan asked sincerely

"I don't know. She said something about a job offer and making some extra money. Whatever it is, I can't be in the house for"

Kyle leaned over to Kenny and mumbled "Whore house for summer" Kenny laughed loudly.

"Fuck off Jew! I heard that!"

"No. I'm sorry. It's bad, I mean it really sucks that you have to spend an entire summer at your Grandma's" Kyle replied

"You're a god damn liar. I know you'll miss me. You can't deny it, You're gonna be totally depressed once I'm gone Kahl"

Kyle frowned "Get your head out your ass fat boy! I hate you! I've never exaggerated that in all the years I've known you. I always say it. I hate you! I hate you!"

"It's ok Kahl. You can admit it"

"Argh!" Kyle stepped closer "Listen to me very carefully. I-hate-your-fucking-guts"

"You don't need to hide it anymore Kahl. We've been friends a long time. Face it, you're gonna miss me"

"No! No I won't. Jesus Christ!"

"You can't exclaim the lords name. You're a jew"

Stan face palmed. Any good mood of Kyle's was going flying out of the window. He knew it was a bad idea to see Cartman off. But Kyle disagreed, he was so stoked about the summer that he wanted to celebrate the moment Eric's cab disappeared into the distance. "I will never! Ever! Miss your fucking racist, self absorbed, hatred fat fucking ass. Ever!"

"Kyle come on. Let's just see Cartman off so we can enjoy the summer" Stan said, placing his hand on Kyle's shoulder to calm him.

Kyle shrugged him off "You can think all the little fantasy crap you want. But I still hate you!"

"Then why are you here Kahl?" the thing that annoyed Kyle the most. Was that Eric always remained, mostly, at times. So calm. As if he really, really believed whatever he thought up. Kyle was sure, he did it on purpose.

"I wouldn't even care you fucking died!" Kyle shouted, his own fists clenching with anger.

Everyone looked in surprise, Eric's calm demeanor deminished too. "Dude. That's not cool. You shouldn't joke about that" Stan said.

"Seriously? You hate him just as much as I do Stan"

"Yeah but. I wouldn't like, want him dead"

"Really!?"

"It's a little-over the top"

"You. Of all people. You're the one that asked to take the kill shot when South Park was about to be overrun with a god damn trapper keeper. Which by the way, was all Cartman's fault!"

"All right. I get it. But since we lost Kenny to that disease. I've learned to at least not to take 'sort of friends' for granted"

"Dude, what are you talking about? Kenny's right there"

Stan went silent "Oh yeah. Erm. Wait, what was my point again?" Eric and Kenny looked at each other. Eric shrugged. For a moment, Kenny could have sworn the two both shared the same thoughts. His friends remembered he'd died? At least at that one time. "Never mind. I don't know what I was talking about"

"Ok Eric. I've got all the yummy snacks ready for you in this bag. Try to make them last for the trip hun. And try not to eat them all" Lianne said as she came back out of the house and handed the snack bag to her son.

"Smmh hfff mmm pmm amm hhff" (Those snacks won't even last the trip out of South Park)

Kyle and Stan started laughing

"At least I have snacks Kenny! You poor piece of crap!" Eric walked to the back door of the cab.

"Call Mommy when you get there sweetie. Have a good time and be good for Grandma" Lianne showered her son with kisses.

He pushed her off and wiped his face "All right Mom! Jesus" he then turned to frown at Kyle and the other two boys. "You will miss me Kahl. I swear to god. One day. One day you'll see. My spy is in the works. He's going to relay to me every fucking tear and mopey thing you say this Summer"

"So we just have to avoid playing with Butters this summer" Stan said to Kenny and Kyle. They nodded with a smile.

"It's not Butters!"

"It's Butters" Kyle said, laughing a little.

"Screw you guys, I'ma going to Grandma's" Eric got into the cab, slamming the door.

"Bye poopsykins! See you soon" Lianne waved as the cab began to pull out of the driveway.

As soon as the cab was on the road, the boys began to cheer. "Yes!" Stan jumped up in the air.

Kenny cheered jumping in a circle.

Kyle smiled happily and shouted "Best summer ever!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a loud explosion. The ground rumbled and shook. "Jesus Christ!" Stan shouted.

In front of them, the cab was in pieces, fire crackled from the rubble. "Eric! noooo! My baby! Eric!" Lianne ran toward the flames.

"Cartman?" Kyle stared blankly, his body frozen in shock. His eyes glued to the burning cab. He took a step forward. Stan and Kenny still staring in surprise. "Cartman? This is a joke right?" seeing Lianne fall apart just before the flames told him differently. "Cartman!" Stan was shook out of his own surprise when he heard his best friend. He grabbed onto Kyle in an effort to stop him from running toward the explosion. "Eric!"

"He's gone. Christ. What the fuck" Stan said solemnly.