Flu
Disclaimer: All places and characters referenced to the television show South Park are the property of Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
"Stanley! Get up now or you're going to be late for school!" Sharon yelled from the kitchen.
Stan had just dozed off not even two hours ago. He is lying in bed wrapped up in multiple blankets, still shivering. He has a massive headache and a sore throat. Every muscle in his body aches and he is exhausted.
It had been a rough night. Stan had gotten sick the previous evening and it only got worse over the course of the night. He has stayed home sick from school many times before with illnesses far less severe than this one, he hasn't been this sick in a long time. Normally he wouldn't have a problem telling his mom he needs a sick day from school and spend the day with his mom babying him and trying to sleep it off, but this time is different.
Last week Randy and Sharon gave Stan a huge surprise. They had bought tickets to see the Broncos verse the Patriots in Denver on Sunday afternoon. They also booked a hotel for Saturday night, planning to make the long drive a day in advance.
It is Friday morning. They are leaving tomorrow afternoon. Stan knows if he thinks he is sick enough to ask his mom if he can stay home from school today, there is no way she is going to let him go to Denver tomorrow.
Ugh… I feel terrible. I'm going to try my best to downplay this though. I don't want mom to catch on to me being sick and make me stay home tomorrow. I'll take some medicine before I head out to the bus stop and hopefully I can make it through the day and feel better before tomorrow…
"Stanley!" Sharon nagged.
"I'm up!" Stan responded in a raspy voice.
He cleared his throat and unwrapped himself from his blanket cocoon.
Jesus Christ! It's freezing in here! He thought, holding his arms to his body for warmth as he lethargically walked to his dresser.
He picked out his usual outfit and decided to layer another long sleeve shirt with his t-shirt under his jacket today and after throwing on a long pair of socks and his shoes, he decided he better head to bathroom before going downstairs to see if he looked as bad as he felt.
Oh man, I look horrible… He thought, staring at the bags under his sagging eyes and his slightly pale face.
He drew some warm water in the sink and splashed some on his face to try to wake himself up. After a few rounds of splashing, he straightened up his hair and put his hat on before proceeding to rummage through the medicine cabinet in search of something for his headache; which he eventually did find.
Better head downstairs, he sighed. She'll be expecting me for breakfast. Man… food does not sound good at all right now.
As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he put on a fake smile. Sharon was standing at the counter and Shelly was sitting at the table with her breakfast plate.
"Good morning, mom."
"Good morning, honey. I'm putting your plate together right now, just waiting on the toast."
Stan took a seat at the table opposite of Shelly and sipped at his orange juice.
"I got up early this morning, so I decided to make you kids something special," she said, placing a plate of French toast and sausage in front of Stan. "I know it's you kids' favorite," she said smiling. "Eat up!"
Both Stan and Shelly love this breakfast, she only makes it for them a few times a year on special occasions like a birthday.
Stan sat there looking at his plate of, usually beloved, French toast and sausage. The mere smell of syrup and eggs made him queasy.
"Thanks mom! It looks great…," he said trying to not lose control of his stomach.
I don't think I can eat this and not throw up… But if I don't eat it, she'll definitely know something isn't right… How the hell am I going to get out of this one…?
He gingerly picked up a sausage link and took a small bite as Sharon turned back to the counter to fix herself a plate.
Oh, god… Stan thought at the feeling of his stomach flipping from one bite of sausage.
While Sharon was preoccupied at the counter, Shelly reached over and moved the food from Stan's plate onto hers.
"You tell mom, I'll kill you. Got it turd?" she whispered.
That worked out too well… Stan nodded.
"Wow Stanley! You devoured that," Sharon said, looking at his empty plate.
"Yeah, I was hungry… Thanks again mom it was good…I'm going to go brush my teeth and head out."
"Alright honey."
With that Stan rushed back up the stairs to the bathroom and lost the battle with his stomach. After cleaning up and brushing his teeth twice, he picked up his backpack and headed for the door.
"Have a good day at school. Love you!" Sharon said as she hugged her son goodbye.
"Love you too mom," he said, walking out the door and in the direction of the bus stop.