Hello people. Guess what it's time for. That's right; I'm here to kill all of your feelings. Just kidding, just destroy your childhood. Enjoy!
Kids Next Door: Operation FANTASIES (Fantastic Antics Never Thought A Surreal Idea Except Straightaway)
Chapter 1
Hoagie's POV:
It's been so long sense Nigel disappeared from our neighborhood. I remember us trying to make sense of it, in a way only kids could do. Hell, we made up an entire operation. Anything that ever happened to us was rationalized with some sort of villain. I still do it sometimes. It makes me feel young again, like Nigel was still here. He was the glue that held us together. He was the best friend any kid could ever have. Kuki, Wally, Abby and I have a ceremony every year, celebrating him. It's actually the only time I even talked to Kuki or Wally anymore. They started dating two years ago, and I honestly don't think they will ever break up.
I've remained pretty close to Abby. She is amazing. Her chocolate skin is just so- sorry, got a little distracted there. I think she took it just as hard, if not harder, than I did. She was still stuck in the fairy tale that we created. She had hidden it a lot more, but we could all tell. She still believed that Nigel would come back. It was such a happy thought; none of us could ruin it for her. That is, until the ceremony.
We were all going into senior year. We all knew that it'd be the last time we'd all be gathered here, cause of college and stuff. I was hopeful that maybe we'd all hang out a little after words and catch up. Maybe we would be friends for a few days again, like old times. I had no clue that it would go down like it did.
It was a fairly pleasant day in suburban America. I walked past the old tree house. It's hard to believe how small it actually was. When we were kids, it seemed so big and important. Now, all I see is a cardboard box. Growing up sucks. As I made my way to the site, I started to remember the "adventures" we had all those years ago. A single tear fell down my face. It was just too much. I brushed it aside as I kept walking.
We all arrived at the site at relatively the same time. We laid some flowers on his grave. I should probably explain that they had a funeral without a body. The police gave up looking after a year, so we just marked a site in the graveyard. His body was never found, so it was just an empty casket down there. Quite a few tears were shed that day. I think Abby was the only one who wasn't. Eventually, she just had to speak up. "Why are you all crying? He's not dead." We all just stared at her. Was she really going to do this now?
"Abby," Kuki croaked, trying to be as comforting as possible, "Nigel's gone. He's never coming back." She probably would have gone on, but tears were welling up in her eyes. A lump in her throat stopped any words from coming out.
"Aw, now look what you've done." Wally exclaimed. "You've got to give up this illusion Abby. He's gone, dead. Do you hear me? D-E-A-D!" Even he was blinking back tears by now. Abby just stared. "Look, Abby," he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"
She shushed him. "If he's so dead," She said, "Who's right behind you?" We all turned, and gasped.