south park. stan & kyle. G. characters belong to trey parker and matt stone.

inpais.

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The air is cool and crisp as Kyle breathes it in, savoring the earthy smells of dry dirt, crumbling leaves, and dead grass. He closes his eyes, listens to the stillness, and smiles.

"There's a bug on you," Stan announces.

"What?"

"There is. A bug. On you." Clarification. Redundancy.

"I heard you, dude." Kyle reluctantly opens his eyes and inspects his clothing for any wandering insects. "Where'd it go?"

Stan sits up just enough to shove a gloved hand against Kyle's shoulder blade, palm upturned, waiting for the beetle to crawl from orange fabric to red. "Here, I've got it." With the utmost care, he gently lowers his arm. The beetle scuttles away.

No gratitude, but Stan's just glad he saved it.

"Mm." Kyle allows himself to relax again, and sends Stan an amused look. "I guess that's what we get for sitting on the ground, huh?"

"Yeah. Better this than 'hunting and killing,' though."

Stan wonders about the baby cows. He hopes they're okay; despite what his mother claims, he's always thought their backyard could've housed a few. The wind picks up a bit and ruffles their hair, wispy strays escaping the confines of their hats. Kyle reaches up to brush away the strands from his forehead, then moves to do the same for Stan.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

A tree branch, now bare of anything but splintered bark, sways lightly in the breeze.

"Wanna get some hot chocolate?"

"Sure."

Their sneakers kick small puffs of dirt-dust into the autumn air as they stand and head for Stan's house.

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( what's in the park? we're not there anyway. )

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--- elendraug (at) yahoo . com

09/18/2006