It was Flippy's birthday. He didn't really expect us to remember, I don't think, but we did. Or I did at least. I'd gotten together everyone I knew, even Nutty from work, to throw a surprise party for him! I was in the middle of baking the cake, I remember, when Nutty came along to see how I was doing. In his sugar crazed stupor he tried to pinch some of the chocolate drops I'd set aside for cupcakes! I smacked his hand and told him no. When I first met him I thought he was crazy, but after a while we sort of bonded as friends to a point. I can handle him now. I get the blender going to make a peanut mix, but it jams. I go to reach in and pull out whatever's stopping it, and only when my hand is an inch from the blades do I realize how unsafe that is! I unplug the blender and fish the peanut shell out. I hear peanuts are tasty, so I chuck it back with a smile.
And then I learned I am allergic to peanuts.
It was the weirdest thing I'd felt since electroshock therapy! Awful, itchy spots sprouted all over my body, my lips puffed up all numb and I couldn't open my mouth! My nose clogged up and worst of all, my entire body bloated like a balloon! My little legs couldn't reach the ground and I couldn't push myself anywhere or talk, only mumble desperately through my own novelty lips. Nutty came rushing over to help as my vision got all icky and yellow, and I could see him stop and eye the chocolate drops. I silently begged him not to give in, if not for my sake then at least for his! He lost the fight, shoving me aside and nearly eating the plate itself as well as the chocolate, giggling and smacking his lips. I'm lucky that was the only sweet thing in the room at the time or he'd have left me where I was, but with the chocolates gone in a flash he called the hospital. Learning to stop worrying about every little thing as part of my therapy, I put my trust in him and the ambulance drivers and let myself pass out.
I was discharged by the hospital after an epinephrine injection, luckily before Flippy would get off volunteer work. Doctor Lumpy was walking me to my car when the local entertainer Mime came by on a unicycle, carrying a bag of peanuts. He offered me some, and I know he was just being nice and didn't know about my allergy; I only found out myself hours earlier! But I couldn't stop myself from recoiling in horror, and Doctor Lumpy smacked the bag from Mime's hoof. He started to, uh, 'cry' and I apologized, explaining why the Doctor did that and offering for him to be part of the surprise party. He accepted, happy to help. He's so nice. Even Petunia and Giggles only have good things to say about him! I wonder if he talks at all.
A while later at my house the others had shown up. Giggles had called in sick, though I think she's just still sore about her breakup with Flippy. She never told me the details, but she was really unhappy with it, I know that much. I dunno. She'll get over it, I think. If she can get over Russell, she can get over Flippy. I hope. I don't think I could get over Flippy in her shoes, though.
Nutty was keeping things in place, mostly the mini party foods buffet. Cuddles was helping me with a few of the decorations. Sniffles and Toothy were piling presents up to the side for when we got around to that part and Mime was finishing up with the balloons. I could hear Mr. Mole putting up the Pin The Tail On The Mule game (read; walking face first into the wall). Sniffles moved onto putting together the apple bob barrel. I think he brought his own hose, because I don't remember having an indoor one. He had his crown on; so cute! Toothy brought a little top hat he liked to wear on special occasions, though he's explained he's not allowed to wear it at funerals anymore after his great uncle passed away.
I'd made an obsessive (I admit it) check out the window to see if Flippy was coming and there he was! I'd called him about twenty minutes ago, asking him to come over for dinner. I hope he didn't think I was asking him out! In a stay-at-home wuss kind of way, I mean.
Mr. Mole turned the light off as I got everyone to be quiet and get into place. Flippy opened the door, as expected, and after a few moments he stepped in and we turned the lights back on, calling surprise! He looked a bit shocked,, and he raised his arms to his sides for a moment, but he smiled appreciatively all the same. I brought the cake along and we all started singing. I sang Happy Birthday, Cuddles and Toothy sang For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, I couldn't tell what Mr. Mole was singing through his sweater and Sniffles sang a clunky celebratory rendition of Drunken Sailor.
We're not the most organized folk.
Flippy didn't mind. He was just so touched, so happy. Smiling wider than I've ever seen him smile before, he shed a single (manly!) tear and when I'd set down the cake he straight up hugged me! He thanked us all and told us how much he loved us and all that jazz. It's weird when someone you know manages to break their record for smiles and tears in the same minute. But I guess that's just us weird kids in Happy Tree Town. Me with my you-know-what, Petunia with her fear of filth, Cuddles with his dare-devil stuff, even Russell goes diving with no gear on! After all these years, I don't think any of us would have it any other way, either.
Flippy blew out the candles (I lost track of Mr. Mole by this point) and I held out the cake knife for him to take the first slice with. Something strange happened then. He stared at it with wide eyes, his smile fading. He looked at it with fear and wonder... And then he smiled again, but not the smile from before. It was eager. And he chuckled quietly, a deep croaking sound that made my skin crawl. Before I could comment he'd shaken his head, back to his normal self, and perked up at the knife in my hand as if he'd just woken up and seen it now. He took it and carved up a slice, and he offered it to me! I couldn't just say no, but I thanked him for being so kind and accepted it as graciously as I could, trying to hide my blush and avoid the classic bashful footwork.
I took up a spot near some balloons and prepared to have my cake and eat it too when everything went down the toilet. Nutty had apparently found the punch lacking, and smothered it with sugar, promptly going on a sugar rush, turning into a hyperactive spinning tornado. Mime was holding peanuts, I guess? And Nutty's wind force pulled them from his hoof and when he passed by me they launched out, square down my throat. I choked a bit and swallowed them down.
Spots. Lips. Poof, I'm the size of a kiddy pool again. I flail around in an instinctive panic, my quills popping the balloons behind me en masse as my body rolls and tips like one of those punching dummies that are weighted to the floor. When I'm able to push past the pain and open my eyes, Flippy has gone just crazy! His eyes were sunken and glaring yellow! His teeth were bared in a hideous grin! And that voice. That horrible, evil voice. He wasn't Flippy, my close friend. He was Flippy, the killing machine. The table with the cake on it was knocked over, my love and hard work his first victim. Poor Toothy was next on his list; Flippy turns to him, looking him up and down and nodding approvingly, slowly approaching him with the cake knife. Toothy figured out what was about to happen, shaking his head and begging "no". Flippy responded with a menacing "yeah", and took the knife to him, lifting him off the f loor.
I wish I could have averted my eyes. Or scream. Or not be a bloated freak covered in spikes. In a moment he was done, a piece of Toothy's face neatly taken on the knife. Not-Flippy laughed as Toothy fell backwards, hopefully not still alive after that, and he approached Sniffles and Cuddles. Sniffles shouted in panic and was across the room in the blink of an eye while Cuddles looked on in disbelief... And disappointment? Had he somehow seen this coming?
Not-Flippy placed the... Chunk of Toothy on Cuddles' plate with a smirk, then grabbed some balloons and tied them around Cuddles' neck. He was being strangled, but that was the least of his worries; the balloons carried him upwards, into the ceiling fan! He disappeared into a horrible mess, screaming all the way, and his bits rained down on Not-Flippy. I felt sick. My puffy eyes couldn't close anymore, and I was boiling as my body became more and more hurt by the allergies.
Nutty, still in a psychotic whirlwind, came by and Not-Flippy just offhandedly stuck the cake knife into the green tornado. I heard screaming and the green blur turned red. Eventually his body stopped spinning... It was awful! His body had been carved down like an eaten apple! Poor oblivious Mime was next. I don't know how he didn't hear or see what was going on, but he made the mistake of fishing for peanuts in the blender like I did. Not-Flippy plugged it back in and Mime's face contorted in panic and agony, the blender filling with red. Not-Flippy pushed him in all the way, and the blender shredded and pulped him completely, save for one of his antlers poking out of the top! All I could do was pretend this wasn't happening, pretend it was just a... Strawberry milkshake.
Not-Flippy looked around the room and I freaked out, flailing my tiny, useless limbs in a desperate bid to make this all stop happening. I fell over. Go team Flaky.
My frantically beating heart skipped a beat when his gaze rested on me briefly, but something else caught his attention and he ran over, out of my view. I heard laughing, muffled screaming from Sniffles, knives stabbing wood and saw water leaking over the floor. Then Not-Flippy rolled the barrel, stuck all over with knives and sharp things, to the door and pushes it off the front porch. He watched it, back to me, for several moments before I heard a mighty crash and he laughed maniacally. And then I saw him. Mr. Mole, still alive through it all, walking steadily towards me. I tried to call to him, to warn him, to get him to run and get help...
I froze when I saw what was in his hand. The pin for the Pin The Tail On The Mule game. He'd been walking around trying to score this whole time. And now he was coming straight towards me, pin at the ready. I'm fairly certain my heart completely stopped then anyway, and my body went into all-out reaction mode. My arms and legs flew up and down, I tried heaving my body away, I screamed and cried out to him, hoping he'd hear and not do what he was about to do. It was no use. The last thing I saw was the pin inching towards my face.
I woke up in the hospital. I could feel devices plugged into me all over, and stitches held most of my body together. It was painful, but I was on a drug high, so it was bearable. I managed to tilt my head and look around... The ward was filled with my friends from the fiasco of a surprise birthday party. Cuddles next to me, with far more technology and stitches than I had. Sniffles next to him, in a similar situation. Mime was snoozing on a chair nearby, with the signature pale skin and bags under the eyes from whatever process puts us back together when there's not enough to just reattach everything bit by bit.
Nutty was a bit bloated and was giggling quietly and uncomfortably, and two rows of stitches marked his body. Mr. Mole was rubbing his head, with only a few stitches and a lot of bandages to cover pierce marks. Toothy's entire head was wrapped up, poor guy. His nose poked out, breathing deep, and the wrapping was stained red all down the front. I heard talking somewhere and looked around carefully. Through the doors I could see Doctor Lumpy talking to Flippy. Flippy lowered his head and nodded. Lumpy barked assertively and walked off. After a few moments Flippy came in with a nervous smile, his normal self again. He asked how I was feeling. I had some trouble responding. Cuddles asked what happened. Flippy's response?
Gas leak.
I sat in silence as Flippy checked in with everyone one by one and asked if he could get anyone anything. I declined. It's been a few days, and I've asked around. Nobody remembers what happened that day. It's all just fuzz and muffled speech and sometimes police sirens. But not to me.
I remember what happened. I remember Flippy going insane. I remember him brutally murdering nearly every single one of his friends that had attended his own birthday party. I remember seeing Toothy, Cuddles, Nutty and Mime all die.
I remember what happened.
I always remember.