"Normal is over rated, and so is spelling. You want perfection? Go out and buy a spell check, but know this: Spellcheck won't keep you warm at night or love you unconditionally. I will stick to being abnormal and a bad speller. Makes life more interesting. After all, what fun is there in being normal or perfect?"
― Cristina Marrero
Prologue…
It was a stormy day at the park and the wind whistled, blowing into trees and creating waves in the pond.
The storm had started so suddenly and in a matter of minutes, that everyone in the park had to run to various places of shelter.
Soon the house that the workers lived in, was packed with visitors of the park because they couldn't make it home, or to their cars in time.
Benson walked around with a fake smile on his face, offering coffee and hot chocolate to the freezing and frustrated people and animals. Any stranger saw the gumball machine as a friendly and happy man, but those who knew him could see through the fake smile to the creases above his eyes and the twitching of his lips. He was stressed.
Skips and Pops handed out blankets while Muscle Man and Fives worked on cleaning up the puddles people brought in from the storm, all the while grumbling about how they wished they were in Muscle Man's trailer not cleaning up this junk.
Everyone in the house seemed to be calming down gradually, and the tv was turned on along with everyone cramming into any space they could find, the couch, the stairs, and even the bathrooms.
But other than that everyone was fine…
Well almost everyone.
Mordecai stood at the front of the house right next to the door worried out of his mind. Rigby was still out there, somewhere, in the storm.
"Ugh! This is all my fault. If I hadn't started that stupid fight Rigby would be safe inside the house!" He cried to no one at all.
Just then the doors crashed open and a gust of wind and rain blew onto Mordecai's face. Throughout all this, Mordecai held a twinge of hope that it was his best friend, coming in safe and sound.
But it wasn't Rigby. It was CJ.
Mordecai never felt so bummed to see his girlfriend in the entire time they had been together.
"Hey Mordecai… I hope you don't mind, this was the closest shelter I could find away from this crazy storm." She said in her usual sweet voice.
Mordecai barely paid attention to her as he stared past her and into the rain. Before he could look any further though, Cj closed the door behind her, causing Mordecai to let out a frustrated sigh.
Instead of asking Cj if she was ok, or even why she was out in the storm to begin with, Mordecai asked:
"Did you see Rigby out there?"
"Oh no… sorry I didn't. Are you saying he's out there in the storm alone?" Cj continued, her face turning into a frown of concern for her raccoon friend.
Mordecai nodded solemnly and answered "Yeah, and it's my fault. We got into an argument over something stupid earlier and he went running out. I had no idea it was going to storm like this or else I would've gone after him. He should have been back by now. I'm just worried, he's such a little guy after all…"
"Woh there, slow down Mordecai. For all we know he could be safe in a building somewhere. And how was the argument your fault? What exactly happened?" she asked in concern.
Mordecai sighed again, "I was just yelling at him for making us late to work again because he accidentally set the alarm clock wrong. Again. I just feel so terrible, it wasn't even his fault and now he's stuck who knows where in a terrible storm."
Before Cj could say anything else, Mordecai ran into the living room and grabbed his coat and shoes, ready to go out and get his best friend.
"Hey Mordecai, where do you think you're going?!" Benson yelled to his young employee, trying to contain his stress.
"Out to find Rigby. I'm tired of just sitting around here hoping he'll come back on his own!" He cried.
"OH NO YOU DON'T…." Benson started to yell, but was stopped mid-sentence when Skips put his hand on Bensons shoulder. The yeti looked into Bensons eyes and shook his head. Benson sighed.
"Fine. If you insist on going out to look for Rigby, I'm driving. There's no way I'm going to allow you to go out into this storm on foot." Benson said.
Mordecai was shocked at Benson's caring attitude, but didn't allow himself to dwell on it. His friend was in danger.
Nodding he said "Hmmm Hmmm."
And Benson took that as an acceptance, and he too grabbed his jacket and boots, and the two of them made their way to his car.
"I want to come too." Cj said, finally coming back to the conversation.
"No. Sorry Cj but my car only fits three, and we need to go." Benson said.
Mordecai shrugged, and with one peck on Cj's lips he was off, following Benson out.
And into the swirling storm…
RSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRS
Meanwhile, about a mile away from the house, Rigby struggled to hold his small frame against a tree as the winds grew stronger, and barrels upon barrels of rain hit his body forcefully.
His skinny arms were wrapped around a small branch of a particularly large tree. He was soaked to the bone from the rain and he was shivering out of control.
Bits of his fur clung to his face as a whirlwind of leaves and sticks threw themselves on him, cutting into his flesh and making him bleed lightly.
Stupid wind. Stupid rain. Stupid fight.
Rigby thought to himself as he felt tears of fear come to his eyes. But he refused to let them fall, he was a man. And men were tough.
Rigby proceeded to call everything and everyone that came to his mind stupid. Everyone except for Mordecai that is.
He just couldn't find himself to be angry at his best friend. Instead he wished he was inside the house with him, on the couch playing videogames. Away from these storms, and away from his paralyzing fear of dying in the winds, or drowning in the rain.
All he wanted was to be held close by Mordecai and to feel the warmth of his feathers, to smell the scent of Mordecai.
Rigby was too exhausted and scared to realize what a weird thought that was, what a weird feeling he had at that moment towards his best friend.
In fact he was too tired to do anything, and found himself slowly losing his grip on the tree branch… his eyes slowly closing.
Too tired to realize that suddenly he was taken by the wind and wooshed through the air along with the various other things being pulled by the storm.
He was too tired to realize what was happening, as he went SLAM right into another tree.
All he could remember before fading into unconsciousness was a sharp pain in his head.
And then everything went dark.
RSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRS
Benson's old black 1990 Mazda Miata car went skidding through the mud that lined the streets of the park.
Benson couldn't help but mutter under his breath about the insane amount of cleanup it was there was going to be after the storm, as they rode around dangerously in the dark of the storm.
Mordecai was just starting to lose hope, just starting to think he would never find the animal he realized he just couldn't live without…
When, there he was, a small mass of brown fluff lying in the middle of the road in front of the car.
Mordecai's heart fell into his chest as Benson skidded to a stop, just inches in front of the unconscious raccoon.
Without a second thought, Mordecai leaped out into the storm. He fought the winds until he was by his friend's side, and he scooped him up quickly into his arms, hugging the raccoon close to his chest.
"Hurry up! Get him in the car!" Benson hollered, opening the door again for them.
Finally making it to the car, Mordecai slammed the door behind him and held Rigby on his lap as they made their way back to the house.
Now that he was able to sit down, Mordecai examined his friend and despite his annoyance at himself, he couldn't help but let out a tear as he saw the raccoon.
He was covered in bleeding cuts, pieces of fur were missing leaving raw pink skin in their place, he was shivering in his unconsciousness, but worst of all, he had a gaping cut in his head with blood oozing out of it.
"Just hang on buddy. Please" Mordecai whispered to his friend even though he knew he couldn't hear him.
"Just hang on Rigby…. I need you."
TBC…
Hey everyone I hope you like my story so far, it has been so fun to write even though I only have the first chapter up so far. Don't worry there is a lot to come. So buckle in it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Please REVIEW! This is my first regular show fanfiction so I REALLY want to know what you guys think of it. Thanks. And until next time…