1993
Amity Park, Indiana
Danny leaned over and gently placed a single rose on Sam's grave. All around it were fresh bouquets of other friends and family members who wished her a fond farewell. It was cold outside tonight, and the winds of change and circumstance were blowing all around Danny and Tucker as they said their final goodbyes to their best friend.
It was much to painful for them to remain in Amity Park, and all the more painful for them to be separated from each other while they were both grieving, or so their parents had decided. So they were moving to some stupid suburb town hundreds of miles away from any shred of memory of Sam.
Danny stared at the pathetic looking rose. Just like his life, it was almost dead, and the petals were falling off. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Sam," he whispered, his words carried away by the wind.
Tucker placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's time to go," he said, putting a daisy on Sam's grave.
A horn honked, in sharp contrast to the sad mood. The boys took a last look at her grave, and then waded through the tall dead grass to the Fenton RV. It looked ridiculous, parked next to the cemetery. They would have laughed if it had been any other time in their lives but now.
They settled in the backseat next to Jazz, quickly buckling their seatbelts.
"I can't believe we're leaving this place," Mrs. Fenton sighed. "It's been our home for so long."
She turned to the boys. "But maybe moving will be a good thing, for all of us."
"Don't try to soften it up, Mom," Jazz said bitterly. "This is terrible. I had everything going for me here."
"Everything's not always about you, Jazz," Danny snapped.
"Both of you be quiet," Tucker said, manipulating buttons on his Nintendo DS. "I just got to level forty nine."
"How can you play video games at a time like this?" Danny exclaimed.
"It's my way of coping, ok?" Tucker replied quietly.
"Oh…" Danny said. "Sorry."
"We all have to find some way to let go," Tucker said. "Sam was our best friend."
Danny just stared out the window.
"Still don't want to talk about it?"
No answer.
"Guess not."