Phoncible sat motionless on the side of his bed. He didn't know why he was feeling this way. Everything was alright just a moment ago, but then, all of a sudden, a wave of bad thoughts flooded his mind. His heart rate began to rise and his breathing became unsteady, he couldn't focus on anything. Darkness began to shroud his vision, it was almost as if reality was disappearing as it happened. "Oh god.." He thought, biting his lip. "Not again.." This feeling was all too familiar to him. The intrusive thoughts, the darkness invading his mind, he had felt it all before.
Soon he was surrounded by darkness. A cold, empty void of nothingness. His mind began to race, the thoughts getting stronger. "They don't love you." It told him. "They never did. They will leave you, you will be alone forever. Nothing you ever do will be good enough for them. You never really loved them. You really are a horrible person. Selfish, lonely, greedy, horrible. They hate you, despise you. They will leave and it will be all your fault." He couldn't take it anymore, he wanted out. His eyes shifted in a panic as his breathing grew quick and heavy, looking desperately for a way out of this everlasting void.
Just when he had begun to lose hope, there it was. The only light in his inky abyss. The way out. Immediately he broke into a sprint, occasionally stumbling over his own feet as he got closer and closer to the warm brightness. Suddenly, something jerked him back."Wha-" The darkness had grabbed ahold of him, gripping onto his arms and legs, trying to keep him from escaping. "No.. Nononono..!" "Why are you even trying?" The thoughts said as he tried to fight the darkness, trudging forward with all his might. "Just give up. You'll never be good enough." With every shaky step he got closer. The dark void kept grabbing onto him, completely engulfing his back and only kept spreading at an exceeding rate.
Reaching for the light, he gave out one last cry before being completely drowned in pitch black. The darkness had succeeded. He felt weak. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, he couldn't. He felt like giving up. The thoughts continued to echo as he seemingly sank into the abyss, unable to move or speak, unable to reach out. He was there for what seemed like an eternity, his mind beginning to believe all the things it was telling him. "Maybe I am a horrible person.. Maybe they do hate me.. Maybe.." He gave in to his thoughts. There wasn't anything he could do, so he just kept still and agreed.
A warm touch was suddenly felt on his shoulder. It felt so caring and sincere, so familiar. The light returned as a muffled voice was heard. "Phoney..?" This snapped him back to reality, out of the darkness in his mind. His breathing was heavy as he stared at his hands, one tightly gripping the other so much that they were shaking. When he looked up, he was greeted to the concerned look of his youngest cousin, Fone. "Phoney, are you okay?" Without answering, Phoney pulled Fone into a hug. "Oh thank god.." He said under his breath, letting out a relieved sigh. This caught Fone by surprise.
"I-is something wrong? What happened?" Phoney's eyes widened and he quickly pushed away, taking deep breaths and clearing his throat. "N-nothing. It's nothing. What are you doing up here?" "Well, Smiley and I were getting worried. You've been in your room all day and haven't come out even once, so I came up here to check on you. Are you sure you're alright? You looked.. lost in thought." The star clad Bone nodded in response. "I'm fine. Like I said, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." The response made Fone sigh. He knew Phoney wasn't going to give him any answers, so he didn't wanna try to press his luck. "Alright, just checking."
As his cousin walked out of the room and to the staircase, Phoney spoke up. "Hey, Fone Bone?" Fone stopped and looked back. Phoncible stood up from where he was sitting, gaining control of his breathing. "... Thanks.. For checking on me." The young Bone smiled at his eldest cousin. "No problem, Phoney. Hey, Smiley, Bartleby and I were about to play some card games. Wanna join us?" Phoney returned the smile. "Heck yeah I do. What're we playing?" "Smiley found some old poker chips in the hallway closet, so we were thinking about playing poker." Fone replied. "Perfect. Hope you're all prepare to get wiped out by my poker skills!" "Heh, we'll see about that, Phoney."
The two then made their way downstairs, joining their cousin and their rat creature friend.