Summary: What was that old saying again? Oh yeah, 'Lost time is never found again.' I never really thought about it too much, until I realized it was true.

Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Allergy or the quote 'Lost time is never found again'

I rolled my eyes at the preacher, going on and on about how the 'dearly departed,' whatever the heck that meant, will be missed and all the good times everyone had with him, how he changed people and everything else. I wasn't really paying attention. I wanted to shout at him, "How the hell would you know? You didn't know him, you can't see monsters!"

Finally, the preacher stopped blabbering and everyone walked up to place flowers on the wooden coffin. I hesitated, but Zob gave me a reassuring nod and Greta smiled at me. I took a deep breath and placed the single flower on the coffin. His coffin. I felt tears coming to my eyes as I walked back to the tree where my parents were waiting.

I wanted to watch the workers lower the coffin into the ground and bury it, but I just couldn't. I sat facing the tree, hugging my knees tightly as I let the tears fall. I hadn't cried in forever, and the one man who promised to make sure no one made me cry wasn't doing what he promised to protect me from.

I felt alone in the world now. He was my best friend, the one who could cheer me up in an instant, the one who took me on dangerous and thrilling adventures, the one who introduced me to the world of monsters and help me become a keeper... the only man who ever loved me.

I didn't notice when it started pouring down rain, nor when everyone but his closest friends had already left. I didn't notice when my parent tried to make me get up or when Charlie came up to me and in his baby voice told me it would be okay.

My parents had left within the hour, just like Teddy and Lay and all the others did. I sat alone, facing the tree where he had carved Z + E in a heart in the bark that fateful day. Memories ran through my head, making tears come to my eyes again. When I had met him, he was just some geek who constantly thought he saw ghosts and monsters. Over the years, when we turned 19, he was a tall, handsome hero who had saved my life many times and was well-known throughout the monster world.

I eventually stood and looked around. All the folding chairs had been picked up and nothing was left beside the newly turned dirt and the cold, black stone that marked the coffin's place for when grass grew over the dirt. I traced the engraved letters slowly. Only then did I realized what Benjamin Franklin's quote meant, and how true it was.

Lost time is never found again.

Here lies Ezekiel Zick

A hero, a friend, and a lover

Gone but not forgotten

1996-2015

R.I.P

Not my best story, I whipped it up in about 20-30 minutes. The narrator is Elena for those who didn't figure it out.