It had been four years, one month and three days since Sideshow Bob had last seen Bart that fall night. Yes, he had been counting.
He had thought of every reason that the boy didn't show his face. Was he still scared of Bob? Did he just forget? Or maybe he... died.
No, he would never. Or would he? Did the boy kill himself? Get run over by a car?
Gruesome images flooded Bob's mind and he shook them out. It was a calm, snowy night in Springfield, the kind of night where you just wanted to watch the fire die down while sipping a hot mug of tea, not the night where you want to dream about someone getting killed.
He stared out into his white backyard. It seemed so pure, so perfect, especially with the moon making the snow glisten. He smiled, happy to get the thought of Bart out of his mind.
To tell the truth, he hadn't really thought about the boy much these past years. The clown had been very busy, in fact. He made his best effort to become the happy person that he was before the Bart incident. He remade friends from before and even with Chief Wiggum and the other police officers, inviting them over to have dinner or just to talk. Little by little, he gained knowledge of Bart, whom they said had practically disappeared off of the face of the earth. Of course, Bob did not believe them.
He was knocked out of his calm trance by the hurried ringing of his two-tone doorbell. Grumbling, Bob went to the door and opened it.
A soggy, tall boy was standing in front of him, his calm face interrupted by a hopeful grin and confident blue eyes. His expression was pale and lifeless other than that. Around his body was a white one-piece suit... a straightjacket, but the arm buckles were undone, letting the boy hang his arms, the left holding a small card with his address, Sideshow Bob's personal address, scribbled on it. The boy's golden yellow hair was messy, sticking out in all directions and it made the jacket suit him very well.
"Umm, who are you?" Bob asked, looking very confused. Inside he was even a bit scared. Did he have a stalker? Who was this kid?
Without warning, the boy ran up to Bob and hugged him around the chest, crying onto the man's shirt. His head reached up to around Bob's shoulders.
"Don't you remember me? It's Bart!" He was laughing hysterically now and Sideshow Bob was completely frightened. Whether this Bart person was laughing for joy or laughing because he was insane, he couldn't tell. It couldn't be the real Bart, anyway. His Bart would never go crazy, not in a million years.
Sideshow Bob pushed the boy away from him and examined his face. It was tear-stained and he was smiling broadly. He definitely had the same eyes, and the same hair, even though this kid's hair was incredibly chaotic compared to the neat little spikes of his ex-nemesis. It was Bart, actually. But why did he have a straightjacket on? And why was he acting so hectic?
"I, um, what happened to you?" He was afraid to ask the question, but did anyway out of pure curiosity. Bart's smile faded into a small, sheepish frown and his eyes dulled from their previous happiness to harsh and unforgiving.
"I... I'll tell you inside." His eyes darted back and fourth, as if looking for anyone in earshot. Sideshow Bob was still a little skeptical about letting this odd new Bart into his home, but complied, letting the kid wander into his living room.
'I just hope he isn't too crazy' the man thought, closing the door from the cold. The image of a maniac kid rampaging through his house was not very comforting. Bart sat calmly on a chair by the fire, his eyes closed in thought and his arms crossed, letting him soak up the warmth of the room. Sideshow Bob sat back into his chair on the opposite side of the room, shocked to see Bart behaving so well. The kid seemed to be normal now, his eyes opened and his smile returned, although less maniacal this time.
"Sorry about that," he said, wiping away a tear and sniffing. "I just haven't seen a friend in a while. My dad was the only one home when they dropped me off, and..." Bart paused and shook his head. "Anyway, I bet you are wondering why I never came here after we saw each other last."
Sideshow Bob nodded solemnly, a slight frown quavering on his lips. Bart looked so sad; he wished he had never doubted his sanity. He actually seemed very mature, like he was done fooling around and was ready for the real world. The kid smiled and continued, running a hand through his wet hair.
"Well, I guess I should start at the beginning. At school a few weeks after that night, I was daydreaming about something, I think, but that's not important. What is, is that Mr. Skinner, our principal called me into his office and told me that I was guilty of giving Groundskeeper Willie a concussion. They didn't have any evidence that it was me, it could have been Millhouse for crying out loud! Anyway, it turns out that Willie got such a bad concussion that he became unconscious for three days and after he woke up he suffered a really bad case of amnesia." Bart paused and frowned. "He didn't even remember his own name. And then, these guys in white coats came and took me away from one of my classes, in front of everyone. I got sent to a loony bin with all of these whack jobs who can't remember what life was like outside of the stupid place. "
Sideshow Bob sat and sighed. Poor Bart, he must have been mortified. He put on a sympathetic face and frowned. "I am so sorry, Bart." He said in the short silence.
Bart moaned and nodded. "It's fine, but it gets worse after that. I accidentally tripped off one of the alarms in the building and they put me in this cushioned room with nothing to do but stare at the padded walls and just look at the food they give you because you cant move at all. That's how I got this." He frowned and raised his arms, showing off the long-armed jacket to his friend. "Anyway, I stayed in the place for four years. Four years spent rotting my head out. I think that I would've rather been in school." He smiled at his little joke. The Bart Simpson would rather be in school? A silly idea if anything.
"So, then today they finally take me out of the place and drive me to my house. As I told you, my dad was the only one around, and he was as drunk as ever. He didn't recognize me, but strangled me all the same, like he always does, and this time almost kills me. I was blanking out, and... and..." He sniffed again and buried his face in the jacket arms, sobbing gently. Bart pulled his face out of the cloth and shook his head. "Then I got out of his hands and ran away. I was so scared that he would follow me that I came here and got soaking wet in the process."
Sideshow Bob was awestruck. He ran a hand through his red hair and shook his head in disbelief. His eyes had a faraway look to them, for he was trying to piece everything together.
"Bart... I'm so sorry!" He said finally, getting up and retrieving a blanket from beside the fireplace. He gave it to Bart who wrapped it around him and moved over to the fire, putting his back facing it. Bob turned back around and sat back down. "You should have called me or something. After you bailed me out of jail, I would do anything for you!"
"That's the thing, they wouldn't listen to me even before I was put into solitary confinement. They thought I had some weird disease that makes me believe that something happened when it didn't... hmm, I forget what its called, but anyway, they wouldn't even look for you. I gave them your address and they promised me that they would come find you, but they didn't thinking that I would forget about it. And now I can't go back because no one else is home except for my maniac dad."
Sideshow Bob nodded and sat up in his chair. There was a long pause until he said; "You can stay as long as you want, Bart, I don't mind at all. We should get you out of your wet clothes. You must be freezing. I'll get you something to wear for the night."
He hurried upstairs and brought down a long-sleeved shirt and pants.
"There's a room in there where you can change." Bob said, pointing into the back hall and handing the clothes to Bart. The boy gathered the quilt around him and smiled weakly, making his way to the back room to get changed. As he came out, feeling warm and loved inside, he saw that the long couch on which he was sitting before was put together as a bed with three cozy quilts and a large pillow.
"You can sleep down here tonight." Sideshow Bob said, smiling happily and pointing to the couch. "My guest room is a mess, I doubt that you would want to sleep there."
"Thank you..." Bart said in a state of awe. He dropped the soaking wet straightjacket next to the fire for it to dry and lay down on the bed, piling the sheets over him and becoming quite comfortable.
"I'll be upstairs if you need anything!" Bob said, turning off the light, but letting the fire burn on in the hearth to keep Bart warm. He climbed the stairs and got into his bed, feeling happy that he had helped someone in need tonight. He drifted off to sleep, hearing the light wind outside and feeling as warm as ever.
Meanwhile, Bart planned in his state of quiet 'slumber'.
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Crazy, eh? Sorry for not posting in a while, I have had loads of homework to do and whatnot. I'll try to post early next weekend!!