WARNING: Blood, lots of gore, religious sort of talk, and cursing…
Disclaimer: I do not own Happy Tree Friends © Mondo Media
Death...death is the price we all have to pay. Phillip walked down the corridor with this reoccurring thought; he repeated it over and over like a hymn he was supposed to remember for Bible school.
The hallway was empty and lonely; pale and bland; spacious, but cramped. It didn't help that the only thing Flippy could hear was the echoes of his own footsteps. It was funny really. He chuckled in an almost nostalgic way.
The floor was a bunch of assorted tiles that were one color: white. However, he realized the farther he went, the more colors that would appear: red, cyan, beige, green, magenta, and even yellow. He thought to himself, 'it's better than nothing'. He resumed his slower than molasses pace and continued to have that original thought in his head about death.
He turned 90 degrees to his right and discovered another hallway. It led to a solid gold door and Phillip was so tempted to enter that he did. Although, as soon as he walked into the walkway, a sealed door locked him in from behind. He didn't show really any emotion and continued to walk.
Moving mosaics were surrounding him and they were something. Even though they were glass they moved in such a way that could almost take your breath away. There were artworks of angels and demons; meadows and adolescent girls picking the flowers; mythological creatures and brave heroes; lovers and betrayers were there as well. They all had there own stories and were telling them to the young boy simultaneously. It kind of hurt his head, but his main focus was to reach the golden door. When he was about two feet away from it, he stared in awe at the beautiful portraits of unknown people on top of the doorway. It was so detailed it was as if you could touch them and they would come to life.
His hand reached for the handle, but something – or someone – rudely stopped him.
"STOP…if you know what's good for you…"
Phillip turned to a man under a black cloak; hiding his face. "Why should I stop?"
"You don't want to know what is beyond that door."
"Well now that you mention it, I do want to see beyond the door…"
"Trust me Phillip…its better that you don't."
"How do you know my name?" Flippy took a step back.
The man chuckled, "To tell you the truth we are already well acquainted…"
"Then why won't you reveal your face?"
"That would be cheating Phillip…"
"How would it be cheating?" his hand reached for the doorknob behind his back.
"It is just the way this world works…I don't make the rules."
In the middle of the mysterious man's statement, Phillip pushed the door open letting out a huge gust of wind.
"No! What the hell have you done!" the man reached his hand for Flippy, but it was too late.
Phillip was being sucked into the vortex type door. As soon as he entered all the air was sucked right out of him. The multiple colors put him through a trance-like state. He continued falling backwards until he felt something in the grip of his hands. Blinking twice, he looked at the object in his hand; it was a flower. The type of flower was a mystery to the green-haired boy, but it was certainly a flower. The color was jet black and the stem was a brilliant green.
"W-what is this?" he brushed his fingertips against the thorns.
'Slash…'
Blood poured out of the cut and Flippy felt anger rising in the pit of his stomach until he heard, "PHILLIP WAKE UP!"
Hannah gently tapped her knuckles against Phillip's bedroom's door, "Sweetie wake up…"
Flippy blinked – astonished that it was only a dream – and looked at his surroundings. His hair had knots in it and he was still in school uniform – except his tie was loose and it was pretty wrinkly. It was a restless nap for him.
He looked at the time and noticed it was only 7pm.
His eyes led to the poster on his roof and it read: "Don't let dreams just be dreams."
"Yeah right…" Phillip threw his pillow against the ceiling, but it bounced back and hit his nose.
"OH…f-f-fu-fu-fu…."
"Phillip dinner is ready dear!"
"Coming mother…"
"Oh and Mike wants to video chat too!"
Phillip arched his neck back and smiled at the thought of seeing his friend again, "Okay I'll be there…"
"Are you okay? Are you sure you are fine with those people making fun of you? You should really tell someone…" Mike was eating cup noodles while on the other end of the screen Phillip was eating roast pork.
They were both catching up on stuff they missed after leaving each other.
"Nah, I don't want to sound like a snitch…its fine either way anyway so yeah…"
"You sure about that?"
"Of course; I'm already over it."
"Well okay…"
"So what's new for you?"
"Oh nothing much…"
Flippy gave Mike an inquisitive look on his face, "Really…"
"Okay…I saw that Fable girl at my school; I asked what she was doing there, but she ran away before I could get a response."
"Oh…" was all he said.
"Yeah and I knew you were really looking forward to meeting her again, but I guess she's just really scared. She came off as the shy type, so I'll wait for her to open up more; you still have the miniature version of her right?"
Phillip let out a light-hearted chuckle, "Of course…"
Mike smiled and then slurped a big amount of noodles with his chopsticks.
"You've seen Launa a couple of times haven't you?" Phillip inquired, "How is she doing with the medication?"
"Not too good…doctors say her schizophrenia might be real serious and that maybe she will never be back to normal."
"Well all we can do right now is pray for a miracle…"
Mime nodded his head in agreement, "Have you made any new friends at your school?"
Flippy paused for a moment and thought about this, new friend?
"Phillip…"
"Oh yes there was one…" he took out a picture from his backpack of his friend Steph – Steph took the picture afterschool and in front of the cathedral; actually several pictures.
Mike leaned in closer to the screen and at first was happy that Phillip had made a new friend, but his smile soon took a 180 and turned into a frown.
"W-what's wrong?"
"It isn't really what's wrong, but…"
"But what…"
"This girl doesn't look too good."
"What do you possibly mean?"
"I mean she looks…bad or evil or I don't know…"
"Explain…"
"I just have a bad feeling about her."
"I still don't—"
"—never mind, maybe I'm just going crazy; but all these pictures you are showing me of her look somehow…"
"Somehow…"
"Somehow familiar…I don't know…"
"I think you are going crazy…"
"Yeah I believe you there…what's her name?"
"Steph…I don't know his last name."
"She's a guy?"
"Honestly I don't know what she/he is."
"Where did you meet her…at school?"
"No, I saw her in the police department."
"What were you doing there?"
"Let's just say I got in big trouble by accidentally calling an officer fat…"
"Dang it! I should have been there to see his reaction!"
"Ha, yeah his face turned beet red!"
They laughed together after a long time of not hearing each other's voices.
"He knows a lot about me and it's kind of creepy to tell the truth, but she's nice."
"Maybe she likes you; who knows she might be your secret admirer! Wow, who would have known Phillip William Phren would turn out to be a Casanova?"
Flippy blushed, "I-I'm not…"
"It's a joke Phillip; you need to loosen up a bit."
"Sorry…"
"Don't be…"
"Well I've got to go."
"Okay, see you later."
"Bye."
"Same…"
Phillip closed his laptop and walked to the dining hall.
Hannah let out loud groans and her husband William gave her a glass of water.
"Dear are you all right?"
"I'm fine…j-just…exhausted i-is all."
Phillip looked at his pregnant mother. She was scheduled to give birth in a couple of months, but she is already having contractions at an early stage.
"M-mom…"
She wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked at her first born, "Oh Phillip how are you?"
"M-may I feel your stomach again?"
She held out her hand and Flippy graciously took her hand and put his ear against her stomach.
"I can't wait to be a big brother. I could take him to all my favorite places and show him how to ride a horse. I could feed him and change his diapers as a little baby; and I could take him for strolls along the park. We could do everything together. It would be probably the best days of my life."
"Yeah…can't wait for the quarrels you two are bound to get into."
William rubbed his child's head and chuckled, "We just need to find a name for him."
"Umm, how about Leonardo Zepphon Phren…"
"Where did you come up with that name son?"
"I heard it in a dream and it was kind of catchy…"
"I like it…what about you Hannah?"
She nodded her head and the whole family joined together in a group hug.
"I have an awesome family…" Phillip laughed and squeezed his other family members.
Two weeks of school went by and were they a wreck. The same thing happened to Flippy over and over everyday. Why did they make fun of him so much? What was so funny to make fun of? Spitballs, rude remarks, and bruises from bullies trailed with him everywhere he went and he never told his parents. He hates lying especially when it is right to his parent's face.
Besides that the weeks flew by like an airplane. Here he was walking to school along with Steph.
"Hola compadre!"
"Howdy partner, what's the hoedown?"
"Wow you are getting better at this Flip-maestro!"
"I've learned a lot the past two weeks; not just how to dodge spitballs."
"You're pretty good at both actually…"
"Thanks…I had a lot of practice."
"Hey want to go to the cathedral?"
"I don't know about it…I—"
"Shh, I know a shortcut," Steph grabbed his friend's hand and dragged him along the sidewalk.
"W-wait up!"
As soon as they arrived Flippy put his hands against his knees and panted like no tomorrow.
"Never…ever…do…that again."
"Sorry man!" Steph wore the girl uniform again, but his hair was pulled back with a headband – wasn't really a bad look.
Steph stepped forward and took Flippy's hand with both of his own.
"C-can I confess something?"
"Uhh, you don't have a crush on me do you?"
"What? NO! However…" seductively he brought his lips uncomfortably close to Phillip's, "As far as you know…I'm single…"
"R-right…"
"Look," he looked glum, "In all seriousness…my parents are getting a divorce."
Phillip looked at his friend with concern and took him by the shoulders, "Are you serious? How long has this been going? Why haven't you told me until now? This is terrible!"
"I'm fine; it's been going on for a month at most, but I was uncomfortable talking about it."
"I understand, but I can't imagine how much pain you are going through!"
"It sucks; I just wish they would get along! They actually started having fights after I told them I was gay. Sometimes I feel like it's my fault that my dad started drinking; my mother started cheating on him; the reason I get bullied at home all the time! I get bruises from my dad who likes to throw furniture all over the place and it irritates me like hell to know that they will never be back to normal. IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF ME!"
He stomped around and cursed at himself; grabbing his hair. With a loud grunt he kicked a large rock – or at least he thought it was a rock – and yelled in pain. He grabbed his shoe and yelped at the pain.
"Ouch—that was not a rock!"
Phillip looked at the object Steph stubbed his toe on.
"You are right Steph…it's not a rock."
"I think I just said that…"
"I think…it's…it's a statue…a golden statue!"
"Right…right…and I am a golden maniac!"
"No…seriously look at this…"
Phillip handed the blond the statue. He was right; it was a golden statue. It looked almost Mayan or Egyptian of some kind.
"Woo…Phillip what the hell is it?"
"I don't know, but it is so pretty! I think I should bring it to class!"
"Hey no fair I stubbed my toe on it!"
"Well I'm…awesome so ha!"
"Sure OK fine with me! It's fine okay…"
"Thanks I think I need to examine this later on today…"
"…"
"S-steph…"
The boy with sun bleached hair was looking up at the church and grabbed Flippy's arm again and dragged him inside the church.
"What are you doing? We aren't allowed to go in!"
"Adventure Phillip…adventure…"
They walked across the cold floor. The church had a weird chilling breeze inside and it was all dark. Cobwebs were in every corner and the only light was at the top of the altar.
Steph was walking ahead of Phillip and was gazing ahead.
"Phillip…have you heard of the 'Eternal Garden' myths?"
"Why yes they are some of my favorite stories!"
"Mine too which one is your number one favorite."
"Hmm, my number one eh?"
In the Eternal Gardens a black flower grew in the cold days of winter where no flower could bloom. The flower was jet black – a color of sadness – but his smile was the epitome of beauty. The flower wandered around, but no other flower was in sight for they were all in hibernation like regular flowers.
It saddened the black flower, but the snow was worth it all. The way it danced in the wind made him feel good inside. So he was patient in waiting for the others.
As soon as the others bloomed they welcomed him with jubilee. He had a splendid time with all the others. They thought he was a little odd at first because he was born in winter, but that was all put aside. Even though he was welcomed with great warmth, he still felt lonely when he went back home. Nobody truly loved him until…
…she came along. The red beauty; was she beautiful. She was the purest of all other flowers and her smile was the only one that could compete with his own. They spent every waking moment with each other after words. They shared everything with each other and everyone in the garden knew about their love; nobody could separate them. Well this lasted for a long time, but all good things come to an end.
One day she didn't return. The black flower waited hoping maybe she was just sick.
The next day: no girl.
The next day: no girl.
She didn't return for a whole month. Slowly, the flower's pure soul turned as black as his petals.
He didn't move from his spot though in hopes that she would return while slowly becoming known as the corrupted flower.
"Although with every copy of that book the rest of the chapters of that story are burned I have no idea why though…"
"And I have no idea why you two are here…" the principle stuck her head in through the door.
"Um, I'm so sorry ma'am I swear we didn't mean to—"
"Shush! Detention, both of you!"
Ms. Giao wrote her name upon the board and wrote the amount of time they had to spend in detention.
Phillip was sitting in the front which probably wasn't a good idea since he could hear all the other delinquents making fun of him. Wow, he only spent two seconds in there for Pete's sake.
"Now, sit quietly and raise your hand only to talk. I'll be reading right here…"
Phillip worked on some homework he had to finish, but just like he expected, a paper wad hit the back of his head and the teacher didn't notice for the billionth time.
He broke his pencil in half due to frustration, but he calmed himself. A boy raised his hand and told the supervisor that he was going to hand in some papers.
The child walked over, but before setting the papers down on her table he whispered these exact words in Phillip's ear, "Such a freak…"
Flippy couldn't take it anymore and he grabbed the boy's coat and pulled him towards the floor. He might have lost consciousness, but it didn't matter to the young man.
The others gasped in horror and started calling for the teacher's attention at once.
"Children I do not take this kind of behavior! If you need to ask something raise your hand!"
Everyone put their hands up to tell about the act Phillip had just done but, "Phillip you raised your hand politely, what is it you want?"
"May I use the restroom ma'am?"
"Why of course…here are the keys…"
He said his thanks and grabbed the keys, "These keys…they are the ones that lock/unlock any door right?"
Ms. Giao nodded her head.
Flippy literally dragged himself to the door; and click.
The door locked itself. The teacher stood up, "Phillip what is the meaning of this?"
He looked at his own shoes, "Well that depends on what you are asking for. I locked the door because you gave me the keys. You are quite stupid you know. If you are asking for anything else, I did it for pure enjoyment."
"YOUNG MAN WE DO NOT CALL ANYONE STUPID"
"Ha, like you have never called anyone stupid in your lifetime. In fact studies show that no human has ever not said stupid before. Unless you are a mutant I do believe you have said stupid before."
Phillip grabbed something out of his backpack – a pen. He walked over to the embarrassed teacher and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up with ease. All the other kids in detention whispered, or gasped, or stood in shock, or even all of the above.
"It would be a shame if the public found out I murdered a teacher! Oh well…like they would find out."
He took his pen and in one swift motion the tip of the pen was jabbed right through the woman's eye.
She screamed as loud as she could, but no one could help her.
Phillip dropped her on the ground and started stomping on her stomach like a maniac. Blood started spurting out of her mouth and she begged for him to stop, but he just kept laughing psychotically.
It lasted until the moment when she…stopped moving.
Blood soiled his clothes and the children made a run for the door. They pushed and screamed hoping to open the door, but knocked the handle off in the process.
"What a shame! Why would you people do that now eh? I'm just like Santa; I give you presents and I love the color red."
He turned his head and faced the crowd. The red crimson colored his pale face and he smiled like a clown you see at carnivals. It was a deadly thing to see and everything else happened in a split second.
He took one girls hand and guided it under the stapler, "You said you were one of those EMO chicks right? Well why not kill yourself right now!"
He pressed it once and it pierced her skin, "No I was just lying to get this guy's attention, please have mercy!" tears flowed down her cheek.
"Oh dear you should have said so sooner! Now I have to kill you…sayonara!"
As he pressed the cold metal frames into her palm she grinded her teeth and bit her lip to the point of bleeding.
"Well you aren't dying fast enough are you? Well let's speed things up a bit shall we…"
He took the staple and pressed it against the girl's throat. The skin pinched together and Flippy soon ripped the staple out of her neck and grinned.
"Well that was kind of boring…I hope one of you will be more interesting! We'll just have to wait and see."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shard of glass from one of the picture frames and gripped it tightly with one hand.
"Ha…ha-ha…hahahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA!"
The night was cold and grim. The wind carried off from the northeast was terrifyingly cold; it petrified the young boy. The stars were only the spotlight for the fire show below. Flippy was kneeling on the ground with his hands turned into fists. His body was covered in burns and cuts; and when his salty tears reached his wounds he would wince at the pain.
Phillip kept crying and crying. His tears turned into sobs. The amber flames lit up the entire building. He saw limbs broken off and innards pulled out of people's bodies.
"Charles why won't you turn me into the police if you know I did it?"
"Sir, you are family and family doesn't do that to each other…"
"I committed murder and yet you act like it isn't a big deal…"
The sparks hurt his eyes and the smoke was throwing him into a fit. He walked over to the side of the building where he saw a maid outfit; Charles soon followed after.
"The old hag I presume?"
"H-her name was Emma…"
"Excuse me?"
"HER NAME WAS EMMA!"
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be…"
"This will surely be on the news sir…"
"Will they arrest me?"
"Unknown sir…
"What in bloody hell is wrong with me?"
"I—"
"I killed so many in one day. It is a guilty feeling I have inside of me. I hate it. I hate this damn cruel world and all those bastards who think they are all that. I had to learn the hard way that the world isn't what it seems. Why me? God hates me that's why…"
"That is not true sir…"
"Then give me a better explanation Charles…give me one now…"
The butler didn't respond.
"I thought so; why did he have to take everything away from me though? I was going to be a big brother, but no!"
"Sir don't lose yourself…"
"INSTEAD I HAD TO BECOME A MANIAC AND KILL MY WHOLE FUCKING FAMILY!"
"Keep yourself calm…"
"My mother, my father, my unborn brother; they were all killed before my hands. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and just started stabbing them to death; I remember their faces so clearly that it haunts me up until this moment."
No response.
"I also killed nearly every servant in the manor. Isn't that splendid! To top it all off I burnt the mansion to the ground! Aren't I the best?"
Phillip continued sobbing, but then immediately stopped, "I just realized crying will get me nowhere Charles. I must be brave and stop crying…"
"Sir it is okay to cry sometimes…"
"No it isn't…"
The boy stood up and walked over the ruins of his old house. He found a bowie knife and put it in his pocket. As he wandered he stumbled on a couple of stuff that he put into his backpack. He saw some black fingerless gloves and decided to wear them. He was careful not to step on dead bodies.
Now was the time to decide where the hell he was going to go in the first place; that was about the time he found a poster that read: America Land of the Free!
He walked over to his butler and handed him the poster, "We are going…"
"Sir are you sure?"
"Very…"
"Where in America are you thinking about?"
Flippy thought about this for a while, "Happy Tree Town a secluded place…"
"Very well sir…"
"We just need to find the money…"
"No problem sir, in your parent's wills they stated that you would claim all their money."
"Fine then, I want to leave as soon as possible…"
"Right…"
Phillip walked around some more looking for more stuff to bring and saw his old teddy bear and his father's dog tags. He put both into his bag and set off. Tears stopped flowing out of his eyes and he had pulled a straight face. He looked ahead and found a pond. He slowly walked towards it and looked at his reflection. His face was covered in burns and bruises.
When he noticed that his reflection had a different eye color than he did, he slapped his hand across the water and said only one thing, "Bastard…"
Death…death is a price we all have to pay. I should know that by now…I murdered my own family right. Yeah, it's me Phillip talking here. Charles and I are just wandering around until we find anything useful for our trip. It was odd because I kept having to say, "Don't step on my parents' corpse."
Don't worry I'm not mad anymore. It is actually pretty funny how God fated for this to happen. He must just really hate me huh? What kind of merciful God are the Jewish and Christians talking about? I want to see him for myself and then just slap him across the cheek or something. I want him to know how much pain he is putting the innocent through.
Am I human? Honestly tell me if I'm human or humane at least. I never had such a dense feeling of hurt inside of my heart. Huh, that sounded kind of poetic didn't it? One day I'll grow up to be a poet…Nah. I wanted to become a doctor, but now that I look at all these bodies just lying still, I would hate to keep seeing that over and over again in the hospital. Why are us humans so fragile? It took me only a few months to realize this and now I don't know what to do with myself. I see the world in a whole new light, but what's the point if everywhere you look there is going to be someone pointing at you and yelling, "Freak..." am I right?
Take it from me that I still have a lot to learn, but with the stuff I did learn I know now that life isn't a toy you could mess around with. Why did I grab the knife you say? Well, let's just say when I get to say goodbye to Paul, Mike, Launa, Buddhist Monkey, and Liam, I want to disappear… just like the rest of my family. If you try to stop me I will just make you disappear too because it's bound to happen sooner or later, so why not soon; you need to get it over with; I need to get it over with.
I haven't told Charles about my ambition, but he'll just half to find out when he sees me in a corner with a bloody wrist. That will be a while from now…
The thought of disappearing sounds so good that I want to do it right now, but it would be pointless. The only reason why I want to disappear is because the others are dead. My mother kept telling me to keep moving forward because they will always have my back. So where am I to head to now? I can't go back because no one is there to catch me, but if I move forward no one will be able to stop me. I'm stuck in a neutral area unless I vanish like the rest of them because…
…death…death is the price we all have to pay. Death is inevitable…and can not be rewritten. Death is the end of life, but the start of another. Death can be peaceful or gruesome, but if I know one thing…it is this:
Death is ultimate salvation…