Hello. Remember me? The guy who promised to try and get these chapters out lickety-split and failed miserably thanks to his now limited free-time? Yeah, I thought you'd remember.
But I'm making up for the delay with a double post! Now you not only get one, but two chapters to read! Yay you! So here's the first one, based and embellished upon my own camping experiences.
Luigi: (bruised and fearful wearing tattered clothes in the forest) (frantically scribbling his thoughts into his diar- I mean, "Journal") Journal Log Day 3: I might be the only survivor left, and this may be my final entry, as I have eaten all the other pages for nourishment. If you come across this Journal please let this be known to the world. To Mario, if he is alive, tell him that I always loved him, even when he would bury my inhaler in the yard. To Peach, I was the one who licked your cake on your twelfth birthday, and I have no regrets about that. To Waluigi, I still hate you. And to Daisy. I always-
Grizzly Bear: (flies over the top of a nearby bush and lands a few feet in front of Luigi) (growls ferociously)
Luigi: (screams, flinging his journal into the air as he stretches his arms over his head and sprints through the forest)
Grizzly Bear: (Begins closing the gap between him and Luigi, but stops abruptly right when he was only steps for severing Luigi's limbs)
Luigi: (turns his head in confusion, only realizing why the bear stopped when he sprints over the edge of a cliff) What the- YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Luigi tumbled endlessly as he plummeted to the unforgiving rocks below. He knew this was the end, that there was no hope now. Awaiting his doom, Luigi reflected upon the last of his days that he spent in these woods.
Flashback: (Shows a car casually driving down the road)
Dexter: Wow! I can't wait to go camping! It's gonna be so much fun!
Luigi: You've been saying that for the past 8 miles! Give it a rest!
Dexter: Sorry, it's just that I've never been camping before. Sleeping under the stars, roasting marshmallows, singing and telling stories by the flickering light of the campfire. Wow! I can't wait to go camping! It's gonna be so much-
Luigi: (glares menacingly at Dexter)
Dexter: ...
Dexter's Dad: Thanks again for coming with us Luigi.
Luigi: Thanks for inviting me! But why did you invite me, seeing how this is suppose to be a father-son bonding experience.
Dexter: I feel safer with someone sleeping by me, and Tim's not going to be enough when animals can attack me in my sleep.
Luigi: Why not sleep next to your dad then?
Tim: Dad sleeps "all natural" when he goes camping.
Dexter: Isn't Mario excited to go camping? He doesn't seem to happy about it.
Luigi: (turns his attention towards a pouting Mario) Oh, he's just mad since he has to miss the belch-off tomorrow.
Mario: (glares at Luigi)
Luigi: You can get your title back next year you baby.
Dexter: Why is he coming when there's a title too protect?
Luigi: Because I'm not going to be able to sleep with only you two to protect me. Look, there's the campground!
Dexter looked out the window and saw the large totem poles holding up the wooden sign reading "Camp Tahawaki". In a few short moments Dexter would finally live his childhood dream of the perfect camping trip. He could smell the smoky embers of the fire burning into his marshmallow on a stick any second now, see the millions of stars glittering in the night from his cozy sleeping bag, and experience the adrenaline of relentlessly gutting your own caught fish. However-
Dexter's Dad: (makes a hard left and starts driving into the thick forest)
Dexter: (bouncing up and down from the uneven terrain) Da-ad! Wh-ere a-are we g-g-go-ing?
Dexter's Dad: You'll see! (drives in silence for a minute or two until the car eventually rolls to a stop).
Here we are, our camping spot for the weekend.
Luigi: (getting out of the car with everyone else) How can you tell, every 10 feet of the forest looks the same.
Dexter's Dad: I know this is our destination by the fact that the car's out of gas.
Everyone: (turns towards Dexter's dad with bugged-out eyes)
Luigi: WHAT?! You stranded us in the middle of nowhere!!
Dexter: Shouldn't we be at Camp Takawaki??
Dexter's Dad: You mean that baby camp? Heck no! We're roughing it like men this weekend, relying only on our survival instincts. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Luigi: ...NO!
Dexter's Dad: (walking to the trunk of the car) Then why did you agree to come?
Luigi: Because I keep assuming you people are right in the head! I mean, what are you planning to- HEY!
Dexter's Dad: No need for this. (tosses the camping gear into the raging waters of the nearby river)
Everyone: (Screams)
Dexter: You just threw 400 dollars worth of camping gear into the river??
Dexter's Dad: Didn't I just say we're roughing it? I threw away all but the necessary. Food, water, and the clothes on our back.
Luigi: Hey Mario, wasn't your wi-fi enabled mPhone in the tent? The one with our vacation photos?
Mario: ...(crumples into a sobbing heap on the ground at the realization that his mPhone was gone forever)
Dexter's Dad: Now I know it's going to take a little adjustment, but I know that by the end of this weekend we'll be closer together than ever before.
Tim: Yeah, we'll be really close when we have to huddle together for body heat against the freezing cold tonight! And then when we're all cornered by a flesh-eating beast, cowering in fear. Then we'll be close together forever as our remains rot into the ground, unless they're discovered by carnivores. Then know one will ever find us again.
Dexter: Stop it Tim! Luigi's eyes are going to pop if they go any wider with fear!
Tim: Cool, then the beast could eat him first while we make a break for it.
Dexter's Dad: Speaking of feverish eating habits, who's hungry for some dinner?
Mario: (instantly perks up at the thought of food)
Dexter's Dad: I see we have a taker! Alright, what'd you guys bring for food?
Luigi: We just got marshmallows for the s'mores. What did you guys bring?
Dexter's Dad: Um, we were the designated s'more bringers.
Luigi: No, we were definitely told to bring the s'more supplies.
Dexter's Dad: Why would I tell you to bring s'more stuff when I'm bringing s'more stuff!
Luigi: But-
Dexter's Dad: No time for arguments now. I doesn't matter whose fault you idiotically think it is, what matters is that 4 bags of marshmallows cannot sustain us for more than 36 hours, and we must find food. Who's desperate enough to volunteer?
Everyone: ...
Mario's Stomach: (grumbles loudly)
Dexter's Dad: Thanks for volunteering Mario! Now, follow the tire tracks through the woods and see if I managed to hit anything on the way. (pushes a reluctant Mario along the tire tracks)
Mario: (grumpily begins walking down the path of destruction left by Dexter's Dad)
Dexter: So what do we do in the mean time?
Dexter's Dad: We start the barbecue. (furiously begins to rub two stick together) Come on you sticks... BUUUUUUUURRRRN!
Luigi: You know that actually doesn't work.
Dexter's Dad: Somebody obviously doesn't watch the movies. You just gotta... grunt give it a sec.
Dexter: Yeah, it was based on a true story.
Dexter's Dad: Exactly. Hollywood wouldn't lie to us.
Luigi: (turns to Dexter) When they say based on a true story they don't-
Sticks: (burst into flames)
Tim: (holding an empty gasoline tank and a match) That made it easy!
Dexter's Dad: I guess you were right.
Luigi: What did you guys do?!
Dexter's Dad: Tim found some extra gasoline under the car, so we used it to get the fire going. Pretty smart eh?
Luigi: (grabs the empty gas container from Tim) You used all of the gasoline? That could've been our ride home!
Dexter's Dad: ...Hmmm, maybe we should've thought this through.
Luigi: I swear, if I die out here I'm gonna-
Dexter: "Chillax"... Atleast we have a fire going! Who wants to make s'mores?
Luigi: How can you think of s'mores at a time like this??
Dexter: (In his cutest baby voice) I'm hungry.
Tim: Yeah, when do we eat?
Dexter's Dad: As soon as Mario comes back with the grub.
Tim: (an eerie shadow casts over Tim as he begins his monologue) What if he doesn't? Sure, we'll be happy with gooey s'mores now. But will we be satisfied with the 100th s'more, when the delightful taste has faded with overuse? Eventually our craving for sustenance will overpower us, blinding us with a thirst for meat. Starvation makes a man desperate, and desperate times, calls for desperate measures.
Dexter: What do you mean?
Tim: Cannibalism. Food is staring you right in the eye as we speak (everyone exchanged nervous glances towards each other), all you have to do is catch it. Before it catches you.
Dexter: (fearfully turns to his brother)You wouldn't eat me, would you?
Tim: I can't make promises I don't know I can keep. When it boils down to it, there's only going to be one of us left, crazed and scarred, but still alive as the only survivor left alone in this harsh world... (the shadow suddenly vanishes) or maybe Mario will come back will food, who knows.
Everyone: (takes a step back from one another, feeling very disturbed)
Dexter's Dad: So... who wants to make the first s'more?
Lightning: (flashes in the sky ominously as rain extinguishes the fire)
Luigi: Just great! Now we don't have food or fire! I better get my coat before... (glares at Dexter's Dad) Oh that's right. My coat's heading downstream as we speak!
Dexter: And the tents too, so we don't have any shelter!
Tim: (sarcastically) I feel my love growing for you by the second.
Dexter's Dad: Well why don't we just wait in the car until the rain stops?
Luigi: That actually sounds like a good idea. (pulls on the passenger side door) ... (pulls on the passenger side door again) ... I think it's locked.
Dexter's Dad: Hold on, I think I have my keys somewhere... (begins searching his pockets) Now where could they be?
Tim: (peering through the driver's side window) Uh... I think I know where.
And sure enough the keys were right there, still in the ignition. Luigi would've killed the man then and there if it weren't for the fact that children were in his presence. So they did the next best thing they could for shelter.
Everyone: (huddles around the trunk of a large tree, hoping the pine needles would keep the water away)
Dexter: Nice going Dad, know I get to spend my weekend hugging a tree!
Luigi: And a dripping tree at that.
Tim: It's like that Chinese torture device where they strap you to the floor and slowly pour water onto your forehead one drop at a time. (keeping in rhythm with the drops falling onto Luigi's head) drip... drip... drip... drip...
Luigi: Please, the Chinese couldn't come up with a torture worse than spending a weekend with your father.
Dexter's Dad: HEY! You only think that because you haven't gone shopping with my wife! (shudders) Black Friday indeed...
Dexter: (clutches his gurgling stomach) Mmmm... I've never been so hungry in my life. I could eat the bark right off the tree right now.
Luigi: (mouthful of splinters) Not as good as an idea as you might think Dexter.
Tim: Do you think Mario's going to come soon?
Luigi: Oh man, I hope he's alright.
Dexter's Dad: I'm sure he's fine. As for us, it seems that all we can do for now is just wait out the rain.
Dexter: I'm going to sleep then. I stayed up way too late last night in false excitement. (finds the driest spot beneath him and begins to slumber)
Dexter's Dad: I think we all could use some sleep.
Tim: Awwwwww! But we didn't get to do my favorite part of the camping trip yet!
Luigi: Which would be?
Tim: Ghost stories...
Luigi: NO WAY!! I can't fathom you intentionally being excessively creepy on this trip.
Dexter's Dad: Be a sport Luigi, it's his favorite thing to do.
Luigi: ...Fine. But only one story.
Dexter's Dad: Good man. (puts in his earplugs and goes to sleep)
Tim: This is the story of the crazed woods man. (switches to a deeper and more gravelly voice) Only 8 months ago, in a forest not far from here there lived John Whittaker. He was a poor man, skipping every other meal so that he wouldn't go into debt with what little he earned. It was a wonder to everybody how his frail body could keep up with the demand of his work year round. Before anyone knew it, Christmas was coming around again, and once again he would spend it alone, with no one to keep him company except his ax and his spoiled leftovers, again, just like every year. He was only known as a chopper, and all he was was a chopper. Not a parent, not lover, not a person worth caring about. Day in, day out, his life was consumed with chopping, each chip taken from the tree was also a chip taken from his soul. Late at night, two days before Christmas, fate dealt John his final stroke of bad luck, as the John's careless chopping landed the tree on top of him. He didn't move to the great beyond however, as chopping was all he knew. He remained here, doing the only thing that he trusted in this world; chopping. But everyday he would see others enjoying the life he never had, passing the trees hand-in-hand with a loved one, admiring the of the beauty of the forest instead of seeing the endless, hopeless toil it brought to John's life. Why couldn't John enjoy the life others had so disgustingly took for granted. Forced to witness this day after day he went mad from the jealousy, concluding that it would only be justice if he were to so heartlessly end their lives like his has ended. To this day the anger burns harsher than ever inside him, landing fallen trees onto those who so easily went through life without a care. So whenever you walk through the forest, be careful to look out for a ghostly ax swishing through the air, it may be the last thing you see. (returns to his regular voice) Good night! (falls asleep instantly)
Luigi: (looks up the tree leering over him) ...Pfft. That's stories not true... Is it? (searches the air for any mysterious axes) Tim, that... that story isn't true is it?
Tim: (mumbles incoherently as he turns over in the wet grass)
Luigi: (slowly lowers himself onto the ground, still keeping out a wary eye)
The next morning
Tim: (flutters his eyelids as the bright sunshine hits his eyes) Mmmm... (yawns as he stretches his arms outward) You'd think fresh grass would be better bedding. How'd you sleep Luigi?
Luigi: (wakes up with bags under his eyes, one of which is blackened. He also had very bruised cheeks to round it all off)
Tim: Whoa, did the ugly stick fall off the tree and hit you?
Luigi: Shut up. I'd like to see how much sleep you'd get if you had nightmares about the killer chopper. (gets up from the ground, revealing his very soggy frontside covered with bits of bark)
Tim: (turns his attention towards his family members) How did you guys- AAAAAAH!
Luigi turned to see what the excitement was about, and also exclaimed to see that what remained of Dexter's Dad was nothing but a heap of his clothes sprawled across the ground, blotched with red stains. Also, they saw fresh foot steps leading from Dexter's spot, starting out in small increments, but then suddenly began getting farther away from each other in large strides, as if he was chasing something. Or someone.
Tim: Oh no. Dad!
Luigi: You just had to give him ideas didn't you!
Tim: I didn't think he'd be that hungry! Oh man, why did I have to bring that up?
Luigi: (gets hit with a horrifying thought) Tim... He's still out there. (whispers in his ear) and he's going to get hungry again!
Tim: WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! If he can take down dad he's definitely going to take down a weenie like you!
Luigi: No way am I going out there!
Tim: WHY NOT??
Luigi: Because this is the only spot in the forest where I know he isn't right now! (clutches to the tree tightly)
Tim: But what if he comes back?
Luigi: I'll hit him with a stick! (breaks off a branch)
Tim: Well, he might not come back for awhile... (sits next to Luigi) Whatcha got there?
Luigi: My journal. In case I don't make it out I'm going to write down everything that happens so people will know how my cruel demise was met.
Tim: (looks over Luigi's shoulder to see him writing his 3rd sentence already. The first sentence read, "I am now writing this sentence". The second read, "Now I'm writing this sentence". All he jotted down for his third sentence so far was, "Now I'm writing this-".) ...Uh, you might want to focus on the more important details.
Luigi: Like what?
Tim: Like the fact that I'm starving! Draw me a pie.
Luigi: ...(hesitantly doodles a pie in the corner of the page)
Tim: (tears the page from the journal and eats it with out warning)
Luigi: AHH! You just ripped the first page of my final memoirs! How could you?? ...(discretely scribbles a chocolate sundae and eats it.) ...You know, it's not good, but it's not bad either.
Tim: Yep! Good ol' mediocrity, just like home cooking!
Luigi: I'm feeling a bit peckish for some lobster, how 'bout you? (fiddles with the pen playfully)
Tim: (raising his eyebrows up and down)With extra butter?
Luigi: (draws a lobster with a enormous amount of butter slathered over it)
Tim: Why are you slathering actual butter onto the paper?
Luigi: Because slathering is a fun word to say. And I found it by the car. (points over his shoulder to the car with the window broken into)
Tim: Woah! What happened?
Luigi: (attempts to talk with buttered paper in his mouth, which he fails to do)
Tim: (walking over to the car) How didn't we see this earlier? Look, the driver's side window is smashed and everything! And there's marshmallow's everywhere.
Luigi: (swallowing his "lobster") gulp That doesn't explain how the butter got here though.
Tim: Hmmm (reaches through the broken window to unlock the door, and heads to the back row of the car) ...yep, just as I suspected. (comes back out) That was the butter we hid under the seat 2 years ago after the family reunion.
Luigi: You hid butter under your seat?
Tim: Well we were planning to throw it away later since some flies got stuck in it, and when cousin Derek hauked a loogie in it too. I guess we just forgot about it.
Luigi: (loses his lunch in the nearby berry bush)
Tim: Dude! Of all the bushes here you choose the one with something edible on it??
Luigi: (wipes the sick from his mouth) Ugh. No worries, those were fool's berries. They're a powerful laxative that looks like a regular berry, except for the braided stems.
Tim: Oh. How do you know so much about them?
Luigi: A horrible experience from summer camp. Mario kept insisting that they were- OH MAN! Mario's not back yet!
Tim: What if Dexter got him too?
Luigi: (starts cowering the fetal position) Oh man, OH MAN! We're not going to make it dude! We're going to die out here alone and afraid! There's been so much I haven't done in my life! I never even kissed a girl before! (cries uncontrollably)
Tim: (slaps Luigi very hard across the face) PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER MAN!! There has to be a way out of this! Alright, what have I learned from survival shows on the discovery channel?
Luigi: You watch those?
Tim: Yeah, I keep secretly hoping one of those idiots doesn't make it through the entire show. Needless to say I'm constantly disappointed. But if it's one thing I remember, it's that food is always in the last place you would think to look, like an anthill or old camel droppings.
Luigi: How about a grizzly bear attracted by the sweet stench of fear and fool's berries.
Tim: I suppose... but I would doubt (turns to see Luigi pinned to the ground by an aggressive grizzly) AAH! ...Luigi. Stay calm, and don't make any sudden mov-
Luigi: (screams loudly as his spazzs out from crippling fear)
Grizzly: (bares it's teeth in response, tightening it's determined stare)
Tim: HEY UGLY! (throws a rock at the bear's head)
Grizzly: (whips around to see Tim sticking his tongue at him and dancing in place)
Tim: Catch me if you can! (turns and sprints across the dirt patch)
Grizzly: (lunges after Tim)
Luigi watched as the bear released him and gave chase to Tim. Unfortunately Toads were not granted the gift of having knees, and so the bear was on Tim before he even reached the nearest tree. Luigi never saw such a gruesome sight as the bears teeth gashed into Tim's back. He laid limp on the ground, red dribbling down his shirt. Luigi's mind was reeling. This couldn't be happening! Adrenaline took over, his legs carrying him as far away as they could Luigi blindly ran through the forest. He didn't know how long he kept running. It could have been seconds, it could have been hours, Luigi wasn't exactly paying to much attention to what time it was at the moment. Sometime later, half gasping, half crying, he slowed to a stop and fell onto the dirt floor of the woods miles away from the car. His body was useless now, too weak to move from hunger and restlessness. As his heavy eyelids came to a close, Luigi hoped he would open them again.
Hours Later
Ukiki: (carrying a large armful of bananas.) Ooh-Ooh EEE! (These Bananas gonna be good!) (turns to see Luigi on the ground) ...HEEEEEEEE!! (Intruder!!)
Ukikis came bounding through the forest, dropping their daily chores to aid the screams of the banana collecting Ukiki. One by one they appeared from behind the trees.
Ukiki #2: Ooh Ooh AH! (what happened??)
Ukiki #1: ah-ah-AH! Eee-ooh? (I just found this thing on the ground. Do you think it's hostile?)
Ukiki #3: Ooooh... Ooh-eee-eee? (I'm not sure. Should we throw a rock at it?)
Ukiki #1, 2, and 4: (answer the question by throwing rocks at Luigi)
Luigi: OW! (gets up in an instant, looking frantically to see what attacked him) WHO DID THAT?? (sees the 4 Ukikis blankly staring at him) It was you wasn't it! DON'T DENY IT!!
Ukiki #1: ...Ooh-ah? (what'd he say?)
Luigi: YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU!!
Ukiki: #4: Ah-ah? (Does anyone have a clue what he's saying?)
Ukiki #1: Eee-ooh ooh-ah (No. I've never seen someone like him)
Luigi: STOP MAKING THOSE ANNOYING MONKEY SOUNDS!!
Ukiki #2: Ah eee-eee-eee (I wish we knew what was troubling him so.)
Ukiki #3: Ooh ah-ah eee- (gets knocked out by a thrown rock)
Luigi: YEAH! Let's see how you like getting hit by rocks! Don't like it do you?
Ukiki #2: (stares intensely at Luigi) ...(whistles loudly using that weird two fingers in your mouth technique that no one knows how to do except mastermind monkeys in disguises, walking among us. Watching. Planning...)
And with that whistle armored Ukikis revealed themselves from behind the leaves of the trees surrounding Luigi. Perched on this high branches, each one held a rock in it's hand, ready to throw. They waited for Luigi to make the first move. Which was naturally to run away screaming like a girl.
Luigi: (gets pelted by rocks as he runs through the forest, each tree seeming to have it's own throw-happy Ukiki) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
Ukiki #3: Ooh-ooh ah-ah... (that takes care of that)
Luigi: (continues running through the forest, praying that he would find any sign of civilization) Come on! This forest has to end somewhere! (trips on a tree root) Ugh! (slowly gets up, brushing the dirt off of his clothes, although it was pointless as his clothes were torn and tathered) I don't see how this can get any worse!
??: Oh, hello Luigi.
Luigi: (feeling every hair on the back of his neck stand on end at the sound of his voice) Oh no.
??: I haven't seen you in quite a while Luigi. How have you been?
Luigi: (realizing that the tree that tripped him was the very one that he slept under the night before) Don't play nice, I know what you're doing! So don't try anything funny! (looks to see Tim's body is gone) Where's Tim!?
??: Oh, Tim and I did lunch. Why don't you join him?
Luigi: (Musters up the courage to look him in the eye) Not hungry, Dexter.
Dexter: (with his tummy bulging out, signifying he has eaten very well) Oh? And what have you had to eat so far Luigi, soggy marshmallows? There's better food to be had you know. Why not come over?
Luigi: (backing away) No thank you, got all I need right here. (brings out his journal, showing that he still had a few pages left for food) Looks like you'll be dining with someone else tonight! (throws a rock at Dexter. It misses, but at least it distracts a shocked Dexter long enough for Luigi to make his escape.)
Dexter: LUIGI! WAIT!
Dexter's voice faded quickly. This time Luigi made sure not to run around in circles blindly. He wasn't going to fall victim to Dexter today, which actually wouldn't be a problem since the stars were starting to come out.
Luigi: (eating his dinner of college ruled paper) Ugh. My legs can't get any farther. Oh well, Dexter's stubby legs won't get here until morning anyway. (rips out another piece) But still, I better get moving in a few minutes, no way I'm taking chances out here.
Ukikki: (strolls casually through the forest until he spots Luigi) ...OOH! OOH!
Luigi: Oh great!
Armored Ukikkis: (pop out of the trees with rocks in hand)
Luigi: ...mommy.
The next thing Luigi knew he was waking up on the ground with bruises everywhere and a fat lip, and was stinging from rock related injuries in his... everywhere.
Luigi: ... (sighs) I hate this place. (sees his journal, with only one blank page left) ...Almost out of food too. Could this possibly get any better?
Dexter: (in the far distance) Luigi! Are you here? Come on out Luigi!
Luigi: AHH! He can't be here already! W-what if I don't make it?... (grabs his journal and starts writing) I might be the only survivor left, and this may be my final entry, as I have eaten all the other pages for nourishment. If you come across this Journal please let this be known to the world. To Mario, if he is alive, tell him that I always loved him, even when he would bury my inhaler in the yard. To Peach, I was the one who licked your cake on your twelfth birthday, and I have no regrets about that. To Waluigi, I still hate you. And to Daisy. I always-
Grizzly Bear: (appears over the top of a nearby bush and lands in front of Luigi baring it's sharp teeth)
Luigi: (screams, flinging his journal into the air as he stretches his arms over his head and sprints through the forest. To slow the bear he leaped over the bush he came so the bear would have to take time to turn around and prepare to leap. Which only took 1.3 seconds.)
Grizzly Bear: (Begins closing the gap between him and Luigi, but stops abruptly right when he was only steps for severing Luigi's limbs)
Luigi: (turns his head in confusion, only realizing why the bear stopped when he sprints over the edge of a cliff) What the- YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
End Flashback
Luigi flailed in the air, hoping to somehow reverse gravity, but all was lost. He was going to hit the paralyzing cold of the water below and possibly be torn to pieces on impact. Luigi closed his eyes and thought about the last thing he was going to write in that journal, and soon felt a hard thud against his body. Then he felt nothing.
Kind of a bummer right? Everyone being picked off one by one like a bad horror movie? But it's not as bad as it seems, sometimes you just need a different perspective on things. After all, there are two sides to every story.