"Dear Mom and Dad,
I write this while sitting on a roof.
There was no possibility of me breaking the news to you in person.
By the time you read this I'll be long gone.
Please know that you raised me right and I love you both very much."
-Your son, Fredrick Jones
He quietly made his way downstairs placing the letter on his father's desk in the study and then closed the door again. Fred grabbed a few canned goods from the large pantry then headed back up to his room. He rummaged in his dresser tossing whatever he could pack away in his duffle bag. He worked his way through the top drawer before hesitating as he reached for one of his signature orange ascots. While holding it in his hand he runs his thumb over the smooth silk fabric before neatly placing it back in the dresser.
Fred lifts open the bedroom window throwing the duffle bag down below on to the lawn. Before making his way out the window he takes one last look at his room admiring the framed photographs on the wall of him with his parents on lavish vacations. Taking pride in the many trophies and medals he had won from wrestling and baseball that were proudly on display over his bed on a shelf. The sun was beginning to rise as he retrieved his water canteen from the windowsill and made his way off the roof. It was the heat of the day when he finally reached the outskirts of town as Fred tried desperately to flag down a ride.
By the time he made it to the highway his canteen was already empty. The only form of relief was the cool breeze provided by the fast passing cars as they drove by. The sun was blazing off the blacktop making him uncomfortably hot as he shed his shirt. Hopelessly one by one every vehicle would continue to drive on about their business. Until a '67 Volkswagen T2 with a custom paint job pulled over to the side of the road and came to a stop. Fred approached the van with caution as the driver rolled down the window.
"Hey can you give me a ride?" he asked.
"Like, sure thing man hop on in," replied the stranger.
Fred happily retrieved his bag and made himself comfortable in the passenger seat. As he turned around to put his duffle in the back he was taken by surprise to see two girls and a dog behind him.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't know somebody was already back there," he said apologetically.
"Jinkies, it's no problem," assured one of the girls. She had auburn hair, a freckled-face and wore black-framed glasses.
The driver began to light a joint before asking, "Sorry, do you mind if I smoke?"
"No, it's not a problem," Fred said with his hands up assuredly.
The guy struck a match and took a long puff before exhaling as the van filled with smoke. He shifted gears from park to drive and then continued to head back down the highway. They hadn't made it that far down the road until a voice from behind asked…
"Rello, who are you?"
Fred grew nervous and uncertain as he was pretty sure the Great Dane mutt mix dog just talked. Then again, it could just be the side effects of the blunt that the guy just lit beginning to kick in.
"Whoa, did that dog just speak?" he asked looking over his shoulder unsure.
"It's okay," said the other girl giggling. She was a redhead in a purple headband wearing pink tights.
"Yeah, like that's only Scooby-Doo. He's my best pal in the whole world," said the driver. "I'm Norville Rogers, but everybody calls me Shaggy. The girl in the orange sweater with glasses is Velma Dinkley; and the one in the purple dress is Daphne Blake. Who are you?"
Fred sat in disbelief of everyone acting so nonchalantly to the fact that the dog could talk. There was a moment of silence before he replied. "I'm Fred Jones. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Scooby sat up as he made his way to the front of the van and licked Fred square on his face. "Rice to meet you," he said happily wagging his tail.
"If you don't mind me asking. Where are you guys headed?" Fred inquired.
"We're going up north to Canada, I'm trying to avoid being drafted for this war man. Velmster wants to fight against the cause, and Daphne wants to make love and not war. What about you?" Shaggy asked.
"Me too. I mean, I'm trying to dodge the draft myself," he said.
"Well then it's lucky for you we came along huh?" said Shaggy in a delighted tone. "Anyone mind if I turn on the radio? I could use a little music to un-harsh my mellow while we cruise," he asked while turning the knob. There was some static while tuning between stations until a clear voice came through; 'In other news, there is a second report of another robbery that occurred," said a radio announcer.
Shaggy reached for a box that appeared to be what Fred thought were some sort of cookies. He tossed one to Scooby before snacking on a few himself. "Oh, I'm sorry did you want some?" he asked offering the box to him. Fred took it then peered inside and asked, "What are these?"
"Only like the tastiest thing you'll ever eat when you've got the munchies," said Shaggy as he licked his fingers clean.
"And what's that exactly?" Fred asked curiously.
"Rhere Scooby Snacks," replied Scooby.
"You eat dog treats?" he asked with a look of disgust on his face.
"What does that road sign up ahead say?" asks Velma as she gets out a map.
"It says we're about 25 miles out from the town of Trenton. Why?" Shaggy replies.
Velma hesitates taking one last glance at the map before responding. "That's not far from where the robbery took place. I say we go check it out."
Well gang that wraps up this mystery. Great job everybody," says Fred as they all pile back into the van.
"Hey, can we stop to grab a bite to eat? All that running around worked up my appetite," Shaggy asks while rubbing his rumbling stomach.
"Ruh, huh," adds Scooby.
"I don't see why not? Besides, we should celebrate this moment," Fred exclaims.
As they head out of town Shaggy spots a diner in the distance. "Like, pull up over there," he says pointing. "That looks like a good place to get some grub."
The van rolls up and into the lot before Fred cuts the engine after pulling into a spot. Scooby and Shaggy are anxiously and impatiently waiting to hop out. Fred takes the keys out of the ignition and turns to look over at his new found friends. Everyone files out of the van one by one until he says, "We should come up with a name for our group. Something clever, like Mystery Inc."
They each exchange looks of contemplation with one another; then Velma says, "Sounds like a great name to me."
Fred smiles as Shaggy heads to the back of the van to retrieve something. "What are you doing?" he asks. Shaggy returns with a can of spray paint and a stencil he uses on the side of the van. Once he removes it the '67 Volkswagen T2 reads 'Mystery Machine'.
"I've wanted to put that up for some time. I just never knew what the right occasion was until now," he says happily. "Like, who would've thought the most miss-matched group of people would work together so well? Girls we found something we didn't know we needed in our group and that's a leader," Shaggy says smiling.
Fred sticks his hand out and says, "Mystery Inc," while looking at Velma.
She places her hand on top of his and says it too. Daphne does the same as Scooby puts his paw on hers and Shaggy chimes in. They all shout, "Mystery Inc!" throwing their hands up in the air before heading into the diner. Scooby and Shaggy race up behind Fred as they make their way through the doors and knock him over.
"Hey be careful we just mopped the floors!" cries a waitress.
Fred slips and falls hitting his head on a table as his vision begins to get blurry.
"I thought I told you to put down the wet floor sign!" scolds the waitress to a bus boy.
Fred slowly starts to blackout as the voices and his vision becomes more distorted.
"Freddie! Freddie, are you okay?"
He sits up holding his head to try and prevent the pounding sensation. As his vision refocuses he can make out a woman wearing black-framed glasses. "Velma, Velma what happened?"
"You had an accident, but you're alright now," she says.
Once he regains full consciousness he tries to become more aware of his surroundings. "Where's the rest of the gang?" he asks.
Velma has a perplexing expression on her face as she sits up from her chair.
"You know, Shaggy, Daphne, and Scooby Doo, our friends?" he says.
She sighs, "Fred we've been through all this before. Those people don't really exsist."
"Velma what are you talking about?" he asks upset.
Suddenly, a man wearing a white uniform walks in during all the commotion. He has brown hair and some stubble on his chin. "Is everything okay in here I heard shouting?" the guy asks concerned.
A look of relief washes over Fred, as he's happy to recognize a familiar face. "Shaggy, you remember me don't you?" he cries as he approaches him.
The man has a confused look on his face as he stares in the direction of the auburn-haired woman. She puts her hand up motioning to stop him from trying to restrain Fred. "Everything is fine, you can go now," she replies.
Velma can see a look of forlorn in her friend's eyes. She leads them out of the room to offer an explanation; "Come with me there's something I want to show you," she says ushering Fred into the hallway. As they make their way down the hall they pass by the gentleman who was in the room with them earlier. She directs Fred's attention to him as he heads outside. "The guy you claim to be 'Shaggy' is just one of the orderly's you sneak out and smoke weed with."
They walk down to the common room where Velma points to one of the nurses. "See that woman over there? The one with the red hair?" she asks. He looks in the redhead's direction, "Yeah what about her?" Velma explains to him, "She's the one you claim to call 'Daphne'. It's just a nurse you fancy who distributes medication to the other patients."
Fred felt anger rise up in him the longer she talked until he shouted, "No! No, you're wrong I remember I was hitchhiking until you all came along and picked me up in your van. We solved this mystery and were going to celebrate at a diner afterwards," he said as he paced the floor.
Then she leads Fred to a room where they are greeted by a Great Dane mutt mix. He recognizes the dog instantly. "Scooby!" he exclaims happily patting him on the head. "This is the service dog you claimed who can talk; he comes here on the weekends to comfort the patients," she says taking a seat on the bed. "Does this place look familiar to you?"
He looks around for a minute before responding, "No not really. What are you getting at?"
"My name is Dr. Dinkley; you're a patient I've been treating. This 'Velma' character you're referring to is just I, your psychiatrist. Two years ago someone found you passed out on the side of the road; you were dehydrated and delusional so they brought you here. As for the accident you had today, it was just another one of your 'episodes' where you threw yourself up against the wall," said the doctor.
He calmly walked over and sat down beside her. "But Mystery Inc.-" Fred began until she cut him off.
"That's the name of your father's corporation that crumbled to financial ruin following the post-economic depression that struck Coolsville. You had come up with some silly story about running away from home trying to dodge being drafted in the war. Your fantasies went as far as me being part of your little gang running around in this van called the 'Mystery Machine' and unmasking criminals. None of it was real."