"Now
don't it always seem to go: That you don't know what you got 'til
it's Gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."-Joni
Mitchell-Big Yellow Taxi
Just another SBemail?
Strong
Bad sat down to his computer. There was a strange gut feeling as he
sat down, like this wasn't right somehow..but continued.
"Dear
Strong Bad,"
...seemed pretty normal.
"It's
Strong Sad...he was in an accident. He's in the hospital right now in
life support."
The next sentence hit Strong Bad the
hardest.
"He could die."
A wave of emotion
washed over our masked friend. He had thought about this, he had even
sometimes wished it, but now that it was true...
Strong Bad
began to curse himself, uttering words never heard on a SBEmail.
Strong Bad didn't even bother to read who sent the message,
quickly he rushed out the door. The Cheat followed him into his
hummer. Not speaking, they drove silently yet speedily towards the
emergency ward. Eyeing Homestar on the way, Strong Bad stopped
momentarily.
"Get in the back, Homestar."
Homestar looked puzzled. Never before had he heard Strong bad
call him by his full name without doing it sardonically. Homestar
read the facial expression on Strong Bad's face and immediately
stepped into the back seat.
"Did you ever notice how
some things don't really seem important until they happen?"
Strong Bad was directing the question at him, but seemed to
be talking to himself.
"what is it stwong bad?"
"It's Strong Sad... he's dying."
an eerie
silence fell over the passengers once again. They hit a bump on the
way to the hospital. Homestar looked at strong bad's now forlorn face
in the mirror.
"Stwong bad?"
"yeah?"
"I'm sowwy."
----------------------------------------------------
No,
no matter how far we've come. I can't wait to see tomorrow. No matter
how far we've come I, I can't wait to see tomorrow with you.-Linkin
Park, With You
The hospital gave off an air of stiff
cleanliness. Strong Bad stared at the doctors running past the eerily
quiet hallways as their ominous footsteps echoed off the blinding
scenery. Where was Strong Sad?
Worst fears confirmed, strong
Bad, Homestar, and the Cheat walked down the corridor into two steel
doors labeled "Critical". Strong Mad was already there, he
had been informed first.
"the poor guy.." thought
strong Bad of his gargantuan brother sobbing uncontrollably into a
box of tissues by the door. They walked on, the Cheat staying behind
to console his friend, and into a room labeled 240.
It was
worse than they thought. An easily recognizable pair of elephant feet
lay beneath a single blanket. A heart monitor pulsed slowly, but at
least steadily on the far wall above a small picture frame. An IV ran
up the grey arm on the side of the bed. Another tube, this one
labeled Oxygen, lead up from behind the bed and ended on a breathing
mask on the familiar white face resting on a pillow, the top part of
the head being heavily bandaged. The small innocent eyes looked at
them weakly.
"Hey little bro, how are you?" Strong
Bad's voice was the gentlest anyone had ever heard it before.
There
was no reply save for the continual stare from Strong Sad. The eyes
looked trapped, like in an abyss.
Strong Bad looked at the
picture frame and shed a single tear. He recognized the picture from
when he was young, a lost time of innocence he now wanted more than
ever to reclaim. The memories came flooding back to him as he stared
into this portal of long ago.
It was in early summer. That
time when you just feel carefree, like nothing can go wrong. Strong
Sad was wearing his favorite shirt that day. When it happened wasn't
exactly clear, but it did happen. Where do those days of our youth
go? Can they really be gone forever?
Strong Bad looked at the
other items on the dresser. A snowglobe emblazoned with the words
"You're Number One!" on it. An old Birthday card from him.
Poop-head. mom says i have to make you this kard-StrongBab.
PS. I'm going to punsh you in the back.
Strong Bad began
feeling empty once again. He recalled the message he had written and
began to cry. Openly. He didn't care if Homestar saw him now.
"I'm
sorry, little bro." mumbled Strong Bad with the most sincere
tenderness imagineable.
Still no answer.
-----------------------------------------------------
"I'm
dead from all the loneliness and this is how I feel, understanding
everything has never been my deal." -Fred Durst, The one.
The
moon shone over the asphalt as Strong Bad, Homestar, the Cheat, and
Strong mad made their way to the car. They wished they could stay
behind and help, but they weren't allowed to for health reasons said
the hospital staff. Strong Bad turned the key in the ignition and
backed out of the hospital parking lot. A firetruck sounded in the
distance as they drove home. No one spoke at all during the trip.
That night, Strong Bad stood at his computer desk and stared
at the patched up hole in the wall where his head had crashed long
ago. Strong Sad's room lay just beyond it. Feeling a strange urge,
Strong Bad walked into the door labeled with Strong Sad's neat
handwriting at the top. He stared about the clean room. Of course he
had been there before, but never actually seen it for what it was.
Strong Bad stared at the clock. Midnight. Though he couldn't sleep at
all and didn't feel tired. He just felt.. empty. Strong Bad looked at
Gooblis, Strong Sad's toy lobster on his pillow.
"I
really miss dumpus."
Strong Bad couldn't resist.
"
got mad at Strong Saaad, all those times back then. I hope I don't
see his name in the paper, in the obituaries. Because that would mean
he's dead.
Strong Sad is not dead.
I sure hope Strong
sad's not dead.
Strong sad is not dead, I sure hope Strong
sad is not dead.
I didn't know he had rhythm. Oh sure, he has
tons of rhythm."
Strong Bad said a quick prayer to
himself in Strong Sad's room and then went off to bed for that night.
----------------------------------------------
Extra
pale, Oh you're frail now, I shouldn't laugh about it, Tragedy sets
you free but, I should have known it from the start. - Goo Goo dolls,
Extra Pale
The phone rang.
"Hello?" Strong
bad answered the phone.
"We're taking your brother off
life support, there's nothing we can do anymore..I'm so sorry."
"No, you...can't, this is a mistake right?"
"Sorry Mr. Bad.."
"No, you... just
can't ok!" Strong Bad flung the phone down.
"Strong
Mad, The Cheat. Get in the car, we're going to see Strong Sad."
They sped off like a bullet into the highway. Beads of sweat
dripped down Strong Bad's determined face as he swerved through
lanes.
"No, they...just can't." He thought to
himself.
The door to the hospital room broke open under
Strong Mad's tremendous strength. The Brothers and The Cheat burst
in.
"You pull that plug on him, and I will knock the
crap out of you."
He leered angrily at the doctor on the
floor about to shut down the life support system. Too late, it looked
like it was already down.
"I'm sorry Mr. Bad, but..."
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHRRRRRGHHH!!" A blind rage flew
over Strong Bad as he tackled the grown man to the ground. "I
hate you...I hate you!" Hot tears streamed down his face.
He
stared into the eyes of his brother, slowly misting into death.
"I
love you, little bro.."
-----------------------------------------
Nothing
ever stops all these thoughts and the pain attached to them
Sometimes I wonder why this is happenin'
It's like
nothing I can do would distract me when
I think of how I shot
myself in the back again
Cuz from the infinite words I can
say I
Put all pain you gave to me on display
But
didn't realize instead of setting it free I
Took what I hated
and made it a part of me- Linkin Park, Figure 0.9
"We
are gathered here today to honor the memory of our beloved friend
Strong Sad. A quiet young man who .."
Strong Bad payed
no attention to the speech being said. He looked down at his own feet
as a single tear dripped from his eye. Everyone from Free Country USA
showed up. The autumn leaves fell around the mouners, as they had a
long time ago, during those carefree days. Whatever happened to them?
"...Ashes To ashes, and dust to dust."
Strong
Bad came up after the lengthy sermon. Laying a gloved hand on Strong
Sad's cold face, he began to cry.
"Stupid,
crap-for-brains!...Why'd you have to die on me? You stupid...idiot!"
The coffin was lowered into the grave slowly. Last chance to
say goodbye.
"Goodbye."
---------------------------------------
Epilogue.
An autumn leaf fell onto Strong Bad's lap. He looked at the
grave marker of his brother.
"I really miss him."
"You do?" a familiar voice sounded from behind.
"WHAT THE CRAP?!"
"Oh, you said you
missed me."
"Strong Sad?!?!" Strong Bad
whirled around only to find his brother staring him in the face."
"OMFG, HOW IN THE FREAKIN'---"
"I did
it to get back at you, but I didn't think it would get this out of
hand. I saw you in the room." It was easy paying off those
actors to act like doctors. I'd been saving up.
"Then
How the crap...who was that?!"
A rustling noise sounded
behind them. A pale head topped off with a rather strange hat popped
up where the grave was supposed to be.
"Duaaaaaah, Bury
me deep, I'm cold and clammy." Said the head of Homsar poking
through the soil.
"WHY YOU LAZY CRAP-FOR-CRAP! i'M GONNA
PUNCH YOU IN THE GUT!"
oof
Things were gonna
be back to normal.
