A/N: The Hey Arnold characters belong to Craig Bartlett, not me. Also, this story is based on a TV show idea I thought of 4 years ago. I tried sending the idea to Craig Bartlett by e-mail, but I didn't have the right e-mail, and the idea was obviously not turned into a TV segment. Therefore, I decided just to put the story on the fan-fiction site.
Chapter 5: The Sad Day
Later that evening, Arnold returned to the brick boarding house where he lived with his grandparents, Phil and Pookie. They were old, but that did not prevent them from being active.
Phil was 81 years old, but he could still bench press over 200 pounds! He usually wore a white T-shirt with red suspenders. He was bald, but the hair he had remaining was gray. He enjoyed fishing and chess.
Pookie had gray hair and usually wore a green dress and a white apron. In Arnold's opinion, Pookie was very strange. She often pretended to be strange different characters, and sometimes, she acted like a warrior. Pookie really liked martial arts, and Arnold learned some self-defense moves from her.
Arnold opened the door to the boarding house, where he entered an entry hall that really showed its age. The wallpaper had been there for as long as Arnold could remember. That was true of the whole boarding house. In the time that Arnold lived at the boarding house, he had never witnessed any renovation whatsoever. The boarding house looked like some place out of the 1940s.
Arnold walked straight ahead, where the kitchen was. He saw Phil at the table reading the newspaper. "Hey, short man," Phil said. "Did you see your friend today?"
"Yeah," Arnold said. "He seems really happy at the institution. He doesn't seem to be in any accidents anymore."
"That's good to hear," Phil said. "Do you want any supper?"
"No, that's okay. After I visited Eugene, I went to Gerald's house. We had some hot dogs and Coke, so I'm not really hungry," Arnold said.
"Okay, then," Phil said.
"Good night, Grandpa," Arnold said.
"Night, short man," Phil said.
Arnold left the kitchen and went to the foot of the stairs and went up. He then turned left and ran to the end of the hall. On the ceiling was a door to his attic room. Arnold pulled down the string. The aging door groaned as Arnold pulled it open. Arnold climbed up the stairs that popped out of the door. Then, Arnold opened a door that was concealed by the ceiling door. Arnold opened it, and he entered his fancy room.
Arnold's room was probably the fanciest in the whole boarding house. It had bright colors on the walls and floor. Arnold had pictures of himself and of Phil and Pookie hanging around his room. Arnold had all sorts of fancy stereo equipment. He even had his own TV and telephone. Arnold had a couch as well. The electronics and the couch could all be activated by a single remote control that Arnold kept on his desk, which was to the left. There was a bed to the right built into the walls surrounded by shelves filled with all sorts of baseball memorabilia. One of the nicest features of the room was the glass skylight ceiling. That really made the room look very fancy.
Arnold shut the door to his room, and he got dressed into his light blue pajamas. Then, he walked over to his desk and pressed a round gray button on the remote control. That shut all the lights off in his room. Arnold set the remote control on his desk, and he yawned. Arnold walked over to his bed and prayed. Then, he got in bed, and he fell asleep.
The next day, Arnold woke up and got dressed in his usual attire. He then went downstairs and sat down in the dining room to eat breakfast with the boarders. Afterward, he left and took a bus to go to school.
For some reason, Arnold didn't really feel happy. He didn't know why. He hadn't thought once that it could have been the fact that Eugene was missing. He sadly looked out the windows as the bus drove on to school.
When the bus stopped at school, Arnold got out and went inside. He entered Mr. Simmons's classroom, but he noticed that everyone seemed depressed just as he did. Arnold knew something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Finally, his mind clicked. It was Eugene's absence! No wonder he felt so sad. It just wasn't the same at school with Eugene missing.
After school, Arnold, Gerald, Stinky, Sid, and Harold walked home together. They remained silent for most of the walk. Sid suddenly interrupted the silence and started the conversation.
"Hey, guys, do any of you miss Eugene?" he asked.
"Yeah, I kinda miss him," Harold said with a glum look on his face.
"Me too," Stinky said.
"Yeah," Gerald said. "Even though the kid was a jinx, at least it was good to have his company."
"I gave him a visit yesterday," Arnold said. "And he seems pretty happy at the institution. I don't think he wants to come back." Everyone sadly walked home. They were unaware at the moment that Arnold couldn't have been more wrong about Eugene.