Sean was worried. When he had woken Sunday afternoon, Craig had been gone already. He called him several times but there had been no answer. Now it was Monday and Craig had not shown up to homeroom. By lunch, Sean had asked Jimmy, Spinner, and even Manny where he was but they had no idea. He really hoped Craig hadn't done something stupid.

As soon as the final bell rang, after having barely concentrated in any of his classes, Sean headed to Craig's house. After the second time he rang the bell, Joey came to the door.

"Hey Sean! How are you doing? Come on in."

Sean slowly walked inside. "Uh, I'm okay. How's everything with you?"

"Pretty good. Besides Craig."

"What do you mean?" Sean asked, his heart racing.

"He's pretty sick so I had to stay home from the dealership today. Did you bring his schoolwork?"

"Uh, yeah. Can I go up?"

"Sure, go ahead. Just be careful, it may be contagious."

I doubt that. Sean headed upstairs and knocked on Craig's door before entering. The light was off but the television was on, casting an eerie glow on the room. Craig was lying on his bed, facing away from the door.

"Hey," Sean said quietly.

Craig looked up slowly. His skin was paler than usual and the dark circles under his eyes had gotten worse. Sean also noticed for the first time that a shadowy area had formed beneath his cheekbones. "Hey."

Sean sat down on the desk chair. "How are you feeling?"

Craig shrugged. "Okay."

"What happened to you yesterday?"

"Had to take off."

"You seemed fine then. When did this 'sickness' come on?"

Craig closed his eyes. "I'm fine, Sean. Just exhausted. I didn't sleep much this weekend."

Sean looked over to the desk. It was strewn with papers scrawled with what looked like song lyrics. "When did you write all these?"

"Last night mostly. Uh, inspiration struck."

"Inspiration," Sean repeated. "Right."

"Oh, don't be a hypocrite. You tried it and I know you liked it."

"Yeah I liked it. For a while. Then I started seeing things…" Sean took a shaky breath. "I never want to experience that again. And this, what I'm feeling right now, it sucks."

"You had a bad trip. It happens. It's happened to me and it does suck but it passes. To me, the good outweighs the bad."

"Well to me the bad is not worth any possible good. And right now it's not looking very good for you either."

Craig shook his head, looking away at the television. "I thought you understood. My mistake."

"Craig I do understand. I understand why you're doing this but that doesn't make it right." Sean waited for a response and when none came he pressed onward. "What about your meds? And your brain? You're messing with something that could seriously mess you up even wors—" He winced inwardly knowing he had said the wrong thing.

Craig's body stiffened and he turned his head, his eyes filled not with anger as Sean had expected but hurt. "Even worse than I already am. Because, oh right, no one believes that I'm okay."

"Craig, you're not okay—"

"She's the only one who..." Craig's anger seemed to have faded and been replaced with a deep sadness.

"Who what? Who are you talking about?" Sean asked, confused.

"Forget it. Just go."

Sean stared at Craig for a long time then got up. He glanced at the desk and saw one of the songs was entitled "No Regrets in Emerald City." Barely conscious of what he was doing, not sure why he was doing it, he sent a surreptitious look Craig's way then picked up the paper and stuffed it into his back pocket, coughing to cover the crumpling sound. He left the room wordlessly, said a quick goodbye to Joey then pulled out the paper and began reading, crouching down in an alleyway by the Dot.

No Regrets in Emerald City

The man made of tin
What a lucky man he is
No heart to break
Nothing to fake
I wish I were him on the golden road home
There's no place like it from what I hear
The lion wanted to rid himself of his fear
I guess I've got something in common with a lion

The man at the gate said
There are no regrets in Emerald City
They'll make you pretty
Your hunger will be fed
The long hard road is no longer ahead

I want to go back home
I don't want to roam
It's beautiful here
But it's just an empty sphere
Eventually the wicked witch will find and catch me
Only I have the power to save my own fate
But I'm pretty sure I'm already too late
And Aunty Em is already gone

The man at the gate said
There are no regrets in Emerald City
They destroy self-pity
Sew your clothes with a golden thread
Maybe I'll no longer wish I was dead

But this is a land full of regret
I want to fix it
But I think it's too late
And I'm not sure I know how

The man at the gate
He's really the wizard
And he actually doesn't know anything at all


Let me know what you think of this song please. I know it's a little short but more will be up soon...