It was a regular pre-Christmas day at the mall.
Shoppers were hurriedly rushing from store to store trying to get everything on their list before it closed. Ironically, they spent most of their time arguing with other shoppers about who should get the last Zune on the self.
Among all the chaos, there was a giant white platform right in the middle of the mall. A tall man dressed as Santa Claus sat in a bright red chair while a man dressed as an elf stood next to him. There was a long line of kids in front of them.
A small boy that looked no older than five walked up the Santa.
"Hi, Santa!" He squeaked, as the Santa pulled him up onto his lap.
"Well, hello there, little boy," The Santa said, cheerfully, "What's your name?"
"Nate," The boy said, his finger in his mouth.
"Hello, Nate," The Santa said, beaming. "And have you been a good boy, this year?"
Nate nodded.
"Well, that's great!" The Santa said. "And what would like for Christmas, this year, Nate?"
"Some toy cars," Nate said, shyly, his finger still in his mouth.
"Some toy cars!" The Santa laughed, heartily. "Well, I'll defiantly add that to my list, little Nate,"
Nate grinned.
"Thanks, Santa," He smiled.
"No problem, Nate," The Santa said putting the boy back onto the ground. "Merry Christmas!"
Nate happily ran back to his mother, who was waiting outside of the platform.
Next walked up a small girl that looked only four years of age.
"Why, hello there, little girl!" The Santa said, heaving the girl onto his lap. "What's your name?"
"Jenny," The girl said.
"Hello Jenny!" The Santa said, beaming. "And what would you like for Christmas?"
"Can I have a tea set, Santa?" Jenny said.
"Why of course, Jenny!" The Santa grinned. "I'll add that to my list!"
The department store Santa put Jenny back onto the ground where she ran back to her parents.
Then, another boy of the age of six came up.
He had blond spiky hair and he was carrying a stuffed tiger with him.
"hello, little boy!" The Santa said, heaving him into his lap. "What's your name?"
"Calvin," The boy said. "Oh, and just out of curiosity, how is it, that when your in a mall, you can't remember any of the kid's names, but you're constantly watching us when you're at the North Poll?"
There was moment of silence.
The Santa and the elf stared at Calvin.
"Um...." The Santa started. "Well, I just have to have my memory jogged every now and then...."
"Ah, I see," Calvin said, rubbing his chin. "Oh, yes, and I didn't see your reindeer parked outside. Did you get here by plane or did use a teleportor?"
"Anyway...." The Santa said, rolling his eyes. "Have you been a good boy, this year?"
"Yes!" Calvin said, without hesitation. He paused. "Sort of. In a way.... OK, let's say certain circumstances, beyond my control I might add, could cause me to kind of stray off into the gray area, sometimes. I mean, seriously, who can be a totally perfect angel all 365 days of the year?"
The Santa rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, what would you like for Christmas, this year?"
"Well, my parents said I could only list two things that I really wanted, so I couldn't hand deliver my list to you."
"Well, how big was the list?" The Santa asked.
"I don't know, but it cost me ten bucks to send it to you."
The elf and Santa exchanged glances.
"Anyway, after much consideration, I've decided on the items I'll personally ask you for," Calvin said, draping the stuffed tiger over his shoulder.
The Santa nodded, and leaned over.
"A heat-seeking missile and a flame thrower," Calvin said, grinning. "Can you believe Radio Shack doesn't sell those? I honestly wonder how some of these places stay in business,"
Silence.
"Um... Okay...." The Santa said, looking from side to side. "I'll add that to my list...."
"Thanks," Calvin grinned. "Oh, and before I go, Hobbes and I have a bet." He motioned to the stuffed tiger. "Do you get a stomach ache after eating all those billions of cookies and drinking all those gallons milk when you get back to the North Pole at the beginning of Christmas?"
Another silence.
"Uuuh.... Not.... really, no," The Santa said.
"HA!" Calvin said, patting Hobbes on the shoulder. "You owe five dollars my friend!"
And with that, Calvin jumped off of the department store Santa's lap, and rushed off.
The elf and Santa exchanged glances.
"Well, that was weird...." The elf said, as the next kid came up.
"Well, did you tell Santa what you wanted for Christmas?" Mom asked, as Calvin ran up to her.
"Yep, but I just scanned the guy with MTM, and his DNA signature doesn't match Santa's! The guy's an imposter!"
"Well, yeah, Calvin, he's one of Santa's helpers," Mom explained, leading Calvin away.
"Why'd he dress up as Santa, then?" Calvin asked.
Mom paused.
"Because... it's in the Christmas spirit?" She replied.
"Ah, of course! How foolish of me!" Calvin said, snapping his fingers.
Mom rolled her eyes.
She and Calvin went out to the car, and got in.
"Yeah, I knew it wasn't Santa from the beginning," Hobbes said, buckling up. "He kept glancing over at the hot dog stand next to the platform."
"Well, it could be worse," Calvin said. "At least people don't dress up as the Easter Bunny around April."
Mom revved the car up, and started home.
"Well, all and all a successful trip," Calvin said, as he and Hobbes stepped out of the car into the snow.
"Yep," Hobbes nodded.
As Mom walked into the house, Hobbes stopped Calvin.
"Wait a minute, Calvin!" He yelled. "Would you mind doing something for me?"
Calvin paused.
"Sure. What do need?" He said finally.
"Uuuh... Stand here and tell me if there's a draft." Hobbes said pointing at a spot in the snow.
Silence.
"Hobbes. We're outside." Calvin said, finally. "You think maybe that has to do with your little 'draft'?"
"Well, do you feel any wind here?" Hobbes asked.
Calvin looked around.
"No, it's fairly calm, today." He replied.
"Well, I felt a gust of wind, and I just need to make sure you didn't rip a hole in reality, again." Hobbes shrugged.
Calvin snorted.
"Right, Hobbes. Like I'm going to fall for this," He sighed. "What do you take me for, anyway?"
Hobbes paused.
"Um..."
"You can come out, Socrates!" Calvin called. "I've caught on to your little game!" He turned back to Hobbes. "Really Hobbes. Is this the best you can do? You're asking me to stand there, so I'll get suspicious and avoid that spot at all costs. Which in turn will cause me to step somewhere else that rigged, and get soaked with pickle juice or some other disgusting liquid. I'm sorry Hobbes, but I've been duped one too many times to be fooled by that little gag."
Calvin stepped into the area that Hobbes told him to stand in.
"I really pity Socrates, Hobbes. I mean, I've been noticing that he's beginning to slip up, lately, and...."
SPLAAAASSH!!!!! "AAAAAAAAUGH!!!"
All at once over three gallons of Listerine mouthwash came falling from the sky, and hit Calvin square on his head.
Hobbes watched silently. An eerie clam filled Calvin's backyard. The kind of calm you'd expect right before the Earth blew up. Calvin stood dripping wet in the dirt. The Listerine having melted all the snow around him.
Socrates came walking up to Hobbes sipping on a cup of egg nog.
"Yo!" He grinned. "How goes it?"
"Calvin's angry, again." Hobbes replied.
"Great!" Socrates grinned. "Mission accomplished, buddy! Care for some egg nog?"
"Not really," Hobbes said, looking at the cup. "Raw eggs and all that."
"Oh, come on! Trust me on this!!" Socrates said, shoving another cup in Hobbes' paws.
Hobbes shrugged, and took the cup from Socrates.
"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!?!"
"Hmm, this isn't bad!" Hobbes nodded. "What's in it?"
"Bacon," Socrates replied.
"YOU'RE GETTING WORRIED!!! I CAN TELL!! I ALMOST DIDN'T FALL FOR IT THAT TIME!!!"
"Well, let's go watch Deck the Halls, shall we?" Hobbes suggested.
"Sounds lovely. Let us depart!" Socrates grinned.
And with that the two tigers walked off.
Calvin watched them in seething anger.
"I WISH I HAD NEVER MET EITHER ONE OF YOU!!!!" He screamed after them.
"Bacon, huh?" Hobbes asked, looking at the cup in his hands.
"Ah-yep!" Socrates grinned.
And they entered the house.
Calvin growled, and spun around.
He stormed off to the other side of the house. He didn't want to see Socrates or Hobbes at that moment.
He walked around to the back porch, sat down on it, and began doing the activity that he performs every time Socrates tricks him: Sulking.
"Stupid cats," He grumbled. "I can't believe I fell for that again. He's done that to me so many times in the past I keep falling for it! What am I doing wrong?!"
"Well for starters, he keeps switching his plans." Came a voice from beside Calvin.
Calvin leaped in surprise.
"AUNTIE 'EM!!!" He screamed, not knowing what else to say.
He collapsed in the snow, and stared in the general direction that the voice came from.
There was perfect replica of Calvin sitting on the porch beside where Calvin himself had just been. The only difference was that he was not wearing any winter clothes, but Calvin's usual attire of a red T-shirt and black pants.
He stared at Calvin for a long moment.
"You're a little high sprung," He observed.
"THE CLONES ARE LOOSE!!!" Calvin screamed.
"I'm not a clone," The other Calvin said.
"YES YOU ARE!!!"
"No I'm not," The other Calvin sighed.
Calvin looked the second him up and down.
"If your not a clone then that must mean you're a.... reality reflection! TWO UNIVERSES ARE COLLIDING!!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!"
"I'm not a reality reflection!" The second Calvin groaned.
"Then what are you?!" Calvin demanded.
"I'm your guardian angel." The second Calvin replied, holding his hand out. "The name's Jake!"
Calvin stared at the other Calvin for a long moment.
"OK, I'm going to go ask Socrates what he put in that Listerine," He said, finally turning around.
As soon as Calvin turned, he saw Jake standing right in front of him.
"GAH!!" Calvin yelled, falling backwards. He looked over to where Jake had just been sitting. It was now vacant.
"I'm here to grant your wish," Jake said.
Now Calvin was starting to get a little amused.
"What wish?" He demanded.
"You wished you had never met Hobbes or Socrates. I'm here to grant it for you. And in case you weren't listening. It's because he's switching his plans."
Calvin blinked.
"Wha.. What?" He demanded.
"Socrates will set up a booby trap and ask you to stand somewhere else, knowing you'll avoid that spot and stand where he set the trap up. Then he'll do it, again, except that time he'll put the trap where he asks you to stand. It's called psychology." Jake explained.
"No, it's called stupidity!" Calvin spat. "And what do you mean you're going to grant my wish? Is this another one of those stories with morals in it? Because if so...."
Jake snapped his fingers.
"There you go," He said. "You never met Socrates or Hobbes."
"Don't you give me that! I demand an explanation for this!" Calvin ordered.
"You'll get it," Jake said, turning and walking away.
Calvin leaped to his feet.
"Don't you walk away when I'm speaking to you! Hey! How much do they pay you for this?"
But Jake simply waved and disappeared around the side of the house.
Calvin quickly ran after him, only to discover that he had vanished, as soon as he rounded the corner.
"If you're my guardian angel then you have to know that I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE JUST GO AND VANISH ON ME, LIKE THAT!!!" He called.
No reply came.
Calvin grumbled, and walked off towards the front of the house.
He walked into the house.
"Hobbes, some creepy kid who looks like me is running around on our property, snapping his fingers. Would you come help me plug the hose in?"
Nobody replied to Calvin's request.
"Hobbes?" He asked, looking around.
"Ho boy, you're thick headed." Came a familiar voice.
Calvin leaped around.
"EVIL!!!" He screamed, jabbing a finger at Jake who was standing behind him with his arms crossed.
"I told you. I made it so you never met Hobbes!" Jake sighed.
"Calvin, what are you doing in here?" Came another voice from behind Calvin.
Calvin spun around.
Mom was standing in the doorway to the livingroom glaring at Calvin, suspiciously.
"Mom, there's some deranged freak who looks just like me who broke into our house!" Calvin yelled.
"What did you break, now, Calvin?" Mom sighed.
"I didn't break anything!" Calvin exclaimed. "He's the one to blame for everything that's wrong in the world."
He spun around.
Jake was gone.
Calvin spun back around.
Mom was staring at him, blankly with her arms crossed.
"You know what, just forget I said anything," Calvin said. "You can go ahead and disregard all previous statements made by me."
There was a pause.
"I'm going to go up to my room and talk to my closet door for a few minutes." Calvin said, finally.
And with that, he raced upstairs.
"What did he break?" Dad called from the livingroom.
"I don't know, yet." Mom said, turning back and going back. "We'll probably find out within the next couple of hours, I'm sure."
SLAM!!
Calvin burst into his bedroom and slammed the door.
"Jake! Where are you!" He demanded. "I demand you tell me what's going on here!"
"I don't know how many times I need to tell you," Jake sighed, who suddenly appeared on Calvin's bed, causing him to jump. "I granted your wish so that you never met Hobbes or Socrates."
"Yeah, I understand that part, St. Paul! But what I want to know is why?!"
"St. Paul?" Jake demanded.
"Oh, I'm sorry, can you think of a better name to call a smart elec angel?" Calvin demanded.
"St. Paul isn't a smart elec," Jake said.
"Yeah, well you are! So there!"
Jake rolled his eyes.
"Now, I demand that you tell me why you did this!!" Calvin ordered.
"The second you said that you wished you never had met them, you took both Hobbes and Socrates for granted." Jake said. "And that's not cool,"
"OK, so I spoke a little bit out of term," Calvin admitted. "That's no reason to go and change my life, is it?"
There was a moment's silence.
"Yyyes, it is," Jake nodded, finally.
"Why?!" Calvin demanded.
"One, because it's fun to see you react to all this, and two, because you need to learn not to take people in your life for granted. No matter how much you dislike them." Jake said.
"That's not fair!!!" Calvin yelled.
"It's extremely fair," Jake said. "You know, most guardian angels don't go through the trouble of teaching their clients these kind of lessons. You're one of the lucky ones."
Calvin stared at Jake in disbelief.
"Clients?!" He demanded.
"Sure. We're like lawyers, except we have souls and we know what's best for everyone." Jake shrugged.
Calvin stood there, totally shocked at what he was hearing.
Jake looked around Calvin's room.
"Anyway, when do you think the economy is going to get better?"
"You're enjoying this!" Calvin growled.
"Quite to the contrary," Jake said. "It's my job."
"Well, can you bring them back?!" Calvin asked.
"Nope,"
"Why not?!"
"Because the magic will only work again once you've learned your lesson. This is a very complex system we're running, here, kid."
Calvin growled, and stormed off towards his bedside desk.
"MTM! Teleport me to Socrates' mansion!" He ordered, opening his desk drawer where he kept the MTM.
He wasn't there.
"MTM?" Calvin asked.
He closed that drawer, and opened the next one.
That one was stuffed full of random clothes, but contained no CD player.
"MTM!!" Calvin yelled, getting impatient.
"He's over here," Jake said.
Calvin looking up.
Jake was pointing at Calvin's work desk on the other side of his bedroom. There sat the red CD player.
"Oh, thanks," Calvin said.
"Sure," Jake yawned.
Calvin ran up to the MTM.
"MTM, teleport me to Socrates' mansion, please." He said, picking the CD player up.
MTM didn't reply.
"MTM," Calvin said, his brow furrowing. "The mansion, please."
Silence
Calvin's expression darkened, and he opened the MTM up.
"This isn't the MTM!" He said, closing the player up. "There's no wires or interdimensional hard drive in this thing. This is just a CD player!"
"Mm-hmm," Jake nodded.
Calvin threw the CD player down.
"Where's the MTM?" He demanded, turning to Jake.
"He doesn't exist," Jake shrugged.
Calvin's expression remained blank.
"What?" He questioned.
"Since you never met Hobbes, you never developed any desire to go on any adventures. So you never made the MTM."
Calvin paused.
"Well... Well what about my other inventions? The Mini Duplicator, the Mega-Shrinker 5000, the Scream Horn...."
"Nope, you didn't make those, either." Jake said.
There was a pause.
"Have I learned my lesson, yet?" Calvin asked.
Jake sighed.
"Look, I'll take you to Socrates' mansion." He said.
"Condemned?!" Calvin yelled in shock, staring at the sign in the backyard of the mansion. The windows and doors of the great mansion where boarded up. "Why is this condemned?!"
"Well, since you never met Hobbes, Socrates never met Hobbes. And because of this, Socrates had no reason to want to stay here. So he convinced his owners to move back to California. And since nobody stays in this house more than six months, the realty office decided not to try and sell it, again. So it's coming down next week."
Calvin paused.
"Socrates used to live in California?" He demanded.
"What, you didn't know that?" Jake asked.
"Just an observation. Where is he living, now?"
"He's in LA, trying to get booked for a movie." Jake said. "He's having problems getting in, because neither the director nor the producer like him."
"That sounds about right." Calvin considered. He thought for a moment. "Wait, a minute, how long as Socrates wanted to be an actor?"
He turned and faced Jake. He had vanished, again.
Calvin's eyes narrowed.
"Oh, how I hate that," He growled.
He thought for a moment.
"Well, maybe Sherman would understand my predicament. I'll go see if he can suggest something." He decided.
And with that, he raced off towards Andy and Sherman's house.
Once he reached their house, he noticed that something was a bit off: There was no giant sophisticated satellite dish sitting on their roof.
"That's odd," Calvin observed, walking through the front gate.
He cautiously made his way up to the front door, and knocked.
There was a pause, then a tall man answered the door, which Calvin automatically recognized as Andy's father.
"Oh, hi!" Calvin grinned. "I never see you, here!"
Andy's Dad stared at Calvin.
"I live here," He said.
"That doesn't change the fact that I never see you in there," Calvin shrugged. "Anyway, is Andy present?"
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Andy's dad asked, raising his eyebrow.
"I'm Calvin," Calvin replied. "I'm a friend of Andy's. Remember, you, him, the hamster and I took down the villain Rupert Chill a while back!"
"You're a friend of Andy's?" Andy's dad began.
"Yep." Calvin grinned.
"Do you know that Andy and his hamster ran away four years ago and haven't lived here, since?" Andy's dad questioned.
Silence greeted these words.
"I did not know that, no...." Calvin said.
Andy's dad rolled his eyes, and closed the door.
"Hey, wait! I need to see your talking hamster!" Calvin yelled.
No reply came.
Calvin looked over his shoulder.
There was a man on the sidewalk staring at him, uneasily, as he walked past.
"Oh, like you've never seen a talking hamster, before!" Calvin spat.
The man gave him an odd look and disappeared behind a corner.
Calvin spun back around, again.
Jake was standing in front of him.
"GAH!!" Calvin screamed, tumbling backwards at his sudden appearance. "WOULD YOU QUIT DOING THAT?!?!"
"You are way too high strung," Jake shook his head.
"Where's Andy and Sherman?!" Calvin demanded.
"You never met Hobbes," Jake yawned. "So you never ran away from home with Hobbes and met Andy and Sherman at that abandoned school."
"Right, so what happened to them?" Calvin demanded.
Jake stared at Calvin for a moment.
"Best if you just forgot about them, Calvin," He said, finally.
"Oh, don't give me that!" Calvin groaned. "Just show me where they are!"
Jake sighed.
"Alright..." He said. "But please don't blame all this on me."
"You can expect me to." Calvin warned.
"Whatever," Jake said, "Come on. But I have to warn you. It isn't pretty."
"Taco Johns?" Calvin asked. "Why are we here?"
"This is where Andy is," Jake said. "He works here."
"What, he's a cashier? What's so terrible about that?"
"He's not a cashier." Jake said.
"Well, what is he?" Calvin demanded, turning to face Jake. Who had vanished again.
Calvin's eyes narrowed.
"This is getting very old." He grumbled, and he walked into the restaurant.
There weren't that many people there. Only like two or three tables were occupied with hungry costumers.
Calvin walked up to the front counter.
"May I help you?" asked the man behind the cash register.
"Yes, I'm here to see a Mr Andy." Calvin said, professionally.
"Andy who?" the cashier asked.
There was a pause.
"I don't really know." He began.
The man rolled his eyes.
"Wow, that's weird," Calvin said. "I've known the kid for four years, but I don't know what his last name is. I'll have to ask him."
"Alright, there's only one Andy here. I'll go get him." The man said, walking off.
"Thanks," Calvin grinned, staring over the top of the counter.
There was a pause.
Finally, Calvin saw Andy walking up. He was wearing an apron and had yellow latex gloves on.
"Yo, what do you need?" He asked, taking his gloves off.
Calvin stared in horror.
"Oh.... Oh god, no!" He moaned. "You're... You're a busboy?!?!"
Andy looked from side to side.
"Uuuh... yes?" He began.
Calvin threw his head back in despair.
"OH, SWEET GOD IN HEAVEN!! WHY?!?" He cried.
"Do I know you?" Andy asked, his brow furrowing.
Calvin looked back down.
"Yes, yes, you do! Andy, it's me! Calvin!" He said, desperately.
"Calvin... Calvin... doesn't ring a bell," Andy said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Yes, it does! You and I fought off the Teacher Creature!"
"Who's that? A band?" Andy asked.
Calvin stared at Andy in disbelief. Then he noticed something was a bit off.
"Where's Sherman?!" He asked, looking around. "You never don't have Sherman with you!"
"How do you know about Sherman?!" Andy demanded.
"Because you always have him with you!!!" Calvin shouted, hysterically.
"Sssh, quiet! People are looking over at us!" Andy shushed, looking over his shoulders. "Listen kid, I've never met you in my life. I'm sorry."
"Quiz me!" Calvin said, crossing his arms.
"What?!" Andy questioned.
"Ask me something about yourself!" Calvin said, raising his eyebrows. "If I get it wrong, I'll leave. If I get it right, you tell me where Sherman is, because I need to talk to him."
Andy looked Calvin up and down.
"What school do I go do?"
"You're home schooled," Calvin said, without hesitation.
"What do I like to do with my free time?"
"Play video games."
"What's Sherman like?"
"He's an egotistical little genius who can talk and somehow manages to afford a laboratory under your house,"
"What's my social security number?"
Calvin stared at Andy, blankly.
"I see you still retained your twisted sense of humor, even though reality has been tampered with." He sighed.
"Ah well, best three out four," Andy shrugged.
There was a moment of silence.
"So," Calvin said. "Where's Sherman?"
"I don't know," Andy said, sadly. "I had to sell him when I ran away."
"YOU WHAT?!?" Calvin demanded.
"I'm living in an apartment on the edge of town, and they have a strict 'no pets' policy." Andy sighed. "I sold him to a couple who was moving down to California. Elliot, I think his name was."
Calvin's eyes bulged.
"Oooh... That poor hamster," He moaned, knowing exactly who Andy was talking about.
"Yeah, I really don't want to talk about it." Andy said.
There was a moment of silence.
"I need to get back to work," Andy said, finally. "It was nice to meet you, Calvin."
And with that, Andy turned and walked away, leaving Calvin to his own thoughts.
"Wait a minute..." He started. "How the heck can you afford to live in an apartment?"
As he walked out the front door, Calvin saw Jake sitting in the snow in the driveway.
"Jambo," he said, cheerfully.
"They just let anybody become guardian angels these days!" Calvin complained, trudging through the snow past Jake.
Jake rolled his eyes.
"You know this is for your own good." He said.
"NO!" Calvin said, finally losing his temper and spinning around to face Jake. "It is NOT for my own good! Look at this! You took Hobbes out of my life, and because of it, none of my inventions exist, Andy's not living with his parents and working at a Taco Johns and Sherman is being put through God knows what in California with Socrates! I don't even know where Hobbes is through all this!"
"He's in the wild. Never been caught," Jake shrugged.
"You've made all of our lives miserable, just because I never met Hobbes!" Calvin cried. "I never met him!"
"Nope," Jake shook his head. "Never did."
"And of course, you don't care!" Calvin shouted. "It's no skin off your back! It's just another day for you!!"
"Yep, more or less," Jake nodded.
"I can't believe you!" Calvin shouted, turning away, and burying his face in his hands.
"Hmm?" Jake asked.
"Life is absolutely miserable without Hobbes or Socrates!" Calvin wailed. "and I just want it to go back to the way it used to be."
At this, Jake's eyebrows jumped.
"Oh, but NOOOOO, I can't have them back until I learn my lesson!! Alright, fine! I'll just go home and sit in my Hobbesless house and suffer!" Calvin yelled, throwing his arms into the air.
He spun back around to where Jake was.
He had disappeared.
Calvin's eyes narrowed.
"Fine, then!" He yelled, angrily. "So you're going to do that, again?! Doesn't bother me any!"
Meanwhile, a few feet away, an overweight man with a moustache walked past Taco Johns. He spotted a small six year old boy yelling at a melted patch of snow.
"Mmm-hmmmm," The man said, walking a little faster.
Calvin's walk home was a slow one.
He hung his head sadly, feeling sorry for himself as he walked up to his house.
He went up to the door, and tried the handle. It was locked.
Calvin's eyes rolled skyward.
He stepped back and reached under the mat, where he pulled out a spare key. He unlocked the door, and walked inside.
"Mom, Dad? I'm back," He said, sadly.
He walked into the livingroom.
Hobbes and Socrates were sitting on the couch, watching a Christmas special.
Calvin took no notice to them, and moped his way over to the couch and climbed onto it.
Hobbes looked over at him.
"Hey, Calvin," He said, between bites of popcorn.
"Hi," Calvin grumbled, not yet registering who he was talking to.
"Is there something wrong?" Hobbes asked.
"Nothing you would understand," Calvin said, grumpily.
"Try me," Hobbes said.
"Well, I made a wish that I had never met you and some stupid little guardian angel came up and..." Calvin paused. He looked up at Hobbes. He looked over at Socrates. He looked back at Hobbes.
"HOBBES!!!!" Calvin screamed in delight, throwing himself over Hobbes.
"GACK!!" Hobbes yelled in shock. "Socrates! He's got me in a headlock!!"
"Wait! Wait! Hold on! I love this part!!" Socrates laughed, pointing at the screen.
"Thocrateth!!" Hobbes yelled in a garbled voice, as Calvin continued to hug him so hard that he couldn't breath.
"Oh very well. Calvin, get off of him," Socrates said, turning to Hobbes.
"Buzz off, Cat!" Calvin growled.
"Whatever," Socrates said, turning back to the screen.
"Oh, Hobbes, I'm so glad to see you!!" Calvin yelled in joy, as he let go of Hobbes.
"You saw me just a couple minutes ago!" Hobbes gasped, pulling away. "And Socrates and I had just pranked you!"
"I don't care!" Calvin grinned, pulling Hobbes into another hug. "You and Socrates can prank me as much as you want to!"
"WE CAN?!?!" Socrates shouted, hysterically, turning his head to Calvin so fast that his neck cracked.
"If you come anywhere near me," Calvin warned, holding his fist up.
Socrates shrugged and turned back to the screen.
"Uuuh.. Calvin," Hobbes began.
"Yeah, ol' buddy?" Calvin asked.
"Did I miss something?"
"Yes, Hobbes, you've missed a lot of somethings." Calvin said. "Don't do it, anymore. And don't ever leave! Got it?"
Hobbes cut his eyes from side to side.
"Erm.... Sure..."
"Promise?"
"Sure, I promise," Hobbes shrugged.
"Good." Calvin nodded.
"What about me?" Socrates grinned, looking over at Calvin. "What do you think of me?!"
"Go stick your head in a jet engine!" Calvin spat.
"Whatever," Socrates shrugged, turning back to the TV.
After the movie was over, Calvin, Hobbes, and Socrates all gathered around the Christmas tree and examined their presents, trying to find out what they were. After much note taking and estimations, darkness fell, and Socrates had to leave for home.
As Calvin and Hobbes walked up towards bed, Calvin spotted something at the bottom of the stairs. It was Jake. He was sitting in the chair in the livingroom.
He smiled up at Calvin and winked.
Calvin smiled, and followed Hobbes into the bedroom.
"Merry Christmas," He whispered, as he turned out the light.
The End