Disclaimer, I don't own The Raccoons

Susan, Roman and Richard are my characters

David belongs to jeh517

Enjoy

Chapter 2

Things Get Worse

As Ralph was arriving at the Standard Office, he looked at the lake and thought about everything that had just happened.

"Why me," he grumbled. "I try and I fail." He looked at his wedding ring and sighed. "Sometimes I wonder how we even got married. Her parents didn't even come to our wedding."

He sat on the dock staring at the sunset. "I don't know if I even want to go back home again."

After sitting there for an hour, he realised his back was getting sore. He stood up and walked towards George and Nicole's. "Maybe they can cheer me up."

He knocked on the door. Nicole answered it. "Ralph," she said surprised. "Where ave you been? We were worried about you."

Ralph looked past her without answering and spotted Mellissa, who walked up to him and stepped outside.

"I'll leave you 2 alone," said Nicole, as she closed the door.

"Where were you?" Mellissa asked harshly.

"I was down at the Standard Office, thinking," answered Ralph.

"Oh really? What about?"

"About everything. Why would you bring George and Nicole into this?"

"They're our relatives and they haven't met my parents yet," answered Mellissa.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll get along famously. Why don't you just go and visit them by yourself? I'll get some peace."

"Ralph Raccoon, those are my parents you're talking about. And weather you realise it or not I still love them. They're some of the sweetest people on Earth. And I don't think you understand that." Mellissa then stormed off towards the Raccoondominium.

Ralph felt guilty. "Mellissa wait. I'm sorry." He tripped over a root and groaned. "All right then. I'll just spend the weekend at the office. And the sooner they leave the better."

"Is everything okay?" asked George.

"Everything's fine George."

"Trouble with the In-Laws huh?" said George raising an eyebrow.

"You might say that," said Ralph, as George helped him up.

"Maybe you should go home and talk to them. Try to make peace."

Ralph looked at his brother like he was crazy. "Are you kidding?" he asked annoyed. "Her parents hate me. They didn't even come to our wedding and they've hated me since I met them."

"Suit yourself," said George. "But if you want to keep your wife happy, you should at least try."

"Just leave me alone. They'd all be better off without me. It's how her parents would like it."

George was upset with his brother. He was about to argue some more, but thought better of it. Ralph could be very stubborn sometimes. He just groaned, waved his hand angrily and headed home.

Ralph returned to the Standard Office and stepped inside. He looked around at the empty place and flopped in his chair. Work was his only refuge. "No wonder I'm such a workaholic. It helps me escape, when I need a break from reality."

He got up again and started oiling the press and filling the ink wells. As he worked he noted how angry his family was with him.

He sighed and shook his head. "Maybe I was right. They'd all be better off without me. I wish I was never born."

A nut from the ink pad landed beside him followed by the pad itself hitting him on the head. "Owwwwwwww," he groaned as he crashed to the floor.

When Ralph came too, he rubbed his throbbing head. "Oh what happened?" he asked looking around. All he could see was white.

"Hello is anybody there?"

"Yes I'm here," said a man's voice.

Ralph turned to the sound and spotted a male raccoon, about his age, walking towards him. He looked like Ralph, only taller and was wearing a light grey, long sleeved shirt.

"Who are you and where am I?" asked a confused Ralph.

"My name is Richard. I'm your guardian angel," he answered extending his paw.

"Huh," said Ralph, as he reluctantly shook Richard's paw. "Am I dreaming?"

"Not at all," said Richard. "You wished you were never born and it came true."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Ralph, as he stood up.

"You heard me," said Richard. "Take my hand and I'll show you the Evergreen Forest."

"Why?" asked Ralph. "I already live there."

"No you don't," answered Richard. "You were never born."

He took Ralph by the hand and they flew off. "WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA," shouted Ralph. "Put me down. I hate flying."

"Relax," said Richard. "You're going to be just fine."

Ralph looked down and saw a place he didn't recognize. "Where is this?"

"The Evergreen Forest," answered Richard.

"This isn't the Evergreen Forest," said Ralph. "It's a city, and a horrible one too."

"It is the Evergreen Forest," said Richard. "Just what it looks like without you."

"Me?" said Ralph, surprised.

"That's right. You were never born, so Cyril Sneer was able to cut down the forest and build a new city."

"But what about Bert, Mellissa, Cedric and Schaeffer? They still could've stopped all this," said Ralph.

"Not without you they couldn't," said Richard. "Look over there."

Ralph looked and saw a massive dome shaped building, where Evergreen Lake should've been. He read the sign above the front door. "Cyril Dome? But we won that hockey game against his bears. It was Cedric who scored 3 goals and Bert who scored the winning goal. I was just on the team."

"You're right," answered Richard. "But without you that team never came together."

"It was Bert who made that bet with Cyril," said Ralph. "Not me."

Richard didn't answer.

Ralph suddenly spotted Sophia coming out of Cyril Dome. She had lost her chance at the Olympics. "I'll never speak to Cedric Sneer again. He and his father are such jerks."

Richard flew off with Ralph. They arrived in another forest and landed near a large tree. Ralph looked through the window.

"Hey it's Bert." He saw Bert watching TV and eating peanut butter sandwiches. He'd gained weight and didn't look very happy.

"What's he doing here?"

"Simple," answered Richard. "He got tired of his life in the new city and decided to leave and find a new forest, but he wasn't able to make any new friends. And now he's working a dead end job and has no one. He still sees his parents, but they don't get along so well anymore. He had moved out here just before Cyril decided to build the Cyril Dome and Mellissa never returned to the forest, so the team never came together to win against his bears."

"But what about Cedric?"

Richard took Ralph by the hand again and flew back in the direction of the Evergreen Forest. When they got there, they landed at Sneer Mansion, which was even larger and had plenty of guards and security cameras.

"Where is this?" asked Ralph.

"Sneer Mansion," answered Richard. "Don't you recognize the statues?"

Ralph looked at them. They were the only things that looked the same. "Yes," he answered. "But why hasn't anyone taken us to see Cyril?"

"They can't see or hear us," said Richard. He flew Ralph into the mansion. It looked very elegant. Much nicer than before.

"Wow," said Ralph looking around.

They landed in the vault, which was larger and held at least 3 times more money. They saw Cedric sitting at the table working an accounting machine and Cyril walking around the table.

Cyril looked meaner, as did Cedric. "CEDRIC. 2000 barrels of oil for Mammoth. What's that worth?"

"$2,000,000 pop," Cedric answered in a mean voice.

"What happen to Cedric?" asked Ralph. "He's normally so nice."

"Because Cyril cut down the forest, built this city and took over Beaver Bite Swamp, Cyril's got him so wrapped up in work and stressed out, that he barely had any time for Bert anymore. And with Cedric becoming so mean and nasty, they just stopped being friends and Bert got fed up with it and left the forest," answered Richard.

"What about Schaeffer and Mellissa? Aren't they still around?"

Once again Richard took Ralph by the hand and flew out of the mansion. When they landed again, they saw the Blue Spruce Café. It looked different though. It was rundown and they could hear yelling. An aardvark Ralph didn't recognize came running out laughing, being chased by Schaeffer. "DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU AROUND HERE AGAIN," shouted Schaeffer, shaking his fists. "That's the 10th one today that left without paying their bill. Maybe if Cyril actually spent money on a police force, this wouldn't happen so much. I should just make everyone pay their bill right after they order, like fast food places do." He groaned and shook his head as he went back inside. He looked thinner and mean.

"He can't afford to have anyone on hand with all the business he loses to those criminals," said Richard.

Ralph jumped. He almost forgot about Richard standing next to him. "Where's Mellissa? Is she okay?"

Once again they were flying. They flew out of the forest and landed in Vancouver. "Mellissa lives here?" asked Ralph as they landed in front of a small house. "Why did she leave the forest?"

"Don't you remember? She moved out here with her family when you guys were teenagers. This is where she met Troy Malone. But because you were never born, she didn't return to the forest after she moved out of her parent's house."

"You mean it's because of me she moved back?" asked a surprised Ralph.

"That was one reason," said Richard. "The other was she missed the forest, but with it cut down and replaced with that city, she didn't want to come back."

Ralph looked through the window and saw Mellissa sitting at the table drinking tea. She was wearing a wedding ring, but it wasn't the same one Ralph had given her. She didn't look happy. Troy was sitting at the table with her and was talking about his missions. He too was wearing a wedding ring. Mellissa sighed. "That's nice Troy," she grumbled after hearing these stories a million times.

"Hey come on babe," said Troy. "Don't you want to hear about your big hero?"

Mellissa rolled her eyes.

"I've seen enough," said Ralph.

They flew back to the forest.

"What about George and Nicole? And Bentley and Lisa are they okay?"

They landed in front of George and Nicole's house. It was the same, but not inside.

When Ralph looked in the window, he saw George and Nicole, but they didn't look so happy. He could hear them arguing and it was about the kids and many other problems.

"Where's Bentley?" asked Ralph. "And why are they arguing about him?"

Richard flew Ralph over to Evergreen Elementary. The school was now massive, but a bit rundown and had some mean looking kids. When they landed they saw Bentley in the schoolyard, trying to type on his computer and the other kids making fun of him.

"What happened to Bentley?"

"After Bert moved away he never had a reason to come for a visit," answered Richard. "As a result he never met Bert and Cedric, nor did he learn the importance of playing games and having fun. He also never made any friends and his grades are poor."

One of the kids suddenly grabbed Bentley's computer and smashed it on the ground.

"HEY," said Bentley. "I GOT THAT FOR MY BIRTHDAY." He started to cry, as the other kids laughed even more. Bentley suddenly jumped on the one that broke his computer and started punching him.

"HEY HEY," shouted one of the teachers. It was Miss Primrose. She yanked Bentley off. "YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. Now you tell him you're sorry."

Bentley folded his arms and looked away. "NO," he shouted. "He can pay for my computer first."

"That's it. You've got a half hour detention tonight."

"But he broke my computer," argued Bentley.

Miss Primrose took him and the other kid by the collars and led them to the principle's office.

Ralph shook his head in disbelief. "I'm afraid to see what's happened to Lisa," he said.

Richard flew Ralph to the city. When they landed again they were in front of an apartment building.

"Why are we here," asked Ralph.

Richard flew him up to the 3rd floor and landed on a balcony. When Ralph looked through the sliding doors, he couldn't believe what he saw.

There was Lisa sitting on the couch, smoking a cigarette and looking older. She was also heavier. There was a man sitting next to her, Ralph didn't recognize. There was also a cat with blue fur, who was also smoking.

"What's she doing and why is she smoking?" asked a shocked Ralph.

"Because you were never born, Bert moved away from the forest, so she never met him and as a result she never got over moving to the forest. When Donna, that blue furred cat came to the forest for a visit, she pressured Lisa into smoking and she never stopped. Lisa then moved back to the city after she graduated. It's amazing she did, considering how her grades also got poor after moving to the forest," explained Richard.

"Who's that guy?" asked Ralph.

"That's her old boyfriend. His name is David."

"She had a boyfriend before moving to the forest?" asked Ralph.

"Yes, but it was never serious. And looking at them now it's likely things aren't going to work out for them," said Richard. "She also developed a bad attitude and you can see David doesn't look happy."

Richard was right. David looked depressed and was on the verge of walking out on Lisa.

Ralph started to cry. "I can't take it anymore. Get me out of here. I take it back. I want to be born. My family, my wife, my friends they all need me. And I need them. Please make this stop."