"Sideshow Mel!" Bart said. "I know, I know. I should be at school. But I skipped. Seeing all the kids there looking sad would just remind me that Krusty died."

Mel, upon hearing this, had a faraway look in his eyes, as if Krusty were walking down the street just then. "I see… Well, it… just isn't worth it. When someone dies, people are going to be sad. You can't avoid it, and… skipping school won't help."

"Are you sure?"

"More people miss Krusty than just kids, you know."

Mel looked away, because tears were beginning to form in his left eye. "I miss him too. And it worries me that you miss him like this. As if he were a part of your family or something."

"Krusty was my idol, and watching his show was part of my daily routine. A huge part of my life is missing now that he's dead." Bart paused, looking sad. When he continued, it had changed to anger. "It was all Sideshow Bob's fault from the very start. He claims that Krusty drove him insane, but we all know that he was the one who wanted to work for Krusty-!"

"No, he wasn't."

"What?"

"He didn't want to work for Krusty. His brother did. Krusty just thought that Bob was funnier. So you can't blame Bob for that."

"…Yes I can. If he didn't like it, he should have quit."

"I suppose you're right…"

"And what about when he tried to kill me? I never did anything that bad, did I? And when he tried to kill Aunt Selma… She didn't even do anything remotely wrong! There was no excuse that time, not even the lamest ones you could pull out of your ass. He even tried to destroy the entire town, even though almost all of those people never did anything wrong. He's a monster, Mel. He's a horrible monster! I feel like… killing him."

"No, please don't say that. He… He doesn't deserve to die."

"Neither did Krusty, but he still did."

There was a long pause before either of them said anything. Finally Mel spoke up, "We share a feeling about Krusty that I don't think other people have. What is your name?"

"I'm Bart… you know, the one that Sideshow Bob is out to get?"

"Yes, I know… well, if you're going to skip school… I guess I can't persuade you to go back, can I?"

"I'm just going to stay out of school all day long."

"Then, you might as well have fun on your day off. I know a good park, it's fun for exploring…"

"Could you show me the way there?"

"I guess so…"

They walked past Moe's Tavern, past King Toot's Music Shop, past many other buildings and streets. Bart saw his house from where they were.

"This place isn't very far from home," he commented.

"You could probably get here from your own house once you know where it is."

"But right now I don't have a clue."

"Well, do you see that forest?"

Mel pointed in the distance past Evergreen Terrace. Forested area spread across behind a back row of houses. There was a tall monument poking out from the treetops.

"I've never noticed that before… Is the park by the monument?"

"Yes, it's just past there. It looks pretty far away now, but it actually isn't. It's really only three blocks from here; the houses are actually getting smaller. From their point of view, the houses all look the same size."

"That's so weird."

"Well, I've told you where the park is… My work here is done."

Mel turned to leave, but Bart stopped him. "Wait, Mel… will you walk to the park with me? I want people to think I'm with an adult so that they won't get suspicious of me cutting school."

"Well, I'm sure I can do that."

As they walked to the park, Mel asked, "What is it about me, that you want me to accompany you at all times?"

"Well," replied Bart, "I just want to stay on your good side. I mean, Sideshow Bob was a performer for Krusty, and he's trying to kill me. So I figured that Krusty's performers must be really fragile, like anything going wrong could break them. I wondered if you were the same way, because you've been on longer than Bob had."

"I might be, but for me it isn't quite the same. I wouldn't… kill… anyone. I sometimes cry easily, but I would never… go crazy…"

Or maybe I would, he thought. Maybe Bob was right, all along… No! He's killed a person I held dear, and I held him dear for a reason! He was wrong about Krusty, and he was wrong about me.

"Well, either way," Bart continued, "I think you're a good guy, and you really like Krusty, so… I figured we could be friends."

"Thank you…"

They arrived at the park and noticed something different about it. Although the monument was still there, the rest of it was under construction for a new Costington's.

"Now this is something I did not expect," Mel said. "This sort of throws a wrench in our plans, doesn't it."

"Wait! I know a fun thing we could do! Do you have a cell phone?"

"Yes, I do, but what--"

"Can I borrow it?"

"Alright…"

Bart began dialing the phone. On the other end, a raspy voice responded, "Moe's Tavern."

"Yes, hello, uh, I'd like to speak to Moesha. Last name, Gayegai? Have you seen Moesha?"

"Hold on… Moesha Gayegai? Does anybody know Moesha Gayegai?"

The people around the bar started cracking up. Barney stated, "Looks like our pal Moe is finally coming out of the closet!"

"What?" Moe then said the name slowly in his head. Moesha Gayegai. Moe… is… a…. gay… guy. "Aw crap!! Listen, you little sick freak! If I ever find out who you are, I'm going to bash in your head with a rake and serve your brains as peanuts!!"

Bart began laughing his head off. Mel was concerned. "How many death threats has he given to you?"

"Too many to count, but he hasn't got the guts to carry out any of them."

"You know, you really should be more careful around people like him. You wouldn't dare do that to Sideshow Bob, would you?"

"Well, no, but Sideshow Bob is a heartless lunatic. He wouldn't care that I'm just a little boy, in fact he would be happy to do the things Moe says he'll do."

"Good point. …Oh! I know what we could do. I remember there's a pit near the school, it's very deep and very muddy… and if anyone asks where you've been, you can just say you fell in, and no one will know."

"Wow… I never noticed that before."

The pit was a thick, bubbly mess. Mud was about three feet deep, like a brown, nasty swimming pool.

"Cool!" Bart exclaimed, jumping in the muck. He threw some mud up at Mel, the force of which caused him to lose his balance and fall in the sludge pit as well.

"Oh, dear…" Mel sighed, mud in his hair and clothes. "This will never wash out!"

"That's the fun of it!"

"Are you sure? Or is the fun of it… THIS?" Mel shouted playfully, throwing a pile of mud at Bart's face.

"Eww! It landed in my mouth!"

They played for hours before deciding to get out. "Uh-oh, looks like the bus is leaving. See you later Mel."

"Whoa, Bart dude," said Otto, "how'd you get so muddy??"

"Well, I was trying to get to class but I fell in a pit full of mud."

As Bart sat down, no one else wanted to sit next to him. He was all right with this though, because he knew that it was the start of a beautiful friendship.