I stood up wiping the dust from my clothes. I proudly looked at the now gleaming picture frames. I was finally finished with my chores. I returned the cleaning cloth and spray to their proper places before checking in on Shaggy. He was hovering above the table still looking through the yearbook. He had this far away, wistful look on his face. I figured he was reliving memories. I didn't want to disturb him so I went up to my room. I dropped into my desk chair causing it to roll backward. I pulled myself to the desk and opened my laptop. I went straight to Google and searched the town. In the archives section of the website, I found what I was looking for.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF LOCAL TEEN. The headline screamed. I skimmed the arrival my brain working to compare this information to what had really occurred. The arrival claimed that Shaggy had gone out on his nightly jog and gotten lost and eaten by bears in the nearby woods. It, in all honesty, sounded plum crazy to me. The arrival went on to state that the police were looking into it. I wrote this down in a spare notebook and shoved it into my school bag. I exited the website intent on doing homework now. After all, math wasn't going to do itself. I focused on the equations in front of me mentally noting that the music box had begun to play. I found the twinkling melody relaxing, however, I was still struggling with homework. It was as I threw my paper at the wall that I finally noticed Shaggy had entered with the yearbook levitating beside him.
"What's wrong Diana?"
"Oh, nothing just homework,"
"There's one thing I don't miss," Shaggy laughed while letting the yearbook drop to my bed.
"It is rather annoying," I agreed picking up my fallen paper.
"My friend Velma used to spend hours tutoring me and even then I had trouble grasping it,"
"That's me when math is concerned," I laughed while moving to my bed.
"I used to count the minutes before school ended. When the final bell rang I'd run to beat my friends to the malt shop. When I got there we'd sit in the booth closest to the window and discuss possible cases. Sometimes we'd just sit and talk about school or about weekend plans,"
As Shaggy told me this he had that far away look in his eyes. How he must've missed these things. I wanted to help. I wanted to help so badly.
Before going to sleep that night I printed the news article and wrote down what Shaggy had told me. I fell back onto my pillows with a sigh. This mystery of mine just kept getting deeper and deeper but also more interesting. I turned and listened to the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock. It was peaceful. As I snuggled up with my worn-out teddy bear Shaggy floated in.
"You know my sister used to sleep with a bear too," he commented.
"She did?"
"Yes, she called it Bon Bon," Shaggy chuckled.
"That's a cute name,"
"I thought so too,"
Shaggy floated up through the ceiling for a moment before returning with a box.
"What's that?"
"My family left some things behind when they left,"
The box floated over to me. I turned on my bedside lamp to better see what was inside it. In the soft light of the lamp, Shaggy wasn't as bright but he was still there. Slowly I eased the ancient tape of the box before lifting the lid in curiosity. Inside the box were things that appeared to have belonged to Shaggy's sister. Namely a few yellowed books, a picture of her and Shaggy and Bon Bon.
"I've been protecting these things for years hoping that she might return to claim them but clearly she's never coming," Shaggy explained sadly.
"oh"
"You can have them if you'd like."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes,"
I looked at the old bear that rested in the box. He was a nice chubby-looking bear with cream colored fur and a red satin ribbon tied around his neck. I lifted the bear out of the box surprised to find it was still quite soft. I set the lid back on the box and moved the box to the floor beside the bed leaving the old bear beside me. I looked at Shaggy who smiled in approval before fading away. I turned out the lamp and drifted off to sleep.