Chapter 5

Plan for Change

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

The sound of a grandfather clock tracking time was the only thing audible inside the small house. It was naturally silent and peaceful, with no sounds of violence to be heard. Inside the front-end of the house was the living room, which was nicely arranged with furniture. There was also the sleeping body of the Stranger, sitting down and leaning his back against a white sofa, and had dry blood and dirt all over his grey fur, along with the darkness of ashes. As he laid and slept against the sofa, he started to twitch and mumble to himself. As he continued to mumble, his twitching movements began to get worse, and started to breathe a little faster. He was having another nightmare.

Inside his head, the Stranger was standing in the middle of complete darkness once again. Like his first vision, there was no sign of life, nor anything that could emit light. Suddenly, a grey fog started to form, and surrounded the Stranger at his place. The Stranger looked around as the fog began to move in to him, and focused his hearing as he believed he could hear the whispers from someone.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

The whispers began to rise in volume, and were beginning to move closer onto the Stranger.

"Are you here to help me? What do you want? You need to speak up."

What the hell do you think you're doing, Stranger?!

It was the voice of the mad man. He was speaking to him through his dream. "What do you think I'm doing?"

What you're doing is messing with the rules. Stranger, you have no relation to these people and have no need to interfere with their lives. They have their rules that they must live by and your actions are breaking them.

"Well I don't give two-shits about your rules. They should not have to live by your sick, twisted and fucked up rules! In fact, they should not have to do anything you have to say. So if it means that I must go in to help them, then I'll do it."

Well, look what you have done, Stranger. When you tried to help them, you got them all killed. I bet even that red porcupine died because of your actions. You should have left them Stranger. You should ignore the entire situation and never attempt to save them again.

"Why are you so mad about what I am doing? Why is my attempt of helping others getting you so pissed off?"

Because this is my world and I want it to work the way I want it to. You're making my work harder when I try to get these people to follow the rules of this world whenever you go off to help them. Just stop doing it and go back to your original life as the loner that you always were and will always be.

The Stranger stood still, looking down in thought. Then he looked back up with a determined look on his face. "No…"

What? What did you say to me?!

"No, I don't have to live by that life. You don't control me. I have my own awareness, I have my own life, and I can do whatever I damn well please. You can't stop me."

Stranger, stop and think who you're fighting with here. I am an almighty god! I created this world and I control everything that happens. I can kill you right now if I wanted to, and destroy this entire world with a push of a button. You're trying to play a dangerous game here, Stranger, and I assure you that you can't win!

"Well then, we will just have to wait and see then, won't we?"

The voice went silent for a bit, then returned with a sound of anger.

Okay, Stranger, fine. If you want to be this way, then I'll play this game with you. I'll bet it will be fun until the end. But remember Stranger, for you to even achieve your goal, to even have the slightest glimpse of obtaining victory, you still have to save these people, every single one, a task that I know you will never succeed. Oh, and, before I let you go, let me show you what I can do. Watch at what I can create and what you'll be up against. And I can't wait to get started.

As the voice left the Stranger, the fog disappeared, and revealed an army of generic Tree Friends, all of them wielding sharp knives and dawning a face of evil. The Stranger looked around and saw that there was hundreds of them, moving slowly onto his position. The Stranger had no one to assist him, so the only thing he could do is brace himself for a fight, and went into a defensive position.

"Alright then, assholes, let's go!"

As the Stranger ran straight towards the army of evil Tree Friends, they all made a battle cry and charged into the Stranger, swinging their knives onto him.

DING, DING, DING!

The Stranger instantly woke up from the sound of the grandfather clock activating its alarm. The sound shook his entire body after waking up from another terrible vision. The Stranger was breathing at a fast pace, trying to calm down after the sudden wake-up call.

The Stranger looked over and noticed the clock, which read 9:00. Looking outside, he knew that it was in the morning. The Stranger then slowly lowered his body and calmed down his breathing, seeing that he was still alive and safe. A sudden shock of pain then hit him on his right side, and reached over to hold on to it. He looked at his furry grey body to see black ash and large amounts of dry blood covering his body, and noticed the dark bruises on his leg and side. He began to recall yesterday's events at the tower, and how he barely escaped with his life. He was lucky to be alive.

A pain now appeared on his left arm, and he looked over to notice a large number of red quills covering his entire forearm. The spikes were slightly deep into the skin, and small trails of blood were running down his arm. He was confused at first, wondering where he could have obtained these quills. "Damn, how the hell did I get this on me?" It only took a few seconds when it finally hit him.

"Flaky!"

The Stranger quickly got up and turned around to look at the sofa he was leaning against. But when he observed the white sofa, there was nothing. No blood, no dirt, no Flaky. There was no indication that Flaky was there hurt last night. The Stranger did not want to accept it, but he made a final and dreadful conclusion: Flaky had died and is now revived outside in the world. He failed to save him. Even through all the hard work and determination, he still failed in the end.

Disappointed at yet another failed attempt at saving another person, the Stranger sat back down, and placed his hands on his face. The voice was right. How could he ever save these people? No matter what he tried, no matter how hard he fought, he always failed. He could not even save just one simple person. What was worse was that it was his fault once more. If he just went down the stairs himself, he would not have gotten the people killed by his hands, and rather let them die naturally. He placed false hope into their heads that they could have survived, and he failed to deliver on that promise.

"How? How am I going to do this? If I can't save one person from death, how will I-"

The Stranger stopped speaking as he heard a noise. His eyes widen as he sharply turned his head to look at the ceiling. It was the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs. Someone else was in the house with the Stranger. He got up slowly and peeked around the corner of the living room, looking in to see a small kitchen. He waited to see the person to make their appearance. After a couple of seconds waiting anxiously, the Stranger finally got to see a glimpse of the person. It was a red porcupine, walking slowly with a nervous yet happy smile. Could it be?

The Stranger walked around the corner and limped to the kitchen, looking at Flaky with confusion. He then raised his hand to greet him. "Flaky, is that-?"

Flaky greeted the Stranger with a loud scream, jumping back which shook some of his flakes out of his red quills. The Stranger was startled and moved back, confused at what he was screaming at. He looked around sharply trying to find what could have scared him. He then remembered his appearance, which still had the large stains of dry blood, plus the red quills sticking out of his left arm. He must have looked like a serial killer about to kill him.

"Oh, I'm sorry about my appearance here. You see, you and I, we were at a tower, you see, and it fell down due to a large explosion. You ended up getting a large metal pole in your abdomen so I had to pull it out, which left a giant hole, so I had to take you home and patch you up. When I got you home, I placed you in the living room sofa and I went and performed a medical..."

The Stranger stopped speaking as he looked at the body of Flaky. The Stranger noticed that there was no stitches or scars. Flaky was completely clean and walking with no injuries whatsoever. The Stranger felt it was definitely clear enough now to accept the fact that Flaky must have died last night. If there were no more wounds, then he must have died and was revived, receiving an entire new body that was perfectly clean of injuries, and a new mind that had no memories of the past.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." The Stranger slowly walked backwards, looking down at the floor. "You probably don't remember any of this do you? You've probably forgot all of it, haven't you? All of this must sound like complete nonsense to you, isn't it?""

The Stranger observed Flaky for a short time, and noticed that he pointed to his abdomen and nodded his head. The Stranger stopped moving backwards and walked forward once more.

"Wait... Do you remember last night?" The Stranger asked Flaky, curious at what he was just seeing, in which he received a nod. The Stranger went into shock, amazed at what he was just seeing.

"So you remember the tower falling down and killing everyone?"

Flaky nodded.

"And you remember me running with you down the tower and getting the metal pole out of your abdomen?"

Flaky nodded again.

"And you remember me taking you home and patching you up? Everything?!"

Flaky quickly nodded once more.

The Stranger stood confused, thinking about the situation. Flaky must have survived the operation last night. What's even more surprising is that he remembered the entire situation. Everything, from seeing the Stranger save him, to watching other people die in front of his eyes. This surprised, confused, and sent the Stranger into a mad frenzy of thinking.

He then looked back down at his body and remembered his dreadful appearance. He made a nervous chuckle and looked up to Flaky. "Hey, um, you don't suppose it would be okay that-"

Flaky pointed straight upstairs, and pointed his finger to the left and made a '1', signaling it was on the first left upstairs. The Stranger nodded, grabbed his backpack with the remaining medical supplies, and limped upstairs to the bathroom. Seeing that it was indeed on the first left, he entered and noticed that it was a decent size bathroom. There was a shower with a bathtub at the end, a sink with a medicine cabinet above it, and other bathroom essentials. It was also slightly feminine in style, initially confusing the Stranger, but he pushed that thought aside.

He dropped his backpack on the side and stood over the sink, turning the water on to a warm temperature and taking his left arm forward over the sink. He looked at each and every quill that was stuck to his arm, and noticed some were deep into the flesh of his skin. He took a few deep breaths, and took the time to pull each and every one of them out. The pain was intense, making him cringe in pain and sending a sharp shock across his entire body as he pulled each one out. With every sharp red quill he pulled out, blood would run down in small streams, dripping into the sink which was now turning the water crimson red. He finally made it to the last quill, which was the deepest of the rest, and took a large force to pull it out, spitting out little amounts of blood.

The Stranger breathed deeply now that he removed the last quill, but decided to look at it curiously. It was not like any ordinary porcupine quill from the real world. This quill was incredibly sharp, almost like the head of a metal spear, and was large and thick in size. This could practically be used as a tool, or even a weapon if properly handled. Thinking about the idea, the Stranger placed the lone quill inside the backpack after washing the blood off in the sink, and laid it nicely inside.

"I might find a use for that later."

Now with the quills gone, he got inside the shower and turned it on to an incredibly hot temperature. As the water ran down his body, he could only sigh in relieve. He did not have a decent shower since the day he got here in this world. He was going to savor every drop of water that fell on his body as he can, even when he was trying to scrub the dirt and blood off his body. As he washed his fur, thoughts ran through his head.

"How did he remember last night? Is it because he survived? It's just confusing but an amazing discovery. Maybe I can make this work somehow. But I need more information and a better idea. I need some kind of theory that I can test to prove that it could really be true. If it is, I may have something important to work with. Something that could change everything. And something that could take me home."

After taking a good amount time in the hot shower, he turned it off and shook off some of the water, his fur now getting fluffy and clean. As he took a towel hanging on a rack and started to dry his fur, he felt something between his legs, and looked down to observe what was there.

"Oh, you guys do exist in this world. That's nice to know." The Stranger then looked up and started to observe around the area, despite no one being in the room. "If anyone asks, it's because it is cold. That's exactly it. Nothing else is wrong. Just cold."

After drying off quickly, the Stranger went back into his backpack to pull out the remaining medical bandages and a small bottle of disinfectant from last night, and applied them to his wounds on his left arm, protecting the open holes from the outside to keep it clean and preventing it from obtaining an infection.

Now feeling completely rejuvenated, he grabbed his backpack and headed for the door. But before he exited the bathroom, he looked over to see a large mirror that was covered with steam. He examined the mirror covered in condensation closely, and watched as he could point out what he believed was the silhouette of a human. It was a black and shadowy outline, but he swore that it was a indeed human. He walked over to the mirror and stared at it shortly, wondering that it was really him in the mirror. The Stranger then raised his right hand and wiped the condensation off the mirror to see the human behind it. But what he saw was only a reflection of himself. And not his human self, but still the same grey squirrel that he always was from the beginning when he entered this world. He looked at his reflection sadly, knowing that this is how he looks like, and how he may look like this maybe for years, or even for an eternity. He tried to remember what his original body even looked like, and wonder if he will ever live in it again.

He rested his head against the mirror, and shed a few tears. "I want to go home…"

The Stranger exited the bathroom after a good time of washing up and staying in his thoughts, and closed the door behind him. As he closed the door, he could hear Flaky talking to someone. Curious about who it could be, the Stranger walked down the stairs to see who it was. He noticed that Flaky was on the telephone, speaking to another Tree Friend that he did not know. Flaky, like the other Tree Friends, spoke in the gibberish language in which he could not speak nor understand, but he had to work with it.

Flaky finally hanged up the phone, and the Stranger walked into the kitchen. "Who was that, Flaky?"

Flaky turned to the Stranger and answered with a gibberish answer. The Stranger shook his head and looked down in disbelief. "Flaky, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say. You see, I can't-"

Flaky placed his right index finger to his chin and began to think of something. He looked over to see a flower vase with a couple of petunia flowers, and went over to pull one out. Flaky then placed the flower over his head, and looked at the Stranger, pointing at the flower.

"A petunia...? A flower on the person's head…" The Stranger tried to think what Flaky was trying to point out. He then remembered someone: the blue skunk from the café and the tower, who also had a flower on her head. "Wait, were you talking to the blue skunk?" Flaky nodded as he placed the petunia back into the vase. "Is her name also Petunia?" Flaky smiled and nodded his head once more. "So you were talking to Petunia, the blue skunk. Did she call you?" Flaky nodded, but had a confused look on his face. "But she died last night, right? You saw it, right?" Flaky nodded once more, looking more confused and shocked as the Stranger discussed the situation.

The Stranger went over to the dining table in the center of the kitchen and sat in the chair at the back of the table. He rested his head on his right hand, and looked at Flaky. "Did she happen to remember anything last night at the tower? Anything at all?" Flaky shook his head, getting more confused about what just happened. He just got a call from someone beyond the grave. Petunia died last night but was now speaking to him, completely fine and alive. How was this even possible?

The Stranger was also confused but was also getting ideas. Flaky lived through and survived the situation, and was able to remember the events last night. Petunia died and forgot about the entire situation, including actually being at the tower and even being there with Flaky. The Stranger was thinking constantly about the new information he was receiving, and was thinking about everything he knew of right now and what to make of it.

His thoughts were interrupted as Flaky cleared his throat. The Stranger looked up to see Flaky pointing at him, and made a gesture with his hands and mouth as if he were eating something invisible.

"Are you asking if I want to eat?" Flaky nodded and walked over to the counter to pull out a couple of eggs. The Stranger raised his hands and was shaking his head."Oh, Flaky, I can't accept that. I'm really just some random person who technically is intruding your house right now. I could not possibly ask any-" Flaky smiled as he shook his head, and decided to go ahead and cook the eggs anyway. The Stranger couldn't help but smile at how friendly this gentleman was, despite how feminine he acted.

Flaky cooked the eggs to a nice scrambled state, and placed a napkin, some silverware, and a glass of water for the Stranger and himself. He then sat down in a chair opposite the Stranger and gestured to him that he should eat. The Stranger smiled at Flaky, and grabbed the utensils firmly, looking at the eggs with envy.

Okay, I know you did not eat much in such a long time, but take this slowly. This nice gentleman here is going to expect you to be a nice and respectful guest that appreciates the work he is doing for you. Eat calmly and-

The Stranger ignored his own advice and decided to devour the eggs quickly. After weeks of never eating real food, only eating old cans of dry food at the rarest of occasions, this was practically the first time the Stranger has ever eaten. He did not leave one piece of egg when he was done, and placed the plate back on the table before drinking the entire glass of water in one go, not leaving a single drop of liquid. After consuming every bit of food on his side in only a matter of seconds, he shyly looked over at Flaky, who was staring at him in shock and confusion.

The Stranger's face turned red a little, and placed all the silverware back into a calm and orderly fashion before wiping his face with the napkin. "Sorry, I did not exactly eat much in a couple of days." The Stranger said with a small chuckle, which Flaky gave a chuckle back.

The Stranger took his dishes and went to the sink to wash them, and turned over to look at Flaky. "You don't happen to have a small scrap of paper and a pen, do you?" Flaky nodded and pointed at a nearby drawer, which the Stranger walked over to find a small notepad and blue pen. He took both out and closed the drawer, and walked over to the sofa in the living room. He sat down on the sofa cushions, and started having thoughts in his head. What he was thinking had to be taken seriously, and had to get as much information out of it.

"Okay man, take this slowly. What do I know and what can I do..?"

Facts:

I came into this world after everyone else, and I am not affected by any of the rules or settings placed in this world, including the ability to resurrect

Everyone here is actually another human being trapped inside the bodies of virtual animals

Everyone (besides me) lacks self-awareness of their environment, and do not know or will believe that this is a virtual world in their current state of mind

Anyone who is placed in any situation will die in the next 24-hours in some way if no one intervenes

This entire world was created and is currently being run by an asshole.

No one remembers anything after their deaths; their memories are wiped clean after death and placed into a reset state.

Everyone (except for me) is healed completely after 24-hours; any injuries sustained will be wiped away

People may be given a random occupation and be placed in a random situation each day, in which they must die in that situation.

The mad man has taken away many of the people's original human traits, and are now exaggerated or replaced with new traits, including the inability to speak clear English and some areas of common sense.

I am the only one who currently knows the truth of this world, how it works, and can actually speak to the mad man.

Theory:

When a person is placed into any situation, the first rule that everyone must follow is to die in that situation. It is an unavoidable rule as, without self-awareness, they cannot predict the occurrence of anything bad happening, or have enough level of intelligence to save themselves from the situation. When they do die, they stay dead for the remainder of the day and are reborn the next day with a completely cleaned mind, having no memory of yesterday. However, if a person were to somehow survive the event, they will live for the rest of the day and retain any memories gained that same day. This slowly gives them more intelligence and helps them earn self-awareness, possibly to levels that they could support themselves as long as they survive. If they die, however, they will be sent back to day one, forgetting everything. And since every person here lacks the ability to avoid death since they have no self-awareness currently, the only thing that could save them is an outside variable that already has self-awareness, and use that ability to save others.

Plan:

In this situation, I am the outside variable, and, with some time, I could possibly help everyone regain awareness slowly if I can successfully save them. If every unique person within this world can live long enough without dying, and achieve a level of self-awareness that they could accept the truth that this world is not real, the world could possibly break and/ or the mad man will finally give up on the fact that his 'toys' will no longer be affected by his rules, and send everyone, including me, home. With enough time, skill, and, most importantly, determination, I can beat this son of a bitch at his own game, and finally escape this world.

The Stranger wrote down the last few sentences with questionable thought. Even if it were true, could he actually save them all? And, if they did survive, would they truly earn self-awareness and believe in the Stranger? The voice was not entirely wrong that it would be a task that was nearly impossible to complete. With the fact that a god controls this world, anything can happen, and it could throw the Stranger off track. Still, right now, this is the only plan the Stranger has, the only thing the Stranger can actually work with, and needs a little bit more evidence to prove its accuracy and possibility of success. If he wanted it to prove it, he had to go back to Happy Tree Town and save another Tree Friend from danger. He had to get back out there and continue the fight. If he can do it, and if the theory is true, he may have something to fight for, and perhaps something that could get him home. If he can get everyone to break the rule of dying everyday, and become self-aware enough, he might be able to break the structure of the world, and he could get himself, and possibly the others, back home. It was his only shot.

He looked behind him to see Flaky, who was now cleaning his set of dishes. The Stranger was thinking: should I tell him now, or should I wait? The Stranger did not want to scare Flaky with such information yet, who already appeared to be nervous after having a surprise call from Petunia, so he decided against telling him, at least for now. If he wanted to tell him the truth, he needed a little bit more proof to make it sound less crazy and more believable, and let Flaky live a little while longer to build up more awareness. He could only hope, though, that it would work, and that Flaky would believe him.

He ripped the note out of the notepad, folded it multiple times, and stuffed it into his fur pocket. He got up slowly, and walked back into the kitchen, trying to think what to say to Flaky. "Hey, Flaky, can I speak to you for a little bit? It's kind of important."

Flaky stopped cleaning the dishes and walked over to the Stranger, having a confused look on his face.

"Okay, Flaky, I know you've done a lot for me already, you know feeding me and letting me use your shower, which I kindly appreciate and thank you for it very much, but there is something important I need you to do for me." This only confused Flaky more, but was a little intrigued by what the Stranger wanted. "Flaky, I am going to go out for about a day's time. There is something important, something big I need to do, and what I need you to do for me is stay here. I'm going to walk out for a short time, but I need you to lock all the doors, close all the windows, stay away from sharp objects, stay here inside the house, and do not open the door unless it is me. I need you safe just for a little while longer. If everything works out fine and the way they are suppose to, then there is going to be some changes, big changes that will benefit all of us. Just stay safe here inside this house for one more day, and I'll reveal everything tomorrow. Can you trust me on this?"

Flaky took a long time thinking about what the Stranger was asking, looking down in confusion. I let this person in my house, use my shower, and eat my food, and is now telling me what I am suppose to do? This is just some complete stranger that I don't know, so should I even bother listening to him?

But, surprisingly to the Stranger, Flaky nodded and accepted the Stranger's instructions. The Stranger did not believe this at first, that someone else was actually listening to him. Someone is trusting the Stranger with what he is saying. He did not understand it. Maybe it's because he saved him from death and was doing this as a way of saying thanks, or maybe it's because he's always nervous and scared of something all the time. Or perhaps he really does trust the Stranger, and is willing to listen to him. Whatever the reason, the Stranger was glad that Flaky was agreeing with what he is asking for.

"Thanks Flaky. Just stay safe and I'll be back tomorrow. Trust me, good things are about to happen. I promise." The Stranger smiled at Flaky, who gave a nervous but happy smile back. The Stranger then picked up his backpack, waved goodbye, and prepared to walk out the door.

As the Stranger made his way to the door, he happened to notice a cabinet that had a picture of Flaky inside. The Stranger was curious and observed it closely, and saw that Flaky was dressed in a soccer uniform with a group of other Tree Friends.

"Oh, cool, seems that Flaky here was part of the-"

Happy Tree Town High's Women's Soccer Team

The Stranger's eyes widen greatly. As he stared at that one word 'Women's' in the title, he could only get strange thoughts in his head. He looked over at Flaky for a short time, then turned back to the photo. After looking at the photo a second time, he looked back at Flaky, then to the photo, back to Flaky, back to the photo, and finally to Flaky one last time. The Stranger scratched the back of his head wondering about what he is just seeing.

Maybe it's the lack of eyelashes or… something different, I don't know. If she did not have all that fur on her, I could probably have known from the beginning.

The Stranger then stopped and tried to make out what he was just thinking about.

That came out wrong, didn't it?

The Stranger shook the thought out of his head, and waved goodbye with a smile to Flaky, who responded with a friendly and audible "Bye." The Stranger opened the door to let the sunlight rest on his body, and slowly limped out the door to do one more job.