Hi everyone! Wow, I feel so honored that people are enjoying my story! Thank you, guys, so much for the support; it really helps to motivate me to keep this project going! I'm having so much fun planning this story; the most challenging part is writing the bits I need to write before I get into the stuff I'm really looking forward to writing. This was one of those challenging chapters for me to write, but in the end, I'm very happy with it. Building up the story is important! But I have a lot of cool stuff planned for this series, so I hope you guys will continue to come back! I'll do my best to get the next chapter finished and released next Saturday; stay tuned!

Chapter 3: I Love and Yet I Hate

I was sitting on my bed being lazy while watching an episode of Danny Phantom. It's an episode I've rewatched thousands of times; every time I watched that episode, I would feel giddy inside; however, by the end of the episode, I'd always feel sad and more than a little disappointed. I love and hate this episode simultaneously; it always leaves me on a sour note that persists for the rest of the day. I know exactly how the episode will go and how it will make me feel, yet I still watch it repeatedly. I'd like to say I've developed some kind of syndrome, but I know why I keep putting myself through it. I do it again and again because I always start out with hope. Logically, the events of the episode will stay the same no matter how many times I watch it. Yet, some part of me is always hoping for a new outcome. That hope is never fulfilled, and disappointment never fails to crush that tiny, illogical hope.

The episode is Vlad's big entrance into the show, the reunion where he tries to kill Jack and convince Danny to stay with him. His actions were not in the right, but I couldn't see him as the bad guy. Other than Danny, out of all the characters on that show, he felt more human than anyone else. He had been hurt and betrayed; he needed someone to hear and see him, but no one would give him even a genuine second glance. Not to mention, he was right about Jacks's ability, or lack thereof, of being a parent. He was too blinded by one-sided love to see Maddie's evident flaws, but one's first love can leave people without their sense of reason. Honestly, I agreed with Vlad; no matter how I tried to look at the narrative of Jack and Maddie as parents, I always arrived at the same conclusion. They were more than a little shitty at being parents. I know it's a cartoon, but having them be semi-verbally abusive to Danny for most of the time to suddenly be loving for a few moments sent my brain cells for a wild ride. At some point, I created a list of everything they were doing wrong and how it should have been handled. When I was younger, I didn't understand how messed up their family dynamic was; when I was older, I wondered how they got away with showcasing a whitewashed version of a toxic, dysfunctional family on kids' television.

Vlad and Danny go through the whole half-ghost mess because of these two ding-bats, more so on Jacks's part, but Maddie is far from innocent. Danny wouldn't have been turned into a halfa if they had never rebuilt that ghost portal, and he wouldn't have had to fight ghosts daily. He took on so much responsibility at a young age, and it chipped away at his soul. I never envied Danny, but I felt bad for him. I pitied that kind, selfless, caring boy who went above and beyond but was never truly appreciated by anyone, even those who knew his secret.

The episode reached its midpoint, where the event made me feel bad. However, the screen suddenly froze up. I tried pressing the play button on the remote. Still, it soon degraded into indiscriminate frantic button pushing, hoping the TV would start working again. The TV screen changed as I was about to throw the remote against the wall for being stupid. I was on the screen, but I also wasn't on the screen. It was me, but it wasn't me. It was Desmond Walker, but I'm Desmond Walker, but I'm also someone else entirely.

Along with being Desmond, I was also everything I used to be. The Desmond on the black screen looked into my eyes and said, "Maybe we can change this ending now, give him... a happy ending too..." The Desmond on the screen smiled wearily, and the room I knew all too well from my past life shattered into pieces, leaving me to float in a black sea.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" I screamed violently, sitting up in my bed. I gasped big gulps of air, but my lungs felt short of breath. A cold sweat coated my skin, making my clothes stick to me like velcro. I hadn't noticed the doctor sitting next to me; he seemed to yell down the hall to someone. Soon, my parents ran into my room, looking overwhelmed and relieved all at the same time. After taking some time to calm down, they explained what happened to me. While reading Maddie's letter, I passed out; I was asleep for two days with a nasty fever. Thankfully, the doctor was able to help me break through the worst of my fever, and then I woke up.

After some squeezy hugs and teary kisses, everyone left the room to let me rest since I still had a fever, but the fever was the least of my concerns. My fever may be improving, but my mind was filled with new information about my old life. It took about two weeks for me to get my bearings.

At that time, I decided to start writing a secret journal to keep track of events and timelines I could remember and to write my thoughts down since I couldn't talk about it with anyone. I didn't bother trying to tell my parents about this new development; I knew they wouldn't believe me.

Journal Entry 1: May 3rd, 1981,

My name Is Desmond James Walker, or at least that's my name in this world. Physically, I'm 7 years old, but mentally, I'm well into my late twenties. I had a different name in my first life, but if I write it too much in this format, I might accidentally introduce myself by my old name... So, for the sake of building habit, I'll only refer to the initials of my first name, DID. Lucky me, I have a name that starts with 'D' in my second life, too. Well, I would have been lucky if I didn't die in the first place, but what's past is prologue. I can do nothing about it now; what's important is what I decide to do next.

The strange thing is that regaining the memories from my first life isn't the weird part of this situation. What's outrageous is that my life now takes place inside a cartoon I loved in my past life. I'll refer to said cartoon as DP. To anyone else, this journal will seem like the weird ramblings of a child. Still, if anyone relevant to this world's timeline finds this book, I don't want to cause any big messes.

At first, I thought I might be dreaming, but my senses are too vivid, and no matter what trick I try, I can't wake up. Which would make sense if I'm already awake. I have thousands of questions and about zero answers to any of them. However, answering them can wait; there's something more important that I need to take care of first. There's a character in this world, I'll give them the code name VMP, but I want to save this character. The incident that ruins their life is just around the corner, and since I'm the only one who knows what's going to happen, I'm the only one who can stop it. It's currently May 3rd, 1981, and the accident is set to happen sometime around June 1981. I don't know the exact day of the accident, but knowing the month and year is better than nothing! Thank god for my obsessive Wiki searching and trivia research for this show. I know some really useless things about this world; maybe they aren't as meaningless anymore.

Getting back to it, the character MWF has a semi-important role in this whole ordeal. They don't cause it, but they're close to both parties and will be there during the accident. I have a close relationship with MWF, so now I need to convince my parents, or my new parents, to let me stay with MWF for the whole month of June, but I think I have a plane. I'll write it down to keep it on the record.

First: Convince Parents.

Second: Go EVERYWHERE with MWF.

Third: Become close with VMP to increase the rescue success rate.

Fourth: Don't let JF near any buttons, and get any soda banned from being in the lab.

Fith: Make sure MWF reviews all calculations before letting JF anywhere near the 'machine.'

Sixth: Make sure VMP NEVER puts their face right in front of the 'machine.'

Seventh: Keep JF from being an idiot.

Eighth: KEEP JF from being an IDIOT.

Ninth: KEEP JF FROM BEING AN IDIOT! (One of the most critical steps for success).

Tenth: Celebrate because you helped save VMP from their sad and unfortunate future!

That's the gist of it all; at least, the hardest part is step 1. My parents are chill, but this will be a big ask, even for them. Luckily, I have some good cards for this editorial game of poker. I've already done two solo flights before (under the supervision of a flight attendant, of course). School ends on May 24th, and I've already caught up on all the work I missed because of my fever. MWF lives in a two-person dorm room, but they don't have a roommate, so they have a spare bunk I can use. MWF had already confirmed with their RA (Resident Assistant) that it was okay for me to visit multiple times before (Mom and Dad just told MWF no). I don't have any summer plans, and since I'm advancing in my classes very quickly, it would be good for me to check out a college campus. Finally, my parents owe me a big IOU from my 7th birthday. It's a long and complicated story as to WHY they owe me an IOU for my 7th birthday, and right now is not the time to tell it.

I have a lot to do and a small deadline to complete it, so I better get to it. I'll end entry one here.

DJW Signing Off.

I close my secret notebook and get out of bed. Moving my beanbag to the side with my foot, I look for the wood floor panel that sticks up a bit. After a few seconds of searching, I find the panel and carefully press it with the tip of my foot. It lifts up just enough for me to slip the notebook inside, and I seal it back up by pressing down on it with the palm of my hand. I recover my special secret hiding spot with my beanbag. Before I needed a place to hide my notebook with potentially dangerous information, I would hide my secret candy stash there. Now, I just keep the candy under my mattress and hope it doesn't melt.

"Ooook, Desmond, you got this. You have a plan and a backup plan if that doesn't work. And if worst comes to worst... well... if worst comes to worst, then I'll deal with it then. Come on, now or never!" I attempt to hype myself up. My mind might be in its late twenties, but legally, I'm seven, and my parents are my bosses. I can't pull the 'I'm an adult' card anymore since I'm not an adult anymore in the physical sense. "Time to put that semester of public speaking to good use." I march out my bedroom door and make my way to the kitchen to either win a war or die trying.

I peek into the kitchen, doing my best not to be noticed. Mom sitting at the table reading a book and drinking a cup of tea while Dad working on some kind of paper. I gather as much courage as possible into my two tiny legs and walk into the kitchen. Mom and Dad look up from their activities and smile at me. "Look who's up and about! Want a snack, kiddo? How about some ice cream!" Dad says with glee, starting up and getting up from his chair to prepare some ice cream. Mom grabs his sleeve and gives him that look, "Not on my watch." In universal, Mom speaks.

"How about some tangerines instead? It's sweet and good for you." Dad slumps back into his chair in defeat, and Mom grabs some tangerines from the fruit bowl and starts peeling them.

"Thanks, Mom," I said while pulling a chair out.

"How are you feeling, kiddo? You've had a hectic couple of weeks." Dad inquires, putting his glasses back on. I smile at him and say.

"I'm feeling much better, Dad; a bit tired still, but nothing like last week." Dad smiles and nods his head. Mom pushes a small plate of peeled tangerines in front of me.

"Eat them all, please; they'll help you regain your energy," Mom says politely but still commandingly. I pull apart the first tangerine and start eating, trying to figure out the right way to ask to stay with Maddie for a month. After thinking it over for a while and about 5 tangerine slices later, I concluded there wasn't a good way to start this conversation. It would be a battle no matter how I tried to spin it.

"Mom, Dad, there's something I wanna ask you guys," I say.

"What is it, sweetie?" Mom inquires.

"All ears!" Dad hollers.

I gather my grit and spit it out, "I want to stay and visit with Maddie for the whole month of June."

...To Be Continued...