Molly meets Clarence/Molly's Big Wish

(Disclaimer: The following chapter includes a brief instance of suicidal intentions. To any readers who may be triggered by such scenes, the author sincerely apologizes for any discomfort or any other ill emotions the scene may bring you. Otherwise, enjoy the story)

For what felt like ages, Molly ran through the streets of Brighton; all while tears of despair flowed freely down her cheeks. Even now, she could not fathom the amount of rotten luck she'd experienced in the past week alone. She wanted to help make the holidays happier for her friends and loved ones in Brighton.

Instead, she only seemed to make things worse for them in small or big ways (mostly the latter in her eyes.) Sure, there have been...a few times in Molly's life where her good intentions didn't turn out how she wanted. But for the most part; things always turned out well for everyone, in the end. This time, however, felt far worse than the time when she was eight; when she inadvertently put salt instead of sugar in her homemade cupcakes for her parents.

In the span of a single week; she got herself in trouble, Darryl, Patty and her fellow seniors and two of her best girlfriends. As the memories of these incidents continued to replay over and over in her head, Molly's tears came pouring out her eyes even harder. She cried so much for so long that her tear streaks almost froze on her cheeks from the winter chill.

But in spite of all this, Molly kept on running; she would keep running until her legs might give out. "I was just trying to help...like I always do" she thought bitterly with an outward sniffle, "but I just seem to make things worse...like I always do." Soon after this thought popped into her head, Molly suddenly tripped and rolled along her path before crashing into a nearby trashcan.

With a slurred groan, Molly's head slowly rose up from inside a can; where she saw a discarded banana peel clinging to her ponytail. The sight of this trash caused Molly's earlier sorrow to slightly give way to anger within only a few short seconds. But as she tried to climb her way out, the can suddenly tipped over and she fell unceremoniously for a second time that evening.

"SWEET BABY CORN! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE WORLD RIGHT NOW" Molly cried out to the heavens, "YOU GOT SOME KINDA SICK KICK OUTTA SEEING ME FAIL...HUH?!" There was no response or reply to the poor girl's tirade, only the soft whistle of the wind blowing past her and the equally soft rush of running water. However, it was this exact sound that left her feeling even more confused before.

After taking a moment to...slightly collect her nerves, Molly looked around and saw that she found herself at the entrance of a bridge. Said bridge appeared to span across a long river below, which had been partially frozen over by the winter chill. Upon noticing said river, Molly found herself wondering where she was and how long she'd been running for.

While rubbing her hands against her arms for warmth, she looked up at the bridge's arch and saw a sign that read "Now Entering: Okonohaw;" which was one of the towns that neighbored Brighton. To say the least, this discovery left the poor girl feeling rather shocked; in spite of her current emotional state. "Wow...I had no idea I've been running so far away from home" Molly murmured to herself, "I wonder...I wonder if anybody knows I left?"

The very instant this thought popped into her head, Molly's head started echoing loudly with the angry voices of her friends and loved ones calling out in disapproval. To say that this made her feel even worse than before would be the understatement of the lifetime. She was so disoriented by the voices that Molly didn't realize she was stumbling in the middle of the road.

It wasn't until she heard the loud and angry blare of a truck horn that she finally snapped out of it. At the same time, she also happened to notice a snowplow heading her way; which prompted Molly to leap off to the side as quickly as possible. That's when she happened to look down at the river below, whose waters had only been slightly frozen over.

But due to the strength of its flow, parts of the ice had been broken away by the river water. It was here that Molly happened to look down and notice a part of the river had a rather spacious opening below her. As she stood there, staring down at the water churning violently against the ice, the usual glow in Molly's eyes had suddenly darkened.

"I'm a nuisance...a joke, that's all I've been" she thought to herself, "whether in Brighton or any of the other towns my family's gone to, I only seem to make things worse for others." With these thoughts in mind and a weary sigh of defeat escaping her throat, Molly was prepared to do the unthinkable. She gripped her hands as tightly as possible against the iron bar before her and then, she slowly but surely started easing herself over to the other side of it.

Once there, she looked down at the river one final time before closing her eyes tight. "Just let yourself drop, McGee" Molly whispered grimly, "soon...it will all be over." With this thought in mind; she let out one final sigh, let what she thought to be her final tear slip down her cheek...and let her grip loose on the bar. The cold feel of the winter chill blew lightly across Molly's face, as she fell down towards the river, but it didn't matter to her; nothing mattered anymore.

In a matter of moments, Molly McGee's world would come to a cold and splashy end...or so she thought.

(Line Break)

All was quiet and dark for what felt like ages, which led the poor girl to think her plan had worked in the end. But then, she soon heard a voice calling out to her; a rather...unfamiliar one at that. "Come, come now" said the mystery speaker, "open up them peepers of yours, Miss McGee and lemme have a look at ya!"

At first, Molly didn't comply; assuming that the voice was yet another annoying part of her subconscious toying with her. But after about thirty seconds, the mystery speaker called out to Molly yet again. "Go away already" she grumbled, "just let me drown myself like a stray kitten...it's what I deserve."

Much to her surprise; when the voice spoke again, the speaker simply laughed at her with a boastful tone (like that of a mall Santa.) After being urged to open her eyes one final time, Molly finally complied. You can imagine how surprised she was to find herself lying on the upholstery of a car seat instead of being neck-deep in water. "What the...What's goin' on here" she asked in a frightened tone, "how did I end up in a car?!"

Once more, the "mystery voice" chuckled heartily at her words but made certain to not appear disrespectful in doing so. It was here that Molly, at last came face-to-face with her savior...a strange man in an old coat. But as strange as he was, Molly found an even bigger surprise the moment she looked below her.

"What the...how is this car flying" she cried, "for that matter, where'd this car...or you for that matter come from?!" Seizing the opportunity, the stranger greeted her accordingly and introduced himself. "Name's Clarence Salesbury, my dear; Clarence Sales among my former co-workers" he stated, "you best thank your lucky stars that I happened to catch you while on my drive."

Still feeling understandably confused by her situation, Molly mustered up as much courage she had left in her and demanded answers from the stranger. Furthermore, she proclaimed that she wasn't in the mood for silly holiday pranks from ghosts. "Oh, my dear child; I'm no ghost" Clarence chuckled, "I'm your guardian angel and I was sent here to stop you from doing something foolish."

Upon hearing this, Molly's earlier distressed demeanor gave way to mild annoyance; all while she listed off all the times her so-called "guardian angel" wasn't there to rescue her. These moments included the day she locked herself in the sheep's pen at a petting zoo in Georgia when she was six, a time where she got tricked by Darryl to do a Spice Challenge when she was nine or two years ago when some kids talked her into pranking a stage magician who performed at a former neighbor's birthday party. Poor Clarence felt his head spinning with each one of them.

"Now, young lady; you gotta cut me some slack here" he urged as kindly as possible, "I'm still a trainee, you know." The moment she heard that this "angel" was a trainee, Molly's irritation grew even hotter and she demanded to be let out of the car. "No can do, Missy" clicked Clarence, "you're stuck with me until I get you right back home."

The moment she heard the word "home," Molly's demeanor took a full 180 and her irritation quickly gave way to sadness once more. At the same time, the angry voices of her loved ones came roaring back into her mind with much stronger intensity than before. Within seconds, poor Molly felt the tears coming back again and she wasted no time in weeping up against her car seat.

Upon seeing the poor girl in such a state, Clarence decided to try and help her. After all, he may not be an official angel yet but he still had ways to cheer up a distressed child. First thing he did was take his car on a bit of a ride over Brighton. Of course, Molly quickly pointed out how some of the people below may be...a little spooked by the sight of a flying car.

"Don't worry, my dear" Clarence assured, "nobody will see us, not even any ghosts who happen to be floating by." Molly gasped softly upon hearing this, wondering how the angel could've possibly known about ghosts. But then, she soon realized that maybe...ghosts and angels (even the trainees) were more alike than she thought.

This caused a wee glimpse of a smile to crack on Molly's lips...but it didn't last very long. Upon noticing her expression, Clarence went about with his second act of angelic kindness. He quickly opened the glove compartment on the passenger side, took out a small packet of tissues and offered them to Molly; which she accepted.

"Thanks for that, Mister" she sniffled, "though...I think your kindness is wasted on a nobody like me." Clarence was so shocked by these words, he suddenly crushed his foot down atop the brake pedal; causing his car to stop in mid-air. Thankfully, Molly was already safely buckled into her seat beforehand.

But regardless, this still came as quite the shock to her and she asked why they made such a sudden stop. "I'm dreadfully sorry about that, my dear" Clarence said apologetically, "you just...surprised me with what you said about yourself there." Normally, Molly would brush something like this off in her usual fashion and proclaim there was no harm done.

But in this case, none of that positivity seemed left inside of the poor girl. "Whatever, dude...I mean what I said" grumbled Molly, "all I've wanted was to en-happify the world in my own special way but it only seems to make things worse for people." In spite of himself, Clarence chuckled softly; mainly for the fact that he (along with everyone else in "Upper Management") came to love Molly's favorite word.

Meanwhile, Molly continued on her self-induced tirade of scorn; listing away all of the people she hurt and the times they happened in her life. "Oh, come along now...everyone trips up from time to time" Clarence stated, "but their goodwill is still appreciated by others." Molly scoffed bitterly under her breath, claiming that no one in her own life seemed to appreciate her goodwill.

In Molly's own eyes; it seemed like no matter what she did, her actions seemed to only make things worse for people. "I just can't do it anymore" she cried softly, "sometimes...sometimes I think this world would be better off without someone like me in it." Clarence gasped in horror at these words, fearing that Molly was but a stone's throw away from saying something foolish.

But no matter how hard he tried to convince her otherwise, she still wouldn't let up. "NO, I MEAN IT" Molly screamed to the heavens, "I wish I never came to Brighton...for that matter, I wish my parents never had me as a child!"

(Line Break)

For what seemed like ages, all seemed quiet in the skies overlooking the town. Only the soft whistle of the winter breeze chose to break the silence. Meanwhile, Molly stood up on her seat with her arms held up high towards the skies; panting softly through gritted teeth in frustration.

Then, it happened...bolts of lightning flashed through the air, the skies churned violently and even though she was still in Clarence's car, the very ground below seemed to quake violently. "W-W-W-WHOA" Molly cried out awkwardly while she she wriggled about in place, "WHAT'S GOING ON, WHEN DID YOU TURN ON THE ACCOUSTICS ON THIS THING?!" Clarence offered no reply, he chose only to watch in silence while the strange phenomenon continued around him.

The quaking and shaking soon grew so strong that Molly lost her balance and fell over. After that, what looked like a Black Hole vortex suddenly appeared in the sky and sucked up everything into its gaping maw...everything except the car. Poor Molly was beside herself with shock from all this but all she could do was watch.

When the vortex finally disappeared, all was quiet once again. Though slightly dazed from the fall, Molly was still in one piece (physically, that is.) "What's going on" she muttered inquisitively, "what was all that rumbling about...AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SKY?!" Finally deciding to acknowledge her cries, Clarence glanced upwards and saw...nothing above them.

Quite literally, there was nothing to be seen around them; no sky, no sun, no clouds...even the landscape of Brighton had completely disappeared. In place of it all was a large dark void of nothingness all around the two of them. In Molly's fragile state-of-mind; she assumed they, somehow ended up in deep space.

But when she noticed that she was still able to breathe, that idea went right out the window. Meanwhile, Clarence couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment at how fast things had gone so poorly. "Give me some answers, angel guy...right here, right now" Molly demanded, "where are we and...what happened to Brighton?!"

In response, Clarence told her that both the Brighton and the world she knew no longer existed. "You said so yourself, my dear" he stated, "your wish was and I quote that you 'never came to Brighton and that your parents never chose to have her as their first child.'" To drive his point home, Clarence told Molly that her situation was turning out almost exactly like her parents' favorite Christmas movie.

Sadly, all of this information seemed to fall on deaf ears; as Molly repeatedly demanded for some form of a straight answer. "It's as I told you, dear" Clarence said matter-of-factly, "thanks to your wish, the reality you knew of no longer exists." Whether it was due to confusion, her sad state of mind...or some combination of the two, Molly found herself growing dizzy from all this "supernatural hoo-hah."

"There's no way my wish worked" she protested, "there's gotta be some sign of my influence in the world...or something!" As if expecting that Molly might say something like this, Clarence smiled at her and offered her to sit up front with him; which Molly happily accepted. It was here that the non-angel announced they would be going on a bit of a trip...not a road trip but a trip nonetheless.

"We'll be popping in on some familiar sights you might recognize" he stated, "but I warn you, my dear; you might like what we'll see." Molly shook her head vigorously at this, proclaiming that she needed some sort of distraction from her troubles and urged the non-angel to drive on. "I just have one question" she interjected, "just...where exactly are we going? Didn't reality just...implode in on itself?"

Clarence shook his own head "no" and explained that when someone disposed of their own existence through a wish, that particular reality is erased. The only way to get it back would be if the individual chose to return to their old life again. "That's why I've been sent to you" he stated, "not just to save ya from your attempted suicide but to show you exactly what the world is like without you in it."

With that said, Clarence urged for Molly to buckle up her seatbelt nice and tight because their ride promised to be a wild one. At first, Molly didn't comply; her mind still insisting this may just be a dream of some kind. But her genuine curiosity overpowered her suspicions and she fastened her safety belt over her body.

"Alright, dear; here we go" announced Clarence, "next stop, New Brighton!" Just as Molly was about to question her so-called "guardian angel" on where "New Brighton" was, the car's engines revved up suddenly and they went zooming across the skies like a jet. As it went off into the distance, the only sign of the car that could be seen was just a small glimmer of light; almost resembling a star.

(First AN: And so it begins; where will Molly's journey take her next, what will this new version of Brighton look like without her in it? Find out next time as the story continues)

(Second AN: Regarding the disclaimer above, I put it there because I'm aware that even reading about suicide in stories may seem off-putting to some people. So, I put it up as a warning for them and others like 'em to read at their own peril. As for everybody else; I hope you'll enjoy the story, regardless of that tidbit)

(Third AN: The only other neighboring towns outside of Brighton I know of from the show are Perfektborg and Mewline. I wasn't sure if putting a bridge over a river would make much sense for those locations. So, I went with the obscure town name of Okonohaw; which was mentioned in the episode Ready, Set, Snow)

(Final AN: All those moments mentioned here where angels like Clarence failed to watch over Molly is a light reference to the Rugrats episode Chuckie's Wonderful Life; which is...another piece of media besides this one that pays homage to the famous Christmas film)