Chapter 2: A Little Party Almost Killed Somebody

Flippy blinked twice, coming out of his daydream. The movie credits were rolling. He'd been zoned out for the whole thing.

At some point Cuddles had fallen asleep and now had his head on the bear's shoulder. Carefully, Flippy laid his guest down on the couch and then turned off the TV. The silence was threatening now that his thoughts were the only things he could hear.

He went back into his office. He was half hoping the book wouldn't be there, but it still was. It bothered him immensely but he had so much morbid curiosity. Flippy put his hand on the cover of the book, hesitating before opening it. This time he was hit with a sudden impulse and went to Lumpy's section, singling out the latest entry on the moose's page.

Stick it to 'em good!

He placed his finger on the text, holding his breath. Did he really want to do this?

The book was already sensitive to his touch. Before he had put any pressure on the page like he had before, the book shuddered and fluttered its pages.

Flippy cringed, wincing as another vision played out in his eyes.

Lumpy was minding his own business as he trimmed his hedges. He looked pretty proud of himself, at least until one of his flamingo garden stakes flew out of nowhere and barely missed him. He'd glanced around in confusion.

"Huh?"

A bear charged his way, screaming a war cry as he flung two more of the lawn decorations, and…

...

Lumpy blinked slowly. Oh. He'd just gotten impaled.

He took off, screaming. The next thing he'd known he was eating dirt with his feet cut off at the ankles, forced to have his head wound around like a top before it spun off his shoulders.

It was strange, in a dreamlike sense.

Even before the vision had finished, Flippy had suddenly, automatically recalled those events happening, like a dam of memories had broken and rushed back. He'd been reminded of things he hadn't even known he'd forgotten.

He was there. It happened. But somehow, it un-happened.

"Grrrrrrghhh…"

By the time the bear had come back to reality, he was clenching his teeth in a wicked scowl.

This wasn't right. When he shot to kill, things died and stayed dead. Lumpy wasn't a corpse anymore somehow, but he'd fix that—over and over again, if he had to.

Ding-dong!

There went his doorbell—maybe that was his good neighbor. Flipqy ducked out of sight, uttering a deep laugh.

Cuddles opened the door and met Giggles on the doorstep. They both lowered their tones, exchanging eager words in secret.

Flipqy stayed hidden in shadow as he crept into the living room, narrowing his eyes gleefully. Cuddles' back was like a giant neon target that screamed, Kill Me! The bear pulled a switchblade from underneath his beret and got ready to pounce.

Giggles glanced over Cuddles' shoulder and saw a demon grinning at her from the hall. "Uh oh!" she squealed, yanking the rabbit out the house and slamming the door.

A moment later the door exploded off the hinges as Flipqy leapt outside, laughing. Giggles was armed and ready waiting for him.

WHAM!

She hurtled a pie into Flipqy's face, stopping him dead.

Wait! Honey, cinnamon, and apple—his favorite!

Flippy pulled the tin from his face, using his tongue as a windshield wiper for his face. Giggles laughed, grabbing him around the arm. "Come on, over here!" she cried, pulling Flippy away with Cuddles leading them on.

Lumpy's yard was still blasting light, thankfully not to the point of cooking someone's eyes out of their skulls. They could hear a lot of voices mingling around.

"Wait!" Flippy panicked. The last few minutes were a little fuzzy, but he knew he didn't need to be anywhere around the moose right now. It was too late. Cuddles and Giggles shoved him past the fence line.

A lot of his friends and neighbors were gathered around for a backyard party. The moose was hanging up a banner on his house. The words were crooked and some letters were upside down or reversed, but Flippy managed to read it: Happy Veteran's Day! Thanks 4 your service!

Flippy fretted with his hands, giving a weak, anxious laugh. He had a lump growing in his throat but began to give his thanks everyone. Lumpy noticed his arrival, almost falling off the ladder as he waved enthusiastically. "Heeeey, neighbor!" he called.

Flippy forced a smile, inwardly cringing as he waved back. His nerves couldn't be any more on edge. Tonight was not the best night for him to be at a party, but he would never have the heart to just leave. He spotted the drink cooler and rushed over, swiping a beer out. His friends cheered him on as he chugged it down.

He could hold his alcohol pretty well, and knew he'd need at least three more before he loosened up enough. His mental issues always had a harder time creeping up on him when he was smashed.

Within minutes Flippy was still steady on his feet, but undeniably drunk and at ease. He helped himself to the food, grabbing another beer before sitting down with a few of the others. He was with Pop, Cuddles, Giggles, Petunia and Toothy. They began talking in between bites of food, starting with Cuddles apologizing for inviting himself into Flippy's home. Flippy had long figured they'd just been trying to keep him distracted to not see the party too soon, so he just laughed it off.

Toothy was a curious one, and cautiously asked the bear what he had seen overseas. Normally the question would've tweaked a nerve or fifty, but Flippy was thoroughly tanked and loose-lipped. By the time he was done talking, everyone was staring at him either wide-eyed, twitching, or green in the face. In Toothy's case, it was all three.

"Um..." Giggles decided to change the topic, asking Pop, "Where's your son?"

Pop didn't answer and seemed like he was in a whole other dimension. He'd had a few drinks before Flippy had even gotten there. Giggles frowned in disapproval; surely he wouldn't have left his child alone while he went to a party?

"I know!" Petunia spoke up. She'd seen the little bear cub at Flaky's home earlier since the porcupine had been babysitting.

For some reason, up to that point Flippy had thought she'd been there. He asked the others if she had anything to do with throwing him the surprise party. None of them thought so, that it was Lumpy that had planned it (with a LOT of their help).

Flippy got that distant feeling of déjà vu again but it was stronger. The bear folded his arms behind his head and relaxed deeper in his chair, watching the night sky. It felt peaceful. Almost too peaceful, his paranoia whispered.

He began to feel like something bad was bound to happen, something like a comet falling out of the sky and crushing them all, or someone blindly driving a car into party patrons, sending food and body parts flying...maybe even something stupidly outlandish, like a superhero coming out of nowhere with a tanker truck and accidentally blowing up the entire continent somehow. Flippy was especially anxious about that last one.

"Doesn't something seem wrong?" he asked his friends suddenly. They paused their conversation, confused. Cuddles laughed and told him to go home because he was drunk.

Not as drunk as Pop, who was passed out with his burner pipe still in his mouth.

Flippy compulsively grabbed the pipe before it fell and set the entire yard on fire, carefully setting it on the table. He sat back with the conversations of his friends flowing into one ear and out the other. He was beginning to feel tense and high-strung.

His mind began drifting back to the Book of the World again—how he had found it, and the things he had seen. Had someone really been stalking he and his friends and wrote a book about it?

And if it was just a book of fiction, why did it feel so real? That second vision confused him more than it startled him, and that was only because Lumpy was clearly, obviously alive. Maybe it created false memories?

Flippy looked down at his hands. They twitched a little. The depressant in his system had calmed him down, but something in him was still fighting viciously, rearing to get out.

He didn't get it. What would be the purpose of a book like that? As much as he wanted to tell his friends, he knew he couldn't. He didn't want anyone else to freak out—well, that would be assuming they would believe him.

Flippy wavered and shut his eyes. It felt like he was going to black out. He steadied his breathing inconspicuously, trying to calm himself without attracting attention.

He was stressing too much. He was fine. So was everyone else. All he had to do was stay calm. He wanted to get another beer but was beginning to fear what would happen if he got blackout drunk…

"Hey!"

Lumpy was suddenly there, cross-eyed as usual. He was rounding his friends up to play a game he'd just made up.

He'd set up a square-shaped target on the grass (it was supposed to be circular, but Lumpy had forgotten circles didn't have corners) and sloppily painted a white-and-blue bull's-eye on it. Their friends were lining up in front of it.

Flippy inhaled, steadily widening his eyes. All of them were holding something sharp or pointy.

Cuddles was first. He spun several times on the spot then hurtled his railroad spike towards the target. He probably wouldn't have missed if he hadn't thrown it with his eyes closed.

The spike hit the fence with a loud thunk. Giggles was next with her meat cleaver, opting to sling it like a Frisbee and missing on purpose so Cuddles wouldn't feel bad. The target ended up losing a leg and collapsed partially to the ground.

Nutty was up next. He ironically was the only one who wasn't at least a little bit tipsy at that point.

The squirrel pulled out a gun. Everyone gasped.