So Much in Common

 

Table of Contents

Chapter 1—Creepy Stuff Happens in Nowhere

Chapter 2—Just Another Cuckoo Day
Chapter 3—‘Well, It All Started…’

Chapter 4—‘It’s a Lost Narrative’

Chapter 5—A Little Help, Please ?

Chapter 6—A Familiar Graveyard

Chapter 7—The Final Shard

Epilogue

 

‘It ain’t no superstition.  It ain’t no boogaloo.   When the devil comes, he comes for you.’—some lyrics from Boogaloo as sung by Black Market Vinyl 

 

 

Chapter 1—Creepy Stuff Happens in Nowhere

            Courage was relaxing, enjoying a typical quiet afternoon with Muriel on the front porch.  Eustace was rotting his brain with his usual intake of television.   Out of the blue, the ubiquitous weatherman Nowhere had trusted appeared on the screen. 

            ‘We interrupt this program to present a weather warning.  There’s a storm coming.   Not to alarm you, but she’s a biggin’., he said.   

            ‘And just when it was gettin’ good !’, Eustace griped, muttering to himself in a bitter tone.   Muriel soothed him with her mellifluous words, taking his gnarled hand into her own.

            ‘Eustace dear, it does no good ranting against nature.   Nature does what she likes.’, she said, wisely.   The wizened, bespectacled man melted somewhat with Muriel’s gentle touch as the two went into the basement, followed by Courage.   

            Courage didn’t feel frightened at first although anxiety was beginning to rear its hideous head once the massive storm system moved in.    Tornadoes weren’t uncommon in this area, since it was part of ‘tornado alley’.   Storms of this caliber came and went, but it was indeed a ‘biggin’ as the weatherman attested earlier. 

            There was nothing the trio could do but wait out the fierce gale force winds the torrential storm brought with it.  It wasn’t until the rain and hail cleared and the sunlight broke out of the clouds that Courage, as usual, was the first one to venture out and assess the damage if any had taken place.  

 

Chapter 2—Just Another Cuckoo Day

            While Eustace went back to his television with little concern about what was happening in the outside world, Courage continued to survey the typical landmarks of Nowhere.   It didn’t seem like anything was amiss until he saw a few old-fashioned houses that looked like they were quite literally scooped up and dumped from oddly familiar sources.    Then there were not one cat but two. 

            Courage didn’t care much for cats, and he had his reasons.   These two, however, weren’t like other felines he had crossed before.    The first was a grey, rather round buggy-eyed cat with a collar that read ‘Eek’.    He was accompanied by a rotund pink cat with a huge yellow bow between her ears and a ruffled frilly skirt to match.   She oozed sophistication, grace and Southern hospitality.    He felt his knees lock, but his heart discerned these cats weren’t malicious.   Somehow, just like the dilapidated estates, they were tossed into Nowhere without any rhyme or reason.   

            Suddenly, there were ghosts that had come attached with their residences.   Before the cats could introduce themselves, the ghosts started asking questions, wondering where they were.  Firstly, were the Lonesome Ghosts that arrived from someplace Courage had no knowledge of.    The others, Casper, Fatso, Stinky, and Stretch were trying to understand what was happening.   Courage finally shrieked but saw how little control Casper had over his uncles.  Those three did whatever appealed most to them at the moment and were the epitome of the id gone wild.  

            ‘This is absolutely nuts.’, the pink, frightened dog thought to himself until Eek spoke.  Courage knew how iconic Casper was but nothing about his inclusion made sense.   Casper introduced himself, apologized about his uncles and then tried to stop them from raiding Eustace’s pantry.   He knew that this was just the beginning of another cuckoo day in Nowhere.

 

Chapter 3—‘Well It All Started…’

            ‘Eek, shug, I don’t think we have any reason to fear.   I know we’ve got our own canine problems in McTropolis, but this here is…Well, it just doesn’t make one lick of sense.’, Annabelle said, in her delightful Southern drawl.    Courage’s fur began to straighten, and he felt less on edge around these two than before.   He knew the cats were out of their element.   As for the ghosts, the others wanted someplace to haunt and somebody to scare.    They, however, found their match in Eustace, whose apathy was only outweighed by his inability to care.   

            ‘How did you two get here ?’, Courage asked the grey cat who was beginning to trust him more out of Annabelle’s prompting. 

            ‘Well, it all started like most days do in McTropolis.   I was out to get my mail and fetch my paper when Sharky started chasing me out of the blue.’, Eek began.

            ‘He tends to do that.   That horrid brute.   He gets such a rise out of terrorizing my poor Eek.’, Annabelle stated.    Annabelle had an epiphany that she had been rude and she introduced herself.   She was so warm, loving and sweet that Courage thanked his lucky stars he was dealing with kind felines.   He had experienced such rotten luck with cats before, but he had always remembered that Muriel was hospitable and chuckled to himself that she probably even would be a remarkable hostess to Death if he had ever wandered into Nowhere looking for souls to reap.  

            ‘We’re just as confused as you, Courage !   I don’t know where we are but it’s definitely not McTropolis.’, Eek concluded.   His new friend encouraged him and reassured the duet that the computer could help them in such times as these.   All the while, Fatso was making himself at home eating whatever Muriel had in the pantry.    Casper was at last able to make his uncles slow down.   Then they befriended the Lonesome Ghosts who were just as lost and confused as them.  

 

Chapter 4—‘It’s a Lost Narrative’ 

            Courage booted up his trusty computer.   Normally he didn’t have to wait for it to turn on but he hadn’t needed the computer’s advice in a long time.   

            ‘I see you come whimpering for my help once more.   To think I was going to have some quiet for once.   Wishful thinking as usual.’, the computer said, dripping with sarcasm.   The British tone it used was rather grating, but Courage always ignored it.          

            ‘That computer just spoke !’, Eek stated, obviously.

            ‘You get used to that.’, Courage retorted.    Courage began to do a search, and the computer reported its findings. 

            ‘It’s a lost narrative.  Seems a plot hole picked and chose the cats, and the ghosts from their respective homes and tossed them here.’, the computer stated, stoically.  

            ‘Whatever are we to do ?’, Annabelle asked.  

            ‘I think it would be easier if all of you started searching for plot fragments.   If you gather them, perhaps a gateway will present itself.   I do realize this is a long shot, but I can print you a map of where these shards are.’, the computer said.   Courage nodded and thanked the computer.  

            ‘Finally, someone recognizes my genius.   It’s good to know who the smartest entity in the room is.’, the computer stated with dignity and pride.   It printed off a map of all the known locations, but the trick now was gathering the ghosts and hopefully enlisting their help.   It seemed that the trio was absolutely useless because they had stuffed their faces with free food and were lazing about being the pinnacles of indolence that they embodied. 

 

Chapter 5—A Little Help, Please ?

            Casper seemed exasperated.  Getting the uncles to do anything was impossible.   Yet, with the first haunted house pinpointed by the computer’s map, the lonesome ghosts were more than glad to return.    Madame Leona’s crystal ball sat on the table, clearly irritated. 

            ‘I can’t seem to remove this ridiculously sparkly object out of my face !’, she griped.   The Lonesome ghosts were too busy palling around with the Hat Ghost and the other haunters, laughing and reveling in their glory days that Casper took care of the fragment that was bothering her before any of the other ghosts did.  

            ‘Woah, good goin’ short sheet.’, Stretch complimented.   The house seemed to flutter in and out of existence and then disappeared as if it had never been there. 

            ‘I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m filled both with joy and terror.’, Eek said as he noted the mansion’s disappearance.  

            ‘One fragment down.  A couple more to go !  Isn’t this fun, my little apple pie ?’, Annabelle said. 

            ‘I guess so, it never hurts to help,’, Eek added, optimistically.  

 

Chapter 6—A Familiar Graveyard

            Courage had only recalled one church in the arid countryside quite a hike from the farmhouse, but it had been replaced with a graveyard and Whipstaff Manor.   The trio and Casper hadn’t seen the manor in ages.  

            ‘That’s the original old place from way back when !’, Fatso waxed nostalgic.   It looked like it had been updated quite a bit in keeping with the Millenium, almost like it had a new sparkle and shine to it.    Casper couldn’t believe his luck.   The map had led them straight to their graveyard.    There was a glint in the mausoleum.    Curiously, Fatso floated up to it and gathered a spherical shard.  

            ‘I was just starting to like it here.’, he said with some sadness.    The trio became a little choked up but composed themselves. 

            ‘It’s time we vamoosed.   Let’s beat it, kid.   Oh, and…thanks, Courage.  Eek, Annabelle, you too.’, Stretch added.    With that, the manor, the graveyard and everything in it simply became dimmer and dimmer.   All the while, Casper waved and smiled cheerfully.

            ‘I’ll never forget you !’, he vowed.  

 

Chapter 7—The Last Shard

            Eek and Courage dried errant tears from their eyes.

            ‘I like that Casper kid, he’s got a lot of soul.’, Eek commented.  Annabelle nodded. 

            ‘His uncles weren’t so terrible after all.’, Courage concurred.  

            As expected, the final ‘lost narrative’ as the computer had labelled it, was in the basement.    Of all the places in the house, it was his least favorite because of the dim lighting and the fact that more anomalies had happened there than anywhere else. 

            ‘The basement.   Why is it always the basement ?!’, he whined in his mind.   The pink, black polka dot spotted dog steeled himself, knowing his friends would never return to their hometown if he didn’t venture into the darkness.   

            Completely randomly, Katz lurked, menacingly.   

            ‘The plot device worked so much better than I would’ve thought.   The first two quests were a bit too easy for my liking.    Consider this my revenge for everything else you put me through, dog.’, Katz said, keeping the shard encased in a piece of what seemed to be shatterproof glass.    Eek had never been one to become angry with one of his own kind, but this lanky fellow was really starting to get on his nerves.   

            ‘If you don’t mind, we’d like to have that back.   Please.’,   Eek said, politely.    Katz simply laughed, taunting them.   Then, he started to take the box by force until Katz lost a hold of it and a remote containing a red button.     Curiously, Annabelle fell atop of it, ultimately breaking it under her girth. 

            ‘Get off me you fat cow !’, Katz tried to yell, but Annabelle’s massive form was a bit too much to maneuver out from.     He was squashed, much like when he had been stretched at the taffy factory.    The device he had made was destroyed and the box containing the shard dissolved.    Dissatisfied, Katz waddled away, completely compressed, not even muttering in discontent.   

            ‘That’s right, you bully.  Take your bad attitude with you !’, Annabelle said, watching Katz leave the house.   Ironically enough, Muriel hadn’t let him in.   He had done it himself simply to have revenge on Courage but comically, another cat had gotten the better of him.    Muriel herself had been cleaning up the mess that the uncles had left, and the pantry was looking a little worse for wear.    Eustace hadn’t done diddly squat to help but could see how dejected she looked and began cleaning up after the chaos.    No words were spoken between the couple, but she still loved her husband dearly and was surprised Eek and Annabelle were going out of their way to make everything right again.            

            ‘Aren’t you the sweetest little angels !’, she cooed as they finished.  

            ‘Muriel, you should take a bit of a rest.   I’ll head to the store and stock the pantry again.  We were due anyways.’, Eustace stated.    Muriel gently stood up on her tippy toes and gave him a cutesy smooch on the cheek.  

            ‘That’s my Eustace.   Grumpy out the outside a real squishy teddy bear deep in his heart.’, she stated as the bespectacled man actually smiled for once.   It was his way of making up for what he hadn’t done and learning that helping wasn’t so bad.   Lending a hand actually felt pretty good. 

 

Epilogue

            Courage thought all about the insanely diverse world that Eek had come out of but knew that he and Annabelle just didn’t fit in Nowhere.   Like all his other friends, he had to say his farewell.    Life would keep carrying on as it had before and that weird storm would never occur once again.    That meant Katz would return to plotting as was his wont, but Courage felt that the wretched louse had learned his lesson and would stick to glowering at his adversary from a respectable distance.  

            ‘You’re the best dog I’ve ever met, Courage.   It’s a pity we have to part ways, but it’s been a treat bein’ your pal.’, Annabelle said.   The oversized cat hugged him tightly.   Courage hugged both his new friends and Eek took the shard in his hand.  

            ‘You’re a good boy, Courage.   Never change.’, Eek said, waving as he and Annabelle began to fade from sight.    Courage would never forget the allies he made or for the lessons he had learned, and for once he didn’t have to bear the insipid lip the computer often doled.   All in all, it was a magnificent day, and the pantry had been filled to overflowing.    Feeling rested, the little pink dog found his happy resting spot in his favorite place, the lap of his beloved owner, Muriel.    Even Eustace, miracle of miracles, was smiling softly.   It wasn’t praise perse, but it was enough to indicate that Eek had been correct.   For once, he actually believed it, too.

 

The End