Happy birthday @impano ^W^
“Hurry up with the lights, Double Dee!”
“Eddy, I’m trying to be as quick and accurate as possible.”
“Well it ain’t quick enough!”
“Hey guys, what if Santa brings us copies of the Slugman and when we open to read it, there’s nothing but slug on the pages?!”
“I bet there’s nothing but slugs in your head when we open it.”
“Eddy!”
As soon as December rolled around, preparations for the holiday season escalated. Shops were selling unbelievable items at an unbelievable rate; streets, schools, shops, parks, homes, offices and churches were decorated with a colorful assortment of twinkling lights. Soft snow canopied over the entire cul-de-sac, adding to the ambience that was the holiday season. As everyone prepared for spending the holidays with their families, the Eds were preparing their latest scam.
“It won’t work,” Edd muttered. The plan was simple, adequate and somewhat ingenious. Having the holidays coming around, Eddy came up with an idea of ‘surprise-filled pop-up cards‘. Instead of being regular pop-up cards they would have a certain surprise for the receiver; a confetti explosion. Knowing the delicacies of the operation, and also knowing the inadequateness of Ed & the resistance Edd, Eddy decided to handle the task of putting the exploding mechanism in the cards himself. Using all the knowledge his elder brother had in explosions, Eddy took a simple, small and seemingly harmless firecracker in the cards, and taped it inside of the card and added the confetti. The firecracker was of the lowest potency, so then when opened the explosion wouldn’t blow up someone’s face. Eddy was extra careful to remove any and all of the explosive powder in the firecrackers and designed them in such a way that only a loud pop would emit from them upon triggering.
On paper this idea was perfect, but when the time came for the execution….
“I’m telling ya, they’re sellin’ like hotcakes!” Eddy exclaimed excitedly. They were definitely a hit as well as being an innovative way to wish someone the holidays.
If the firecracker wouldn’t scare the life out of someone.
A loud pop echoed through the deafening silence that December evening. On a chilly, hushed evening that ordinary pop resembled a loud boom, as if a bomb had gone off in the cul-de-sac.
If it hadn’t gone off before, it was about to go off now…
“Sarah!” The victim of the confetti calamity, Jimmy wailed. Even though the firecracker didn’t do any serious harm, it startled the already frantic boy enough to break. And that was all what Ed’s armed and dangerous sister needed.
“LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO JIMMY!” She barked at the three Eds whilst giving chase and having a bawling Jimmy follow close. The Eds obviously were trying to avoid Sarah for obvious reasons, and they were almost succeeding in their getaway.
Until Sarah pounced upon them like a wildcat.
A fist to the gut, a bite to the arm, a kick to the shin and a poke in the eye; Sarah used all her tools in her arsenal to give the Eds the beating of Christmas like no other. On any given Sunday, she would spare the boys but on this holiday season, she was relentless, especially on Eddy.
“That’ll teach ya!” Sarah proudly declared before leaving the Eds weathered in wounds.
“Ouch, Sarah’s mad.” Ed innocently observed the situation as Jimmy proceeded to blow a raspberry on the fallen Eds before jogging off snickering.
“Well that was what I was talking about,” Edd said to no one in particular. “I knew things would somehow wound up here, just not so quickly.” He expected a reply from the shortest and most stubborn of the Eds, but got nothing.
“Eddy?” Edd called, before he noticed Eddy get up, sulking. He brushed his clothes off and stuffed his hands in his pockets before trudging off.
Quick to notice his friend’s disappointment, Edd tried to comfort him, “Eddy….”
“I did them myself.”
“Eddy?”
“I checked them myself, Edd.” Eddy replied, depressed.
“Oh no, Eddy it wasn’t your—”
“Just leave me alone.”
Edd backed off as he saw Eddy walk off into the night; darker than the sky.
“Is Eddy okay?” Ed asked his silent friend and was met with the same silence. That same depressing silence.
Eddy was in his room, on his bed, looking down on the smooth fluffy carpeted floor gloomily. The usually radiant and aesthetical purple now induced a further despondent ambience to the room. Unusually the disco ball in his room was also running, maybe to fend off the darkness the room had within, maybe chase away the shadows that set over the room like a heavy room.
He knows who is there, it’s his friends. He let out a small chuckle at his own misery before dragging himself to open the door.
“Are you alright Eddy?”
No answer. Eddy stepped aside and let the other Eds in. Eddy sat on his bed, shifting in the corner so the other two could sit beside him.
“Eddy, the plan didn’t fail. It was merely miscalculated, if we’re able to try again then—“
“Forget it,’’ Eddy interrupted him, “I’m done with scams.”
Ed gasped. “But Eddy—“
“Forget it Ed, I’m through with these scams. I’m done. No more scams, I’m through. Done.” He definitely didn’t sound like him; sure he’d mellow over failure a bit, before swearing and coming up with a plan. This time however he didn’t even swear.
“Eddy, come on.” Edd got up with Ed; he grasped either’s hand before powerfully dragging them off the bed and out of the room.
“Hey!” Eddy slid across the floor whereas Ed trotted happily. He knew that Double Dee had a contingency plan.
“Where are you taking me?” Eddy screamed as he continued to be dragged along the ground. Edd wouldn’t buy any of it; the determined look on his face—that was rare from him—was ignoring all of Eddy’s excuses and pleas. They went along this fashion until they arrived at Edd’s garage.
Eddy rubbed his head confusingly. “What are we doing here?”
“Open it.” Edd simply said, pointing at the garage door. Grumbling, Eddy dragged towards the garage door before pressing the button.
However the second the door opened, the grief on his face wiped off and was replaced with sheer surprise.
“Awesome Double Dee!” Ed cheered at the sight beholden to the three; every scam they’d conducted ever, restored, in-progress. Sheets and sheets of blueprint all over the floor. In one corner labeled in bad writing (probably Ed’s) rested ‘supplies’; a plethora of various material which was in use in the remodeling of the scams.
Eddy was stunned. “Wha–what is this?”
“This is your hard work, Eddy.” Edd proudly proclaimed, “with a bit of remodeling.”
Eddy couldn’t believe it. Edd was the biggest oppressor of his scams and here he had stored, and restored his scams.
“Because this will give us an excellent opportunity to spend time together, us three. We’ll remodel these scam while others are ‘celebrating’. But in reality we’ll be together, and because of that we’ll make these scams even stronger.”
“Yeah Eddy!” Ed spoke up, “We’ll stay up late, make new plans, have snack breaks, tell stories, even have a movie night every once in a while!”
“You’re right Ed,” the socked Ed added, “and on top of that, this will help you get over your ear of failing.”
He waited for a reply from Eddy but got nothing, “Eddy…” he then noticed the sobbing. Eddy looked up at two of the closest friends he ever had with a runny nose, tearful eyes and a pure smile.
“Oh, no! We hurt Eddy!” Ed screamed.
“No monobrow,” Eddy chuckled back, “you fixed me.”
“Fixed you?” Edd asked.
“Up until now, I thought there were no such things as miracles. I thought that I was alone in this world, with how my parents and my brother treated me…” he paused, wiped his face before continuing in a gravelly voice.
“But you guys showed me what true friendship is about, this.” He gestured towards the pile of scams in the garage. “We would spend nights together refixing plans that I know are doomed to fail. But you two seemed to excited to spend time with me….it made me forget about my misery, my pain. I realized now that….”
“That what Eddy?” Ed asked.
“That they won’t celebrate the holidays,” he pointed at the other houses, “ I will. With you.”
The two Eds swelled up with pride and gratitude, tears of their own glistening in their eyes before they huddled around Eddy and gave him the warmest hug on the coldest winter.
“Thank you,” they heard Eddy mutter, before replying with a resounding ‘welcome’ and dragged him into the garage.
“Now we can’t stick around and be sentimental all day can’t we?” Edd faked confidence even though an unknown void had been filled in him that he too was dying to express.
“Yeah,” Eddy replied, “let’s get to work! And guys?”
“Yes Eddy?” They both asked.
“You two are the best.”
“We know!” Ed replied happily, causing Eddy to roll his eyes and laugh out loudly and happily.
“Let’s get to work!” Edd said before they sat down with a scam and blueprint in hand and began rebuilding their scams and their friendship.
They spent their entire holidays like this; nights laboring in scams, relaxing, confessing and listening to one another. They even went to the lengths of stealing some movies from Ed’s house to pass the time. They were rebuilding their hope, their trust in one another, all the while finishing one scam after another. And out of the three, Eddy felt the most like he was celebrating the holidays. He was spending his time with two people he loved and cared about, who had dragged him out of the abyss of his own despondency and hopelessness and showed him his true strength and value.
And it was within these moments, he finally realized that he wasn’t alone.
And did the scams got better? You bet they did.
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