For Shits and Giggles (complete first draft)

Prologue

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September 13th, 2017

Dear anybody,

We really thought we were lucky. We thought we'd been chosen for something truly special. I don't think special is the word I'd use anymore.

Where can I even start? I guess, if I had to start somewhere – I'd start here. We die over and over, but we never just... stay dead. 

To whoever's reading this, it might sound a little crazy. But where I'm from, that's just life. I'm from Happy Tree; a little town in upstate New York, just West of the Adirondacks. It's usually cold here, and very humid. Even in the summer, the rain touches down like icy, dead fingers poking at your skin. The winters are harsh, dark, and very long. And yet, this place is my home. My name is Giggles, I am 25 years old, and I've lived here my entire life.

Look, I know Happy Tree is a funny name. It wasn't always that way. We used to be called Happy Town. Inane, I know. But in all possible ways, the name fit. Everyone got along, everyone worked, loved their jobs; we helped our neighbors, watched over our children, and cared about our elderly. No one ever left, no one ever came. Well, except my parents. They said the town had lost it's soul, something like that, then went off to live at some beatnik commune in rural Colorado. It was the summer right after my high school graduation. Their house became mine, and I stayed. I fought them so hard to stay. For 18 years of my life, I'd been happy there. God, I should have left with them when I had the chance.

All of a sudden, and I do mean suddenly and completely out of nowhere, a huge tree appeared in the center of town. A giant Olive Tree, with a trunk as thick as five grown men. The year was 2014, I was months out of college and taking the world by storm. And by that I mean, I was running a quaint little Cafe with my best friend Petunia. I turned my head to the window and there it was, shiny green leaves fanned out in the distance, in the middle of town square. No one knew where it came from, or who put it there. It was just there, from one day to the next. At first, we thought it was a gift from Heaven... the way its leaves would begin to glow yellow, or sometimes red. It was magical. Beautiful. It wouldn't let us die. Or rather, it wouldn't let us stay dead.

I first found out when Petunia accidentally killed herself. Petunia's a little mad at me right now, and I'm sure telling you this will only make it worse... but Petunia has always been kind of a neat freak. Everything had to be polished and clean, down to the grout on the bathroom tiles. But the day after the Tree appeared, it got so much worse. One time, my boyfriend and I accidentally tracked dirt onto her living room rug. She went crazy trying to clean it. We tried to help, we really did, but when we couldn't get the brown stains out of her fluffy, white rug, she completely lost it. And I mean lost it. She tore at the rug with her fingertips, screaming and cussing. When her nails were bloody and raw, she tried to eat the stained fur next. She scraped her teeth against the rug, slammed her head onto the floor over and over, her teeth flying. We couldn't calm her down and in her frenzy, swinging the heavy rug back and forth, she fell through her second-story window – choking on her own teeth, and matted red white fur. Just like that, she was gone. We had already begun planning for her funeral that day, but had to stop when the very next morning she was alive and well, resting in her bed.

Petunia wasn't the only one. All of us, my closest friends, we quickly became unrecognizable. What were once charming little quirks, became our fatal flaws. And I mean that literally. My bestest friend of all, Flaky. Her once endearing shyness turned into an anxiety so deep that she once drowned in a lake because she was too scared to call us for help. We were all right there, too. But by the time we noticed, it was too late. She was dead. That wasn't the only time I let Flaky down. I've hurt her so much. I don't know if she will ever forgive me.

Her husband, Flippy, had always been standoffish when it came to the time he served in the military. We knew not to ask, or risk making him upset. But now, any reminder at all of his deployment sends him into a manic rage, where flashbacks and real life become one inside his head.

And of course, my wonderful, loving boyfriend, Cuddles. He's sweet, and attentive, and caring. Everyone says so. Even before we were dating, he remembered the smallest details about me. My birthday, my coffee order, even the way I walked home at night after classes. He remembered the exact timing and route, isn't that thoughtful? Some might say he's possessive, or controlling, or suffocating, or cruel. But I love him. Why would I be scared? Why would I be scared? Why would I be scared?

But it's not all bad! The Tree affected everyone in different ways. Some were luckier than others. Splendid's transformation was the most impressive of all. He's become a real superhero. He can fly now, and he has other superpowers too. He's just incredible. To be fair, he's become much more... clumsy. The first time I asked him to show me the clouds, he dropped me right on my head. I don't remember much of that day, but I'm told my brains splattered across the concrete at least half a dozen feet in each direction. It was ironic. The harder he tried to save people, the more he let them die.

There's my old Biology professor too. Dr. Sniffles. He was always a genius, even more so after the Tree. He quit teaching to pursue his own independent studies. It feels like that knowledge has replaced his humanity, or at least his capacity for compassion. I wonder if he has always been this way. After the Tree, Dr. Sniffles has been caught more than once practicing unethically, using animals as test subjects. He argues that the advancements in science are worth it, and we were given a unique opportunity to take advantage of.

As for me, let's just say... I've always had a killer smile. It's gotten me out of trouble more times than I can remember— kill them with kindness, my mom would tell me. She would be so proud of me. Always happy now. Laughing, smiling, being cordial and nice all the time; its robbed me of my autonomy. Not being able to say no is the worst part. I find ways around it of course; changing the subject, staying quiet when I can. It works sometimes. But only sometimes.

Anyway.

Even though we die, and we die, and we die, and we die... and we die... and die... and die...

Sorry. My mind is drifting.

What I was trying to say is, all of our severed limbs and punctured organs are magically restored. It was fun at first, taking death-defying risks because we knew we could literally defy death. But that stopped as soon as we realized that just because we could regenerate, did not mean we were immune to pain. Immortality isn't all rainbows and butterflies, we soon began to understand.

Actually. Maybe that wasn't the right word to use... nothing can kill you when you're immortal. And believe me when I say, we can be killed in many, many horrible, terrible ways.

We've tried to leave Happy Tree before too. But with every attempt to escape comes another more agonizing death. No one comes in, no one gets out. Happy Tree won't let us go. We've tried other things, like cutting the Tree down. We ended up cutting each other in half instead. Classic Happy Tree.

Even if we can't make it out in one piece, I hope at least this letter does.

Please help us. Help me. I am losing my will, my hope. I'm starting to believe that suicide is a better fate, but that would be a kindness. Horror movies never bothered me too much. I knew that worst-case scenario, if things got bad, and I mean unbearably bad, I could always just kill myself. I saw a movie once where a murderer kidnapped and tortured some woman for years. In the end, she killed herself. It was the only way to escape him. She was stupid.

I would have killed myself a lot sooner. But guess what? Things are unbearably bad now, and death isn't an option.

There's a new hope now, a way to break the curse. I want it to succeed more than anything. I want it so bad it hurts. Physically hurts. I'm terrified. If it doesn't work... there will be nothing left to root for. Nothing left at all. I am begging. Save us.

But of course, I am still an optimist after all. So... even if we can't leave this place, even if Happy Tree never lets us go, at least we'll still have each other.

And that's enough. It has to be.

Best. Yours,

Giggles :)