It works for them... why not?

Once upon a time

Once upon a time...

"...he died almost instantly. Even though I hadn't seen him in over 10 years, I know I'm going to miss him forever."

"Teddy managed to join the army. Normally, his eyesight and other disabilities would have prevented him, but they were so desperate for reinforcements that they chose them in a damn lottery on TV. I barely made it, so they decided to ignore all the filters I had to pass... He died in '67 somewhere in a Vietnamese jungle mixing Agent Orange."

"Vern became a crane operator in Castle Rock, with a wife and three kids... until 10 years ago when he had a stroke on a particularly hot day."

"Even that weirdo Henry Creel was massacred by his own father a year later... seeing how he left them, it wasn't hard to guess what happened to Ray Brower, now that I think about it calmly."

"Now I'm the only one left to remember this story... and very soon I'll be gone too. I don't even know why I'm writing this, since halfway through I'd already decided to throw it away as soon as I finished, maybe just to remember it one last time the way I want to remember it, because..."

Liam reads aloud -...I never had friends like the ones I had when I was 12... does anyone ever have them?- and lowers the journal

He sighs and gets out of bed, taking a tin box from a desk drawer and several photographs of his family and friends. He picks one up; although it's torn, patched with tape, and clearly wet and poorly dried, the image is barely distinguishable. It's a picture of Will and his friends at the science fair.

And beneath them all is a feather, a Virginia quail feather to be precise.

Liam sighs heavily, then nods to himself and walks to his desk, taking his journal and a pencil. He begins to reread a certain section and sketch on a blank sheet of paper.

-|-|-|-|-|-

Lonnie heard someone knocking aggressively on the door. With some difficulty, he got up from his sofa and opened it.

Liam entered the house uninvited. Lonnie, looking at him strangely and somewhat annoyed, asked -Why are you knocking like that?-

He shrugged and replied -I thought maybe you'd warmed up by now- quite disinterestedly.

His tone struck the older man as odd, and upon closer inspection, he asked -What's wrong with your eyes?- noticing the curious golden gleam.

Liam, slightly embarrassed at having noticed the detail, simply reaches into his briefcase and pulls out the diary.

The color drains from Lonnie's face, and he exclaims in annoyance -Damn it... I was sure I left it in the bags... well, wait-

Then he limps slightly to his sofa, sits down, takes his pill bottle from a drawer, and pops several. He then exclaims -Okay, that's it... crying, shouting, hitting... just get it over with and leave-

The young man walks over to stand in front of him, then takes some pages from his briefcase and hands them to him.

Lonnie, puzzled, asks -What the hell is this?- to which Liam replies -Your Buttercup Hogan story-

He clarifies, annoyed -Lardass Hogan- The young man disdainfully adds -Werebeer... I used your disgusting story for my final project, turning it into a comic, but I need your permission-

The other clarifies -You have it. Now, if that's all...- but Liam asks -Do you have more?-

Lonnie asks, confused -More what?- to which he responds -Stories... duh- shrugging.

The older man asks, annoyed -What the hell are you trying to achieve with this?- Liam replies calmly -Everyone has one, I want one too...- almost like a spoiled child.

Lonnie asks, -A what?- to which the younger man replies casually -A father-

He sits down and mutters bitterly -I thought Jimmy Hopper was already fulfilling that role-

Liam shrugs and, in a disdainful, disturbingly similar tone, replies -He's a good man, he takes good care of Mom, but he's not my father... I want Gordie LaChance-

The older man stares at him, clearly dismayed, and asks -What on earth are you talking about?-

Liam stares at him and says -He's there, somewhere, under all "that"... we just have to get him out-

Lonnie asks -And what do I get out of it?... clearly not one kidney- needling him about his "condition".

The younger man shrugs and replies -Not dying alone... I think that's fair- as he sits down on the sofa.

He asks angrily -You want a story?... fine- and then begins in a very sarcastic tone -Once upon a time...-

Okay, this is the last part of the movie, and then comes the post-credits scene.

As you may have noticed, I changed the ending for the friends in the castle a bit. I hope you liked it and noticed the subtle differences.

And for anyone who says Teddy couldn't be sent to war because of his disabilities, well, they sent Forrest Gump, didn't they?

Give me Votes and add Libraries.

Criticisms and comments are welcome.