Bowser's "Bro"

Memories

Everyone in the castle was worried for Kamek. He hadn't come out of his room for 3 days. The only way anyone could tell he was still in his there was the occasional sniffle and when they left food at the door it would disappear. Otherwise, there was no telling if Kamek was even alive.

Some of the koopas in the castle had tried to coax Kamek out of his room to no avail. He just didn't want to, he would tell them that there was no point, that if he did he would only be reminded that they were gone. After the first day of continuous attempts the koopas all gave up.

Kamek sat in his room or lay on his bed, depending on how he felt. He didn't want to leave, there was no point. Both his "adopted" kids were gone and it was all his fault. His blinds were shut tight allowing barely any light in. The sun was too bright for Kamek now.

Kamek sat hunched on the edge of his bed, looking around his room. Stuff lay everywhere, covered in shadows. There was an awful stench that filled the room, probably coming from the unemptied trashcan and rotting food scraps left on the floor. It drained all of Kamek's energy just to sit up, usually he would just lay in his bed until he smelled food. That was probably the only thing to look forward to. There was nothing, nothing at all now that they all were gone.

Kamek sat there for a while, looking at the floor and thinking. Sometimes he thought that maybe he should stop thinking so much. It was getting to him. He sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them he spotted a brightly colored book laying in between one of his bookshelves and the wall. Is that what I think it is?

Kamek stood up and made his way slowly to the book, using his cane to stabilize himself. He bent down and grabbed it. It was quite dusty and old. The cover was worn and faded, the colors dull. There was a picture of Kamek, Bowser, and Luigi on the front, all of them much younger than the present day. Kamek ran his hand on the book, he remembered this. Our scrapbook...

Kamek went back to bed and sat down. He opened the book and looked at the first page. He opened the blinds a bit to see better. After being in the dark for so long, Kamek found it hard to adjust to the light. At first, he couldn't even open his eyes for it was too painful. Then he had forgotten he needed glasses and just sat there wondering why everything was so blurry. Finally he remembered that he needed glasses to see and put them on.

The picture on the first page came into view. The photo depicted Kamek carrying a baby Bowser, who was laughing maniacally. This must have been before Kamek received the message, the thing that ruined everything.

The next page had a photo of Bowser eating his first chicken leg and another picture captioned "Bowser said his first word! 'Cookies!'" He flipped a page and saw more pictures of Bowser. When he got his first tooth, breathed his first flame, Kamek checking the little guy's hight. Kamek continued to flip through the pages, occasionally laughing at one of the memories that came with each photo. Then he came across a page with the first picture of Luigi on it.

He and Bowser were playing with toys on the floor. Kamek remembered that night, the night Luigi came into his and Bowser's life. He remembered holding the small, delicate baby in his arms and feeding him and caring for him and loving him.

He, with shakey hands, cautiously flipped to the next page. There were pictures, just like Bowser's labeled things like: "Walking for the first time", "Eating solid foods today", and "Now they both have teeth".

Bowser was seen in some of them, pulling some wacky antics. He photo bombed lots of the pictures.

Kamek flipped to when the two of them were old enough to talk. There was a picture of Luigi making his first makeshift shell out of paper mache and a picture of him posing with Bowser to see how it looked. There was a picture of Kamek reading a picture book to them both.

It was almost too much for the old koopa to handle but he pressed on. Watching as his two kids slowly grew as he flipped the pages, Kamek didn't realize how late it was getting until he smelled a familiar smell. Food.

Kamek made his way to the door. It creaked as he popped it open and peered out into the hallway. There was a plate left out with a steak upon it. He came out of his room and went over to the plate. Picking it up, Kamek smiled and carried the food all the way to the dining . There he sat at the head of the table and looked at the delicious dish in front of him. A couple of koopas spotted him eating at the table and ran up to him. They asked him what had happened and why he had been holed up in his room for a week.

Kamek just patted the seats next to him. Maybe getting all this off his chest will help him move forward. One moment isn't going to ruin a relationship that's over 15 years old. He just needed to take baby steps. It was going to be okay, hopefully...