It was a light, gray, cloudy morning in my hometown, California. Owen absolutely loves it when his dog Coco barks right next to his ear early in the morning around 6:30, and another thing he finds revolting is being called “Sweet Poo” by his mom, Alice. His whole body shivers at the word, like hearing nails screech across a chalkboard.

Owen’s mom shows up in his room. “Wake up, Sweet Poo, it’s time for school. Your clothes are right next to your bed.”

“AAAHHHH!!! Mom, I don’t want you to go. And please, stop calling me Sweet Poo. For the last time, I am eight years old!”

“Woof Woof!!”

“Even Coco agrees with me, plus Miss V, my teacher, can’t stand me! She hates me, and I’m a good student, so I’m confused.”

“Fine! Today only, because it looks like it’s going to pour horribly today, sooner or later. Breakfast will be done soon, so I expect you downstairs ASAP. Love you sweeeet poooo, ” Mom says as she teases Owen.

“Thank you for letting me stay home! EWWW, get out of my room, please.”

As soon as his mom closed the door, it was lights out for him when his head touched his fluffy white pillow.

Later on, Owen woke up around lunchtime. He grabbed a bowl of Fruit Loops, and he went to the living room that had his massive, black, big-screen Sony television. He turned on my favorite cartoon Happy Tree Friends and settled in on the big comfortable beige sofa to watch the program. So, in this episode, Flippy and Cuddles were having a talk about Nutty: how he is addicted to candy and it’s lousy for his health. As they were talking behind his back, Nutty appeared out of nowhere and heard everything they said about him. So, Nutty hit Flippy and knocked him out of shock to the ground.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!? THIS COULD END OUR FRIENDSHIP, YOU PHYS-¨ Cuddles nagged Nutty.

¨Stop, being so dramatic. Now if you want this little mishap to stay quiet, then help me hide him,¨ replied Nutty.

“I- I…. this stays between us okay, Nutty?” Cuddles replied, afraid.

Then, Nutty looked at Owen and said, “Yeah sure, just between the three of us. So Bud, how do you feel about what I just did?”

“Huh? Are you talking to me?” Owen commented, looking around aimlessly.

“Of course, I'm talking to you, Owen. Who else would I be talking to?¨ Nutty scowled.

Owen’s jaw dropped, as he was concerned about how he became a part of what Nutty meant as the “three of us.”

“You stay away, leave Cuddles and Flippy out of this or I'll get my mom on you!” exclaimed Owen.

“Listen, kid... I don’t think you wanna test me. I know you better than your parents know you, even more than yourself, so if we’re gonna play this little game, we play it my way,” Nutty shot back.

“OWEN, DON'T DO IT. HE’S GON-” screeched Flippy, who had just awakened.

Nutty kicked Flippy in the head, forcing him to pass out, and blood spewed out of a gash that opened on Flippy's head.

“AHGGG! NO NO NO!” howled Cuddles.

“SHUT UP!” Nutty slapped Cuddles across the face.

Owen gasped, jumped to his feet, and sprinted to his parents as fast as he could. He kept looking back at the TV as he was running, until it was out of his sight. He ran right into his mother.

“Hey, slow down, Sweet Poo. What are you in a rush for; you got a date I don't know about?” proposed Mom.

“No, Mom, look, come with me, hurry, he's gonna hurt him. He's bleeding, he got kicked and everything. IT'S HORRIBLE WE GOTTA HELP HIM, MOM PLEASE!!”

Mom stared at Owen with dismay. They both hurried to the living room for mom to find blood on the white fluffy carpet by the TV.

“Owen, what is this; did Coco get hurt?” Mom said, shaking. She went on her knees and looked into her son's eyes for answers. “You won't get in trouble, just tell me the truth,” Mom said cautiously. She embraced him in her arms, cradling him. When she let go of him there was blood on her hands. Once she realized, she pushed Owen back out of shock.

“J-JAKE HONEYY!!!¨ yelled Mom. Dad ran into the room with panic.

“What seems to be the comotion--” Dad asked before he froze up. He watched as his wife was trembling on the floor with traces of Owen’s blood on her hands. Dad shoved mom out the way, frantically picked up Owen, and started for the red car.

Moments later at the hospital, doctors examined him and came to the conclusion that this injury was self-inflicted. Jake and Alice looked at each other in disbelief.

“What should we do about it? He’s never done anything like this before. He’s a good kid; nobody bullies him. We are good parents, dammit!! I've done everything in my power to keep him safe for God’s sake. I’M A GOOD MOM!” Alice exclaimed to everybody in the room. Jake consoled his wife with a hug, reassuring her this is no one's fault.

“Look, we know this must be hard for you. We’re here to help Owen,” the doctor added.

“Oh, so has your child ever done this before? You seem to talk as if you know all about this, DOCTOR,” Alice said sarcastically.

“Honey, stop, he's only trying to help us,” Jake interrupted.

“If you wanna be a useful doctor, go in that room and help my son. If you have nothing to benefit my son, I don't wanna hear a word from you, and I don’t want your pity!!” said Alice with the final say. The doctor nodded and walked away, leaving both the nurse and Jake speechless. The nurse looked at both my parents as she was struggling with her words to comfort them.

“What are you looking at? Don't you have a job to do? Ya know what? You can get us both a coffee since you're just standing there,” scoffed Alice.

“Ya know, can you be a little more polite honey, ok?” said Jake, turning to his wife.

“Oh, sorry. Have you had your son's blood on your hands before?”

“Listen, You are not the only one going through this. I am too, but you don't see me yelling at the help,” said Jake calmly.

Alice takes a deep breath

“Why is this happening to us? I think I should call my dad to come and watch Owen for a bit while we try to work with doctors who are helping him,” Alice said whilst smiling at her husband.

“Yea that sounds.. like a great start. For now let’s get settled; we’re gonna be here for a while,” Jake replied.

Days later, doctors and nurses kept an eye on me, seeing as Owen’s release date from the hospital was coming soon. Everybody must be prepared to bring him back to his home and act as if nothing happened, but cautiously.

“Do not mention what happened that night. He thinks it was someone else, and if you pressure him to answer you, that may cause some sort of traumatic reaction that could send him spiraling down,” the doctor said nervously.

“Of course, we’ll have someone keeping a close eye on him, and in case of anything we have you on speed dial,” said Jake, reassuring the doctor

“Alright, well Owen is waiting for you in his room, the nurse is just giving him his last dose, I wish you guys the best of luck,” the doctor said, smiling, as he walked out of the room with Jake and Alice to complete the paperwork for Owen’s release.

“Ok Owen, just be still now, and if you want, you can turn the TV on while I give you your last bit of medication,” Nurse Candice said with a cheerful giggle.

Happy Tree Friends was on the television. Owen just stared at the tv screen.

“Hey, pssst, kid, you really gonna let her do that. She’s trying to kill you… stop her,” Nutty whispered to Owen from the screen.

Owen grabbed the IV needle from his arm and charged the nurse whilst stabbing her repeatedly in the chest.

Screams filled the halls. . . . .