Squidward's Suicide (Rewritten)

I work as a janitor in a small company. Clients call us and request our services for a day. It is a normal job, just like any other.

We got called by the Nickelodeon Studios a few days ago, and I was the not-so lucky man that got sent to clean and help. I took it as another day of work, nothing important. The studios were just like any other place I have worked in, I was marked as somebody invisible that would be gone before the end of the day. I emptied every garbage bin and dumped the contents in a big plastic bag, ready to be placed in the big dumpster in the back of the studios. I lifted the bag and dropped it inside the dumpster, but I caught a glimpse of something I hadn't seen before. I managed to place the garbage bag on a side and picked up the object. It was a CD, with its case, not broken as the ones I had seen in the bins. It was unmarked and apparently new, no indication of its content, if any. Thinking that it was a mistake from the studios to throw away a perfectly good CD, I talked with one of the executives. The executive barely looked at the CD before, saying with obvious annoyance at my interruption of his activities -"If it was in the trash then it is worthless, isn't it obvious?"- I left with the case, deciding to check if it was empty and working, so I could give it an use.

That night I placed the CD on my computer, and wasn't surprised to see that it worked perfectly. What was unusual is that it was full of content. After scanning it with an anti-virus I clicked on the directory, which was now called E/: SPONGEBOB, and was greeted by about seven files, all of them videos, their filenames being something generic like '01'. I opened the first, and found out that it was an episode, one I had seen in TV. It was nice to laugh at Spongebob's antics. I had no doubts that the rest of the files would be more episodes, so I planned to give it as a gift for my nephew. I watched other videos without finding any anomaly, just more episodes, nothing wrong until I reached the fifth one in the list.

I watched the nice intro, until it got to the title card, which was titled 'Squidward's Suicide'. I had never heard of that episode before, and felt uncomfortable about it." Maybe I could put the rest of the episodes on another CD, if this episode is unfit to be watched by children", I thought. Squidward was practicing his clarinet while Spongebob and Patrick played outside, the usual scenario. -"Be quiet, Spongebob! I have a concert tonight and I need to practice!"-he yelled. Spongebob replied and left with Patrick to see Sandy, allowing Squidward to continue. The scene changed after the bubble animation, and now Squidward was playing his clarinet in front of an audience, comically hitting some sour notes. I chuckled, while the concert ended. The audience murmured for a few seconds, wondering what they just listened to, then started to boo him. I paused the video and examined the audience, as I felt there was something off here. The audience seemed to be normal, except that Spongebob was in middle of it, booing, something I hadn't thought he would do. I couldn't find anything else, so I continued watching, then it hit me. It was the sound. There was clear malice in their protests and voices, way beyond a caricature. There was a close-up of Squidward's face, who looked clearly aghast at their reaction. The video cut to black, just enough time to be noticed.

The episode continued. Now it was a shot of the bedroom, still night, Squidward sitting on his bed, inexpressive. It seemed like there was no sound. I turned the speakers to the max volume, and still didn't hear a thing. Squidward covered his eyes with his hands/tentacles and started sobbing softly, just enough to be heard. I watched while it zoomed, and started to hear what at first sounded like ambience, but then I realized it didn't fit. It was like a breeze in a forest, trees moving and leaves being crushed. While the background sound got stronger, a single frame flashed. It took me several tries to be able to pause at the exact moment, but then I regretted it. I saw the image of a child's corpse, slashed and with part of its entrails out. I felt the bile rising to my throat and continued with the episode, wanting to erase that image from my mind.

Squidward was still sobbing, and a red tint leaked from behind his tentacles. It looked like blood, coming from his eyes. I hoped that it didn't mean they were gouged out, or something similar. The sounds got stronger, to the point where they started to overlap the sobbing, and I heard a deep laugh, mixed with the wind. The screen once again blurred and another frame flashed, and after doubting, my curiosity got the better of me. I paused in the moment, and after closing my eyes, I pressed the button to continue. I had seen another dead body, this time a girl, almost decapitated. I didn't pay any attention to the details. While I kept my eyes closed the episode continued, the sobbing turning into full crying, wrecking my nerves, something way beyond the purpose of the show. When I dared to open my eyes I saw Squidward remove his tentacles from his eyes, still crying desperately. The eyes filled the center of the screen. Despite the crude drawing, there were tiny details around the eye that hinted at much more than a mere drawing. I could see the pain, depression and repressed rage behind the pulsating eyes, perhaps more than the concert scene would have provoked, blood still leaking from his eyes. Another frame flashed, this time for enough time to be noticed before I paused the episode again. A third child, as mutilated as the other two. Then the sound of wind exploded, forcing me to lower the volume, then it disappeared. Squidward was silent too, just looking directly to my eyes. I watched, scared, while the scene panned out until I could see Squidward's tentacles, a shotgun between them. A voice spoke, the same one that had laughed before. -"What are you waiting for? Do it"-it said slowly. Squidward looked down at the shotgun. I'm sure it took less than a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I watched as Squidward placed the shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. I closed my eyes instinctively, and when I opened it there was only the remains of Squidward's head, his eyes still open. The episode ended there.

I stared at the screen for several minutes, wondering what I had just watched. This didn't fit the show, neither the characters nor the scenes. I considered giving the CD to the police so they could investigate about the dead kids, but then fear filled my body. I took the CD out and broke it in half, then again, and put the pieces in my trash, where they belonged. I have no idea if its content is related to Nickelodeon, I'm sure that they would never allow this. I want to forget about that...thing, but I still have the image of Squidward's eyes deep in my mind.

I want to forget.