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The day Meg Griffin died was a sad day for everyone involved.
The day had already started out gloomy. Dark storm clouds, heavy with rain, covered the sky and shielded the sun. It was a Saturday, so that counted as a small mercy.
Slowly the Griffin household awoke. Meg, as usual, being the first one to open her eyes. Multiple weeks beforehand she had decided that she would take a little trip. She had recently started taking driving lessons, and while she theoretically wasn’t allowed to drive without an adult besides her, she knew that no one cared enough to make sure she followed up on that rule, thus she could take the family car. And even if Peter - or more likely Lois - ended up getting mad that the car was missing (not that she was missing, never that she was missing) then it was well worth it for a couple hours of freedom and happiness.
So, with a certain spring in her step, Meg stood up and got ready for the day ahead. She had to be quick. If she didn’t manage to get out of the house before her parents awoke then she wouldn’t get out at all, at least not with the car. Within 30 minutes she was ready and out the front door.
Lois woke up because she thought she heard the front door slam shut, but chalked it up to being a dream. She tried going back to sleep, but found it impossible to do so. Barley conscious, the worries of the past week or so already started swarming her brain with their insistent nagging, she wished that she could just stop worrying, but if she didn’t then no one would and where would that leave them?
With a deep sigh Lois decided that it would be more productive if she just stood up already, she could still worry in the kitchen after all.
A couple minutes she stood in the kitchen, completely dressed and staring hopelessly into the refrigerator. She figured that breakfast would be a good first point of order. Making breakfast, however, was easier said than done, at least it was if you lived in the Griffin household. Money had been tight and the refrigerator was nearly empty. Her and Peter had originally sat down and discussed that maybe everyone in the house should watch their intake of food, just until they had a bit of safer footing. The only exception to this rule had been Stewie, simply because he was still a baby and needed the food more than the rest of them. Though it appeared that Peter had decided to completely ignore that rule and thus continued to eat with the same gusto as before. There were days where she seriously considered strangling him.
Well then. Breakfast would have to wait for a bit. Lois took off to the living room, making a stop at the front door to get the mail while she was at it.
The living room was covered in papers and newspapers. Peter had lost his job at the brewery a few weeks prior and had yet to find something new. This mess was their (mainly her) attempt to do so.
Resignedly she sat down on the couch (the only place not covered in papers) and went through the mail. Most of it were bills that they had serious trouble paying. It were moments like these where she truly, deeply regretted marrying Peter and not just finding someone else, or just staying single. One part of the mail was a letter, a letter from the owner of their local bar. It was an official paper, documenting Peters drinking during the last few weeks, the many times he had asked to “simply pay for it some other time” and the reminder that now was “some other time”.
Lois saw the letter. Sat there in shock for what felt like forever, but were in reality mere seconds, and wept.
Meg brought the car masterfully to a stop and stepped out of it. She had driven further out of the city than she’d originally planned to. But that was alright. Now she stood high over the world on a cliff hanging far over the ocean. If she stretched her arm out high enough, she felt as if she could touch the clouds, tickle out the rain they ached to release. But maybe it was better if they kept the rain off for a little while yet, she thought. After all, she had a picnic prepared and it wouldn’t do for everything to get all soggy. Taking her sweet time she laid out her blanket and the little snacks she had gotten from the nearby supermarket with her money. Sitting on her blanket, looking out over the ocean, holding a sandwich in her hands, she felt at peace for the first time in seemingly forever.
Peter woke up because he thought he heard loud yelling and sobbing, but couldn’t chalk it up to a dream. Because even after he opened his eyes, even after he stretched, it continued. Reluctantly he went downstairs to check what was going on, not bothering to get dressed. What reason did he have?
He had no idea what had happened downstairs. The next thing he knew, he was standing outside, locked out of his own house, whilst the clouds threateningly growled over him. Slightly dumbfounded, but mainly annoyed, he decided to go to Quagmires to wait until Lois had calmed down a bit and stopped being so overdramatic.
Yes, if you’d ask Peter afterwards he wouldn’t be able to tell you what happened. If you’d ask Lois afterwards what happened, she would tell you that she finally had had enough and had thrown Peter out, indefinitely this time, maybe forever.
The sandwich had been absolutely delicious, but the true highlight Meg had been waiting for was the cake. Lovely chocolate cake with a glaze that was whipped cream whilst simultaneously not being whipped cream. It was absolutely delectable. Meg could hear thunder growling low in the distance, seconds before a lightning lit up the sky. The storm must be close.
Meg smiled lightly. She had always loved storms. Even when she was a little kid she would always excitedly run outside as soon as she heard thunder. Peter had often joked that, if they got lucky she’d be hit by a lightning strike one of these days. The smile slowly faded from her face. Best not to dwell on that now. This was a day for her after all. For her, and for her only.
Again she saw lightning strike. It lifted her mood immediately. It looked so lovely to her, lightning brightening the sky, the wind blowing, the ocean in complete disorder. It was magical. Excitedly Meg got to eating her cake whilst watching the spectacle in utter awe.
Brian woke up because he thought he heard thunder rolling in the distance. He wanted to chalk it up to being a dream, he had always been afraid of thunder storms, as was usual for dogs, but couldn’t. It had been too real to be a simple dream. A lightning bolt lit up the sky and Brian woofed loudly in terror. Then curled up into a ball and kept on whimpering. He knew that it was an unreasonable fear to have, yet it was still a deep seated fear of his.
Meg laid back on her blanket and wistfully watched the sky, it was breathtaking. It was also slowly getting colder. Having finished her food, the blanket was empty; and so Meg took one end of the blanket and curled it around herself, effectively making a blanket burrito. She closed her eyes, listened to the sounds of the ocean and the wind and pretended to be one with the earth.
Stewie woke up because he thought he heard Brian whimpering. He immediately knew that he couldn’t chalk it up to being a dream, because it was storming and Brian was scared. As it happened Stewie was also scared of thunderstorm, as was usual for small children. He knew that it was an unreasonable fear, seeing as thunder storms were just natural reactions, yet it was still a fear of his.
Carefully he climbed out of his crib nearly falling twice when thunder and lightning came in quick succession. He walked towards Brian, slowly as to not scare him further, and huddled against him. Every muscle under Brians soft fur tensed before they relaxed again, Stewie relaxing right along with them. This peace lasted for about three minutes before another thunder hit and they both started whimpering again.
They stayed just like that for the rest of the day. Reassuring each other, silently helping the other through the fear.
Meg opened her eyes because she’s heard birds above her. They were probably finding a good place to wait out the inevitable rain that would come. Meg liked birds, they weren’t her favourite animals, but she liked them. If she was honest with herself she envied them. They had endless freedom behind and ahead of them. They didn’t have to stay in one place, they chose to, and if they ever grew tired of a place they could just move on in a heartbeat. She wanted that too, she wanted to fly, fly high above everyone, all her problems disappearing in the nothingness beneath her.
The birds were still flying above her, screaming every now and then. She stood up, slowly as not to scare them. And just continued to watch them. She could watch birds for hours.
Chris woke up because he thought he heard his crush Amanda tell him she loved him. He immediately knew that it had to be reality and chalked it up to being a memory from yesterday. He went back in his - admittedly limited - memory to revisit the moment in more detail.
He had been in school and saw Amanda, god she was so beautiful, and so smart as well, only having to retake school years three times. He had walked up to her and confidently asked her to meet him at the skate park that afternoon. Chris didn’t particularly care for skating but it was probably better than inviting her to a fast food restaurant. He would reserve that for the second date.
Between school and his date with Amanda he had headed home to put on some better clothes. He had donned his best pair of Jeans and his cleanest T-Shirt. Mom had said that he looked wonderful, and dad had said that every girl who rejected him while he looked like that must be pretty dense.
He had met with Amanda in the skate park, and confessed everything to her. How he loved her, how she was the dream of his sleepless nights and how all his wildest fantasies were centred around her.
Chris frowned. He remembered something else happening afterwards.
First she had laughed, then she had looked slightly shocked and then straight out disgusted. She had called him a creep, and left.
Chris felt the need to cry. She didn’t just not love him, his crush, the love of his life, she hated him. Chris turned around and cried himself back to sleep.
The birds had moved closer to the cliff. And so had Meg. She thought again about how she would like to fly just like the birds. Looking in front of herself she noticed for the first time that she was standing directly at the edge of the cliff. The birds were screaming above her.
'Maybe it was time' she thought. Meg liked to believe in rebirth or heaven. Maybe she would end up in heaven, or maybe her next life would be better. In the worst case scenario she would end up in hell, and even hell was better than here.
Thunder roared, this time directly above her.
Meg took another tiny step forward.
Lightning lit up the sky.
Meg looked down.
A bird screamed.
Meg fell.
And so did the rain.
The next morning brought with it the sun.
Lois woke up because it shone into her face, and decided that she would get a divorce from Peter as soon as possible.
Peter woke up because it shone into his face, and decided that maybe Lois wasn’t worth all the trouble.
Brian woke up because it shone into his face, and decided that he really liked cuddling with Stewie.
Stewie woke up because it shone into his face, and decided that he really liked cuddling with Brian.
Chris woke up because it shone into his face and decided that he should maybe work on himself, not for Amanda, but for Chris.
Meg did not wake up because it shone into her face, even though it did.
Yes. The day Meg Griffin died was truly a sad day for everyone involved. The saddest part was that no one was sad because it was the day that Meg Griffin died.