I DON'T OWN SPONGEBOB that honor goes to the late Stephen hillienburg who will be missed I'm so sorry sweet victory never got a chance to shine

All was dark. The last thing that Squidward remembered was yelling at SpongeBob and Patrick about…. Neptune what was it about probably them harassing him again like they always did. Pfff its kinda funny isn't it them two were the most destructive fish he'd ever met and yet the entire town thought SpongeBob was the best thing since canned bread and Patrick was just his best friend even as internally they must have questioned exactly what SpongeBob saw in the pathetic moron that was born without a brain but just shrugging it off with the best explanation they could come up with is he's fun. But only Squidward saw exactly who those two really were at their worst. Sure SpongeBob had many talents Karate, fry cooking, a personality that made Neptune himself give him the honor of being his royal fry cook, and enough Charisma to always end up on top no matter what.

But everyone else conveniently forgets about all the damage and chaos he unleashes whenever the mood strikes him. He turned me into a giant with a dangerous chemical that appeared out of nowhere for no reason. Well I take that back there might have been a reason but after a while of bad things happening to you it all just blends together and all that you remember is the key moments most of them pain of course but a few seconds of hope can come in at the funniest times and that usually ends up being ripped away in the end which somehow is worse than constant misery without a rest because at least that way you didn't get to feel a glimmer of hope that this might be ok only for it to be ripped away from you like the universe is just saying hey guess what here you can be happy I'm done oop no no I'm not ha-ha you suck and then spits on you like a cruel monster who feeds off of misery.

So eventually I realized that this was it I couldn't escape I was unhappy everywhere doing everything. I try of course and sometimes for a few brief moments painting, playing my clarinet, reading things I truly enjoy and have even become my only thread to sanity and happiness. But then like clockwork thing one and thing two come smashing in ready to ruin another one of my few fleeting moments of happiness which seem to be getting more and more sporadic each passing day.

But it seemed the universe looked away for a moment to attend to something else and gave Squidward a moment of peace from his day to day torment. And a moment was all he needed. You see Squidward had gotten shocked by an electric fence due to a futile attempt to jettison SpongeBob and Patrick from his life for a little while subconsciously he accepted the fact that he would never completely be free from the two who leaned on the Hanlon's razor defense a little far too much than what should be healthy. But that shock that one tiny shock of electricity changed his life in a way you can't even begin to imagine. It went all the way up to his brain and in some kind of divine intervention fell into the mix of chemicals that controlled everything his brain did. And well after the shock had gotten done with his little attempt at saving Squidward's life before the universe came back from its break, everything was finally clear for the first time it had been in years. That was the brain Squidward came back too once he woke up from the improv nap the miracle of lightning had given him in exchange for a chance to sort out his brain chemicals.

For the first time since he was a child he felt well not happy exactly but not sad either. It was more of a calming feeling the kind you get when you take a step back from everything and think really think about what's happening right now. After waking up SpongeBob and Patrick having left a few minutes after he had woken up him not wanting to move till they were far away in case they decided to do any more damage to him that day he walked back into his house quietly made himself some tea and went to his study to do a bit of self-reflection. He wasn't consumed by anxiety over what SpongeBob was going to do next or sadness about his miserable life he could see no escape from nor could he feel anger at the abuse the world decided to pile on him. No he was just calm for once in his life he was calm. Without even realizing it he began to make a plan for himself. A simple plan nothing really special but because he wasn't consumed by fear, anger, or sadness he had no reason to believe that it wouldn't work out. Of course, he couldn't forget his past experiences that had turned him into the person he was before the lightning strike but now he found it didn't affect him as much it was more of an ok that happened but now I can move forward and try and make it better. So that was his plan to keep moving forward and make his life at least a little better one step at a time.

AUTHORS NOTE so I can't be the only one who thought of antidepressants when I remembered this episode of SpongeBob when I got older I don't know really what I'm doing here I don't usually write outside my usual fandoms but I had this idea and I've hit a pretty bad streak of burnout lately and it's the first thing I've written in over a month so I'm hoping I can finish this and maybe add this fandom to my wheelhouse this isn't supposed to be anything good its just the first time I've felt like writing in a long time so if you don't like it that's fine just don't be a dick and write troll comments to bait me its not gonna work worst you'll get is the story being taken down if I think its trash which is a strong possibility at this point