Immoral
Author's note: This story was created in summer of 2015 to be a better version of an earlier pasta I wrote, "Not Natural," which was completed in 7 hours. When I published that story, it was deleted as it was a lost episode pasta. I learned then after that they did not accept them, so I decided to post it, albeit with some changed sentence structure and a few added details to make it make more sense, to the Trollpasta Wiki.
This pasta was posted on the Spinpasta Wiki, as it accepted these types of pastas. It was deleted. I decided to fix some grammar issues and publish it here instead.
I remember an animated show titled The Life of Howard B. , and it was an educational show aimed towards children. It talked about serious issues while being aimed towards children. When I was 8, I watched this show on Saturday mornings when I had spare time. I honestly thought it was interesting, but I never admitted to anyone that I liked it. I woke up on July 7th, 2001 and turned on a TV. I was waiting for a re-run of Captain Planet to end (I never really liked that show) and seeing what was next. A banner claimed that a new episode was airing after it, so it pulled my interest. However, there was no new episode, and a rerun replaced it.
The next week, I heard that this episode featured "disturbing content," and that "the show will continue to air new episodes every other Saturday." However, I looked at next week's schedule on the channel, but there was no sign of The Life of Howard B. on the time slots. I later learned it was canceled due to this incident.
Fourteen years later, (and partly influenced by the tightly-written show) became a writer for a kids show on Nickelodeon. By then, I have forgotten about The Life of Howard B. until a co-writer mentioned it to me. He told me that a script-writer from the show is returning to television to work on our show. I remembered the incident in 2001, and when the show-writer came, I tried to talk him into spilling the details of this "disturbing content."
The writer, who was named Tyler Johnson, was very anti-social, and while the other writers (myself included) would babble about their lives, Tyler remained still. It was very to get him to crack, and I finally managed to do when I questioned, "Remember The Life of Howard B?"
"Umm... yeah." He murmured seriously.
"Remember... what happened in July of 2001?"
He showed a shocked face, as if he was hiding something, and a few seconds later, he got his act together. "No. I don't know what you're referring to."
I knew he was lying, but I know that I cannot get the truth out of him, so I dismissed him and continued presenting ideas for a new episode for a show. Tyler remained quiet for most of the time, and after work, he drove home. Just then, an idea generated in my head. The next day, at work, I asked Tyler, "Can I arrange an interview at your place?"
Tyler shrugged, "No."
I then claimed, "Well, I was inspired by your show, The Life of Howard B., to be a writer, but I lack some qualities you have."
Tyler, with his ego enlightened, stated, " Well... maybe for a bit."
"Okay, just give me your address and I'll meet you at your place after work."
"Whatever."
After work, I drove to his address. I arrived at his place. The house looked like a bit of a fixer-upper, as if it were there for a long time. I knocked at his door, and he opened with a sigh. I walked in and shook his hand. He told me that he needed to use the restroom (as he just got home 3 minutes before me) and my eyes stared at his blocky computer. I immediately noticed that it ran on Windows 2000, and I was able to access his desktop. There was only one thing that stood out: a folder named, "Channel Links." I opened the folder to discover a lot of documents, and the top file was named, "Login ID." I assumed that these were his login credentials, and when I opened the file, my prediction was semi-right. I found "tylerjohnson@outlook.com," and "Password: 2229987." There also was a link to the website that needed the login info. I wanted to find a piece of paper to write this info on, so I found a crumpled newspaper on the desk.
I uncrumpled the newspaper and found the head title, "Caucasians and Asians Fight Over Ethnic Rights, Cause Riots in Bradford," and (thanks to my history knowledge) immediately learned that this newspaper was dated July 7th, 2001, and the article date proved my assumption. I flipped a few pages ahead and I found a shocking article. "Cartoon Voice Actress Killed, Killer Unknown," and I noticed that most of the article was censored with a sharpie pen, and the only things I can make out were, "brain injury... on set...." There was also an image of a rather attractive woman. I ripped that page and on the back of it, I wrote the login information.
I was able to fold the newspaper into a shape small enough to fit in my pocket, and then I had a generic conversation with Tyler. After what seemed like hours of me making questions like, "What inspired you to write?" and, "What is your favorite game?" the interview was over, and I drove home.
I was driving home with a few questions on my mind, including, "What is the login info for?" and "Why is the newspaper article crossed out?" This is what I thought throughout the whole drive, and when I finally came home, I turned on my computer.
I took out the newspaper and typed the link, and surprisingly, it brought me to an active site. It looked very generic, with a simple login button. I typed in the username and password, and it successfully loaded. The website said, "Welcome, Tyler Johnson." and there was a link named, "Projects." I clicked it, and the following page showed videos of every "The Life of Howard B." episode, starting from the pilot. Each episode stated, "Finished! Cannot alter." When I scrolled to the then-final episode, I found a link named, "Unaired." I clicked on that link, hoping that I'd find the lost episode.
The page loaded, and just as I hoped, there was a single episode. I knew that this was the controversial lost episode. I braced my self for what I was going to watch.
The episode started, with the intro being the same as it was for all 7 seasons. It showed Howard as a baby, and he grows up from a newborn to a pre-teen, while showing his important life moments. the intro was very memorable in my opinion, and for a second, I actually forgot this was a controversial episode. The title card for the episode was "Immoral." However, once the episode started, I noticed a sudden change of feel. The show usually contained gritty subjects, like cancer, but it always remained kid-friendly. No one would ever swear, and violence was off screen. This was the opposite. We see Howard's drunken father walk home and his wife reacts accordingly. "Why are you drunk! You're being a bad influence to your son!"
Allow me to interrupt by telling you that while The Life of Howard B. was acclaimed by some critics, it didn't raise much attention. It never got an Emmy, even though the writers were desperate for one. They sometimes would jump the shark and make really depressing episodes, and they still won't even get nominated. I could see where they were going here, doing an episode on bad relationships, but the problem is that it was handled too seriously.
The father screamed in a drunker voice, "You don't control me! No body controls me!"
"But it's immoral!" She replied, while shooing her son upstairs.
"I can do what I want!" He screamed. He proceeded to put his fist into the wall, representing how he can do what he wants.
The wife started breaking down in tears as her husband proceeded to break most things that were in his sight. In the height of his drunken rage, he stared at his wife and the scene cut to live action. Usually, to save budget, they would do short, live action sequences to represent certain things that were hard to animate. It happened rarely, and it was usually 10 seconds long. This, however, explains the controversy. The camera pans to a woman- the woman on the picture of the newspaper. A man walks up to her and, with a knife in his right hand, stabs her neck. The right arm had a black, skull-shaped tattoo. The rest of the episode consists of her screaming until she meets her demise.
I couldn't believe what I watched. I couldn't breathe. I immediately went to sleep to calm myself down from the incident. I woke up and went to work, yet the video was still the only thing in my mind. I walked in to find Tyler offering me a handshake, saying the interview was some of the most fun he had in some time. I shook it, reluctantly, but something caught my eye: his right hand had a black, skull-shaped tattoo.
That was the final day I worked at Nickelodeon. I showed the local police station the video and told them everything. They shut down the site and arrested Tyler; he's currently in questioning, but nothing in the world will make me forget about The Life of Howard B. again.
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