Homer's Lament

It was a cool, calm evening out at the Toonatopian Beach. And a man named Homer Simpson stood silently, and despondently, at the water's edge in nothing but his sweater jacket. He looked up at the rising moon with a sad look on his face; something had been nagging him for a while now.

"Well, Ma...looks like this is the end," he sighed. "Sure, we haven't seen each other in so long...heck, I'd want to make up for lost time, too, if I didn't see you for as long as I did. But..."

"Homer?" came a young voice from behind Homer. The Simpson man turned around and saw Rika Itonami walking up to him. "Homer, what're you doing out here?" Rika asked. "Your family's worried about you!"

"How do you know?" Homer asked with an arched eyebrow.

"They invited me, my mom, Daffy, Porky, Bender, and Stitch over for dinner," Rika said. "But that's beside the point. They all want to know where you are right now."

"I was just down here...thinkin'..." Homer said, his voice tailing off somewhat.

"About your mother's passing?" Rika asked.

"Yeah," Homer nodded. He sighed as he said, "Kid, I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you. For all the times I've been an idiot, refusing my mother's time was one of the most idiotic things I've ever done. Now that she's gone...I'm never gonna get a chance to say I'm sorry to her."

Rika shed a tear as she heard this. "Oh, Homer," she whimpered. "You must be devestated."

"Devestated is an understatement, if there WAS one," Homer said.

RIka took a deep breath in and put a hand on Homer's shoulder. "Homer," she said calmly, "I think what you did...how you stopped Mr. Burns from destroying the Amazon Rainforest...that was apology enough for her. Besides, I know she loves you too much to bear a grudge against you; no mom would bear a grudge against their children. And I'm sure that, even now, your mom holds you in the best of regards...as her little boy."

"Just like you're my little girl," came a sweet, motherly voice from behind the two. They both looked behind each other to see Rika's mother, Kairi, along with her sidekicks Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bender "Bending" Rodriguez, and Stitch Jookiba.

"Hey, mom," Rika said with a smile.

"Why're we in this?" Bender asked Stitch silently. "We ain't even playing an important part here!"

"Eh, Stitch is just goin' with it," Stitch shrugged.

"G-g-g-shucks, Homer," Porky stuttered. "I know your m-m-m-mother passing is diffucult to co-c-c-co-c-c-swallow. But you can't just b-b-be-b-be-dwell on you not apologizing to her before she d-d-d-passed away."

"Yeah, Butterball's right," Daffy said nonchalantly. "Your mother's your mother, and she loves you no matter what...then again, who else would?"

"Daffy!" Rika scolded.

"They're all right, Homer," Kairi said, placing a hand on Homer's shoulder. "Your mother loves you very much. If she were here now, she'd accept your apology in a heartbeat!

"Either way, there's no need to feel any remorse for not apologizing," Kairi concluded. "I know that...somehow...she already HAS forgiven you."

"You mean it?" Homer asked.

"Of course," Rika nodded. "Your mother was a great woman; I never met her, but I've heard she was an amazing person! I'm sure even now, she's smiling down at you."

Everyone looked up to see a constellation of stars...in the shape of Mona Simpson's face.

Homer smiled broadly as he looked up at this. "Thanks, Mom," Homer said, a tear in his eye. "You're the greatest."

The rest of the night was spent at the beach, looking up at the stars in the sky. And Homer knew now, more than ever before, that his wounds were healed; and his mother would always be with him.

THE END

Voice Cast:
Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson
Miranda Cosgrove as Rika Itonami
Hayden Pannettierre as Kairi
John DiMaggio as Bender Bending Rodriguez
Chris Sanders as Stitch
Bob Bergen as Porky Pig
Joe Alaskey as Daffy Duck