I want to thank the McGee family
for all they've done for Brighton, especially you, Molly.
You brought us this band shell,
the Sally Tugbottom Statue,
and the wind turbine factory.
In your young life, you've done so much
to enhopeify our town.
Did I say it right?
Ah, close enough, Mr. Mayor.
It is my honor to present you with the Bronzed Turnip.
Thank you for bringing Brighton back to life.
This has gotta be a giant chocolate
wrapped in tinfoil, right?
Ooh. No, it is not.
Rip-off.
Mazel tov, Molly.
I'm so proud of you and this impractically large trophy.
How is this even in the city budget?
Watch out, everyone!
I-I'm puttin' it down!
This dangerously heavy trophy belongs to all of us.
Enhappification is a team effort!
My foot!
As you know, there's no I in "team"...
...which is appropriate,
'cause I did nothing to make this happen.
Not true, and you know it.
You're the ghost who gave the most.
Fine. Fine! I mean, maybe I contributed
a small curse here, a possessed pop star there.
This is all I've ever wanted-- forever friends.
My life is, in a word, perfect.
I got caught in the whirly machine again.
Geoff, Geoff, Geoff.
Oh, what would you do without me?
Be sad for a very long time?
Hah hah! Sorry, Scratch.
Oh, those Turnip Tornados are so tasty.
Well, to an amateur eater like yourself, sure.
But a true gastronomer
knows funnel cakes are where you find the flavor.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I'm gonna go funnel those cakes right down my gullet.
Deuces! I'm out!
Whoa.
Guess we'll have to try funnel cakes tomorrow.
What?! No, tomorrow?
This stand will be a thousand miles away,
wedged between a prize-winning hog named Stinky
and a carnival ride operated by a teenage delinquent
coincidentally also named Stinky.
We can't let that very specific scenario happen.
Fear not, Geoffrey.
For some, this line is an obstacle,
but for us, it's an opportunity.
Observe.
We're gonna go all these places.
Scratch, look at this. Can you believe this one?
Come on, Scratch. You gotta see this.
Whoa!
Uhh. I just had a vision.
These must be really good funnel cakes.
Molly!
Molly, I just... I saw Adia.
- Who? - My friend Adia!
I saw, uh, Paris and a mountaintop
and an Incan temple. Or maybe it was a ziggurat.
Who cares?! Don't get caught up in the jargon, Molly!
What... Scratch, slow down!
- What happened? - Okay!
- I was eating the funnel cakes. - Uh-huh.
And I must have hit a funnel-cake critical mass,
because all of a sudden, boom!
Sugar rush of memories!
Wait, memories of your life?!
Yes, my life!
But-- But it was all a jumble.
I need your help and more funnel cakes to sort it out.
A chance to help my forever friend
remember who he was?
- I am here for it! - Let's go!
I...
don't think funnel cakes work like that.
Hmm. Do you want to shout, or should I?
I'll take this one. You already do so much.
Darryl!
Why is our living room covered in funnel cakes!
Uh, this wasn't me.
Mm-mmm. Sorry, guys.
The funnel cakes are ours.
Mm-hmm. They're brain fuel
to jog my memories.
Oh! I remember a waterfall.
Put it between scaling the Pyramids
- and that time I rode a yak. - Okay.
So Scratch is remembering his life?
Because he's eating funnel cakes?
Tell us everything.
Turns out...
♪ I'm awesome! ♪
♪ My life was great ♪
♪ Adventure and fun every day ♪
♪ His life was awesome ♪
♪ He had a ball ♪
♪ The awesomest life Of them all ♪
Hit me!
♪ On a Monday I would bungee-jump ♪
- ♪ A waterfall in Spain ♪ - Whoo!
♪ Tuesday I would cave-dive In a cavern in Ukraine ♪
♪ Wednesday in the Gobi Thursday undersea ♪
♪ Seems like that was basically A normal week for me ♪
♪ From dining in a palace To aurora borealis ♪
♪ Then to searching For a chalice ♪
- Whoa! - ♪ In the ruins of Peru ♪
♪ I guess you can forget when You've got nothing to regret ♪
♪ But now I can Recall the truth ♪
♪ My life was awesome ♪
- ♪ His life was great ♪ - ♪ So great ♪
♪ Like one Never-ending parade ♪
♪ And it was awesome ♪
♪ He had a ball ♪
♪ I rode a dirt bike Over a mall ♪
This is crazy!
♪ Every port of call ♪
♪ From Perth to Portugal ♪
♪ Wingsuit in the summer ♪
♪ Skydive in the fall ♪
♪ My memory's unlocked ♪
♪ Thanks to pure cholesterol ♪
♪ Me and ♪
♪ Adia had the awesomest Life of them all ♪
Um, there's just one piece of the puzzle that's missing.
How did Scratch, um...
How shall I say this?
- What do you mean? - Spit it out, Dad.
Um, how did Scratch, uh...
Tag me in, sweetie.
- ...die. How did Scratch die? - Thanks, hon.
Oh, yeah. That's a memory we haven't unlocked yet.
Perhaps I was killed on the streets of Paris,
choked to death by my one true love,
a croissant.
You're gonna pronounce it like that forever, aren't you?
I cannot deny who I was, Moll.
I don't buy it.
That's not how you checked out, Scratch.
But I gotta ask.
Is this your Adia?
That's her! Th-That's my Adia!
That's Adia?!
Yeah. She's blowing up on Clik Clok.
We... We gotta talk to her.
I mean, she'll know everything.
Nice to meet you, Molly.
I'm whale watching off the coast of Greenland,
so sorry if ...nal is cutting out.
Oh, no worries. And thank you
for agreeing to this interview with us.
And by "us," I obviously mean me
and the, uh, readers of the Brighton Bugle.
Number one school newspaper in the tri-city area.
But right now, it is just me here.
No one else. I'm very alone.
I'm so very alone.
Cut the chitchat. Ask about me, already.
I'm dyin' to know how I died.
Okay, so, um, I just have a few standard questions,
like when you lived in Brighton,
did you have a best friend?
One who, I don't know, had a healthy appreciation
for Yim-Yums and strawberry soda?
Oh, yeah, Scratch.
I mean, that was his nickname.
He had this habit of scratching his arms
when he got nervous, which happened a lot.
It was cute.
But his real name was--
Sorry, y-you cut out. What was it again?
Uh, just one more time.
T--
Come on! Those glitches seem very conveniently timed.
Anyway, Scratch and I used to build ships
and planes out of boxes
and go on imaginary adventures around the world.
Those games inspired me to do what I do now.
Adia and Scratch seeing the world together.
Wow, that must have been so enhappifying
when you finally did it for real.
What? Scratch never came anywhere with me.
Sure I did. The funnel cakes told me so.
I asked him to come many times,
...never did.
W-Wait!
If Scratch didn't travel with you,
then how did he die?
Molly, it's getting rough here.
...still hear me?
How did Scratch die?!
Die? What do you mean?
...isn't dead. He's--
Okay. She's clearly picked up brain slugs in the Amazon.
I remember seeing the Eiffel Tower with her.
And the Pyramids!
- And that waterfall in Africa. - Yes! All that!
So why in the world would she say I'm not dead?
Because you're not dead, Scratch.
You're not even a ghost.
You think Scratch is not a ghost?
That is ri-gosh-darn-diculous.
Scratch, show 'em.
Boom. And if that's not enough for you...
I curse you all to forevermore sneeze
whenever you hear the word "toboggan."
Now, you don't think that's gonna come up a lot,
but years later, you plan a little winter fun
with your friends, and then, "Ah-choo!"
Snot city.
Ooh, I love winter shenans.
That's why I picked it. You're gonna be a mess.
Impressive, Scratch,
but sit back, and get comfy
while the Bloodhound of Truth barks out some facts.
W-Wait.
You usually say it's cute how I call myself the Bloodhound--
Not feeling it today, Libby.
Yeah, read the room.
Okay. Anyway...
we all found it strange that Scratch's many memories
came flooding back out of the blue.
I...
don't think funnel cakes work like that.
Wait!
I remember where I left my keys.
Your keys to what?
Um, I can't remember.
Unless...
Like a calculator with a broken button,
it just didn't add up.
So we did a little investigating with June.
I know this is a huge ask,
and we totally understand if you can't...
Cakewalk.
Next time you need a favor,
come with something more challenging
than hacking into every security camera in Brighton.
With footage from the Turnip Fest a our disposal,
we found something very interesting
on Pam's Cake and Bake feed.
Raccoons!
They're cute and mischievous
and have thumbs, just like us.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Geoff.
But there was something behind the raccoons,
something undeniably strange...
even for this town.
Why are they all eating funnel cakes
in the exact same way?
Let me apply the ectoplasmic enhancement filter.
That's when we saw it.
It wasn't the funnel cakes that unlocked Scratch's memories.
It was this guy.
Todd Mortenson, lifelong Brighton resident.
What? Todd Mortenson? No way.
Why would this rando unlock Scratch's memories?
Look at him!
He's got no joy, no mischief.
There's nothing at all behind those eyes.
It's like he's got...
no soul.
'Cause he's me.
Scratch?
I remember it now.
I remember everything.
♪ I never went ♪
♪ I stayed at home ♪
♪ While she was Carpe-ing the diem ♪
♪ I was playing on my phone ♪
♪ I was too afraid to go away ♪
♪ "Maybe next time" ♪
♪ I would say ♪
♪ I played it safe ♪
♪ I took no chances ♪
♪ I had no stories ♪
♪ No adventures, no romances ♪
♪ I would make plans But cancel or delay ♪
♪ "I can't make it" ♪
♪ "Maybe next time" I would say ♪
♪ She'd be on a surfboard ♪
♪ Riding on a swell ♪
♪ I'd be on the sofa Eating nachos by myself ♪
♪ On the one hand They were very tasty nachos ♪
♪ Lots of spice ♪
♪ But on the other hand ♪
♪ I wasted my whole life ♪
♪ So there is that ♪
♪ She'd always call ♪
♪ I'd never come ♪
♪ She risked it all ♪
♪ While I went numb ♪
♪ Watching her on my screen From a thousand miles away ♪
♪ Her, somewhere in China ♪
♪ Me at some Chinese buffet ♪
♪ So afraid of dying That I never lived a day ♪
♪ Every time ♪
♪ "Maybe next time" ♪
♪ I would say ♪
♪ Mm-mm ♪
♪ Until the time ♪
♪ When my soul Just slipped away ♪
As the years passed,
details of my life just faded away
'til nothing was left.
That's a common phenomenon with wraiths.
Which is technically what Scratch is.
A human who literally gave up his ghost.
Or maybe I couldn't remember my life
because there was nothing worth remembering!
Come back, Scratch!
Oh, curse this broken curse.
I lost my friendship on demand.
He won't get far on an empty stomach.
Gather everybody.
We've gotta find Scratch.
Any ghost activity in here?
That's a negative.
Check back next week.
Do not rush us.
Scratch? Nope.
He's not in frozen treats.
Or the soda aisle.
You check chips and cookies. I'll cover candy.
He wasn't at Wax and Waynes.
No Scratch here, either.
But sale on scented bath bombs!
I see where you're going.
We'll lure him out of hiding with decadent luxury.
Uh, yeah.
Exactly.
Scratch is not here.
And if you do find him,
let him know we have a matter to discuss.
He needs to pick up his ghost shark.
We are not a doggie day care.
My face!
- Uh... - Get it off!
- I'll let him know. - Get it off! Agh!
No sign of Scratch anywhere.
I looked through every book
in horror, food, and even romance.
Romance?
It's the last place he'd expect us to look.
No, there's another place.
I wonder what my life would have been like
if I hadn't always played it safe.
What if, when Adia said, "Come join me,"
I said, "You got it. I can put my microwave dinner
back in the freezer. I'll be right there,"
instead of, "Maybe some other time"?
But I already vented the plastic.
Well, maybe you don't have to wonder.
You could go back to living, Scratch.
But this time, you could say yes,
kick fear in the rear, and live your life.
I do like the idea of kicking something in the rear.
But nah.
You know what? Come on.
Let's hit the Bargain Bag, grab some Yim-Yums,
see how many we can stuff up my nose.
The record is 20, but I think we can beat that.
I've been doing nostril exercises.
Scratch, you're still playing it safe.
You're still afraid.
Yeah. I'm afraid, and you should be, too.
As a ghost, I forgot my human life,
so what if as a human, I forget my afterlife?
- And me. - Yeah, you!
And then where would your perfect life be, huh?
I'd miss you, Scratch, so much.
But maybe you won't forget.
But maybe I will.
But maybe you won't, okay?
You're right. It's a risk.
But risks are what make life worth living.
Taking risks is how you know you're actually alive.
You didn't stop playing it safe
when you became a ghost, Scratch.
You hid yourself away in that attic,
shut yourself off from the world,
and never let anybody in.
You weren't brave. You were scared,
of being hurt, rejected...
Being left behind.
Yeah.
But that's not who you are anymore.
You've changed!
You've made friends. You're brave now,
brave enough to share yourself with the world.
And even if you forget me,
I know you won't forget that.
You can't stay here, Scratch.
You've gotta go live your life.
Why you always gotta be right, Moll?
It's my curse.
If I don't remember you, I'm sorry.
Well, I will always remember you, forever friend.
Dream team, you and me?
For all eternity.
Hello?
Hey, how you doin'?
Aw, there's a smile.
Weekly scare reports?
Oh.
Uh, sorry, sir.
I was just engrossed in this fascinating book.
Did you know that some speculate
a Ghost Council oversees the entire Ghost World?
Sounds scintillating.
But I don't believe in ghosts.
- Ohh! - Whoa! Sorry.
Gotta get these fish to the school ASAP.
Gonna bust up the Student of the Month ceremony
with my Slammin' Salmon Cannon.
Want to come watch?
I do love a prank.
But I got places to be.
Have fun, random kid.
Ugh!
New Triple Choco-Yim-Yums. Care for a sample?
They're a real nostalgia rush.
Wash it down with a Surly Sid's Strawberry Soda
to really bring back those memories.
Tempting.
But I've got a bus to catch.
Thanks, anyway.
Huh? Was that...
It was.
A lucky penny!
Oh. Nice.
Must be your lucky day.
It just might be.
I'm not a monkey in a tie anymore.
I quit my job, sold my house,
and now I'm heading out to seek adventure, beauty,
and maybe a funnel cake or two.
I love those things. You ever have one?
I have. They're good.
An old friend really loved them.
Bus should be here soon.
- Where are you headed? - Everywhere!
But I'll start with Chicago, catch a flight to Tokyo,
then New Zealand, Bora Bora,
and then maybe I'll even head to
Paris for a croissant.
Sounds like you'll get to everywhere eventually.
That is my intention.
Well, my ride's here.
So long, stranger.
Wait! I hope, no matter where you go,
you remember your friends right here in Brighton.
I will. And, hey, who knows?
Maybe I'll even come back someday for a visit.
Sweet baby corn,
this is gonna be enhappifying.
"Enhappifying"? What?
Where'd that come from?
I must have just made that up, right?
Whatever. You know what? I love it,
and I shall be using it frequently on my travels.
Arrivederci, Moll.
"Moll"? But I didn't tell you my...
See you in the afterlife, buddy.
You okay, Molly?
I-It's okay...
to have big feelings.
I'm okay. Just happy to see my friend
finally satisfying his soul.
If I may, Maya Angelou once said,
"What is a fear of living?
It's being preeminently afraid of dying.
It is not doing what you came here to do
out of timidity and spinelessness.
The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself,
for the time you take up and the space you occupy.
If you don't know what you're here to do,
then just do some good."
Yeah, I was gonna say the exact same thing.
Let's live a little.
Shall we go to Sweets n Treats and split a sundae?
Yeah. I think that's what Scratch would want.
Oh, we could try that new Toffee Twirl Toboggan Sundae.
Aww, Scratch would have wanted that, too.
♪ If you feel like you're Becoming someone else ♪
♪ If you're losing track Of you inside yourself ♪
♪ If you're feelin' Out of practice ♪
♪ Like a cactus on the shelf ♪
♪ Go explore ♪
♪ Get out your door ♪
♪ Live a little ♪
♪ Spread your love Far and wide ♪
♪ Eat a churro, maybe five ♪
♪ Baby, while You're still alive ♪
♪ Live a little ♪