Editing 572: Together

{{comic
| number    =572
| date      =April 22, 2009
| title     =Together
| image     =together.png
| titletext =This scavenger hunt is getting boring. Let's go work on the treehouse!
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are seen running together hand in hand. Behind them, two others (who look like Cueball and Megan as well) are standing next to a box in an open field of grass. 

Together, Cueball and Megan fall in love, get married, and retire in old age to a porch swing, Cueball now wearing a sailor cap and Megan with hair worn just like [[Hairbun]].

Suddenly, without a word, old Cueball using his cane, leaves old Megan on the porch, even though she shouts out for him to come back. He then returns to his two friends at the box from the first panel, they are now also much older and are still standing beside the box. Old Cueball picks up a sheet of paper and checks off "Happiness", the third point checked off on a list entitled "Scavenger Hunt," where the other items include these two above that are checked off: Indian-Head Penny and Snake Skin, as well as the two items below that, are not yet checked off: Four-Leaf Clover and Shark Tooth. At least one more unchecked point is on the list, but it is covered by a speech bubble.  

So finding happiness was just one item in what is presumably the longest-running {{w|scavenger hunt}} of all-time, considering Cueball grew significantly old during the hunt. The comic ends with Cueball asking, "What's next?"

The list indicates this is a hunt for somewhat rare items. The US {{w|Indian Head cent}} (penny) was produced from 1859 to 1909, making it somewhat rare. But this they have managed. (It may have been easier to find when the scavenger hunt started, depending on when that was; for instance, if the last panel takes place in the 2000s, and 70 years have gone by, then the treasure hunt started in the 1930s, when these pennies were still fairly common.) Also, the snake skin has been managed which may be a little easier to find if you live in areas with snakes as they shed their skin by molting. So finding such a skin would be the objective to find here.

A {{w|four leaf clover}} is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. A shark tooth is not easy to obtain unless you live near a beach with souvenir shops.

The title, ''Together'', of the comic is probably a reference to the saying that you find happiness ''together'' with your loved one. Cueball could have taken many different paths to find happiness, together or separate, but he chose togetherness as a way to find happiness, which is a common theme in love stories. But happiness is not something a person finds, it is an experience, hence the need to accumulate enough experiences to determine beyond doubt that happiness was truly found. This is why he had to wait until old age before he could go back to his friends.

Note that Megan is never seen together with Cueball's friends, and especially since she is not invited to go back to them to check the happiness point off, there there is no reason to assume that she was in on the game from the beginning. She was just a means to an end, which makes Cueball's actions rather cruel and questionable. 

The title text indicates that after all this time, the players may abandon the game due to being bored with it. It is typical for children to tire of a game before it is finished; except here, Cueball spent nearly a lifetime on just one part of this game! Building a treehouse is another example of a common childhood activity. Naturally, the intended mental image of a bunch of old men and women building a treehouse and playing in it like six-year-olds is another punchline. However, as mentioned in [[212: Brain]], the fantasy of constructing the perfect treehouse seems to nevertheless hold a permanent place in Randall's heart (or brain) regardless of how old he gets or how immature the ambition may seem. The idea of adults having a fort in the woods was also mentioned, rather darkly, in the title text of [[219: Blanket Fort]].

Three of the old people look very similar to three of those standing in line in [[586: Mission to Culture]]. And much later in [[1910: Sky Spotters]] the two birdwatchers look very much like the old version of Cueball and Megan. Giving an old person a sailor cap was also used in [[2213: How Old]].

==Speculation==
*This hole section is only relevant if you assume that Megan was into the game to begin with. 
**But Megan is not seen together with the other two, only far from running with Cueball.
**So another very valid assumption is that Cueball was only playing it with the other two, and in order to see if he could find happiness he invites a girl (Megan) out and starts dating her to see if this would be the road to happiness. 
**Once found his task is complete and he walks back to the other players of the game. 
***It was not until old age, when everything had gone perfect that he was sure he had found happiness, which is why he did not choose to leave before.
**Since Megan was not part of this game he doesn't take her along, since it was not her he found but happiness. 
***Using this assumption the speculations beneath loose most of their meaning.
***Because then there is nothing strange in him returning without Megan who was never in on the game he played.

Why did Cueball wait until old age to confirm that he and Megan had found happiness? Two possible explanations: 1) he forgot they were playing a game (Megan may have forgotten or simply didn't connect Cueball's leaving her with the game) or 2) Cueball wanted to be certain that he had found happiness and not just some illusory sensation of happiness. Often, happiness is situational and temporal, requiring a statistically sufficient population of experiences before drawing a meaningful conclusion -- and even then with a probability for error. Knowing Cueball's penchant for math and science, the latter is a more likely explanation. This observation into a true characteristic of happiness is the genius of this comic.

The reader may wonder why the second pair of players didn't simply proceed to find the next items. One explanation is that this may be a tag-team scavenger hunt, where each item is found in the order listed and by alternating teams. So the other two people will now have the task of finding a four leaf clover somewhere.

One explanation for old Cueball's sailor cap is to indicate a cherished memory of them being together in the rowboat during their early courtship.

The reader may wonder why Cueball didn't invite Megan to share in the triumph of checking off the item, since they are shown together in the initial frame. One explanation is to create a plot twist and build suspense, invoking questions as to where Cueball was going, as well as propelling the action into the following scene. This may be unsatisfying because the reader must assume that Megan was in on the game from the beginning and therefore would be aware of the hunt, and if they were so much in love for so long, why wouldn't Cueball want to share the triumph with her of checking off this rare item from the list? It leaves a confusion that may never be cleared up and is just one of those unfortunate sacrifices to the art of storytelling. A better setup might have been to start with only Cueball and his friends, Megan is not involved in the game (although the reader would have to assume that Cueball met Megan somewhere, somehow). Then Cueball courted Megan, married her and grew old with her in happiness, then leaves her to return to his friend and the game -- this would have made more sense and been just as poignant. Leaving old Megan on the porch wondering, "What's happening, did I do something wrong, is my husband okay?" -- it seems rude for Cueball to just leave her without explanation and not fitting in with the premise of being happy together. Maybe Megan long ago gave up on the game and doesn't care about it anymore and Cueball never gave up on it, but this is just speculation.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are running in a field, holding hands. They are running away from another pair which also looks like Cueball and Megan. This pair stands in the background, next to a small box. There may be something lying on top of the box, but it is difficult to see clearly. The sun is shining above them.]

:[Cueball and Megan are in a boat on a lake, very romantic. Cueball is speaking to Megan, illustrated with a heart.]
:Cueball: ♡

:[Cueball and Megan sit together on a bench on a beach, watching the sunset.]

:[Cueball and Megan stand in front of an altar under a wedding arch, with confetti falling around them. He is wearing a butterfly and she a veil.]

:[Cueball and Megan, now old and wrinkled, sit together holding hands on their porch at the top of a small stair outside their house. He has a sailor cap on and Megan now wears her hair in a bun. Although the woman looks like Hairbun, and the old man is wearing a sailor cap, we can assume this is still Megan and Cueball given the juxtaposition of the preceding panel.]

:[The same setting is depicted but seen from the side of the house. Cueball begins walking away from Megan using his cane. He has descended from the stair. Finally, Megan speaks, and unusually there is a speech bubble, with an extra smaller bubble hanging on to it for the second sentence.]
:Megan: Dear? Where are you-
:Megan: Come back!

:[Cueball approaches an old couple, presumably the kids from the first panel now turned old. They seem tired, looking down all the time. The man only has hair around his neck and also a cane. The woman has long thinning hair. The box from the first panel is between Cueball and the other two. On top of it lies a piece of paper]

:[Same picture except that Cueball is now standing still and has picked up the paper from the box and writes on it with a pen. Again there is a speech bubble.]
:Cueball: Okay,

:[The paper is shown. It is a scavenger hunt list with at least six items. The three first items have been checked off. The last item is blocked by the speech bubble, but can be seen to be there from the check box.] 
:Scavenger 
:<u>hunt:</u>
:☒ Indian-head penny
:☒ Snake skin
:☒ Happiness
:☐ Four-leaf clover
:☐ Shark tooth
:☐ [covered by speech bubble]
:Cueball (off-panel): What's next?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Wedding]]