572: Together

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Together

Title text: This scavenger hunt is getting boring. Let's go work on the treehouse!

Explanation

Cueball and Megan fall in love, get married, and grow old together. And then we learn at the end that it's just another thing crossed off the list of what is presumably the longest-duration scavenger hunt of all-time, given that scavenger hunts are usually only played by children.

The treehouse reference in the title text is another example of a common childhood activity.

Transcript

Cueball and Megan are running in a field, holding hands. Another male and female stand in the background, next to a table.]

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

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

[Cueball and Megan stand at an altar. They have married.]

[Cueball and Megan, having grown old together, sit together on their doorstep, holding hands.]

[Cueball begins walking away with his cane.]

Megan: Dear? Where are you--Come back!

Cueball approaches the other couple from the first panel, who are now just as old.]

[Cueball picks up a piece of paper from the table in the first panel and begins to write.]

Cueball: Okay,

[The paper is shown: a scavenger hunt list. "Happiness"; has just been checked off.]

Cueball: What's next?

[Full list:

SCAVENGER HUNT:

[X] Indian-head penny

[X] Snake skin

[X] Happiness

[ ] Four-leaf clover

[ ] Shark tooth

[The next item is blocked by the speech balloon.]

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Discussion

Definitely one of the sweetest xkcd strips ever. Alpha (talk) 07:30, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Or one of the most sad - as he just maried for a game and left when he was finished with his project... Kynde (talk) 00:41, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

I always thought it was a metaphor for death instead of him actually literally leaving, especially because the way it ended. "What next?" just seems like an optimistic way to view the end. Sonicstormwind (talk) 23:03, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

U Could "building a treehouse" refer to an adult activity that is frequently postponed and possibly never finished, like items in a to do list? 108.162.212.196 17:34, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

No, those are shark teeth. I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait (talk) 04:04, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

I feel maybe the wife was concerned that he was wandering off, and wants him to come back. 108.162.241.166 19:17, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

I think the entire speculation section was way off as it assumes Megan was in on the game, which there is no indication of (actually negative since she is not going back with him). I have added this point to the main explanation and removed that section completely. --Kynde (talk) 08:51, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

I completely agree that Megan wasn't in the on the game, but i wonder if you've over - corrected here. Marriage is something many people do when looking for happiness and folks generally don't describe that as exploitative. And arguably he happiness wouldn't be authentic if he told Megan his search for happiness was part of real scavenger hunt with people to verify your achievements (one could argue that living a somewhat traditional life is akin to a scavenger hunt: complete schooling, get a career, get married, own property, have kids, etc.)

And it's not at all clear that he doesn't come back ever. Just that he leaves for a moment without telling her why. After you find an arrowhead penny, you keep the penny.

Your interpretation is possible, but it's one of many possible interpretations108.162.242.20 09:30, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

I think this is the only strip (to my knowledge) which uses crinkly, crumbly line drawing to (presumably) indicate old age, despite the fact that there are surely other old people in other strips. I think maybe the explanation should say something about that? 162.158.159.43 11:43, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Page got hijacked, can someone revert the image?