A/N: If Bill Watterson were still doing Calvin & Hobbes, would they be invited to Blondie's 75th anniversary? Well, not every writer is doing it. But, there is an implied notion that all the characters live in the same general area, or at least on the same planet. (The King of Id might have to make a transatlantic crossing to get there, for instance.) So, here, you get to see Calvin & Hobbes…
Crashing the Party
"Let's try this trail, Hobbes old buddy," Calvin declared. The six-year-old and his stuffed tiger usually took one of several trails down a winding hill on their wagon,b ut this was a new one to them.
Hobbes, who was real to Calvin, grew wide-eyed as the wagon bumped along. "Look out for that tree!"
"Oh, come on, you scaredy-cat, we missed it by three feet."
"mpff mmfff mmmpf?" He tore the branch away and asked, "Then why did my face get covered with leaves just now?"
"Oh, hush, we're almost there." Calvin sang horribly off key, "Over the river and through the woods, to the Bumstead's house we go…"
"The who?"
"The Bumsteads, you know, there's an anniversary party, and we're going to crash it. Whoa!" The wagon flew off a cliff, and soon Calvin and Hobbes found themselves flying toward a grassy knoll near a medium sized neighborhood. "Wow! Boy, I wish we had a horn like the General Lee!"
"Doo doo doo doo do do do do do do do do," Hobbes said, holding his hand to his mouth and impersonating a horn playing "Dixie." They landed as he did this.
The wagon, of course, was going at such a high rate of speed that it kept right on going.
A mailman, Mr. Beasley, grinned with delight. "I know the Bumstaeads are all gone picking up stuff for the party; there's no way Dagwood can run into…waaaa!" The wagon collided with the mailman at full speed, sending his mail flying everywhere. "Who invited you?"
"Nobody, we're crashing."
"I can see that; why don't you crash into the party instead?"
"The party hasn't started yet," Hobbes noted.
Mr. Beasley dusted himself off and scolded briskly, "That doesn't mean you need to crash into me. Now, help me pick this mail up."
"Cool, someone may already be a winner!"
"Give me that! You're not supposed to read others' mail…hey!" Hobbes was busy opening an envelope with coupon books in it. "Give me those!"
"Hobbes just wanted tuna coupons."
"I don't care what 'Hoobes' wants. Sheesh." Mr. Beasley shook his head and mumbled, "It's no wonder they weren't invited."
Calvin and Hobbes snuck around back. Calvin boosted Hobbes to look in the window. "There's a dog. Daisy."
"Hey, my name isn't Daisy!"
Hobbes rolled his eyes. "I mean the dog's name is Daisy."
"Oh; for a minute I thought you were calling me a girl's name. I sure hope we don't run into any girls here," Calvin muttered as he helped Hobbes get down.
"Actually, they have a daughter, but her name…er…how shall I say this?"
"Well?" Calvin spouted insistently.
"Her name is Cookie."
Calvin scratched his head. "Obviously the man's got a major food fetish."
"Then why didn't he name his son Sandwich?"
"What is wrong with you! That's even dumber than Daisy for a boy! Besides, anytime he called his son by name he'd feel like eating. He'd be eating all the time."
"And that would be different how?" Hobbes wondered, scratching an ear as another boy walked up to them.
"Hey, I haven't seen you around here."
Calvin eyed the boy - Elmo Tuttle - and decided now was a good time to get into the house; as the space adventurer Spaceman Spiff. "Greetings, what a wonderful planet you have. You wouldn't happen to know how to enter this top secret Zagnothian government facility, would you?"
Elmo looked very strangely at Calvin. "Noooo, but the Bumsteads should be back in a few minutes."
"There's no time; if my sensors are correct, the Zagnothians have devised a top secret forumla to confabulate the plasmic relays of every spaceship in this quadrant!"
"What are those?"
Unbeknownst to Calvin and Elmo, the Bumsteads were returning home at that very minute. As Spaceman Spiff spent several minutes explaining his dilemma to the very confused Elmo, the Bumsteads brought things into the house and the others began decorating while Dagwood went upstairs to take a bath.
"…And furthermore, the Zurth have been warring with the Pythops for almost 100 years, and…" Elmo began to walk in the back door, which had just been unlocked. "Hey, where are you going?"
"Inside." Elmo told Blondie, "there's a really weird kid out there pretending to be from another planet."
"How wonderful, invite him in…oh, hi," Blondie said. "Are you on the guest list?"
"Do not disturb me, Zagnothian female, I will not be fooled by your wiles. I know exactly what I'm looking for - the Q-86 elixir."
"Like I said…"
As Calvin marched upstairs announcing that he'd entered the top secret Zagnothian lair, Cookie ran into the kitchen. "Mom, I think I know that boy. One of the girls from another school, Rosalyn, was telling me about him at the football game last fall."
"Oh, really?"
"Mom, he's nothing but trouble." They heard Dagwood scream "Blondie" and knew right away something had happened.
What had happened was Calvin marched into the bathroom as Spaceman Spiff, and spied Dagwood in his bathrobe, before he'd gotten into the tub. "Zounds, Spaceman Spiff enters the top secret laboratory looking for the elixir, and finds a Hibnobble about to be cooked!" He suddenly turned the cold water on full blast, then pulled towels out of the cabinet and began throwing them around the room. "Flee, Hibnobble, the Zagnothians will not succeed in their fiendish plots!" It was at the point Dagwood called for help, as clavin wouldn't let him into the tub.. "Don't worry…oh my, the Hibnobble is not moving, he is drawn to the water!" He turned the cold water back on that Dagwood had just turned off.
Blondie and Cookie arrived in the doorway as Dagwood, still in his robe, shouted, "Blondie, Cookie, get this kid out of here!"
Elmo had arrived, too, with the Bumsteads' son, Alexander. "He's been pretending to be a spaceman," Elmo explained.
Alexander asked, "Isn't this the kid that Rosalyn told you about, Cookie." Cookie agreed, it had to be.
Noting who'd turned her head when called Cookie, Calvin grabbed Cookie by the hand as the others looked on in shock and disbelief. "Ah-ha, Cookie, that means you must be the one cooking Hibnobbles! Away with you, fiend!" Cookie stumbled and fell in the direction Calvin had pulled her; the family all fell on top of each other, though luckily, nobody hurt themselves.
Calvin ran down to the kitchen. Elmo followed. As Spaceman Spiff spouted about all the odd things he was doing, Elmo took Hobbes. "You better stop that, I have your tiger. I'll turn him into a…oh, I don't know, a dog."
"Calvin, will you stop playing spaceman and rescue me," Hobbes insisted. "I don't want to be a dog - I'm a proud member of the cat family!"
"If your that proud, how come you can't stop monsters from getting into my room at night?" Calvin declared.
Hobbes folded his arms. "Maybe I'm holding out because I want my contract renegotiated."
"Can he do that?" Elmo asked, stunned.
Calvin swiped Hobbes from him. "Of course not, come on, Hobbes, let's see what they have good to eat here. Hmmm, where are the cookies?" The Bumsteads came down screaming at Calvin and shaking their fists. "On second thought, maybe now would be a good time to leave." He and Hobbes went out the front door and quickly rode off on their wagon.
Dagwood shook his fist after him. "And don't come back!"
"Annoying salesman?" one of the guests asked as they walked up to the door."
"No, annoying six-year-old," Dagwood spouted.
Back home, Calvin and Hobbes were in their room. "Well, there's one more place we'll never get invited to again," Hobbes said, slightly frustrated at Calvin.
"What do you mean again, we didn't in the first place."
"Oh, right. Because…" How would he put it delicately?
"It's all because of Rosalyn, she told them all about us!"
Hobbes rolled his eyes. "I didn't think you'd admit your behavior had anything to do with it."
"Why should I?"
"Because I peeked in Cookie's diary."
""Wow, you looked in a teenager's diary? I've always wanted to get at Rosalyn's; what did she say?"
"That you're a danger to civilization."
Calvin shrugged. "Civilization's overrated, anyway. Now, Calvinball, that's where it's at." He opened his door, and saw his angry mom standing there staring. "Okay, when I'm let out of my room, Calvinball will be where it's at, right, buddy?"
"You said it."
I hope you enjoyed this - I encourage you to read the others, and to maybe come up with your own ideas for other comics - I don't think the Peanuts gang visited, for instance. (Though according to "Imaginary Friends Forever," they fast forwarded to 2007 in mys tory. :-) The sequel, witht he subtitle "The Nature of Reality," has Calvin & Hobbes in it, among others, too.
Now, something more since this has so many views again.
I'm a sinner just like you. I had to receive forgivness for my sins to be reconciled to God. You can be, too.
There's a Heavenly party waiting for us if we just receive Christ's forgiveness for our sin by simple faith, believing He saved us from the eternal punishment that awaits all sin. He took my punishment and yours, though. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus Christ) shall be saved.
He can help you through everything here on earth, too, by coming to live in you, if you trust Him to as He has overcome the world. He came that we might have life,a nd have it more abundantly.
Heaven will be so awesome nobody can imagien it. But, His gift is free. It can't be earned or deserved; it's by grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man boast. Because, none of us is perfect; not me, not anyone. We must receive it, though; that means knowing in your heart, not just your head.
So, just call on Him to save you and forgive you, and he will. He loves you unconditionally.
A more complete explanation below - a combination of 2 tracts, bits from each - oh, by the way, yes, the Bible says Adam and Eve had other children (Gen. 5:4), so it does say where Cain got his wife. Anyway:
God's Simple Plan of Salvation:
?God is love.
Do you know that God is love? Do you know that He is reaching out to you and that He has a plan for your life?
God's love for people is one of the essential truths of the Bible. John, one of Jesus' disciples, wrote: 'God is love' (1 John 4:16).
Jesus came to carry out God's plan for our salvation. He said, 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' (John 10:10).
? Many people do not know the love of God.
Left to himself, man cannot know the love of God. It is impossible because by nature we are sinners. We are born with sin in our hearts. Our sin separates us from God. Consequently we know neither the love of God, nor the plan that He has for our lives. The Bible says, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' (Romans 3:23)
» How did sin come into the world?
The Bible gives us the answer: sin entered the world when Adam, the first man, disobeyed God. We read, 'Therefore... through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and in thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.' (Romans 5:12)
» What are the consequences of sin?
The Bible says, 'The wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23). The type of death spoken of here is, above all, spiritual death, that is, total separation from God. Physical death and eternal death (hell) follow as consequences of spiritual death.
God is holy and pure. Sinful people cannot enter His presence. God says, 'No man shall see Me and live' (Exodus 33:20).
Man is therefore totally alienated from God. People try to get to God in all sorts of ways: good works, an honest life, religious practices... But every such attempt is useless! No one is perfect. It is not even that their contribution 'nearly but not quiet' reaches God. The reality is that we fall infinitely short of the requirements. We can never reach God's standard by our own efforts. No matter how righteous we try to be, we are condemned by James 2:10 (Injil): "For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all." Our sins can never be forgiven by striving toward self-righteousness. The gap between us and God is still there. In fact, the Holy Scriptures say, 'No-one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin' (Romans 3:20).
In the first pages of the Word of God, we learn that man was created to have a close relationship with God. But because of man's pride, the relationship was destroyed. Left to ourselves, we plunge downward in a spiral of violence and lies. No-one escapes this, not even you!
Is there no solution? No hope?
? Jesus Christ is our only hope.
Here is what the Word of God says, 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.' (John 3:16)
When Jesus Christ came into the world and died on the cross, it was a great expression of God's love for us. Only through Jesus can you know God and His plan for your life. Jesus had no human father. Here is what the Bible says about his birth: 'In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David' (Luke 1:26-32).
» Why did Jesus die on the cross?
To wash us from our sins and to save us! 'But God demonstrates His own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5: 8).
The Bible says that 'without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness' (Hebrews 9:22). John the Baptist had prophesied (foretold) the coming of Jesus. One day, seeing Jesus, he cried out, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'
On the cross Jesus, who never sinned, was punished in our place for the wrong things that we have done. Like a lamb, he shed his blood as the perfect sacrifice, to bring us forgiveness. Although we cannot understand how, God said my sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and He died in our place. He became our substitute. It is true. God cannot lie.
» But Jesus is alive!
'Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...He was buried...He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures...and He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present' (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
When Jesus rose from the dead it proved that God had accepted his sacrifice for us. Jesus is a living Saviour who has defeated death and is ready to hear us when we call to him.
? Salvation is through faith.
It is not enough to have a mental knowledge of the love of God and His plan. It is possible to believe something without putting your confidence in it. For example, you can believe that someone is able to drive well at 200 mph, but that does not mean you trust him enough to get in the car with him! Faith is believing something and putting your confidence in it.
You must admit that you are a sinner and entrust yourself to Jesus. You must receive him into your heart as your Lord and Saviour. The Bible says, 'as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name' (John 1:12).
In his letters Paul says, 'It is by grace you have been saved, through faith... not by works, so that no-one can boast.' (Ephesians 2:8) To be saved is to become a child of God, to escape from hell and to have a new life.
» How can I receive Jesus?
You can receive Jesus into your life, now, by talking to him sincerely in prayer. Open your heart to him, acknowledge your sins and confess them before him. Ask God to wash you from your sins by the blood that Jesus spilt on the cross. God forgives those who humble themselves before Him in this way. He is perfectly aware of all that is in your heart, so it is useless trying to hide anything from Him. God is waiting for you to turn to Him.
If you have realised that God is calling you to Himself, please encourage you to take the four truths discussed in this very seriously. Don't let anything stop you putting right your relationship with God.
In Luke 18:13, the sinner prayed: "God be merciful to me a sinner." Just pray: "Oh God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive Him as my Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen."
Just take God at His word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it!
God's power will save you, keep you saved, and enable you to live a victorious Christian life. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Do not trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God's promises. They never change. After you are saved, there are three things to practice daily for spiritual growth:
Pray - you talk to God. Read your Bible - God talks to you. Witness - you talk for God.
You should be baptized in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ as a public testimony of your salvation, and then unite with a Bible-believing church without delay. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord . . . ." (2 Timothy 1:8)
"Whosoever therefore shall confess [testify of] Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).
I recomment the following dot com - rr-bb dot com (Rapture Ready bulletin boards), some great stuff and you can get help staying away from all the bad doctrine out there. Cantonbaptist dot org also (a very good church, great messages which are on the Web).
And, of course, tell everyone about God's love for you. Perhaps this nation may still have a great repentence revival.
Young people, please let the Lord use you to spark revival, follow the advice in takethespirituallead dot blogspot dot com and be Godly people in your communities and your homes; the spiritual leaders we lack.