(Welcome, to my first Peanuts story. If I mess up some characters, that's just being a beginner. Anyways, I'm keeping this short, so enjoy!)

Me, and Some Peanuts

-1-

Good Grief

I awoke to the voice of a friend of mine, Susan. She's tugging on my bed, and it's only almost midnight. After a crazy party my parents agreed to, (With my friend's parents permission) I was allowed to go to this said party. I won't go too much about the party, though in short it was amazing. As I was saying, Susan was tugging on my arm, a pretty harsh one to be exact.

"Alex, c'mon, wake up," she said. "We need to go."

Yeah, my name's Alex. In full it's Alexander Fitzgerald. I was wearing a red shirt and I have black hair as well. Back to the moment, I gently rubbed my eyes, making sure I didn't fall off the bed like a dumb idiot.

"Why...it's almost midnight," I said. "Just, go back to bed, Susan."

She sighed, pulling harder on my arm.

"This is serious, Max's knocked out."

What she meant was pooped out from partying. Serious? Not really. Though the serious thing would be getting home before his parents get P.O'ed. I got up and washed my face off to wake myself up more before we left. I put some shoes on as I walked out in the freezing cold with Susan carrying a sleeping Max. Max had orange hair and, usually, wore a blue shirt. Susan had red hair and was currently wearing a pink shirt, like girls do. Opening the door to her truck (since Susan was old enough to drive a truck), I sat down and put on the seat belt, feeling a bit fatigued. I groaned and almost fell back asleep before the door slammed next to me, Susan sitting next to me.

The truck turned on with a sputter and we were off on our journey back home. I lived in Florida, while the party was in Georgia, a long way to go. Max lived in Georgia, while Susan lived in Florida, too. The headlights were on as Susan avoided traffic and other such things. I drifted on and off as I looked out the window next to me. At least the windows were closed, or I'd freeze to a Popsicle. Susan looked at me and said, "How's it going?"

I shot my eyelids open when she spoke.

"Uh, yeah? Just let me sleep, okay?" I said.

"Okay, then. We'll be at your house in the next...fifteen hours, maybe?"

I slept back into my slumber as I heard car horns and trucks drive by. As of that moment, I was in need of some soda or coffee to wake me. There were no gas stations near where we were at, which disappointed me. In my sleep, I dream about me getting some sleep. Yeah, corny? How far was this car trip anyways? Opening my eyes, I see Max being pulled in by Susan into his house. Time sure fly's by when you sleep. After getting back onto the road with some wake-up, we were heading home...

Or, so I figured, as our car was running low on gas. Susan grunted and cursed as she was speeding up a little bit, trying to get to a gas station quicker. If this is going too quick for you, keep reading. It get's longer. Anyways, Susan remembered something I didn't, because she then said, "I know a quick shortcut, Alex," she said.

"Yeah? Where?" I asked.

"Near that forest over there, I use it most of the time I drive through here." she pointed towards a dirt road in a forest.

I was suspicious about going across a small road in a forest, which seems cliched at best, but I later agreed once Susan said it was safe to go through here. We turned on the route, expecting it to be short. Except, it got longer, and longer, and longer...til eventually, the car stopped.

"No! Come on!" Susan yelled in her frustration.

I agreed as I had no jacket, and no way to go. And it was almost Thanksgiving, giving another reason why it was cold. So, I got out, and looked around for any sign of hope to get out of this forest. I did have a flashlight with me luckily, so I put it to good use. The light blinded me a bit, but it helped. Susan kicked the truck in frustration and sighed. She looked at me, since this had been, what, four to five hours to do these things.

"Alex, go on, I'll find a way to get this truck filled with gas," she said.

"Darn, Susan, you'll freeze!" I grunted.

"There's a gas station up ahead, I'll push it myself."

There went my hope and sense to that girl. It was freezing, how'd she survive that?! I shivered as I started walking by myself. Looking at the trees and the moon, I wondered if Susan would be okay or not. Probably not, but still, it's not safe to walk out in the cold. The forest seemed endless, as it didn't end like I'd expect it to. Instead, the trees started disappearing from existence and in front of me started a road. A cement road. I smiled.

"Thank gosh this forest is ending," I said to myself. "I'm getting tired of this walking."

My worries were going away as well as I seen a street with several houses and no cars in sight. It was still cold and still being nighttime. I started fearing that something bad happened to Susan, and everything about this street seemed...different. It looked cartoony, except me. Lines were around everything from the houses to the ground. I looked at my phone, which was in my pocket the whole time, but no reception...

"Hello?! Any one there?!" I yelled, hoping someone would respond.

My phone buzzed, and the flashlight app turned on. Suddenly, my flashlight disappeared, only my phone to spare. I looked around as I hoped to see a house that looked like mine. No luck. Then, a house caught my eye. It was a slightly blue house with no lights on. I smiled, but though I'd be a creep to enter someone's house, or mine. I couldn't tell if it was my house, since it was dark, so I quietly ran towards the house, expecting to see anything about it. Behind the house, was a red doghouse, with the dog sleeping on top of it. Weird, I thought. Dogs don't sleep on their house...

Knock! Knock! Knock! I knocked on the door, thinking someone would at least answer. Nothing. Nada. Zip. But, what's this? A light turned on, as the door opened, revealing a little child in front of the door. He groggily rubbed his eyes as he looked at me in awe.

"Uh, hello, mister?" he said. "Where'd you come from?"

I looked at him, in awe as well.

"My friend's truck ran out of gas, and she told me to go on. Do you know where I am?"

The kid looked out as I looked at him some more.

"You're in Birchwood, sir. You need to come in, it's cold." he shivered.

I gladly followed him in as the door closed, and the kid led me to his room. It was a bit big, but not too small, either. He sat on his bed as I looked around the room, investigating the place he lived in.

"Hey, kid, where's your parents?" I asked.

"Oh, you hardly see our parents, sir-"

"Please, stop calling me sir," I said. "I'm only 15."

"Sorry," he said. "Anyways, you don't see our parents here in this town. It's like all of them disappeared and we never see them. Except our teachers."

He was about to go back to sleep when I asked him, "What's your name, kid?"

"Oh, my name?" he said. "It's Charlie Brown."

About the time I woke up, I expected this to be a dream, just me and Susan in the truck, driving back home. But, then I heard something.

"Hey, big brother, who's this?" a girl voice, presumably young, said.

I shot up, looking into the eyes of a yellow-haired girl. I jumped, including the girl. Nope, not a dream. Definitely real. I looked at her as she walked towards me.

"I let him sleep here, Sally," the boy, Charlie Brown, said walking in. "I don't know his name, but maybe I'll ask him."

Charlie Brown? Sally? These names were getting weird. The kid walked to me, and asked, "What's your name?"

I asked him that last night, so this is getting more and more obvious.

"Alex. Alexander Fitzgerald."

"Nice to meet you, Alex!" Sally bursts past Charlie Brown to introduce me. "My name's Sally, and this is my big brother, Charlie Brown!"

"I told him my name, Sally." he said.

"Oh, well, anyways, where are you from, mister?" Sally asked.

"I'm from Florida, Sally." I said, trying to get around the weirdness of this scene.

"Flor-I-Da?" she said, trying to spell it out. "I've never been there in my life."

"No, Flor," I started pronouncing her.

"Flor,"

"I."

"I,"

"Da."

"Da. That's a weird name for a place."

"Good grief, Sally," Charlie Brown face-planted himself. "He's teaching you something you should learn at school."

"I knew that! Anyways, Alex, why are you here?"

"Charlie let me stay here for a few days, until my friends truck get's fixed."

"Where is your friend?"

"Back at the forest I walked to here from."

Charlie Brown signaled me to the outside to talk. Of course, I followed him.

"Be careful with Sally," he explained. "She's young, so she believes in some things..."

I heard a knock as I stood up as Charlie opened the door to a kid holding a blanket and sucking on his thumb. This kid was probably young, so that would explain the finger-sucking.

"Hey, Linus," he said.

"Hey, Charlie Brown," he said, looking towards my direction. "Who's your new friend?"

Charlie Brown looked in my direction as well, smiling.

"This is Alex," he explained. "He's staying in Birchwood for a while so his friend's truck gets fixed."

"Can I come in? I need to explain something..." Linus told him.

"Sure, come on in. I promise Snoopy won't take your blanket this time."

Snoopy? Is that the dog I saw last night?

"Charlie Brown, we need to get ready for Thanksgiving. Everyone is getting excited about it, even Lucy. Are you sure you can bring your friend with you?"

"I don't know," Charlie said. "I think Lucy won't like him. She calls me a blockhead and says I can't fly a kite."

"Don't worry, Charlie Brown," Linus said. "I'm sure she'll think your new friends good. Besides, what can happen?"

"Oh, maybe the Kite-Eating Tree will eat another kite, or Lucy will pull a football on me, or-"

"Wait," I asked. "Your friend pulls a football from you?"

"Oh, yeah, she's done that since I've met her. She thinks I'm gullible."

This "Lucy" seems a bit like a jerk to him than the bully in my school, Jake. Sally comes in during the conversation to interrupt.

"Big brother, it's time to get on the bus!" she said, wearing her backpack.

"Oh, no! I'll be late!" Charlie said putting his backpack on. "Bye, Linus, Alex! Take care of Snoopy for me, will you?!"

Linus looked at me and frowned.

"I'm not taking care of that beagle of his. You do it. He take's my blanket and I have to hold on to it to not lose it."

I frown as I got up, and looked out the door window to see that doghouse with that dog on top. As what I see, a little yellow bird flew on top of the beagle to wake it up. I saw the dog wake up, and he get's off the house of his and walks up to where I'm at before stopping to a halt, and giving me a stank eye. He opened the door, which is impossible to my standards, and looked at me, the bird looking at me, too. He got his own food can and gave it to me, like a training exercise. This dog was training me? He's the dog, I should've been training him. I found a can opener and opened it, and put it on his food plate. Dang, this dog was more than a real dog. He walked upright, and he was training me, the person who he should've been trained by.

"Okay, Snoopy," I cringed at the name. "Here's your food. Now, eat it."

He snatched the foodplate from my hand, making me jump a bit, and walked back to his doghouse. I guess he didn't like me at all, seeing I wasn't Charlie Brown, his owner, I guess. I'd just have to get used to him while Charlie was at school.

"Good grief..." I said to myself.