"We gather together, to ask the Lord's blessing! He chastens and hastens His will to make known!" Lisa hummed as she put the finishing touches on her pie before sliding it into the oven.
There weren't a lot of Thanksgiving songs, in fact that was the only one she knew, which was why she'd been singing it all week. Setting the timer, she smiled, her friends Hector, Jessica, Keith, and Marcus would be there soon and the real celebration could begin.
Like someone was reading her mind, the doorbell rang. Lisa forces herself not to run as she speedwalked to the front door.
"You're here!" she cried, flinging the door open. But instead of being met with the rest of the Electric Company, she was face to face with a glaring, cranberry holding, Annie Scrambler.
"What's wrong with you?" the petite Prankster asked, pushing past Lisa, "I'm here to see Danny, you know, you're upstairs neighbor?"
Lisa Heffenbacker's family lived in the bottom portion of a split level Brownstone, Danny Rebus's family lived in the top half.
"I know he's my neighbor, Annie," Lisa shut the door blocking the biting cold out, "I just thought you were Hector and Jess."
"Uhg, they're coming over?" Annie groused stomping up the stairs to Danny's door.
Lisa only had time to open her mouth when Annie walked into Danny's apartment and slammed the door behind her.
Well, so much for holiday cheer.
There was another knock on the door and Lisa answered- albeit with a little less enthusiasm.
"Happy thanksgiving!" chorused Hector, Jessica, Keith, and Marcus.
"Come in!" Lisa ushered them inside, "You're just in time for the parade!"
"Really! Awesome!" Jessica turned to the television, "Mario's new musical is going to preform before the parade starts."
"What's it about again?" Lisa took a pot of mashed potatoes from Hector.
"Alexander Hamilton," Jessica said, turning up the volume.
"Welcome to the 89th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!" Al Roker announced.
"Here are the rolls," Marcus gave Lisa a rather flat looking bag, "Sorry, I kinda sat on them on the way over here."
Lisa and Hector exchanged a glance over the younger boy's head.
In the upstairs apartment, Danny was putting the finishing touches on his baked collard green salad.
"Thanks for spend Thanksgiving with me, Annie," he said, "With mom visiting Granny Graham, and dad working, it was going to be pretty quiet by myself."
Annie gave him a little smile, kicking her legs as she sat on the counter, "I would have invited you over, but Thanksgiving at the Scramblers isn't the funnest thing."
"Well we are going to have our own Thanksgiving and it's going to be perfect!" Danny grinned back, as the door bell rang.
"Did you invite someone else?" Annie asked, jumping off the counter to follow him to the door.
"Nooo..." Danny trotted down the stairs and to the door.
"Holla! Holla!" Francine Carrruthers burst through the door, Gilda Flip and Manny Spamboni in tow, "I've come to wish you a happy Thanksgiving before I, Francine Caurrthers, leaves for Spain! Ole!"
"Happy Thanksgiving to you too!" Danny said, "Come in!"
As they went back up stairs, Manny jumped up and down, "Wake up Potter! We're going to the zoo!" he yelled.
"Manny!" Francine snapped.
Keith looked up as a little bit of dust fell onto his head, he could distinctly hear someone quoting Harry Potter, "Was that... Manny?" he asked no one in particular.
Suddenly, there was a burst of loud music from the apartment above. Lisa sighed.
"So much of a nice, quiet, Thanksgiving," she said.
"What's that?" Hector asked.
"Danny Rebus lives upstairs, and I think he's having the Pranksters over for Thanksgiving," explained the blonde.
"They're being too loud!" Jessica exclaimed, "I'll go tell them to keep it down."
"Jess-" Hector started to stop her, but she was already out the door. Girl on a mission, Jessica bounded up the stairs, knocking on the door.
"Hey! Pranksters!" she called.
"Yeeeeesss?" Annie opened the door a crack.
"You guys are being to loud," Jessica said, "Can you, you know, keep it down?"
"Nope," was the reply as the door slammed shut.
"Hey!" Jessica banged on the door, "Hey!"
By now the rest of the company had joined her in the stairwell. The Pranksters, for their part, were yelling though the door.
"You guys need to be quieter!" Jessica cried.
"I do what I want!" Danny yelled back.
"It's not fair that you guys get to make the rules! You always make the rules!" Francine agreed.
"C'mon, can't we all just have a nice Thanksgiving?" Hector called up the stairs.
"OF COURSE, It's our fault!" Annie's voice came though the closed door, "How come it's always our fault!?"
"Because you like to cause chaos?" offered Lisa.
"DARN STRAIGHT!" Manny yelled.
"Manny!" the rest of the Pranksters chastised.
"Snow!" Marcus cried, pointing outside.
"WHAT DID HE SAY?" Francine threw open the door, and ran down the stairs.
"Look it's snowing! Wow, that's a lot," Marcus said.
"Shut up Marty Farms!" Francine said as her phone buzzed, "No! Noooo!"
"What is it?" Danny asked, as the leader of the Pranksters read her text message.
"My flight to Spain has been canceled!" she moaned, "Say it isn't snow!"
"It isn't snow," Gilda offered.
"Really?"
"No, I was just saying that because you said to. There's really a lot of snow," the younger one replied.
"But what are we going to do?" Danny said, "You guys are stuck here and I only made enough food for Annie and I!"
"Um, we could share?" Lisa offered, "We have more than enough food, and if you bring what you made I think we'll have enough."
The Pranksters looked a bit sheepish, "That might work," they mumbled amongst themselves.
"But!" Hector interjected, "You guys need to behave."
"Or at least try to," Jessica agreed, "How about a truce? Just for the holiday?"
The Pranksters exchanged glances.
"Can we still make sarcastic comments about the parade announcers?" Annie asked.
"Sure," said Keith.
"How about complain about the snow?" Francine pressed, "Can I do that?"
"Complain about the weather all you want," Lisa said.
"We're in!" Danny said, "I'll go get my collard greens!"
"I'll grab my cranberries!" Annie agreed.
Soon both the Electric Company and the Pranksters were seated around Lisa's long table. The turkey was ready and everyone was passing the sides around.
"This is really good salad Danny!" Lisa said.
"Thank you! Your turkey is excellent by the way, usually turkey is too dry but this? Mmm, perfect!" complimented Danny.
"Hey have you seen the latest Mighty Bright Knight comic?" Manny asked Jessica.
"Have I ever!" She exclaimed, "What did you think about the Zaycon plot twist? It was total retcon!"
Keith looked from Lisa and Danny, to Manny and Jessica, to Francine, Hector and Marcus arguing about whether or not the snow was good or bad. He turned to Gilda and smiled.
"Looks like everything worked out in the end," he said.
"Indeed," Gilda lifted her glass in toast, "Happy Thanksgiving Keith."
Keith toasted her back, "Happy Thanksgiving!"