Your Life is Wonderful, Charlie Brown

By Sean Mahoney

A/N: Given the nature of Charlie Brown, I was very surprised that nobody ever made a version of It's A Wonderful Life for him (I mean if Johnny Bravo got one then certainly our bald friend deserves one). This story is meant to be stand alone: it doesn't affect or isn't affected by any of my other stories. I hope you enjoy it and have yourself a very Merry Christmas!

Part I

"Rats…", it was December 24th and Charlie Brown had once again spent a good hour waiting by the mailbox to see if he had gotten any Christmas cards but alas, the only mail was a bill for his parents and a couple of perfume scented cards for his beagle, Snoopy. He didn't bother taking the mail in, he was sure Snoopy would have been excited to look in the mailbox and get them himself.

Charlie Brown sighed, he had hoped that he would have been happier this Christmas: he had spent most of last year's Christmas season moping around, depressed at the holiday. Last year he was upset over the very concept of the holiday; everybody else seemed to be in this festive mood but he just couldn't feel it himself. Everything to him was so commercial; everything that was once magical about the holiday was cheapened by greed and vanity. Thankfully, his best friend: Linus van Pelt had made him realize that no amount of commercialism could ruin what Christmas really was about which gave Charlie Brown a renewed faith in the holiday. He now fully appreciated the meaning of the holiday yet he was still depressed. Granted, it didn't take much to make Charlie Brown feel depressed, but he had noted that it was much more intense during the holiday season.

Though the purpose of the holiday was to celebrate the birth of the savior, it was equally meant to be a time for family and friends. While he had a loving family, Charlie Brown felt depressed over his lack of friends. He watched all of the other kids ice skating, building snowmen, having snow fights and he was left out of it. All of the camaraderie everybody else had during the Christmas season was lost to Charlie Brown.

"I shouldn't feel this way today, not on Christmas Eve." He sighed; he knew what he had to do; though he certainly didn't like the idea very much. He walked down the block where he spotted a simply made wooden stand with a sign which read, "Psychiatric Help 5 cents". The doctor wasn't in at the moment, but he saw her building a snowman with a cute girl with curly red hair named Frieda. His doctor looked over at him, rolled her eyes, mumbled something to Frieda who quickly gave Charlie Brown a friendly wave before walking off, and walked towards her stand. She brushed off the snow that accumulated on her stand and flipped the lower sign changing her status from being 'out' to 'real in'.

Lucy smiled, "So Charlie Brown, how may I help you today?"

"Well Lucy, it's just that…" Lucy cleared her throat loudly, interrupting Charlie Brown. He rolled his eyes and dropped a nickel inside her aluminum can. She grinned as she shook her can, admiring the metallic sound it produced.

"Oh how I do love nickels! There's nothing like the sound of cold hard cash to sooth the nerves! So, what's today's problem, Charlie Brown?"

"I've just been feeling really depressed over the Christmas season Lucy."

She groaned, "Not this again…".

"I know I should be happy, and it's not that I'm upset over the blatant commercialism and cheapening of the holiday like I was last year; I just feel like nobody really cares about me this Christmas. No one has sent me any Christmas cards or invited me to do anything with them."

Lucy shrugged, "Why would anybody?"

"I don't know, I was just kind of hoping that people might open up a bit to me on Christmas, maybe treat me a little better; give me a chance."

"Charlie Brown, after that disaster of a play you directed us through last year, I don't think anybody is going to show you any special kindness during this season!"

Charlie Brown frowned and stared down at his shoes, he had expected that kind of answer. Nobody liked him what so ever, and not even Christmas would change that fact. He sighed, "I wish there was something to do."

Lucy sat silently for a moment and began strumming the surface of her stand in thought. "You know what Charlie Brown, I bet if you started working on your shortcomings…of which there are many… people may begin to respect you more."

"I suppose that would work but wouldn't know where to even start…"

Lucy grinned, "Oh yes you do! Let's start with your most obvious weakness: your wishy-washiness! If you were able to fix that many of your other problems would fall right into place!"

"Lucy, if I knew how to get rid of my wishy-washiness I sure wouldn't be sitting here today…"

She sniggered and muttered, "Oh yeah sure!" and then spoke up, "Look Charlie Brown, what you need to do is simply commit to something! By showing commitment you will combating your innate wishy-washy nature! It just so happens I know a few people who are raising money for the orphanage down in front of the library right now. I'm sure they could use any help; I think you should head down there and offer your services."

Charlie Browned, "I suppose that's a good of cause as any! You know I feel really good about this! Thanks Lucy!" Lucy stood up and shook his hand.

"It's always a pleasure you old blockhead! Now if you'll excuse me I have to get going. Frieda and I are going to go dress shopping for Violet's Christmas party tonight!"

"Christmas party?" Lucy's face reddened.

"Oh crud, I wasn't supposed to tell you about that! Oh well, don't worry about it. I'll catch you later." Lucy walked off whistling. Charlie Brown sighed, upset that he had been once again explicitly not invited to one of Violet's parties. Looking down at his feet the entire time, he walked off towards the library.


As Charlie Brown trudged down towards the library he watched everyone play with each other; without any cares in the world. Franklin, Roy, Shermy, and '5' all seemed to be involved in a snowball fight. A stray snowball had hit Frieda, who was busy gossiping with Eudora, right in the back of the head. Charlie Brown chuckled lightly as he watched the four boys receive admonishment from Frieda; however he ended up walking right into something else.

"Hey, watch out!" He embarrassingly extended his arm to help up the person he accidentally knocked over but recoiled in exasperation when he saw who it was: Violet Grey, the most popular girl in the school and one who especially loathed Charlie Brown. She was accompanied by her marginally (and that's not saying much) less snobby friend, Patty; both wearing sneers on their faces when they saw who they just ran into.

"Oh man Patty, looks like Christmas is ruined! We just ran into Charlie Brown!" The two girls started giggling.

Charlie Brown muttered, "A Merry Christmas to you too" and tried walking past them; they blocked him.

Patty laughed and asked, "Where could you possibly be going Charlie Brown? Nobody in their right mind would want to be around you on Christmas!" Charlie Brown stared down at his feet; he knew Patty was right.

Violet spoke up, "Yeah, I for one know that I don't you want you anywhere near my Christmas party tonight! Everybody in town is going to be there, we don't need you bringing us all down!" Charlie Brown tried to think of something to say back to her but words failed him, he completely agreed with Violet: nobody wanted Charlie Brown around on Christmas.

"Sheesh, it's like you two get snobbier by the day!" Violet, Patty, and Charlie Brown all began coughing; Pig-Pen had approached them. "Do you guys really get a rise out belittling Charlie Brown all of the time? I'd think that you'd have better things to do with your lives!"

Violet rolled her eyes, "Pig-Pen, don't try preaching to us, you're nearly as bad as he is! When are you going to get it into your head that no one wants to deal with somebody as filthy as you?"

Pig-Pen boldly stated, "Cleanliness means little next to inner pureness. I may be a mess on the outside, but I can assure you my thoughts are clean. You girls on the other hand are quite the opposite; sure you may be clean and neat but your thoughts are filthy!"

Patty rolled her eyes, "Ugh, come on let's get out of here! We don't need a lecture right now from our neighborhood trash can!"

Violet nodded, "Yeah, you are right. Pig-Pen I don't care how clean your thoughts are, if you are coming to the party tonight you had better take a bath; in fact to be on the safe side take two! And Charlie Brown I trust I will not be seeing you there!" The two girls walked off giggling leaving an angry Pig-Pen and a distraught Charlie Brown.

"Why don't you stick up for yourself Charlie Brown? Those girls just walked all over you and you didn't say anything!"

Charlie Brown sighed, "Because Violet's right, I'm nothing but a loser; nobody wants me around."

Pig-Pen looked shocked, "You can't just agree with them Charlie Brown! You got to show them that they're wrong! Just look at me! Sure they may call me a mess, but I'm proud of what I am! It was you yourself who said that I could be carrying the soil that was trod upon by Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar or Genghis Khan!"

Charlie Brown smiled briefly remembering the day he said that, but quickly frowned, "I don't know what I have to be proud of…you can't really put a positive spin on wishy-washy loser."

Pig-Pen shrugged, "Well Charlie Brown, I'm sure you'll think of something. Anyway I got to get going. I need to take a bath if I'm going to go to Violet's party!"

Charlie Brown shook his head and muttered, "It's like this entire world is a great ball of compressed irony…"


As Charlie Brown walked through the center of town he saw a very unfortunate sight; his best friend Linus was in the middle of a one man protest. He was holding a sign which read "Santa is a Scrub!" and was marching back and forth yelling, "Boycott Santa Claus!" His younger brother Re-Run, ever the semi-evangelist, was off a safe distance away holding a tray of buttons which simply stated NO Santa rolling his eyes as passer-bys laughed at him and his brother. Charlie Brown knew better than to try and strike up a conversation with his friend when he was like this. Linus had always had a thing against Santa Claus, as he always overshadowed the lesser known Great Pumpkin. Linus felt that Santa gave out gifts because it was expected of him; the Great Pumpkin did so out of a higher moral obligation. Obviously Charlie Brown was separated from his best friend by clear denominational differences.


Lucy leaned against her beloved's piano like she had done many times before. As per usual, Schroeder was playing a beautiful melody, composed by Beethoven no doubt. However, beautiful as it may be, it certainly wasn't Christmas music.

"Come on Schroeder, its Christmas Eve, why don't you play something more festive?"

Schroeder sighed, "Fine, give me a suggestion."

"How about Santa Claus is coming to town?"

Schroder groaned, "Too commercial…"

"Sheesh, okay 'Jingle Bells'!"

Schroeder growled, "Too superficial!"

"Good grief Scrooge! How about the 'Little Drummer Boy'? I can't see how even you could complain about that one!"

Schroeder shook his head, "It's a great song Lucy, there's just one itsy problem; I don't play the drum!"

"Well what about 'Dominic the Donkey?'"

Schroeder yelled and swiftly yanked his toy piano from under Lucy's head; causing her head to slam on the floor. "Owch, I was just kidding, I don't even like that song! But come on play something Christmassy!"

"Fine, fine; how about this?" He started to play a song that she recognized as the 'Ukrainian Bell Carol', better known as 'Carol of the Bells': a simple, yet elegant, piece. She smiled and absorbed the music for a moment. She was happy it was Christmas; usually Schroeder would have kicked her out of the house by now, the Christmas spirit must have even penetrated his stone exterior she thought.

As Schroeder finished his piece Lucy spoke up, "So I saw Charlie Brown earlier today, he's depressed again about Christmas!"

Schroeder sighed, "It's always the same with him; why's he so upset this year?"

"He thinks nobody likes him or something, I wasn't really listening."

"He pays money to tell you about his problems and you don't even listen?!"

Lucy got a little offended, "Hey, I gave him advice! That's even better!"

Schroeder groaned, "As if any advice from you could be helpful. What did you tell him?"

Lucy smirked, "I told him to go out and do some volunteer work!"

"How would that help?"

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know. Whenever someone goes to a psychiatrist in a movie they tell them to go do community service or something. I thought it was a good idea."

"You sure are a unique one Lucy…"

Lucy smiled, "That's right, I sure am! And that's what makes you the luckiest guy in the universe."

Schroeder muttered, "Good grief" and then turned attention back to his piano.


Charlie Brown smiled as he reached the library; the kids raising the money for the orphanage were none other than his friends Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Both saw him as he approached and grinned. Peppermint Patty was the first to greet him, "Chuck! Merry Christmas Eve pal! How're you doing?!"

Marcie smiled and softly said, "Merry Christmas Charles!"

Charlie Brown felt a little warm inside; Patty and Marcie were the first two people to bother wishing him a Merry Christmas today. Maybe Lucy was right, this volunteering thing may just be what he needed. "Merry Christmas to both of you as well! I heard from Lucy that you were raising money for the orphanage, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help?"

Peppermint Patty thought to herself, "Well…I don't know…Well I guess Marcie and I could use a break. What say you watch over our spot here for the next hour?"
Charlie Brown nodded, "Sure thing." How hard could it be?

Marcie smiled, "Oh thank you, Charles!" The two of them then briefly explained all he had to do was stand next to the pot of donations, ring a bell, and thank anybody who donated. As they left he looked into the pot and saw that they had been moderately successful. It was mostly full of change, but there were a lot of $1 and $5 bills as well as a few $20s. Charlie Brown thought that this would be a piece of cake. He put on his Santa hat, grabbed the bell, and began ringing.

Unfortunately, less and less people were on the street now that it was approaching evening; everyone wanted to be home on Christmas Eve. Charlie Brown sighed, "Just my luck; I'm going to look like a total idiot to Patty and Marcie not getting any donations.

He continued his hopeless job for a few minutes until someone approached his table. He had recognized the kid from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. He was a short kid with dark black hair and crazy sideburns.

He sneered, "What's with the Santa getup, kid?" Charlie Brown recognized the kid as Thibault, a vicious bully who played second baseman on Peppermint Patty's team. Charlie Brown had only met him a few times, but knew he was bad news. "Are you going to answer me dork? What's with the Santa hat and that stupid bell?!"

Charlie Brown stammered, "W-well I'm c-c-collecting donations for the Melendez memorial orphanage and…"

Thibault spit on the ground, "Orphans! Bah, why would I want to donate money to them?! They're lucky they have a roof over their head at all! My dad says we should just close the orphanages and let them fend for themselves! Let the strong survive!"

Charlie Brown stood in awe of the kid's audacity for a moment and then muttered, "So I guess you won't be making a donation, huh?"

Thibault laughed, "We got a regular Einstein on our hands!" He then pulled Charlie Brown's Santa hat off his head and threw it on the ground. "Good luck, chump!" He walked off laughing while Charlie Brown muttered something under his breath.

Charlie Brown sighed, "Can this day get any worse?" As if on cue, the snow began to fall heavier and a very cold wind made Charlie Brown's spine tingle. Soon enough it began to hail out, forcing anyone who was on the streets back in their warm homes while Charlie Brown was stuck out in the street. "Hmph, I bet Marcie and Peppermint Patty forgot about me standing here…"

The freak storm lasted about fifteen minutes; when it ended Charlie Brown was shivering: he had never felt colder in his life. He saw that kindly old Mr. Guaraldi, the librarian was giving out free hot chocolate to any children who were passing by across the street. Charlie Brown really could use a pick-me-up; but who would watch over the table. He needed to make sure nobody took any of the money. But that hot chocolate looked so comforting.

"I'll only be gone a minute; besides, who would steal money from an orphanage anyway…on Christmas no less?!" Feeling relatively safe he headed over to Mr. Guaraldi's cart to get some hot chocolate. It took a little longer than he expected as Mr. Guaraldi had to put on a fresh pot of water, but after a few minutes Charlie Brown had a soothing cup of Hot Chocolate In his hands and was walking back to his table where he saw an angry Peppermint Patty and a sad looking Marcie waiting for him.

He mumbled, "Of all the luck! They have to come back when I'm gone!" Peppermint Patty looked furious.

"I can't believe you Chuck! I ask you to look over this for one hour! One hour! And you're off grabbing hot coco from Old Vince over there!"

Charlie Brown got a little defensive, "Hey, you were gone for over an hour! I had to deal with a hail storm!"

"Don't give me that Chuck! You really messed up big time! I can't believe you, this was such a simple task; how could you possibly manage to screw this up? Lucy must be right about you!" Charlie Brown felt especially hurt about that.

"Look is it really a big deal Patty? I'm sorry I left but nobody was coming to the stand anyway, after you guys left nobody donated anything. The only person to come here was Thibault and he was just being a jerk."

"Yeah, well that jerk just made off with all the proceeds!"

"What?!"

"Yeah blockhead, we saw that little punk climb into his mom's car with something and drive off. Lo and behold when we got back here the entire pot of money is missing!" Charlie Brown had just now realized that the money was gone!

Marcie sighed, "That pot itself was probably worth $20 dollars. We just lost the orphanage money. They'll probably never let us do this again…"

Charlie Brown felt terrible, "Oh man guys, I'm so sorry I don't know what to…"

"Just can it Chuck and get out of here! Come on Marcie, let's pack this stuff up and tell the guys over at the orphanage what happened…"

"I'm sure you can get Thibault to…"

"Can it Chuck! We'll deal with this, we don't need you mucking things up any more!" Charlie Brown quickly nodded and turned away, more depressed than he had been before.

Marcie mumbled, "Merry Christmas Charles…" and helped pack things up with Patty.


Charlie Brown couldn't believe it, but his Christmas Eve managed to get worse when he got home. His family had a tradition of going out to eat on Christmas Eve, to give their mom a break from all the preparing she had to do on Christmas Day. When he arrived home everybody was gone. He looked at the clock and saw that he was a half hour late and sighed, "I can't believe they didn't wait for me, it figures…" He turned on the T.V. but all that was playing were Christmas specials that he had seen a million times over. They weren't even the good ones; just the thinly veiled marketing ploys. He groaned and turned the T.V. off, "Everybody's either at Violet's party or with their families while I'm stuck here. Plus Patty and Marcie now probably hate me. I'm such a screw up…"

"Maybe Linus is home, I suppose I could see what he's up to. I don't think he's going to his grandma's until tomorrow." Charlie Brown dialed Linus's number and he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Linus, it's me, Charlie Brown."

"Oh what do you want?" Charlie Brown was taken aback by that response.

"Is everything okay Linus?"

"Don't try to act like you don't know what's wrong! I saw you avoid me earlier today! You made no attempt to help me in my protest!"

"Why would I? You know I don't believe in the Great Pumpkin."

"It's wasn't about the Great Pumpkin! It was a protest against Santa Claus!"

Charlie Brown raised an eyebrow, "Why would I want to protest against Santa Claus; haven't heard of the saying 'don't bite the hand that feeds you?'"

"Have you no principals Charlie Brown?! Santa Claus is the symbol of Christmas commercialism!"

"I wouldn't say that Linus…"

"Oh yes I would! Come on! That fat man is practically the official mascot of Coca Cola!"

Charlie Brown rolled his eyes; it wasn't worth arguing with Linus about this, his will was unshakable. "Whatever you say Linus."

"Don't talk like I'm crazy Charlie Brown! At least I have convictions!"

Charlie Brown groaned, "I didn't mean that Linus."

"Look Charlie Brown I'm late to Violet's party as it is. I'll see you later." And with that Linus hung up the phone.

Charlie Brown muttered to himself, "Even my best friend…I'm really batting a thousand today…" Charlie Brown looked around his house, not even his dog was around. "Some Christmas this is, I'm not even spending it with my family…" With nothing better to do (and nothing worth watching on T.V.), Charlie Brown decided to take a walk. The weather had seemed to subside at least and it was better than just staying inside doing nothing.

It was dark out now, and all the houses on the block were lit up with holiday lights. Across the street he saw Re-Run and his friend, the girl with the pig tails, caroling. Seeing the two young children so engrossed in the Christmas spirit elevated Charlie Brown's mood however he quickly reverted back to his usual gloominess as he passed Violet's house, which was elaborately decorated: she had thousands of lights, neon signs, fake reindeer and snowmen on the front lawn, and fake giant candy canes bordering her drive way making a path to her front door where a beautiful Christmas reef hung.


"Is everything alright sir?" Marcie noted Peppermint Patty gloomily staring out of Violet's window.

"This Christmas party stinks Marcie."

Marcie looked confused, "Did you try the did Frieda brought, I bet that'll make you change your mind about the party!"

Patty rolled her eyes, "No it's nothing like that, it's just it feels wrong hanging out here, I get the feeling that Violet doesn't think we really belong around here."

Marcie shrugged, "I think you're just being paranoid sir."

"I guess maybe I am. I just feel like such a toad for how I treated Chuck. I really laced into him bad today. I mean he did screw up big time, but his heart was in the right place. I mean he weathered that hail storm for us while we doing our last minute Christmas shopping!"

"Yeah, which let's not forget we were a half hour late for."

"And I chewed him out, on Christmas no less. I bet that kid's really scared of me now Marcie. I can't do that to poor Chuck, especially on Christmas! I really need to apologize."

"That's very thoughtful of you sir."

"Yeah I know it is." Marcie rolled her eyes; Peppermint Patty didn't know the meaning of humble. "Have you seen Chuck around? "

"To be honest I haven't seen Charles around at all. I suppose he didn't come. Sally isn't here either, perhaps they had family obligations."

"Or what if I scared him off! Oh man I feel terrible Marcie! No way, he's got to be here. I bet he's hanging out with Linus! Come on let's go find him!" Patty grabbed Marcie's arm and pulled her out of the room. Marcie could only sigh and look longingly at Frieda's dip as Patty lead her on what she was sure to be another wild goose chase.


"Maybe I should just knock on the door. Maybe they'll let me in. It's Christmas, I'm sure they'd be willing to have me at their party on Christmas." Charlie Brown took a step towards Violet's house and then stopped, "Oh who am I kidding, Violet would just tell me off and slam the door in my face. Besides, my only friend who isn't angry at me right now is Lucy; and I certainly can't see her trying to convince Violet to let me in." Charlie Brown sighed as he saw the silhouettes of kids laughing in Violet's window and then walked off.


"I'm sorry Patty but I haven't seen Charlie Brown around here at all. I talked to him on the phone earlier and he didn't indicate if he was going to attend the party or not."

Peppermint Patty impatiently asked, "Why didn't you ask him Linus?"

"I sort of was angry at him at the time; though I suppose it was a stupid thing to be angry about."

Marcie piped in, "Did it have anything to do with your Santa Claus protest Linus? We saw you and your brother while we were on our way to our fundraiser."

"Yeah it did." Linus said sheepishly.

Peppermint Patty groaned, "Oh sheesh let me guess: you got angry at him because he said he believes in Santa over that Great Gourd of yours!"

"It's Pumpkin!" Linus corrected.

"Oh whatever Linus! I can't believe you'd get angry at him for something so stupid! And on Christmas do less!"

Marcie whispered into her ear, "You're not one to talk sir."

"Hey, my reason for being angry at Chuck is more legitimate than Linus's!"

Marcie sighed, "Look, perhaps we should stop arguing like this and just focus on trying to see if Charles is here. I would suggest asking Lucy; she may have seen him around."

"Good idea Marcie, come on I see her by the punch bowl!"

Lucy indeed was at the punch bowl 'listening' to Frieda talk about her hair. Patty had no qualms of interrupting her. "Hey Lucille!"

Eager to talk to anyone besides Frieda, Lucy quickly responded with an enthusiastic, "Heya Patty! What's going on?" Frieda, though slightly annoyed, greeted Peppermint Patty and the others, as well as wishing Marcie, who she hadn't seen before at the party a Merry Christmas.

"I was wondering if either of you have seen Chuck around? Do you know if he came?"

Frieda immediately started in, "I don't know if he decided to come to the party or not, I assumed that since the Little Red Haired Girl, or Heather as she is actually named, wasn't going to come then I assumed he would have little interest coming here. Besides I think that the Brown family usually…"

Lucy curtly interrupted, "No Patty, he didn't come; Violet didn't invite him."

"What do ya mean Violet didn't invite him?!"

Lucy shrugged, "She said she didn't want him spoiling the party. I can understand where she's coming from; that blockhead can really be a downer, especially during Christmas time."

Peppermint Patty was furious, "Are you serious?! Where is Violet?"

"She's over in the living room with Shermy, Eudora, and Franklin I think."

"Good, I'd like a word with her!" Lucy looked confused as Peppermint Patty angrily walked past her. Linus began to feel nervous, hoping that a fight wasn't about to break out, while Marcie merely shook her head and followed Peppermint Patty into the living room.


Charlie Brown had reached the bridge over the rather small river that was located on the edge of town. He picked up a small pebble and threw it into the river, watching it being taken away by the current. "Some Christmas this is, everybody hates me." He sighed, longing for any company so he wouldn't have to be alone this Christmas but realized it was futile. "When you own family ditches you on Christmas, you know you've had it." He walked off the bridge and stood by the river bank.

"Maybe I should just give up; nothing I ever do seems to work. I'm just a failure." He watched the current flow in the river, "Maybe I'll just go and float in that river; go where the current takes me… maybe I can start a new life: one where nobody calls me 'blockhead'." He quickly dismissed such thoughts but they kept coming back to him.

He muttered, "I suppose anything is better than what I have right now…" and took a step into the river.


"Violet how DARE you not invite Chuck to your party?! You invited everybody else but him?! What gives?!" Violet was shocked; she wasn't used to anybody calling her out on things; certainly not in her own home. After a minute she regained her composure and replied to Peppermint Patty her usual snide and snobby tone.

"What's it to you Patty? Who cares what happens to that blockhead?" Marcie and Linus took a few steps away from Patty, not sure what to expect. The other kids looked at her expectantly: some secretly cheering for her while others merely spoiling for a good fight.

"That blockhead happens to be MY FRIEND!"

"Yeah, well this isn't your house." Peppermint Patty clenched her fists, causing everybody in the room to tense up.

Peppermint Patty looked around and then shouted, "How can you all just sit by while Violet walks all over Chuck?! It's Christmas; doesn't he deserve to be with friends just like everybody else?!" The room was silent. "I can't believe you people, I'm going to go find Chuck and spend Christmas with him! Anybody who wants to leave this dump is more than welcome to join me!" She looked around and saw most people shyly backing away from her. Franklin started to move toward her but a dirty look from Violet made him slink back against the wall. "You're all a bunch of cowards…"

She looked over, expecting at least to have Marcie and Linus rallying behind her however Marcie was over by the food table, eating some of that delicious dip Frieda made that she was eyeing before and Linus was busy flirting with Eudora. Peppermint Patty tapped on his shoulder and whispered, "Uh Linus, your best friend is spending Christmas depressed and alone…"

Linus urgently whispered back, "Look I'll catch up!" Patty gave him a dirty look.

"Hey, it's not every day I get to see Eudora without Sally creeping down my back!"

Patty muttered, "You sicken me, Linus", and left him with the giggling Eudora. "Come on Marcie, we're leaving!"

"Oh—right behind you sir!" Marcie, caught off guard by Patty, nearly tripped over herself and almost spilled a plate of Frieda's dip all over Violet's floor.

"Augh! Forget it Marcie, I'll talk to Chuck myself!" She left a confused Marcie by the snack table and walked out of Violet's house, slamming the door behind her.

Violet laughed, "Good riddance! It was a mistake to invite a tomboy like her in the first place!" While Violet's friends Patty and Shermy laughed at her comment, many others in the party, such as Linus, Marcie, Franklin, Frieda, and even Lucy shot her dirty looks without her knowing.


Charlie Brown took a step in the river but suddenly felt himself slipping, "AUGH!!!" He landed hard on his back, like he had many times before. "Ugh, what happened?" He looked around to see that the entire river had frozen over and became a big sheet of ice, "Wha? When did this happen?!"

"I made it happen, Charlie Brown. And it's a good thing I did so just in time in order to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life." Charlie Brown did not recognize the voice that was speaking it. Was an older person's voice, it sounded firm, yet friendly and warm; like the voice of a parent concerned for their child's safety.

"Ugh…do I know you…" Charlie Brown stood up, rubbing his aching head. His vision was slightly blurry from his fall, so he squinted to make out the figure. It looked exactly like Snoopy at first sight, but there were some differences. First off he seemed more aged, like Snoopy in a few years. He also was wearing as simple grey overcoat and bowler hat. The most glaring difference of course though was the fact that this figure was talking. "You're not…Snoopy?"

The figured smiled, "No, I'm not your trusty beagle. Why do I look like him though you may ask? I decided that it would be best to take this form, a comforting figure that you would recognize."

Charlie Brown just stared, "…what do you mean form?"

"Charlie Brown, my name is Sparky, and I'm your guardian angel!"

Charlie Brown muttered, "I must have hit my head harder than I thought!"


Peppermint Patty knocked on Charlie Brown's front door. A haggard looking Sally answered.

"Heya Sal! Merry Christmas! Is ole' Chuck around?"

Sally's expression grew grim, "You mean he isn't with you?!"

"Um no, he wasn't invited to Violet's so I thought I'd keep him company. He's not home?"

Sally looked incredibly worried, "No…big brother isn't home. My parents and I were at my Christmas play; it took longer than we thought because Harold Angel was late to the play… We were all supposed to go out to dinner tonight and thought he'd be here when we got home. We hoped he was at Violet's, my mom is driving there right now to pick him up."

Peppermint Patty felt her stomach turn, "Well, he's certainly not there right now…".

Sally's eyes began to tear up, "Oh my…big brother…where is he…".

"I don't know, I think he's pretty upset…over not getting invite to the party and getting to an argument with me and all that…I don't know where he'd be though..."

Sally was shaking, "E-excuse me Patty, but I got to tell dad!" she ran off sobbing. Snoopy then walked to the front door, dressed like a park ranger.

"Come on Snoopy, we got to find Chuck!"

Snoopy nodded and signaled Woodstock and his friends to follow him, "Here's the world famous rescue team ready to find the lost boy!"


"You're my guardian angel?" Charlie Brown asked in disbelief.

"That I am Charlie Brown, and I'm here to help you realize that your life isn't as bad as you think it is."

"Great, just what I need, more lectures…I get enough about my shortcomings from Lucy…I don't want to hear about how I should think everything is sunshine and roses…"

Sparky smiled, "I never said that, I just want to help you realize all that you have."

Charlie Brown rolled his eyes, "Oh really, what?! Nobody likes me. I'm nothing but a burden to my friends and my family! I terrible at everything I do! I'm worthless!! Everyone would be a lot better off without me!"

Sparky frowned, "Oh come now, you mustn't say things like that, you just don't realize how you have affected everyone you know."

"Oh trust me, I know! I hear it from them every time about how useless I am! How I'm such a failure! 'Blockhead!', "Failure Face'! That's all I am!" Charlie Brown kicked the ground and almost lost his balance.

Sparky took off his bowler and began fiddling with it while muttering, "This isn't going to be so easy, isn't it."

Charlie Brown sighed, "You know what I think Sparky? I think the whole world would be better off if I hadn't been born at all."

Sparky looked horrified, "You can't possibly mean that?! You shouldn't say things like…" Sparky began thinking to himself, "…wait a minute… now that's an idea! Charlie Brown, you've got your wish!"

Charlie Brown looked confused, "W-what?!"

Sparky smiled, "Your wish is granted, you've never been born!"

"Well I still feel like I've been born…"

"Just walk with me and I'll show you what I mean!"

Not knowing what to do, Charlie Brown decided it would be best to follow the odd beagle. He took one step on the ice however and slipped, falling once again on his head.

"AUGH!!!!"

To Be Continued