"Brrrring!"
The sound of the alarm clock was the first thing Charlie Brown heard. Yawning, he opened his eyes and turned it off. Seven in the morning, just like any other school day. Without wasting any time, he got up out of bed and got changed out of his pajamas. He then went into his kitchen and ate breakfast. Cereal, just like any other school morning. His sister, Sally, soon joined him and started griping about having to go to school to learn about things that no one cared about. (Who even liked adding single-digit and double-digit numbers together, anyhow? And triple digits? Good grief, perish the thought!) Indeed, his weekday morning routine had started yet once more and very little had changed for him.
However, there was one thing that was very different about this particular morning. Charlie Brown was in very high spirits. With a smile on his face, he looked towards a calendar that was hanging on the kitchen wall. It was the month of February, and one of the dates was circled in bright red ink. Indeed, he was grinning ear-to-ear.
Of course, his expression did not go unnoticed by Sally. "What's that big smile for, big brother?" she asked, "You look dazed. You're not sick, are you? If you are, I hope it's not catching! I don't want it!"
Charlie Brown turned towards his sister and held her hands in his. "Do you know what today is, Sally? Today is Valentine's Day!" he said, his eyes beaming, "Today's the day people give each other valentines. At some point today, the mailman's going to come on by with loads and loads of valentines!" Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back, still holding Sally's hands. "Just imagine! I might even get a valentine from the Little Red-Haired Girl! I can just picture it, now: I'm standing there by the mailbox and she'll walk on by, holding a valentine to give to me that she wrote herself. She'll be there to give it to me in person because it wouldn't be right to let the mailman deliver something so precious. That's what people do, you know; they personally deliver their valentines to the people they really like." He let out a long, contented sigh. He was sure he was blushing. "I bet she has beautiful handwriting."
Sally let out a groan and pulled her hands free. This was typical behaviour for Charlie Brown around this time of year. "Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself, big brother?"
Charlie Brown thought about her question for a couple of seconds, then his eyes lit up even further. "You're right!" he said, "Maybe the mailman's already been here! Today's a very important holiday, after all; there's no way he'd keep anyone waiting like he normally does! By golly, I should get out there, right now!"
With that, he tore out of the kitchen and into his porch. He put on his coat, shoes and hat and ran outside.
It was a beautiful morning outside. The morning sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the wind was calm. Even the temperature outside was quite warm, despite it being the middle of winter. It also hadn't snowed for some time since then. Indeed, it was as if they were in the middle of the spring months instead of the winter months.
Charlie Brown registered the details of the morning in the back of his mind as he ran toward his shed in his backyard. Tearing the door open, he bolted inside and started noisily moving things around. His current activities caught the attention of his dog, Snoopy, who was lying on top of his red doghouse, still asleep. Disturbed, he opened one eye and glanced at the shed, wondering what was going on and why they felt it was a good idea to do it at such an ungodly hour.
After a few more seconds, Charlie Brown came out of the shed pushing a wheelbarrow. He was still smiling brightly. Noticing his dog was awake; he waved at him.
"Good morning, Snoopy," he said cheerfully, "I'm sorry if I woke you, but today's Valentine's Day! I just couldn't contain myself!" As he continued walking through his yard towards the front of his house, Snoopy let out a grunt and lay back down, trying to get back to sleep. It was too early in the morning for this kind of commotion.
Charlie Brown reached his mailbox at the front of his lawn just as Sally walked out the front door, wearing her coat and backpack. "What are you doing now? And what's that wheelbarrow for?" she called to him, as she walked down the concrete path leading towards the curb of the sidewalk.
"The mailman probably has a lot of valentines addressed to us. I imagine he had a full load," he said, looking in Sally's direction, "This wheelbarrow is to make sure I can carry them all back into the house. All of that weight can be hard on your back, you see."
Without another word, he put the wheelbarrow down and opened the mailbox lid, expecting an avalanche of valentines to pour out. He was surprised when that did not happen. No valentines poured out of his mailbox. No normal letters poured out, either. Taking a good look, his mailbox, in fact, appeared to be quite empty. Not expecting this at all, Charlie Brown was struck dumb by the sight.
"Wh…what? I don't…and…how?" He was finding it difficult to form words.
Sally, who had caught up with her brother, was standing behind him, hands behind her back. She shrugged. "It's not even eight in the morning yet, big brother. It's way too early for the mailman to come." She had said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Pondering her words, Charlie Brown nodded his head. "You're right," he said, feeling foolish, "It is too early for the mailman to come. I don't know what I was thinking. It is, after all, only half past seven. I just got a little excited, that's all." He picked up his wheelbarrow and started wheeling it back towards his shed. "Maybe I'll come home for lunch, today. It's not as if the school is really that far away from our house, even if we do take the bus every morning."
Sally looked down the street and saw that the school bus in question was coming into view. She looked back towards her brother and called to him. "Speaking of the bus, it's almost here! You'd better hurry up, big brother, or you'll miss it!"
Hearing her words, Charlie Brown picked up his pace. Not even bothering to put it away for lack of time, he noisily ran the wheelbarrow into the wall of the shed, waking Snoopy up, again, in the process. (He figured he had might as well get up, now. It was too noisy around here this morning.) Charlie took no notice, however. He ran back into his house, quickly grabbed his backpack, and ran out towards the curb of the sidewalk as the school bus stopped in front of his house. As he and his sister boarded the bus, he reaffirmed his plan in his head: He would stop home for lunch and check his mailbox then. He was just too early, that was it. Reassuring himself that there was still plenty of time left in the day, he sat down in a seat by himself as the bus started moving towards their destination.
…
Noontime had come and very little had changed, in terms of the weather. The sun was shining high in the still-cloudless sky, the winds had still not picked up at all and it seemed as though the temperature had gotten even warmer, slight though it was.
Charlie Brown's mood had improved once again as he walked down the sidewalk towards his house. This was normally the time of day, now, where the mailman would stop by his house to deliver the mail. There was no way he'd be too early, this time. He was smiling once again as he imagined opening his mailbox and finding a large stack of valentines waiting for him. Perhaps the Little Red-Haired Girl was waiting for him there, as well. Without another thought, he quickened his pace.
After a about a minute or two, he was surprised to see the mailman walking in the opposite direction, a large mailbag slung over his shoulder. Seeing the bald-headed kid walking towards him, he smiled and waved. Charlie Brown waved back and was suddenly curious.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, politely, "My name is Charlie Brown. By any chance, have you delivered the mail to my house, yet?"
The mailman thought about it for a second, then nodded. Charlie Brown's smile got bigger.
"You have?" he hesitated, then, "By chance, did you deliver any valentines to my house?"
The mailman nodded again, patting his mailbag and grinning. Charlie's eyes went wide.
"An entire mountain of them? Wow!" he was elated by this news. Chancing another question, he asked, "Did you happen to see a small girl with red hair waiting there?"
This time, the mailman shook his head, he hadn't seen anyone like that. For one very brief moment, Charlie Brown's mood faltered.
"Oh," he said, sounding dejected. Then he lit up again, "Well, maybe she showed up just as soon as you left, and you didn't see each other. Yeah! That must be it!" With that, he took off again. "I can't keep her waiting! Thanks for telling me this, sir! Have a nice day!" Charlie waved at the mailman again as he closed the distance between himself and his mailbox. The mailman waved back, smiling, and continued on his way.
Charlie Brown practically flew the rest of the way home, his cheeks reddening, his mind completely focussed on the thought of the Little Red-Haired Girl waiting in front of his mailbox with a handwritten valentine in her hands. Knowing her, the valentine was also probably sealed away in a rosy pink envelope, adorned with little red hearts, addressed to him in large, whimsical, airy handwriting. That seemed like the kind of thing she would do. Just the thought of holding her valentine in his hands was enough to give him butterflies in his stomach. He could hardly wait to get home.
As he got home, however, not only was the Little Red-Haired Girl nowhere to be seen, he was surprised to instead find Snoopy in front of the mailbox, unloading what looked like hundreds of envelopes into the same wheelbarrow that Charlie had been carrying earlier that morning.
Snoopy was painstakingly sorting through the mountain of letters as Charlie Brown had slowed his pace from an anxious sprint to a careful walk. He approached his beagle companion and looked at the wheelbarrow's contents, trying to stay optimistic.
"That's quite a mountain of letters," he said, slowly and calmly, "Are those all valentines?"
Snoopy nodded, not even looking at him. He was very absorbed in his work, messily sorting through the hundreds and hundreds of small envelopes. A couple of envelopes fell to the ground, landing at Charlie Brown's feet. Peering at them, they were both addressed to the same person: "Snoopy."
Charlie Brown gulped, "By any chance, are there any valentines that aren't addressed to you?"
Finished with his work, Snoopy turned around and held up a smaller pile of envelopes in one hand, bound together by an elastic band. He carefully set them back into the mailbox. He then picked up the valentines that had landed at his master's feet and tossed them back into the wheelbarrow. The mountain of letters in the wheelbarrow had lessened, but not by much.
Charlie Brown looked at the smaller pile of valentines and realized, "Ah. Those are for Sally. I see." There was a small pause before he looked back towards his beagle companion. "Um…are there any in there that are addressed to me?" he asked, sounding hopeful.
Snoopy appeared to not hear the question as he picked up the wheelbarrow and walked into the backyard, towards his doghouse. Not bothering to ask again, Charlie Brown stood in front of his mailbox, carefully took Sally's valentines out and peeked inside. Just as before, there was nothing left. Not a single valentine in sight. Without another word, he set Sally's valentines back inside and started walking back in the direction of the school. Although he said he would eat lunch at home, he had only used that as an excuse to come home and check his mailbox. In reality, he had taken his lunch to school with him and it was now sitting in his backpack hung up on the chair at his desk. With all the time he had spent walking everywhere, he now had less time with which to eat it. Charlie Brown didn't really seem to care at that particular moment, however. His mind was preoccupied.
He stopped where he was and took one last look at his mailbox. He let out a sigh and continued walking. His optimistic, cheerful demeanour was starting to dissipate at this point.
…
The day went on and the weather had still not changed too much. The sun was still shining brightly and warmly in the mid-afternoon sky and there were still no clouds in sight. The wind, however, had picked up a little bit.
School had finished for the day and the school bus was on its way, bringing everyone home. Eventually, the school bus stopped in front of Charlie Brown's house. The doors opened and Charlie and Sally got off the bus. Charlie did a quick scan of his mailbox, hoping to find the Little Red-Haired Girl waiting for him, but of course, she was nowhere to be found. This revelation caused him to look down at his feet and sigh. His mood had gotten considerably worse as the day went on. He could not get the thought of valentines out of his mind and it was eating at him all afternoon. Noticing his distress, Lucy and Violet, who had gotten off the school bus behind him, decided to see what was wrong.
"What's the matter, Charlie Brown? Why are you sighing?" Lucy asked. She sounded as if she was genuinely concerned for him. In the back of his mind, Charlie knew there was most likely a retort on its way, but he was too dejected to care.
"Today is Valentine's Day, It's almost three in the afternoon and I still haven't gotten a single valentine." He turned around and looked at Lucy and Violet, both of whom were carrying large piles of valentines in their arms, from the valentine exchange that had happened in class earlier that afternoon. Of course, Charlie Brown hadn't gotten any. "I was thinking that maybe the Little Red-Haired Girl would be waiting for me here with one of her own to give me, but I guess I'm just not that lucky." Looking down again, he added, "Certainly no luckier than I was in class, today."
"Charlie Brown, have you forgotten?" said Violet, "the Little Red-Haired Girl doesn't live in this town anymore. She moved away. Doesn't she live on the other side of the world or something? I figured you would know better than we would." She had said this in such a way that suggested Charlie already knew about this.
"Why are you still thinking about her anyway?" Lucy asked, a judgmental tone in her voice, "If she were here to hear you, do you think she would be bothered that you're constantly thinking about her? That makes you sound needy. Women don't like needy people, Charlie Brown. You don't think about this stuff very much, do you?"
"She doesn't live halfway around the world," Charlie responded, trying to defend himself. He looked back up at her, "she lives on the other side of town, I think. It wouldn't be all that far to walk. Not really."
"You blockhead! Why would someone walk all the way across town just to give someone a valentine, least of all to you?!" Lucy yelled this at him. "No one in their right mind is ever going to give you a valentine. Why? Because you're Charlie Brown!" She laughed at this.
Violet couldn't help but smirk. "Come on, Lucy. Let's head home. Our houses are pretty close to one another. I can't wait to see all the valentines that everyone has given us!"
Laughing, the two girls walked off, leaving Charlie Brown and Sally in front of their house. Charlie sighed once again, and then remembered something from earlier that afternoon.
"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot," he walked over to his mailbox, opened it, took out Sally's valentines and handed them to her. "These are yours. They're valentines. They arrived at lunchtime, along with Snoopy's."
Seeing this, Sally's face lit up. "Oh wow, I got some valentines!" She grabbed them from her brother, took off the elastic band binding them together and looked through them. "Look, here's one from Eudora, and Cormac and Mandy and Roy, and Jeannie and Gregg and Farley…" then she gasped, her cheeks getting red as a sudden realization struck her. "Maybe there's one in here from my Sweet Babboo!" He gazed at her brother dreamily as visions of Lucy's brother, Linus, began filling her head. Charlie Brown could practically see the hearts in her eyes. "Isn't he just the cutest thing?! He's so considerate!"
"Uh…somehow I doubt there's a valentine in there from Linus." He said this matter-of-factly and with no hint of malice. Linus truly did not think much of Charlie Brown's sister.
Sally was not fazed by this comment, whatsoever. "Oh, that just means he's shy, which makes him even cuter!" she squealed, "I guess he'll just need someone to loosen him up and remind him to send one, then. Do you think he's home from school by now? I'm going to go call him right away! I'll see you inside, big brother!"
With those words, she took off towards the house at lightning speed and disappeared inside, leaving her brother by himself. He turned back towards the open mailbox and peered inside. There were no letters, but he did notice that a small spider was skittering around, looking lost.
"Now, how did you get in there?" he wondered to himself. Carefully, he put his hand inside the mailbox, allowing the spider to crawl up onto his fingers. He slowly and gently brought the spider back outside and freed him in the grasses at his feet. The spider quickly scurried away. Charlie Brown put his hands in his coat pockets as he watched it disappear into the grass. It was a little windy, but it was also unusually warm today. The spider would most likely find shelter before it cooled down again.
Bringing his mind back to the matter at hand, he first looked up at the sky, then down at his wristwatch. It was nearly three in the afternoon. He stepped onto the sidewalk and looked both ways. The streets were empty on both sides. There was not a trace of anyone nearby, neither on foot nor by car. He looked back at his mailbox again and took a deep breath.
"Well, the day's not over yet," he said to himself, "there are always those last minute miracles. I've seen it happen on T.V. many times: Someone's waiting and waiting for someone else and he's waiting a long, long time, and it really gets him down that she's not coming. And then, at the very last minute, just when he's about to give up everything, she shows up! Just like that! It's like a miracle! Maybe that will happen here, too!" He paused for a second, then, "It's my only hope."
With that, he walked over to his open mailbox and lay down in front of it, resting the back of his head on the wooden pole. He looked up at the sky, the open lid slightly obstructing his view, lost in thought.
…
He wasn't sure at what point he had fallen asleep, but when he opened his eyes again, the day had gotten on. The clear blue sky, while still cloudless, was slowly turning pink and purple as the sun was slowly beginning its descent. The wind hadn't picked up, but was still blowing in light gusts every now and again. It was also getting very slightly cooler, as well.
Getting into a sitting position and rubbing his eyes, he looked at his wristwatch again. It was almost five in the evening. He did a quick look around. Just as before, there was no one in sight. He stood up, being mindful not to hit his head on the open lid, and looked inside his mailbox once more. Yet again, there was nothing inside.
Charlie Brown looked down at the ground again, feeling absolutely depressed. Valentine's Day had come and gone and he had gotten no valentines at all; not a single valentine from anyone. What stung more was the fact that this was hardly a new experience for him. Every year, whenever it came to valentines, people just seemed to avoid him like the plague. By contrast, everyone around him seemed to have the opposite problem. All of his classmates and friends seemed to have mountains of valentines in comparison. He could not, for the life of him, figure out why this was.
Even the Little Red-Haired Girl didn't have one for him. This was what stumped him the most. After thinking about it for a little bit, he remembered what Violet and Lucy had said: that, yes, the Little Red-Haired Girl did live somewhere on the opposite end of town from where he lived. (Or did she live in another town altogether? He couldn't remember.) The town was quite large, as well. It likely wouldn't make much sense for her to walk such a long distance just to hand deliver a valentine to him. (It would only maybe work if she had an interest in hiking, and he couldn't remember her saying so.) It was probably just as well. He never was very confident in speaking to her. She probably didn't even know he existed, anyway.
Shaking his head and pushing the thought out of his mind as best as he could manage, Charlie Brown looked up and took another look around him. As usual, there was no one in sight. He sighed.
"I give up," he said, turning back and slowly walking towards his house. As soon as he got to the front steps, he stopped and took one last look around behind him. Nothing. He shrugged, and took a deep breath, taking ample time between inhaling and exhaling. "Well, there are always belated valentines. Those can happen sometimes. Maybe they'll happen this year, too. I guess we'll see." He paused for a second, then sighed again, "Good grief." And with that, he turned back around, opened the front door and disappeared inside.
Unbeknownst to Charlie Brown, there actually was someone in his vicinity at that moment. He just didn't see them because they were very well hidden. Across the road from Charlie Brown's house, someone was standing behind a large oak tree, hiding themselves from the view of the house. This person would occasionally peek out from behind the tree to see if Charlie Brown was still there. In this person's hands was a small, rosy pink envelope, adorned with little red hearts and addressed to Charlie Brown in large, whimsical, airy handwriting.
Valentine's Day was here and they wanted to deliver a valentine to him, but they weren't very confident. They were afraid of what Charlie Brown would say, whether he would accept the valentine or whether he would reject it. What's more, they lived all the way across town from him, so walking the rather large distance from their house to his wouldn't necessarily be the most favourable option, as it was quite time-consuming.
They were determined to see this through, though. Although they weren't very courageous when it came to matters like these, they always knew how unhappy Charlie Brown seemed to be around this time of year and how few valentines he seemed to get, so they wanted to try and put a smile on his face, no matter how nervous this made them, considering their own feelings towards him. They had made a valentine for him, sealed it away in an envelope they felt was sure to get his attention and was prepared to make the long, long walk to give it to him. They already knew where he lived, so that would help immensely. This excursion would likely go into the early evening (why did Valentine's Day have to be on a school day, anyway?), but it was worth it, just to see him smile, especially on a day that usually caused him so much misery.
They were not prepared to find him sleeping directly underneath his mailbox. They figured he would be inside and they would just deliver it secretly, without him seeing. Delivering it like this would have been too risky, as the slightest noise they made would probably wake him up. Many different scenarios flashed through their mind; about how Charlie Brown would react, waking up and seeing them there, about them losing their nerve, about whether or not they should just stick the valentine in the mailbox anyway, etc. All the while looking at Charlie Brown lying there, his eyes closed and breathing in and out, looking quite peaceful, was enough to make their cheeks redden.
As soon as they impulsively decided to just throw caution to the wind and stick it in the mailbox regardless, Charlie Brown was starting to stir. Realizing that they were about to get caught, they shot across the street, not even bothering to check for traffic, and hid behind the nearest big enough object they could find, in this case, a giant oak tree that was, fortunately, not very far away from Charlie's house. They remained in their hiding place, carefully peeking out every now and then to see what he was doing. By this time, they were thinking this voyage was a huge mistake. All their plans were backfiring in the worst way possible. Charlie Brown would find them out and it would be a huge embarrassment and would forever make things awkward between the two of them. Which was just as well, they would almost rather their feelings for him stay hidden, anyway. It was probably better for them both, this way.
Then, as they took another peek, they saw that Charlie Brown was looking down at the ground. He looked absolutely depressed about something. The sight of his expression nearly broke their heart in two. Why did he look like that? This was awful! They couldn't bear to see him like this. He looked so sad. It was enough to make them cry. In a fit of determination, they knew now that they had to deliver the letter, regardless of their feelings; there was no other choice.
And so, they stayed behind the tree, waiting to see what he would do next. As they saw him disappear inside his house, they realized that this was their chance! Disappearing behind the tree one last time, they took a deep breath, and started walking towards his open mailbox. It was only as they were crossing the street that they realized they were shaking. This was really scary! They were so afraid of how Charlie Brown would take this, and what he would say or do. Quietly, they told themselves to calm down, repeatedly reassuring themselves that everything was going to be all right. Then, they stopped in front of the open mailbox. All that was left was to place the letter inside. Slowly, they took their letter and were about to place it down…
…when a quick gust of wind came out of nowhere and tore the pink envelope from their hands! Gasping, they turned away from the mailbox and ran in the direction the wind had taken it, hoping they could catch it. Of all the scenarios that came into their head, this was not one of them. They would not let things end like this! They could not!
Fortunately, the gust of wind didn't carry the valentine very far. It danced in the air for a few seconds before finally landing on the sidewalk, not very far away from their destination. They scrambled to the ground and picked it up, holding it tightly, taking a moment to calm down. This one short moment had their heart pounding in their chest, and left them feeling very stressed. After about a minute of breathing deeply, in and out, they felt they were calm enough to the point where they could return to their task. Slowly, they walked back towards Charlie Brown's house, glancing at the windows to see if they had aroused any suspicion. They had not.
Stopping in front of the mailbox, all that was left was to deliver the valentine. As their fears and insecurities rushed up to meet them again, they took another deep breath. Before they could talk themselves out of it any longer, they grabbed the mailbox lid with their free hand, stuck the valentine inside and closed it, gently, but firmly enough so that the wind wouldn't tear it open. With their hand that once held the valentine, they took it and placed their palm on the top of the mailbox, almost affectionately. They remained like this for a couple of moments before finally letting it go. No longer allowing themselves to think on whether this was a good idea or not, they turned around and started their journey home. The sun would have likely almost set by the time they were to make it home, but they didn't mind. They had accomplished what they had set out to do.
Before they let it disappear out of sight, they turned back and stared at Charlie Brown's house, and the mailbox, one last time.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Charles." Marcie adjusted her glasses and moved the loose strands of her black hair out of her eyes and smiled affectionately, a slight blush on her cheeks. She stayed like this for a few seconds, then turned around and walked away.