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Prologue
My name is Baxter Smith.
I was watching TV one day at my mom's house in Finneytown, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. My dad's house was in Clifton Heights and minutes from downtown Cincinnati.
I was 18 years old, going on 19.
I was a senior at Finneytown High School.
A commercial I had never seen before came on.
It went something like this:
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is the event that you've been waiting for. Your childhood dreams will come true. It's the Ultimate Cartoon FunFest! Experience the thrills, the laughs, the games, and the characters that magically appear from their TV cartoons. Meet the real characters from SpongeBob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents, Doug, Pepper Ann, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Arthur, Recess, Clifford The Big Red Dog, PB&J Otter, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Rupert (1991-1997), Phineas And Ferb, Kim Possible, The Proud Family, Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, Camp Lazlo, and much, much more! Just follow that long, mysterious road through the dark woods and you'll find this huge festival in a valley with the large brick indoor attraction center. The Ultimate Cartoon FunFest. November 18-22, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Get nostalgic!"
I was mesmerized by the whole commercial.
I told my parents about it and made a plan with my friends.
On November 18th at 4 p.m, my cool 24-year-old neighbor, Dimitri Seitis, picked me up in his blue 1991 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. I got in the front passenger seat.
Also in the car were William Allen, Tyler Jaenicke, and Andy Auffrey.
I had my iPhone, my iPod, and my wallet with a few hundred dollars in it.
I was wearing a light blue long-sleeved t-shirt with Cleo from Clifford The Big Red Dog on it (with the sleeves rolled up), blue jeans, and white Converse high-top sneakers with black laces.
It was time for a night of total awesomeness.
The Ultimate Cartoon FunFest
Chapter 1: In The Beginning...
The car pulled out of the driveway and drove to the intersection of Twincrest Court (which had a cul-de-sac) and Cherryblossom Lane. It turned left. Autumn leaves were drifting towards the dry brown grass. A few neighbors were outside raking leaves and doing yardwork. After I waved to my neighbor, Mrs. Molkey (who was a teacher at Brent Elementary School), the car pulled into the Seitis' driveway. Mrs. Seitis was hugging her 16-year-old son, Lefterios (or Terry for short).
"I'll miss you a whole bunch," she said.
"Don't worry, Mom," Terry replied. "I'll be thinking about you."
A red 1995 Dodge Ram Van pulled into the driveway next to the Chrysler. Tanner White was driving, and the passengers were Collin Jones (who was in the front passenger seat), Thomas Steel, Will Young, Austin Moss, David Dunkel, Rachel Yoshida, Michael Keltz, and Rashard Kennedy. Terry got into the van and sat down next to Michael.
"I hope the characters aren't mascot costumes," Michael told Terry.
"Me too," Terry replied. "It'd be a shame if they were."
"Baxter!" Tanner said. "You pumped for this adventure?"
"I sure am, Tanner," I replied.
"Let's see, #105, C Dorian scale," Austin said to himself as he looked through his French horn scale sheets. He then picked up his French horn and played lightning-fast through the whole scale without any mistakes. "I'm practicing for principal chair horn in the U.S. Philharmonic Orchestra," he chuckled. "Schoos will be thrilled." He began to FaceTime Mr. Schoos on his iPhone. Mr. Schoos was now the Director of Bands at Finneytown High School.
"Austin Moss!" Mr. Schoos said as he appeared on the iPhone's screen. "Lookin' fresh there!"
"I can play the C Dorian scale in FBA format," Austin said. FBA stood for Florida Bandmasters Association. The band students had been at Plant High School in Tampa, Florida before they moved to Finneytown.
"Yay band," Mr. Schoos said.
Everyone left the Seitis' driveway and continued a few houses to the curve, where they saw Jacob Johnson, a gangsta-style friend of mine, walking out of his house as he waved goodbye to his parents and his grandmother, who was visiting for the Thanksgiving holidays. Jacob sported a red Arthur t-shirt, a black leather jacket, professional basketball shoes, and saggy pants.
"Pull your pants up, bro!" Rashard croaked out the window of the van.
"Aw, c'mon, Rashard," Jacob said. "You're wearing saggy pants yourself."
"Don't push my buttons, brass!" Rashard replied. "You understand? You understand?" Jacob ignored him and got into the van.
William started laughing when he heard Rashard's yelling.
"That Rashard is such a clown," I said. "Imagine him arguing with Rupert and Pong Ping."
"About episodes taking place in China?" Andy asked.
"I don't know," I replied.
When we got to Finneytown High School a block away, a red 1992 Mazda Miata was waiting in the parking lot. The Chrysler and the van drove down the steep entrance. Behind the wheel of the Miata was none other than Mr. Schoos himself. He sported a Phantom Regiment t-shirt, khaki shorts, and loafers. I got out of the Chrysler as he got out of the Miata, and we shook hands.
"Bax!" Mr. Schoos said. "Looking rad there, got the hair goin'. Pretty awesome. Oh, I love your Cleo shirt. She's my favorite Clifford character." I had long brown hair down to my chest, 80's heavy metal style.
"Thanks," I chuckled. "She's my favorite, too." On my shirt, Cleo was posing with a toothy smile. (Nice, straight pearly whites!) There was black text under her that read:
Have I ever steered you wrong?
The Miata followed us down Cherryblossom Lane to Winton Road. We took a right and passed Brent Elementary School and Brentwood Plaza (although we stopped at a Burger King to tide ourselves over). We crossed a small bridge and stopped at Graeter's Ice Cream Parlor, where we met Jenna Engert, Jelisa Booker, Brianna Gunderson, Priyanshi Patel, Sam Davis, Nick Coffman-Price, Scott Holk, Henry Crowder, Gervonte McMiller, Kyle Takacs, Isaac Netzer, and John Craig. I had a mint chocolate chip sugar cone. Some of the other band students even brought their own instruments.
"And so he does this thing from the song 'Goodbye Sober Day' by Mr. Bungle," Sam told Nick. "I literally lay my eyes on him as he goes, 'TAK TAK TAK TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA...'" Sam and Nick started cracking up.
Jenna was drawing a rose in her sketchbook. She had been drawing for years. Gervonte, Isaac, John, and Kyle were watching a Drum and Bugle Corps competition video on Isaac's iPad. Brianna and Priyanshi were listening to Brianna's iPod Touch. Scott was drumming on his practice pad.
When Mr. Schoos entered Graeter's, he looked so happy to be on this adventure. "Hey!" the band students chorused in a singsong way.
"The band's at it again!" Mr. Schoos said, pointing. "Get ready for the night of your lives!" Then he clapped and imitated the whispery sound of a large crowd cheering. Scott picked up his set of tenor drums and put it on himself. Then he started to perform a small concert of tenor drum cadences that he had written recently. Henry accompanied him on the guitar. Everyone in the ice cream parlor watched and cheered afterwards.
"Remember Psalm 119:105," Scott said after taking a bow. "'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.'" Henry high-fived Scott and strummed a chord on his acoustic guitar.
"Well, what brings you to this day?" Tanner asked Gervonte, John, Kyle, and Isaac as he leaned over with his fists on the table.
"Nothing much, just having some ice cream," Isaac replied.
"Really?" Tanner said. "You ready for the trip?"
"Yeah man!" Kyle said. "How's life in Tampa?"
"I actually moved up here now," Tanner replied. "So I can continue preaching and hanging out with y'all." Tanner had gotten his hair long again after chopping it off back in 2011.
"WHO'S READY?" I called to everyone. My friends went crazy. Mr. Schoos even raised his fist in the air and shouted, "YEAH!"
"If you need to go to the bathroom before we leave, that'll be fine," I said to everyone. "In fact, I'm one of those people. I'll see y'all in a few minutes. Thanks for your time."
Everyone cheered like you wouldn't believe. I was overjoyed while not only attending this trip but also managing it as well.
To be continued...