Claudia's First Firework Show
A Peanuts Fanfiction
Written by LivingOnLaughs
It was the fourth of July, a magical time for the Peanuts gang as they prepared for viewing the fireworks on top of 'Cloud Gazing Hill' with Claudia and her friend Skylar. Claudia smiled as she and Marcie sat on the latter's bed, looking at a book.
"W-what's that book about?" Claudia asked.
Marcie gave a giggle. "If you want to see it, Claudia, you can just ask," with a smile, she handed Claudia the book. "So, excited for the fireworks show tonight?" without a response, Marcie sighed. Claudia had a tendency to unknowingly ignore people, but this was different. "Claudia?"
"Huh?" Claudia wondered, looking up from the book. "Are you t-t-talking to me, Marcie?"
"Yes, silly. Are you excited for the fireworks tonight?" Marcie repeated.
Claudia gulped, going quiet again. Tugging at her hair, the auburn haired girl felt a desert form in her mouth.
"I guess that's a 'no', huh?" the bespectacled girl realized.
"Yeah…f-fireworks are loud."
"Oh right. I plump forgot. You don't like loud noises that much."
"Yeah…new loud noises are s-s-scary too. I d-don't know what to expect. I w-won't know how loud the f-fireworks will be or w-w-when they'll g-go off. What if I g-go into a shutdown?" Claudia sighed.
Marcie sighed as well, putting a hand on Claudia's shoulder. "Claudia, we're here for you: I'm here, Peppermint Patty's coming-she'll be there too. Charles and Frieda are also coming. If something goes wrong, let one of us know."
"How?"
"I can't believe I'm gonna say this; but if you get too scared, just pull me into a hug."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I can't believe I just said that either."
"W-what about Peppermint Patty?"
"If she won't mind, you can hug her too. And I'm sure Charles won't mind it either."
"That sounds good."
"Have you ever seen a firework?"
"Only in p-pictures."
"They're beautiful. They might be loud, Claudia-but I can guarantee that you'll love it."
"What if I d-don't like it?"
"We're not forcing you to go, Claudia. You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"I'll think about it, Marcie." Claudia smiled sadly. "Hug?"
"Sure. Thanks for remembering to ask first." Marcie replied.
LATER
Claudia sighed as she snooped through the top bunk, tossing old brownie wrappers, a notebook, five valentines and many broken crayons on the ground before finding what she was looking for. "My headphones," she smiled happily, loosening her pigtails to slip the headphones on her ears.
"Claudia, what are you doing in there?" Mrs. Grandin called out.
"N-nothing, mom." Claudia called back.
"Doesn't sound like it, Claudia Alexandra Grandin."
"Well it is n-n-nothing."
"Well, just so you know, Skylar's here."
"That's great!" Claudia smiled as she climbed down the top bunk and ran to the door. On the other end was a boy with glasses, a red baseball cap, auburn hair, brown eyes, braces and a headgear. "Hi Skylar."
"Hey Claudia. I hear you and your new friends are going to see a firework show. Are you going?" the boy asked, shuffling his feet nervously.
"I thought about it and thought about it…and I know what I'm g-gonna do."
"Last time we were invited to a firework show, you stayed home to DRAW, Claudia."
"Who's the one with s-s-sensitive ears, Skylar?"
"That's no excuse, Claudia. You have to step out of your comfort zone sometimes; meet new people, try new things. I know they may come off as scary-trust me, they have-but you've got a best friend here to comfort you." Skylar reassured.
"Well, a f-friend of mine suggested that I h-hug her if I get spooked. How does that sound?" Claudia explained. "I've b-been trying to step outside my c-c-comfort zone since we m-moved to Sparkyville! I have to learn to l-live without Ace's Ice Cream for a l-long time! I saw a f-friend's newborn b-b-brother AND I went to a Christmas concert."
"It's all a start for Claudia." Krissy called out from her bedroom.
"I agree, Miss Grandin." Skylar replied. "So, who's this 'friend'?" he asked suspiciously.
That night, Peppermint Patty was laying out a blanket when she caught sight of Claudia walking towards her with a sketchbook and art kit. Skylar tailed next to her protectively.
"Hey Claude, you made it." Peppermint Patty smiled.
"I kn-know I did," stuttered Claudia.
"We came for a few minutes; at least until the show begins." Krissy sighed, following the two kids.
"Baby steps, huh?" Marcie asked, akimbo on the grass with a book in her hands.
"Yup." Krissy replied. "All Skylar's idea."
"So you're Skylar, huh? Claude's friend, huh?" the freckled girl asked.
"Yeah…"chuckled Skylar anxiously.
"Nice meeting you. I'm Peppermint Patty and that's my little friend-Marceline."
"We c-call her 'Marcie' f-for short." Claudia smiled to herself, sitting next to the bespectacled brunette in the red t-shirt.
"So, you finally made up your mind, huh?" Marcie chuckled, propping herself against the picnic basket.
"Yeah. I b-brought these:" the autistic girl explained, putting on her noise canceling headphones. "They'll m-m-muffle the sound."
"I always wondered how those work." Peppermint Patty laughed as a boom caught their attentions.
Claudia trembled slightly before feeling a hand on her shoulder. "Those are fireworks, hun," she recognized who it was from the curls brushing against her right cheek. "I was scared first time I saw them too, Claudia."
"Really?" Skylar wondered, his eyes widened.
"Yes. But my mom told me not to worry."
"Krissy tells Claudia the same thing when she's scared."
Claudia watched the fireworks in awe; how could something so majestic be so loud, she thought with wonder in her green eyes. She was brought out of her trance to the feeling of someone hugging her tightly around her waist. The twitching of a strand of hair made Claudia giggle.
"Oh, Marcie…" Claudia began, "what're you d-doing?"
"I have a question." Marcie sighed. "What's a shutdown?"
Claudia gulped hardly. "A sh-shutdown FOR ME, Marcie, is when I go c-completely quiet and don't want to t-talk to anyone at all. To c-cope, I usually draw or f-f-fidget with my bracelet. For someone else with autism or Asperger's, they m-might lie down on the f-floor or rock. One autistic boy I m-met wouldn't b-b-budge from a corner when he had a sh-shutdown," she explained.
"So, a shutdown is different for you and someone else on the spectrum?" Frieda wondered.
"Long story short, yes." Claudia smiled shyly before taking a deep breath and removing her headphones. She was instantly shocked to hear explosive booms after booms echo in her ears and put her headphones back on her ears as quickly as she took them off and clung onto Marcie firmly.
Skylar smiled at his friend. "At least you tried," he praised with a thumbs up.
"Thanks, Skylar." Claudia replied.
"You don't have to do this, Claude. No one's forcing you to see a firework show." Peppermint Patty chuckled, "but it's nice to see you try to step out of your comfort zone."
Krissy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Claudia. Who knows? Maybe one day, you'll be able to go to a fireworks show WITHOUT your head-" she was cut off to the sight of Claudia smiling in awe as she looked up at the sky. "-phones…" the teen finished her sentence.
"Ready to try again?" Marcie wondered as Claudia let go of her.
"No w-way." Claudia responded, putting her hands on her headphones.
"Okay, okay…"
"Sorry. I-I'm just not u-used to f-firework shows. It's n-not my cup of tea."
"I understand entirely."
"But-"
"Claudia, I hate sports. Peppermint Patty knows it, but forces me to play when a player's missing. You don't like loud noises, I understand that. If you need friends to talk to, you have some fans around you." Marcie smiled as Claudia looked around to see Peppermint Patty, Charlie Brown, Frieda, Skylar and-of course-Krissy nodding their heads in agreement.
"Thanks, M-Marcie. I'm glad we met."
"Me too, Claudia."
Claudia giggled before Lucy walked towards them with a sparkler in her hand.
"Here, Claudia. Try this for size." Lucy insisted.
"A sparkler?" Claudia's eyes widened as she grasped onto the flickering flame on a stick. "It's l-like a little firework."
Lucy nodded her head in agreement. "The best thing is, Claudia, sparklers only crackle; there's no big boom."
"Maybe I c-can join you guys for the n-next firework show after all," the kids laughed as they continued looking at the fireworks-or in Claudia's case-her sparkler. It was official that despite being different, everyone could join in the fun in their own way. Krissy smiled as she held onto the sparkler long enough for Claudia to remove her headphones before giving it back to her little sister.
"Lucy's right, K-Krissy. Sparklers DO crackle," it might've been Claudia's first fireworks show, but with her friends and family by her side, it wouldn't be her last one either. As long as she had a sparkler in her hands, nothing could go wrong.
THE END
Author's Note: Actually, last year, I saw my first firework show-from a distance so the noise didn't bother me-and it was wonderful. I always thought about how different people have different reactions to certain things, so doing this was a lot of fun, and, it's been a while since I wrote about Claudia since I'm working on Nightmares and Late Night Love, so this makes for a nice hiatus. Yes, more Claudia related fanfictions ARE coming, so mark that on your calendars. Also, I finished school for the summer (hopefully I passed too), so more fanfictions ARE coming; sure, some may not be PEANUTS related, but I'll be making fanfictions during the summer.
After all that, i have four things to say: Longest. Author's. Note. Ever.
-LivingOnLaughs
June 13th, 2019