A skip in his step, Charlie Brown made his way to his front door and opened it to see his six-year-old sister, Sally, in tears. It looked as if she was crying.
"HE DOESN'T LOVE ME!" Sally wailed.
"Who's 'he'?" Charlie Brown asked, hugging his sister.
"Linus…he called and said he likes Eudora the Traitor instead…I thought Eudora was my best friend, a shoulder to cry on; but no! She's a Sweet Babboo-taker! A traitor! A rotten cheapskate!" she lamented.
Charlie sighed as he stroked Sally's cheek. "Sally, one day your Sweet Babboo will come; sure, it may not be Linus, but it will be someone just as wonderful as him. I promise." He reassured as she sniffled. Seeing his blonde haired sister weep, tears in her light brown eyes and a red nose, reminded him of how he felt when Snoopy went to live with Lila temporarily and how much grief he felt when the Little Red Haired Girl moved away. "You'll get through this."
Peppermint Patty and her first best friend-Roy-were the parents of an egg they named Babe (after Babe Ruth) and were taking it for a 'stroll' in Roy's bike basket. "So how's your friend?" Roy asked with a sigh. It had been many years since he had spent some free time with Peppermint Patty and nearly thought she forgot about him entirely. As Peppermint Patty became closer with Marcie; her friendship with Roy slipped through her hand like sand in a sifter. Being with Peppermint Patty and just her, made the camp boy smile widely.
"Marcie's doing better than the last few days, Franklin's still the same boy you know: nonchalant, busy-scheduled and a great rapper." Peppermint Patty reported.
"That's good." Roy smiled sadly. "It's been years since we had some you-and-me time…I missed it."
"Same…"
"I thought that when you met Marcie, you forgot all about me…the boy that introduced you to Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroeder and Snoopy…"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah…why DID you leave me alone for all these years for a girl two years younger than us?"
"Remember when Marcie and her parents moved into the neighborhood?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, I wanted to show her around, and we got acquainted…I never ignored you, Roy. I called you every day!"
"On my old phone number…" Roy face palmed.
"Old phone number?" Peppermint Patty cocked her head.
"Yeah…a few years ago, I got a new phone number…"
"That explains it…"
"You still consider me your best friend, right?"
"Marcie may be my best friend who's FEMALE, but you're my best MALE best friend."
"Thank you, Peppermint Patty."
"No problem, Roy. I miss walking to the bus stop with ya."
"I miss eating acorns while you lecture me about oak trees."
"I miss playing ball with you as a shortstop."
"I miss getting trampled by you."
"But most of all…" Roy began.
"I missed you." The two explained in unison, hugging.
"You really never did forget me…" the camp boy smiled.
"I never would forget the boy who introduced me to Chuck. He kinda likes me, Roy." Peppermint Patty beamed.
The next morning was a bit of a shock to say the least-here they were in late November and already, the snow was at adult knee deep with the rain puddles from the last three nights as solid as ice. Snoopy didn't mind it though and pulled out Rosebud from the doghouse. "Come on!" he barked to Woodstock, Bill, Conner, Oliver and Harriet. "Let's set a record!"
Charlie Brown was thankful the snow canceled school and grabbed the spare tire from the back of his parents' minivan and tied a firm rope on it before running to the other neighborhood. Giddily and gleefully, he knocked on one of the doors.
"Coming!" Marcie exclaimed, grabbing her scarf and French beret.
"Hurry up!" Charlie Brown shouted. "It's snowing flurries!"
"Flurries?" she asked, running outside before tripping in the snow.
"Haven't you ever seen a snow flurry, Marcie?" he chuckled as she climbed onto the tire.
"Once as a baby, I think."
"Now that you mention this, five years ago, there was a hectic snow storm like this…ice, snow, slush…the works! All the schools were closed and everyone was playing outside…I remember dragging Lucy, Schroeder and Baby Linus on their new sled with Snoopy romping next to me."
"Sounds like fun, Charles."
"Yeah…the flurries were the best part! Patty and Violet were trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues and Shermy was busy making snowmen the whole time."
"I think I remember it…but I didn't live in the neighborhood…there was A LOT of snow though."
"Yeah…"
"Maybe Peppermint Patty and Franklin recall the snow storm."
"Probably."
"You blockheads!" Lucy shouted to Linus, snowball dripped on her face and the Van Pelt brothers couldn't retain their laughter. Roy was smiling as he watched Peppermint Patty glide on the ice gracefully and Franklin was having his first snowball fight with Schroeder against Violet and the blonde Patty.
"You won't believe it, Charles." Marcie sighed, wrapping her scarf tightly around her neck-but not enough to make her gag.
"What?" Charlie Brown asked.
"My mom went to the doctor's today…she's still there…"
"Is she alright?" Linus wondered.
"I hope so." Marcie explained.
"Same." Charlie smiled as he grabbed two pairs of skates.
"You know I suck at skating, Charles."
"Oh come on, I suck too."
"Really."
"Yeah. Now what do you say?"
"Okay, let's skate."
Lucy sat in disbelief as she saw Charles Monroe Brown holding Marceline Rebecca Carlin's hand as they 'gracefully' skated across the ice-well as graceful as two blockheads could get.
Smiling, Marcie let go of Charlie Brown's hand. "So, do you like me, Charles?" she asked, blushing the same red as her scarf and beret.
"No…" he began as her eyes widened. "I like-like you…" he whispered so only she could hear it.
"You…you do?" she smiled, swooning into his arms.
She regained consciousness as she felt his fingers toy in her hair. Looking around at the blurry park, she attempted to see the faces of her friends.
"You're finally awake, Carlin." Lucy smiled.
"What happened?" Marcie wondered, realizing she and Charlie Brown were on the bench Roy was on.
"You fainted." Violet sighed.
"Into Charles' arms!" Rerun exclaimed.
"Be honest, Marcie…are you okay?" Peppermint Patty asked in concern.
"He…HE LIKE-LIKES ME!" Marcie realized.
"Better be careful; you might be dreaming." Lucy teased.
"If this IS a dream, don't you dare wake me up…"
Charlie Brown smiled as he handed Marcie her glasses. "Here…" he smiled shyly as if everyone saw what happened.
"Thanks, Charles…am I dreaming?" the bespectacled girl wondered, expecting to wake up wrapped in a blanket, in her bed.
Charlie chuckled as he placed a kiss on her lips. "What do you think?"
"I think this is one dream I never want to wake up from, Charles." Marcie realized with hearts in her eyes (though no one noticed).
Author's Note:
Now to tie a few loose ends...as MarioDS01 pointed out in a comment, most adults in PEANUTS go "Wahh wahhhh wah wahhh!", but chapter 5 was a nod to 'How A Friendship Grows', a Frasier and PEANUTS crossover.
Godzilla183 has made his speculations for the next chapters and like I said in the last chapter, the song 'How Does A Moment Last Forever?' will be making a comeback.
Anyways, more of the fanfiction IS coming up and I may be taking a hiatus...like I said in Chapter 6, don't freak out if you see that this fanfiction is not updating RIGHT AWAY. I have a busy schedule and I may take a break from the PEANUTS fandom...not permanently though.
In other news...this is chapter is dedicated to my mom.
In all, I think I said WAY too much in one Author's Note than I do in a conversation at school with my 'friends'...
-LivingOnLaughs; June 9th, 2019
