*Silence occurs for a while before trumpets are being blown and a voice appears...*
Voice: Guess who's back folks!
*Curtains then open to reveal myself.*
Me: What's up everyone?! And welcome to my second ever Peanut one-shot. Sure, the future is a bit uncertain for me now but hey at least I said that I will completely not be gone yet.
Anyway, I would like to introduce the guest who will be with me during this one-shot. Here's Charlie Brown, Zac, Snoopy and Woodstock!
*The guests had arrived as the Peanuts theme starts to play.*
Zac: Whew Charlie mate! It feels good to be back after a long time right mate?
Charlie Brown *smiling*: Yeah. It sure is Zac. It's time that we introduce ourselves yet again.
*Zac nodded as they took their stance.*
Zac: G'day mates. How do you all do ya wankers? XD
Charlie Brown: Hello everyone and welcome to this one-shot.
*Snoopy and Woodstock does the happy dance to the main Peanuts theme: 'Lucy and Linus'.*
Charlie Brown: Zahir890 would like to thank you all for being patient with him and continuing to support him by reviewing and favouriting him.
Zac: And he does not own Peanuts mates. It belongs to its respective owners. Just the OC he owns, which is me :) .
Me: Thanks boys. Now, without any further ado, here's my second Peanuts one-shot! Enjoy people!
The boys : Enjoy!
*Snoopy and Woodstock are dancing again as the opening theme song of Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: Let's Have A Party starts to play.*
Lets play cricket Charlie Brown!
Once upon a time, there is a kid who is doing something outside. He has a mix of yellow and blonde hair, wears a shirt in which the top part is dark blue while the bottom part is blue, wears jeans, snicker shoes and has a watch. He's also carrying a bat and no, that's not a baseball bat. His bat consists of a cylindrical cane handle, which is covered with a yellow rubber grip, attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. The back of his bat consists of a Kookaburra as well as the words written on it with a beautiful background design. Eying on the machine, he holds his grip as the machine releases the ball towards him. He pushes the ball towards the sideways. He sighed a bit.
It is very strange. Very strange that he is playing his favourite sport in a country where one of the popular sports is baseball. When he first arrived at Sparkyville, he couldn't let his addiction of playing his favourite sports go away and he himself knew it. He prepared himself to be called a 'freak' and be a social outcast but, much to his surprise, he was warmly welcomed by everyone and, sooner or later, he became part of the Peanuts gang and was invited to be part of CB's baseball team which seemed to be a desperate attempt to arrest their losing streak against other teams. During tryouts, he wowed everyone by hitting a ball so hard that it flew out of the park. Luckily for him, he took some time reading some baseball rules and terminology and quickly got used to it. When asked about how he was able to hit the ball so hard, he replied in his Aussie accent:
"Just by playing my sport which is totally different from baseball."
Now here he is, how time had changed quickly for him. Heck, he even has a crush on Peppermint Patty but didn't approach her yet for fear of getting rejected. Anyway, while he is practicing, he saw a round-faced kid and his dog walking by. Recognizing them, he greeted them loudly:
"Oi Charlie mate and your Snoopy! G'day mates!'
Recognizing that voice, the round haired kid and the beagle smiled as they approached him. The boy has only a small curl of hair at the front of his head, and a little in the back and wears black shorts and a deep yellow polo shirt with a black zig-zag stripe around the middle. His name is Charlie Brown.
"G'day to you too Zac." Charlie Brown smiled.
Snoopy smiled. Soon Charlie Brown asked:
"So what are you playing?"
"What else mate? My country's favourite sport." Zac said as he defends the ball that is coming towards him.
"I guess I realize that now. It's extremely helpful in your case as it can help you on baseball to hit home runs."
"Well not always mate. Also good for fielding too though we only have to catch with the gloves which can be a hit or a miss for me."
"At least you get the hits. I always get the miss."
"That's so not true Charlie mate."
Charlie Brown sighed as Snoopy looks at the boys curiously. Suddenly, Charlie Brown made a request which surprised Zac which is:
"Please teach me your sport."
Zac is really surprised. A Yank wanting him to teach him his national sport? It could have certainly worked if it was the opposite since Australia knew more or less about baseball but this?
"Um...mate. I'm not sure about this." Zen said before asking, "I mean...I won't mind as I will be happy to but you need to tell me why you want me to teach you about this sport where it's practically unheard of in this country?"
"Because you saw what has been happening to me ever since you arrived here." Charlie Brown said, "I screw up almost everything. Football, Soccer, Kite flying, Little Red Haired girl and so on. Almost everything and I have been called a Failure Face despite me trying to rise up. So I thought maybe if I can do something at least by playing your sport which is unheard of and no one can do it then I can think that I might have some purpose. Of course, it will really help me with my skills in baseball as well."
"But I'm a batter."
"Then at least you can show me your cricket batting and fielding skills so that I don't screw up in those areas. Hopefully this can compensate for being a lousy pitcher."
"The rules will be different from baseball, you know."
"I am well aware of that."
Zac thought for a moment. Sure, he had witnessed Charlie Brown screwing up almost everything though most of them weren't his fault in the first place. Knowing him, he knows that it will take a while before he gets adjusted to it. Will his baseball skills really improve even after CB learns everything? Zac is unsure about this one but still it's worth giving a shot.
"Alright then mate but first of all, read this book and then come and meet me within a few days at the same time and venue where we will begin our practice." Zac said as he hands a book to CB which is called 'The Rules and Basics of Cricket' before asking, "Okay?"
"You got it. I will come prepared next week Zac." Charlie Brown said happily as he and Snoopy left with the book in CB's hands and it seems that Snoopy is also interested in it too.
"Interesting to see what will happen tomorrow." Zac though as he prepares for another ball to come towards him in which he smacks it right into the air.
Next Week:
"Here's your book." Charlie Brown said as he gave the book to Zac.
"Thanks mate." Zac said, "Did you get them if not all of them?"
"I think I pretty covered many of its aspects and I notice the difference between these rules and the baseball rules. For example, fielders can catch with both hands also."
"That's right mate and there's no strike out three times if the ball goes to the keeper."
"And if one batter runs from here to there and the other batter runs from the opposite direction and if the same thing happens, it's another run."
"Yeah. Looks like you are getting on to it mate."
"Well that's just as much as I know. Oh look and there's Snoopy dressing as a cricket umpire."
The boys looked at Snoopy dressing as a cricket umpire and he put on his sunglasses. Snoopy smiles as if he is ready for the action to begin.
"Alright. Here's how we bat in our national sports." Zac said as he demonstrates, "Usually, the front shoulder should be pointing down here, the head facing there at the machine, the weight equally balanced and the bat near the back toe. A slight crouch is adopted in order to be in a more effective striking posture whilst also isometrically preloading the muscles so the ball is about to be released, you will lift the bat up behind in anticipation of playing a stroke and will shift your weight onto the balls of your feet."
"Wow. That's a bit of a complex explanation but I am getting it from your stance." Charlie Brown said, "Good Grief. If I swing too much, I might break my back."
"It ain't about swinging and missing, it's about good judgement about where to hit the ball cause we can hit the ball in any direction to score runs, and we have relatively few restrictions overall."
"Lucky you. No foul zones, hit anywhere you want and finally, how do you get Home Runs if you know what I mean?"
"There are two Home Runs mate. One is that if the ball crosses, say, that line over there on the ground, then that's 4 runs and if it crosses the line by air, then that's six runs."
Snoopy then shows the umpire signals of a four and a six.
"That's correct Snoopy." Zac smiled.
"Can I give it a try?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Let me show you a demonstration first." Zac said as he takes his stance.
The machine ball soon comes and Zac pulls it over to a boundary. Charlie Brown smiled and clapped while Snoopy signals 4 runs.
"Nice." Charlie Brown said.
"Now you try." Zac said.
"Oh boy. This is it. This is a chance for me to do something rather than be called a Failure Face by Lucy and others."
Charlie Brown takes his stance though Zac had to make a few corrections of it though. Once Charlie Brown is set, the ball is coming towards him. He lifts his bat as Zac has shown and swings to glory...
Only to miss as the ball crashes the stumps. Charlie Brown could only sigh as he looks at the stumps as Snoopy lifts his finger.
"Good Grief." Charlie Brown sighed before asking, "That's an out right?"
"Yep mate. No second chance there." Zac said.
"Let me try again."
Charlie tries again as he tightens his grip as the machine sends another ball towards him. He swings and it connects! The ball is flying into the air!
"Yes I did it! I..." Charlie said happily only to find out that the ball is falling down right straight to Zac as he groaned, "...didn't do it..."
"You hit it too early mate." Zac called out as he caught the ball with ease as Snoopy claps.
"Again!"
This time, Charlie Brown pushes the ball to the other side as he starts to make a run towards the other stumps.
"Yes! Yes!" Charlie Brown screamed happily, "I'm going to make a run here."
However, he was so happy that he imagined himself kicking the ball from Lucy, only to lose his footing because he swung his leg too hard.
"AUUUGGGHHHH!" He cried as he fell and landed on his back.
He then soon realized that he's only at the middle of the field and he still hasn't reached the other stumps. He tried to get up and run but it was too late as Zac is already there.
"What were you thinking mate?" Zac asked as he broke the stumps with the ball as Snoopy raises the finger, "Now this is a run out."
"I was trying to think of the glory I would have if I had kicked the ball from Lucy." Charlie Brown said.
"Such distractions can cause you to get run out. These outs can sometimes swiftly change the match."
"I know. Okay Zac, one last time. If I fail, then I will accept myself as a Failure Face."
"Come on mate. Don't say that."
"Well nothing can be done. It seems that fate and destiny want me to be like this. I don't know what I plan to do in the future now if I keep becoming like this."
"You can surely try. Try one more time."
"Okay. Ready."
The machine then throws the ball towards Charlie Brown again. Tightening his grip, he watched the ball closely as he could see the faces of Lucy and Violet in it. Gritting his teeth in anger, he said aloud:
"I AM NOT A FAILURE FACE! I WILL GET THE LITTLE RED HAIRED GIRL TO NOTICE ME NO MATTER WHAT!"
And with that said, he swings the bat as he could hear the booming sound of the bat connecting the ball. He hit the ball so hard that the ball quickly flew out of the park to wherever unknown.
Upon seeing that, Zac is in awe while Snoopy signals the six before doing his trademark dance. Charlie Brown is in awe of himself. Snoopy ran to hug him.
"I...I did it!" Charlie Brown said happily.
"I knew you could do it ya big round head wanker." Zac said happily as he gave a happy slap at the back, "That's the longest six I had ever seen."
"This is really interesting like baseball."
"If you can practice a bit more, I'm sure it can help you as a batter in baseball. I'm sorry that I can't help you with bowling cause it's way different from baseball pitching."
"That's alright Zac. I know. At least this will help compensate me from being a lousy pitcher. A lousy pitcher but a great hitter don't you think and I hope that this will keep Lucy's mouth totally shut eh?"
Zac and Snoopy nodded as all three of them shared a light hearted laughter together.
"So you wanna play again mate?" Zac asked.
"Sure." Charlie Brown smiled as he gets in the stance.
The ball comes and Charlie Brown hits again with the ball racing towards the screen as it shows the words when the ball is about to hit the screen 'The End'.
Me: And that brings the end of my second one-shot.
Charlie Brown *smiling*: Looks like I have gained some new skills Zac.
Zac: Yeah. Can't wait to see how you will do good in baseball with it. There's only one way to find out.
The boys *nodding at each other and smiling*: The author.
Me: Me?
The boys: Yep!
*Snoopy and Woodstock nodded in excitement as Snoopy starts dancing and giving all kinds of cricket umpire signals.*
Me: Well we'll see what happens next depending on the circumstances.
*Snoopy and Woodstock sighs.*
Charlie Brown: Looks like we are almost done here I guess.
Zac *groaning*: Already?
Me: No not yet! Just a bit. I have got something else to say!
Charlie Brown: Sure.
Me: I would like to thank each and everyone of you for reading this one-shot. It's great to be back again and I don't know when I am coming back again but I will come back and not disappear mysteriously. That's for certain.
Zac: And don't forget to show support to him by reviewing and favoriting this and the other one-shots, stories and novels he has written, mates.
Charlie Brown: And don't forget to fave and follow him at all times to get instant notification when a new chapter or story comes from him.
Me *smiling*: Yep. That's right. Alright then, time for a photo!
*Snoopy and Woodstock jumped and flew happily as the ending theme song of Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show starts to play.*
Charlie Brown *smiling*: This will be good.
Zac *in excitement*: Alright! Let's do this!
*We all gather around while I set up the camera. Afterwards, I joined them but Snoopy was doing the happy dance.*
Charlie Brown: Snoopy. Come back here!
Me: Here he goes again.
Zac *chuckling*: I am saying it again. What a funny and amazing beagle he is.
Charlie Brown: He sure is.
Me: Yeah.
Woodstock: /
*Snoopy joins them.*
Me: Everyone say 'HOWZAT'!
Everybody *cheering happily*: HOWZAT!
Woodstock *happily*: /!
*And pretty soon, after waiting for a while, the camera then CLICKS as the ending theme song ends after a while.*
*END OF LET'S PLAY CRICKET, CHARLIE BROWN!*
*FIN.*
Me *waving my hand*: See you guys next time.