Chapter 5: Late Night Anxiety
The rest of the day was not very pleasant for any of the kids now that they had known their houses and livelihoods were on the chopping block,if they couldn't find some way to possibly pay all their increased debt by midnight on Christmas,the bank would take back repossession of their houses and effectively leave them all without a home. Granted they could likely go to the homeless shelter if the worst was ever to happen,but it still wasn't an option they wanted to even think about,especially at this time of year. OAlthough Charlie Brown and Linus were definitely more optimistic and hopeful about the situation than the others,overtime the feeling of anxiety and dread only begun to intensify the rest of the day the more and more they thought about it,and it effectively resulted in them feeling no different than the others.
It was now around 9:30 at night and most of Sparkyville was already sound asleep while the snow was softly and gently falling down as the full moon hung over the land like a giant beacon of light. Charlie Brown however was having some trouble getting himself off to bed since even though he had already put on his pajamas and sleeping cap,he unfortunately couldn't get the thought of possibly losing everything out of his mind as he merely lay in his bed and stared up at the ceiling for who knows how long. Charlie Brown could feel his eyes getting heavier and heavier by the minute and he could feel his body telling his brain that he needed to get some sleep,but no matter what happened he just couldn't find it in himself to shut his eyes for the night.
"Come on Charles,you gotta pull it together,just to to sleep." Charlie Brown sighed and timidly pleaded with himself as he continued to stare at his spinning fan up on the ceiling before he finally start to feel his eyes shut,after all this time it certainly was a relief to be held as the boy smiled to himself and quietly whispered to himself while he finally headed off to a well deserved sleep "Finally,I could use a good night's sleep."
However it would quickly be proven that a good night's sleep wouldn't help things out one little bit as Charlie Brown suddenly lifted his head up to see that he and the rest of the gang were miraculously in front of the bank of Sparkyville,the atmosphere and air felt abnormally warm and the sky was nothing but a bright crimson void. Charlie Brown immediately started to have a huge feeling of fear and shock overwhelm him all at once as he started hyperventilating and asked "What?! What's going on?! Am I...am I dreaming?" only for neither of his friends to answer him while Peppermint Patty suddenly called out "James! We've come to try and work out a deal!"
"Huh?" Charlie Brown softly gasped in confusion as he looked up ahead to see none other than the son of the runner of the bank himself,James,wearing a twisted and psychotic smile on his face while he asked in a maniacal tone of voice "So,I take it you all have our money then? You only have 1 minute left on the clock." before a loud and deafening chime of a bell could be heard that made Charlie Brown and the others' ears writhe in pain.
"Ahhhhh! What's…...going….. on!" Charlie Brown once again tried to ask what in the world was going on here as he and the others covered their ears due to the searing pain they felt while they slowly lifted their heads up to see that there was a giant clock tower akin to that of Big Ben in London shining down a bright yellow light on them from the top of the bank,and it seemed that the hour hand was on the number twelve and the minute hand was just about to hit it.
"James please we need more time!" Linus frantically pleaded that James and the bank give them more time only for him to be swiftly interrupted when the minute hand finally joined with the hour one which caused the ground to shake violently due to the power of the bell chime while James mockingly and psychotically laughed "Oh no! It seems that you are all out of precious time! You couldn't pay up with your money,so now you must pay with something else!" before the ground suddenly split open in an instant and a raging inferno of fire burst right out of it.
Immediately the gang started to panic as they all tried to run away from the apocalyptic level earthquake,but Charlie Brown would suddenly be halted dead in his tracks when heard the voice of Rebecca scream out in terror from behind "Ahhhhh! Help!" to which the boy quickly turned his head around to see that Rebecca and Snoopy were both hanging off the edge of the cliff and it looked like it was gonna collapse and take them down in any minute. "Rebecca! Snoopy!" Charlie Brown frantically yelled in a panic while he ran towards his two friends and tried to help them up,only for the edge of the ground to suddenly explode and collapse into tiny pieces,taking down Rebecca and Snoopy into the pit down below as the two of them screamed in terror while Charlie Brown's eyes widened and begun to fill with tears as he looked down into the fiery pit and cried out "NOOOOOOOOO!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The evil,twisted and most of all horrifying laughter of James seemed to ring in Charlie Brown's head as the boy lifted himself up to see the banker chortling at the other side of the cliff before Linus suddenly grabbed him by the arm and yelled "Come on Charlie Brown we gotta go!"
"But…..but-" Charlie Brown meekly tried to explain what had happened to Rebecca and Snoopy only for the splitting and parting away of the ground to interrupt him and his whimpering as Linus sternly suggested "Come on let's go!" to which Charlie Brown mustered up all of his inner strength and followed Linus down the streets of his neighborhood while the former yelled "Come on we gotta get somewhere safe!" All the while time seemed to slow down and all sounds seemed to vanish all at once for Charlie Brown as he continued to follow his friend throughout the chaos.
I pray you'll be our eyes,and watch us where we go.
And help us to be wise,help us to let go,every person's prayer,every child knows.
Lead us to a place,guide us to a place,to a place we're we'll be safe.
Charlie Brown and Linus continued to run through the neighborhood and they finally managed to catch up to the others,but any sense of relief they had would be washed away when they saw that the destruction was causing them all to be separated.
I pray we find your light,and hold it in our hearts.
As darkness falls each night,remind us where you are,every person's prayer,every child knows.
Need to find a place,guide us to a place,give us faith so we'll be safe.
Lead us to a place,guide us to a place,to a place we're we'll be safe.
It was then and there that Charlie Brown suddenly screamed and shot wide awake in his bed,it was all a dream despite how real and terrifying it felt. The boy was covered from top to bottom in sweat and he felt abnormally hot as he jumped straight out of his bed and looked out his bedside window to see that the neighborhood was completely fine. He still saw that the snow was gracefully falling down from the sky and he could still see Snoopy sleeping on the top of his doghouse with a green night cap on.
"It…..it was a dream." Charlie Brown gave off a huge sigh of relief and meekly whispered to himself as his frantically beating heart slowed down to a more normal pace before he suddenly heard someone knocking at his front door to which he raised an eyebrow and looked over at his clock to see that it was 11:30 PM. Who on Earth could possibly be wanting to see him or Sally at this time of night? However Charlie Brown felt it was best to be polite and respectful as he reluctantly headed out of his bedroom and slowly opened the front door of his house to be met with a bit of a surprise,it was actually Rebecca standing at the door in her snow gear as she timidly greeted her friend "Hey Charlie Brown."
"Rebecca? What are you doing here at this time of night?" Charlie Brown yawned and politely asked his friend about what she was doing here as the girl nervously twiddled around with her fingers and explained herself "I can't sleep,I've been thinking too much about the…...you know." before Charlie Brown lightly chuckled and retorted "Well I can actually say the same to you,I just woke up from a very bad nightmare about it. You wanna come in?"
"Sure,thank you. There's actually something else I wanted to talk to you about." Rebecca smiled and gratefully thanked Charlie Brown for letting her come in as the boy raised an eyebrow and obliged with a slight hint of confusion "Uh,sure thing Rebecca. You can come in my room." to which the both of them headed on inside.
"So…..what did you need to talk about?" Charlie Brown nervously gulped and asked out of curiosity as he and Rebecca looked out his bedside window and out at the snow in his backyard before the girl leaned her head on the window and explained herself "It's about Ed." to which Charlie Brown's eyes widened a little and he replied "Ed? What about him?"
Afterwards Rebecca lifted her head off and away from the window and deeply sighed before she stated "I really like Ed,and it's in a….like him,like him way. When y'all first came out to get me out of the orphanage,when he came back to rescue me with Herman and the other animals,and even when I was writing to him while he went away sometime after the carnival…...it all caused me to fall for him. And the thing is,after hearing that he's staying out in the middle of Monte Woods all by himself in the cold,it just made me wanna do something special for him. I wanna build him a little house in the woods around here,you know so he has some place to stay in while he's out here? Cause surely he could use a nice place to stay in for the time being,he's such a nice and sweet boy that…...he honestly deserves one."
Rebecca: There's a place called home,I can almost see,with a red front door and roaring fire and a Christmas tree. It's a place called home,that he still can travel to.
Charlie Brown: It's the place in your heart,where he'll still come home to you.
"Rebecca,that's very sweet and thoughtful of you. You didn't need to come all the way here for my general approval though." Charlie Brown happily complimented Rebecca and her idea for a gift for Ed before Rebecca suddenly gave him a hug and cheerfully whispered into his ear "Thank you for listening Charlie Brown." to which the boy joined in and merely brushed it aside "Hey it's really nothing Rebecca,but why don't you head on home? It's pretty late."
As Rebecca slowly walked down the moonlit streets of Sparkyville,she looked up at the starry night sky and saw an oddly bright and twinkling star in comparison to the others and placed her hand on her heart.
Rebecca: Just a place in my heart,I can still come home to you.
Meanwhile back in Charlie Brown's bedroom,he was continuing to look out of his bedside window and up at the stars,and he was actually pretty quick to also notice the bright and twinkling star that Rebecca had noticed on her way home as he smiled at the sight of it and decided to try and go back to sleep. However as he slowly turned his head around and took a look at his bed,he would suddenly be startled and confused when he saw Snoopy sleeping on the top of his blanket as he softly gasped and asked out of confusion "Snoopy,when did you get in here? And why aren't you sleeping out-" but suddenly stopped his rambling when he saw that the dog was faintly yet noticeably shivering.
"Oh,it's due to the cold. I guess even furry animals like you can get cold sometimes,alright you can sleep in here tonight." Charlie Brown sighed and lovingly obliged to let his dog sleep in his room for the night as he got under the covers and made room for the beagle so he could sleep right next to him and stay warm for the night.
However just before the two of them finally headed off to sleep for the night,Charlie Brown looked up at the ceiling and quietly remarked with a smile "You know Snoopy,I don't know what happened,but now I feel like everything's gonna be okay for us in the end. I just got this feeling now that we will still have our homes on Christmas Day and this will all be put behind us,I don't know how…...but maybe it's best that I don't for now." before he yawned and headed off to a deep and much more relaxing sleep,all the while the bright and twinkling star up in the night sky continued to shine down on the neighborhood like a heavenly beacon.
May it be an evening star shines down upon you.
May it be when darkness comes your heart will be true.
You walk a lonely road,oh how far you are from home.
Mornie utulie,believe and you will find your way.
Mornie alantie,a promise lives within you now.
May it be the shadow's call will fly away.
May it be you journey on to light the day.
When the night is overcome,you may rise to find the sun.
Mornie utulie,believe and you will find your way.
Mornie alantie,a promise lives within you now.
A promise lives within you now.
"Mornie utulie." = "Darkness has come."
"Mornie alantie." = "Darkness has fallen."
"The Prayer. Quest For Camelot Version." Copyright Of Atlantic Records.
"A Place Called Home(Scrooge At 10.)" Copyright Of JAY Productions.
'May It Be." Copyright Of Warner Music Group
