Chapter 11: Midnight Dancing

Rebecca and Ed were both sitting by a roaring fire in the living room of the cabin after going on a short tour of the place courtesy of the former,and to say that Ed loved the place would be the biggest understatement of the entire century. Not only did he now have a place that he could stay in whenever he would come over to Sparkyville for visits,but he no longer had to sleep in the freezing cold snow during winter nights,and that was a huge relief for the boy. Because even though he did prefer his wilderness survival lifestyle over a more traditional one in a normal house or neighborhood,he did have to admit that not everything was perfect,in fact some things were just downright frustrating for him to have to do in this kind of environment,but thanks to Rebecca,things would be a lot easier from now on.

"You know Rebecca,I think Herman and the crew are really gonna love this place." Ed happily remarked as he warmed himself along with some small acorns in a frying pan by the fire before Rebecca smiled and agreed while she used an air pump to keep the fire going "Yeah me too Ed,that's what all the doghouses,bird feeders and nests outside are for. I just hope they'll find someway to get along in such a small space." to which Ed chuckled and confidently reassured her that they'd be fine "Oh believe me when I say that they will,I mean one of our last hideouts was literally nothing but a small cave the size of a hamster wheel,and we got along just fine in there."

"Well,just don't be afraid to add more space in here if you need to. I'm always open to help you out with these kind of things." Rebecca sighed and politely offered Ed her help just in case he ever needed it as the boy merely shook his head and respectfully declined her help "Thanks Rebecca,but I don't think I'll be needing any kind of help. As long as I live and breath,these paws can build anything." before he took the frying pan out of the fire and sat it down on the ground next to him and Rebecca while he enthusiastically remarked "All right,these babies should be done by now."

The acorns inside the frying pan were now roasted to the point of them changing into a bright shade of golden brown as Ed carefully picked one of them out of the pan and offered it to Rebecca "Go on,try one. They're really good." before Rebecca cautiously took it out of his hand and asked out of curiosity "So have you made these before Ed? I've never seen you cook before." to which Ed scoffed and playfully retorted "Sure I have girl,the crew loves these things,especially Jannet and her two chipmunks."

Afterwards Rebecca slowly put the acorn in her mouth and immediately felt a huge burst of flavor envelope her as she grew a large smile and exclaimed while she began to chew it "Oh,this is great Ed! It tastes like honey,and is surprisingly soft and chewable too! How do you get it like this?" to which Ed got a little red in the face due to the compliment and meekly explained things to her "W-well the thing is,the fire really brings out the honey flavor deep inside it,and the heat also melts down the hardness on the outside and makes it chewable. Sort of like soft candy bites to make it easier to understand."

"Oh I get it Ed,I think Charlie Brown and the others would love these things. Why don't we head back to the theater and show them." Rebecca nodded her head and cheerfully suggested that they share the acorns with the rest of the gang as she quickly stood up and made her way towards the front door with the frying pan to which Ed instantly agreed with the idea while he got up,put out the fire and followed her "Oh you bet girl! Maybe then we could start selling them and use it as a way to make some extra money for the bank."

However as Rebecca opened the front door to the cabin and tried to make her way back to the theater,she would be suddenly startled and surprised when she saw what looked like Charlie Brown a few feet away from the stairs as she softly gasped and greeted him "Oh,hi Charlie Brown,we were just about to look for y'all." before Ed joined her side and happily greeted the round headed boy while he shut the door to the cabin "Well howdy there Chuck,what brings you all the way out here?"

"Well I was just looking for the two of y'all since none of us at the theater had seen you for a while." Charlie Brown calmly greeted the two of them and explained his reasoning for being out there as Rebecca got a little red in the face and nervously explained herself while she walked down the stairs and back into the snowy field "Oh I'm sorry Charlie Brown,it's just that I was showing Ed the place I built for him,you know the one we were talking about?" to which Ed quickly slid down the handrail on the stairs and happily added "Yep she sure was,this girl made this whole thing nearly all by herself,you like it?"

Charlie Brown was of course very impressed by the craftsmanship of Rebecca's cabin as he looked up at it and happily complimented it "It does look very nice Rebecca,you did a very good job with the construction. You like it Ed?" before Ed frantically nodded his head and confirmed that he did "Heck yeah I do boy! This place is gonna prevent me from turning into a snowman at night." to which Charlie Brown chuckled and retorted "Well it's good to know that you like the place,but anyway me and the others are gonna head off to Joe's for finally finishing up the theater,songs,costumes and props. Do y'all want to come?"

Rebecca and Ed stood there in mostly silence for a few moments since they were clearly thinking the offer over before Rebecca politely declined while she handed Charlie Brown the frying pan full of acorns "Uh,you guys just go on without me for the night,but why don't you and the others try these? They're really good." to which Charlie Brown looked down inside the pan,saw the golden brown acorns sitting down below and cautiously obliged "All right,we'll give them a try. I'm sure Snoopy will love them since he'll eat mostly anything. Are you coming Ed?

"Nah Chuck,you go on without us. I'm sure we'll find something else to do for the night." Ed shook his head and happily declined the offer to go out to Joe's as he softly pat Rebecca on the shoulder to which the girl smiled and looked up at the boy with glee while Charlie Brown cautiously bid them farewell for the evening "Well okay then,you two be careful out here. Marcie told me it only gets colder and colder from here. Also I may not be at rehearsal tomorrow,I got a little bit of a sore throat and may need to stay home,so Linus is likely gonna be in charge tomorrow." before Rebecca grew a look of concern and wished him the best while he begun to walk away "Oh no,well I hope you get better soon Charlie Brown."

"If you need me to come over and make you some of my famous healing soup,just say so!" Ed called out to Charlie Brown and offered him some assistance if he needed any as the boy merely declined the offer due to him actually not being sick at all "No thank you Ed! I'll be fine!" before he disappeared off into the slowly fogging up woods while the first bit of snow for the night began to fall,leaving only Rebecca and Ed behind at the cabin.

"So,it looks like rehearsal is tomorrow. I honestly hope I don't get a dancing role." Rebecca sighed and hoped in a shaky tone of voice as Ed raised an eyebrow and asked in slight confusion "What are you talking about? You're a great dancer,you know back in the caves with the leeries and crystals? You can't tell me that wasn't phenomenal dancing from you,or even any of the others." to which Rebecca merely scoffed and disagreed "What? My dancing is not phenomenal it's terrible,that was just the adrenaline kicking in,I honestly don't think I'm suited for a dancing role."

Afterwards Ed was left completely silent and he didn't seem to say or do anything for at least thirty seconds before he suddenly noticed that the blindfold that was around his eyes earlier was still on the ground,and that seemed to give him an idea as he grew an excited look on his face,pointed at the snow covered blindfold and politely requested "Put the blind fold on." to which Rebecca grew a look of confusion and questioned "Put on the blind fold? What's this about?"

"Just put it on,we're going to a…...surprise of my own." Ed enthusiastically persisted that Rebecca put on the blindfold as he picked it up out of the snow and cleaned it off to which Rebecca sighed and reluctantly obliged "Oh alright,but it's only because I like surprises." before she wrapped the blindfold around her head,and let Ed take her wherever they were going.


As Rebecca continued to follow Ed and let him guide her to this mysterious destination,the soft and cool feeling of the snow soon began to fade away into the hard roughness of concrete like that of a sidewalk or city road,and soon Rebecca would feel Ed's grip on her hand loosen which was followed by the sounds of very faint yet still audible lockpicking coming from the north,which just so happened to be the direction they were going as she asked out of curiosity "Ed are you trying to break into somewhere? Where exactly are we going?" only for the boy to decline to answer while he seemingly finished his lockpicking and opened up what sounded like a set of double doors "You'll see."

After about a few more minutes of them slowly walking through this mysterious new place they were in that seemed to be completely silent,Ed suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and let go of Rebecca's hand as she anxiously asked "Are….are we there yet?" to which the voice of Ed happily confirmed that they were while he slowly took off her blindfold "Yes we are."

After Rebecca's eyes managed to adjust themselves so they could fully see where they were,Rebecca would quickly be left in nothing short of a mixture of shock and confusion when she realized that they were standing in the middle of what looked like an average dance club,but what made things so confusing to her was the fact that absolutely no one was there,no music,no lights,no electricity,nothing. The only source of light that they could find was the light of the full moon shining rays through the windows at the very top of the ceiling,giving the dance floor and room in general a bright blue tint.

"Ed,what are we doing here? This place is closed at night,we can't be here!" Rebecca quietly and nervously whispered in fear that they could possibly get caught by guards or people like that,but Ed on the other hand showed no fear whatsoever and frantically tried to calm the girl down "Rebecca relax,I've been to this place plenty of times before,why back when I was still an orphan,me and some of the other kids would sneak out,come all the way over here and use this place as a nighttime hideout. We'll be fine,I promise. I brought you over here so we can practice some dancing for rehearsal tomorrow." to which Rebecca sighed and somberly tried to get out of it while she turned around and folded her arms "Ed,I know you want to try and help me,but I'm not a dancer….or at least not a good enough one to work in musical theater. I just think I'd be better off in a singing role because…..if I'm not a good enough dancer to impress the crowds,I could possibly mess everything up for us."

As a result of this,Ed stood there in complete silence and so did Rebecca,it was obvious that she was very uncomfortable with possibly dancing in front of a live audience,and who could honestly blame her? It was a very real and common fear that a lot of people had,and it was certainly one that many stage performers had likely experienced before,but Ed on the other hand was still determined to try and get her to overcome her fears and insecurities as he sighed and asked "Who needs a singing role? Dancing beats singing any day. It's the way your feet smile,or laugh,it lets you day so many things."

Ed: Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard.

You can whisper,sing or shout without so much as a word.

Try it,go on,like so.

Afterwards Rebecca reluctantly started to slowly but surely move her feet and body as she turned around to see Ed lightly dancing as well.

Just let your emotions tell your body what to do.

See how much a single gesture can reveal.

And every little step,every single step.

Is one step closer to saying what you feel.

Ed then held out his hand and kindly offered Rebecca a little bit of slow dance practice with him as the girl slowly grabbed his hand and begun to get some in.

Once the music hits you inhibitions fall away.

And you find that you're expressing things your voice daren't say.

Don't be afraid,let go.

However it was then that Ed would suddenly let go of Rebecca and try to get her to dance by herself,which instead resulted in her nearly falling down on the dance floor as she yelped in shock before Ed quickly caught her and continued to dance with her from there.

Soon as you surrender what's inside will sweep on through.

As the boundaries between us disapear.

And every little step,every single step.

Is one step closer to talking loud and clear.

A dance is like a conversation,except you never need to make a sound.

And once you've begun,you speak as one.

Give and take,back and forth,round and round.

"Ed I don't know what's happening here,but I feel like I'm getting it a little. Just a little." Rebecca happily remarked in a mixture of excitement and confusion as she continued to slow dance with Ed bedore the boy laughed and cheerfully corrected her "It's because you ARE getting it. You're really getting it actually."

"Really? Cause I sure don't feel like it." Rebecca chuckled and asked in disbelief that she was actually doing a good job at dancing to which Ed scoffed and retorted "Oh that is a straight up lie and you know it. In fact in order to prove that you're lying." before he let go of Rebecca,stepped back and politely "Why don't you try and dance the very best you can all by yourself. Go on,give it a try."

"Okay,I'll try." Rebecca nervously nodded her head and obliged to do so before she closed her eyes tightly and began to dance like she never had before with only her other senses,making Ed be left completely awestruck as he gasped and happily exclaimed "There you go girl! You're doing it! Woo-hoo!"

During the very next day at the theater,Rebecca was performing a solo dance rehearsal all by herself in the middle of the auditorium stage while Linus and the rest of the gang aside from Charlie Brown watched from the sidelines in awe,with Snoopy,his family and the birds having themselves some buckets of popcorn as well.

A dance is like a conversation,except your lips don't ever need to part.

And once you've begun,you speak as one.

Cheek to cheek,toe to toe,heart to heart.

It was then however that time seemed to suddenly slow down for Ed as he happily starred ahead at Rebecca,who now seemed to be glowing and sparkling a bright yellow in the spotlight like that of an angel.

Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard.

But it says much more than language ever could.

And every little step,every single step.

Is one step closer,one step closer.

One step closer,to being understood.

Once time seemed to resume back to normal for Ed,Rebecca's dance rehearsal seemed to have been finished and the gang was very impressed with her dancing skills as they all applauded and cheered while Linus got out of the director's chair and happily complimented the girl "That was very good Rebecca,a very nice way to start off our day of rehearsal. I think you and Ed will do great in our opening act tomorrow night." to which the girl got a little red in the face and showed her gratitude "Thank you Linus,I think we will too. I just wish Charlie Brown could have been here to see me like this."

Rebecca and Ed however were blissfully unaware that Charlie Brown was back at his house and nearly working himself to death on Rebecca's birthday party that would be held that night.

"One Step Closer." Copyright Of Walt Disney Records. Music By Alan Menken And Lyrics By Glenn Slater.