Chapter 13: Planning Disaster
Charlie Brown was continuing to set up the party for Rebecca by himself at his place of residence,and it was certainly proving to be a tough and grueling experience for the boy,for he had never had to do this kind of work all by himself before and it certainly showed in the way everything was set up at the moment. Most of the decorations that were on the ceiling and wall were not hammered in very well and were practically on the verge of falling off,the snack table was overloaded with food and looked like it could collapse any second if another table wasn't brought out,and the pile of presents that he bought Rebecca with some of the extra money that was left over was a complete mess. The only thing that Charlie Brown shockingly managed to get perfectly right was the birthday cake,which was a huge red velvet wedding cake with a small wax figurine of Rebecca at the very top of it,with the other parts of the cake being decorated with small frosting images of the things Rebecca liked most like puppies,cloud formations,music and more.
"Good grief,I could really use a nap right about now." An absolutely exhausted and messy Charlie Brown murmured out in a very groggy sounding voice as he slid right off the edge of his thinking chair in the living room and onto the glossy floor below where he ended up passing out and falling asleep before he was instantly reawoken when he heard knocking coming from his front door.
"Oh that must be Linus and the others. Thank the lord they're here." Charlie Brown yawned and moaned as he stretched out his arms and slowly stood up before he called out to the others outside in the hopes of them hearing him "I'll be there in a second everyone!" Speaking of the others by the way,Linus and the rest of the gang along with Snoopy's family were indeed at Charlie Brown's front door with the bus parked by the mailbox as Linus turned around to the others and calmly stated "I think Charlie Brown told me on the phone that his place is a mess,he sure sounded like HE was one too. I hope he's doing alright over here." to which Peppermint Patty shrugged her arms and confidently retorted "Oh come on Chuck's a tough boy,he's probably fine." before Lucy rolled her eyes and playfully disagreed "Well that sure hasn't stopped us from losing every baseball game we play."
"Hey everyone." The voice of Charlie Brown suddenly greeted them all in the same groggy tone of voice from before as Linus turned around and happily greeted him back "Hey we're here Charlie Br-WAHHHHHHHHH! What happened to you?!" to which Sally gasped and added in shock when she also noticed how messy and tired her brother looked "What have you been doing over here big brother?!" before the boy meekly joked at his own expense "Let's just say I shouldn't have tried to set up a birthday party all by myself. Come on in everyone."
As everyone followed Charlie Brown inside and were quickly subjected to the visual mess that was his house,they were all practically shocked to see him and his house he reduced to this kind of state as Marbles remarked in awe through his thoughts "Wow,I don't think even the hay pile at the puppy farm got this messy." before Peppermint Patty asked out of confusion "Chuck are you sure you didn't already have the party last night?" to which the boy shook his head and politely corrected her as he showed them the finished cake on the kitchen counter "No,I actually got the cake all ready. I'm surprised I managed to even do that without setting the whole house on fire."
"OOOOOOOOOOO!" Snoopy,Woodstock,Amy and his family exclaimed in awe at the mere sight of the finished cake as Violet took a look at it and couldn't help but give out a compliment "Well I have to admit,you did a pretty good job with the cake. Although you could have just as easily gotten an ice cream cake from Ace's,it would have saved you some trouble." before Marcie asked with a hint of worry in her voice "How long have you even been up Charles? You sound like you haven't gotten a wink of sleep."
Afterwards Charlie Brown opened up the trash can to reveal at least ten KCups worth of coffee and answered with a slight chuckle "Well seeing as how I got up when my parents got up to go to work,that's probably since 6:00 in the morning." to which the others gasped in shock that he got up that early before Freida added in bewilderment "Good grief you've been up this long and drinking that much coffee? We're still too young to be drinking that stuff. You need to sit down for a while."
"Yeah,I probably should." Charlie Brown nodded his head and meekly agreed with the girl's suggestion as he flopped down on his couch and quickly dozed off to rest his eyes before the snack table suddenly collapsed onto the ground due to all the weight on top of it to which Linus facepalmed and groaned "Oh I am so glad we actually did decide to come over. But how on earth are we gonna fix this place up before the party starts later on?"
"Maybe I could send the decorations back,get a refund and just have the party at Joe's?" Charlie Brown woozily suggested as he reopened his eyes and sat on up before Peppermint Patty scoffed and cheerfully disagreed "What? We don't need to do that,we just need to fix this place up like we fixed up the theater." to which Freida nodded her head and agreed "Yeah we still got some time left Charlie Brown. In fact my dad told me once that some nice music can relieve the stress someone has and make them feel happier,more uplifted and ready to work."
"Huh? What does that mean Freida?" Shermy raised an eyebrow and asked in slight confusion of what Freida was talking about to which the girl rolled her eyes and retorted while she pulled out a record from Charlie Brown's music drawer and put it in the record player "It means this,my dad says that this song's a real stress reliever." before Charlie Brown stood up from the couch and politely asked "But how in the world can a song be a stress-" only for the boy to suddenly stop his rambling when he heard very happy and cheerful music coming from the record player.
Instantly Charlie Brown started to feel all of the stress he was feeling be striped right out of him as he grew a dopey smile and happily remarked "I don't know if it's the caffeine from the coffee but,I'm feeling a lot better now." to which Freida got a smug look on her face and retorted "See? Stress reliever,come on gang,let's help fix this place up." to which they along with some of the other birds from outside started to help fix up the house.
Such a feeling's coming over me.
There is wonder in most everything I see.
Not a cloud in the sky,got the sun in my eyes and I won't be surprised if it's a dream.
Everything I want the world to be.
Is now coming true especially for me.
And the reason is clear,it's because you are here,you're the nearest thing to Heaven that I'll see.
I'm on the top of the world looking,down on creation and the only explanation I can find.
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around,your love's put me at the top of the world.
Meanwhile at Mendelson's clothing store downtown,Ed had since walked in and was trying out new sets of clothes for Rebecca's party,all the while Rebecca herself was lying down on her bed and gleefully picking the pedal's off a rose with lovestruck thoughts of Ed in her mind.
Something in the wind has learned my name.
And it's telling me that things are not the same.
In the leaves on the trees and the touch of the breeze,there's a pleasing sense of happiness for me.
There is only one wish on my mind.
When this day is through I hope that I will find.
That tomorrow will be just the same for you and me,all I need will be mine if you are here.
Peanuts Gang: I'm on the top of the world looking,down on creation and the only explanation I can find.
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around,your love's put me at the top of the world.
I'm on the top of the world looking,down on creation and the only explanation I can find.
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around,your love's put me at the top of the world.
"Top Of The World." Copyright Of A&M Records. Written By Richard Carpenter And John Bettis.
