Chapter VIII – Band Camp! AAUGH!! Part 3
Snoopy threw his Joe Cool sunglasses down on the ground in frustration as he and the other trumpets scowled at the other sections. The band was working on the drill for the very last song of their show, Spanish Nightmare. They were having some problems. A company front was decided on for the next to the last move, but they just couldn't seem to make a straight line, no matter what.
"Get into the line, you stupid blockheads!" Lucy shouted from down the line.
"Just who are you calling 'stupid blockheads' Lucille?" Peppermint Patty snapped back.
"Everyone who isn't in the right spot! That would mean you too!" Lucy shouted.
"Come on, Lucy," Linus said trying to be the peacemaker, "We're supposed to be guiding to the center of the line. Mr. Dunlap said so."
"I don't care about the people in the center! The people in the middle are WRONG! I marked off and set my spot, so I am RIGHT!" Lucy insisted.
"But Lucy," said Linus calmly, "We have to guide to the center even if they aren't exactly where the drill charts say."
"NO! I am RIGHT! You all guide to me, because I am RIGHT because I set this spot!" Lucy continued to argue.
"You think you have problems?" Frieda joined in, "All this heat and humidity is ruining the curl in my naturally curly hair! And more than that, I can't even breathe because of this big old dust magnet marching next to me!" She added as she pointed to Pig-Pen.
"You know, Mr. Dunlap said that we could use this dust to create something for our general effect score!" Pig-Pen said, trying to defend himself.
"What seems to be all of the trouble?" Charlie Brown asked as he and Molly Volley walked up to the aggravated group of students.
"This whole line is messed up, and I'm the only one in the entire band that is RIGHT!" Lucy complained.
"Actually," explained Charlie Brown, "It's the trumpets. Snoopy especially. Snoopy is the exact center point of the line, so everyone has to follow Snoopy."
"Well then, Snoopy should follow ME because I set this move!" Lucy said. She then turned around and made her way to Snoopy. "Listen here, you stupid beagle!" Lucy shouted as she shook her fist. "If you don't get this move right, I'm gonna come back over here and clobber you? Do you understand me?"
"What's this?" Snoopy thought to himself. "A disgruntled fan? Joe Cool, the world famous bugle player, can not have any disgruntled fans! We must take care of this immediately!" Snoopy then leaned over and kissed Lucy right on the nose. SMACK!
"AAUGH! Dog germs! Dog germs! AAUGH!" Lucy cried as she ran away from Snoopy.
"There goes another happy fan of Joe Cool!" Snoopy thought to himself, grinning.
"Linus!" Lucy shouted, "Give me your blanket!"
"But ...." Linus protested.
"Linus! NOW!" Lucy shouted as she grabbed the blanket away from Linus, and wiped her face off on the blanket. "Dog germs! Yuck! Here you go," Lucy said as she threw the blanket back at Linus. "Now your stupid blanket is infested with dog germs."
"Just what I need," said Linus, "A population inside my blanket."
At this time, Mr. Dunlap decided to run the show from the very beginning, to see how well the students know their music and their drill moves. Things looked reasonably well, until about the middle of the first song. In this part of the drill, there was a move that required the drum line, and the color guard to move in parallel lines, but in opposite directions past each other, with the color guard marching in front of the drum line. They had already successfully done this move several times, how ever this time was going to be different.
Suddenly, everyone heard a cry, "MR. DUNLAP! MR. DUNLAP! HELP! LINUS! BIG BROTHER! I'M STUCK!!! HELP!!!!!!" It was Sally. Somehow, Sally had gotten too close to Shermey's bass drum behind her, and her hair had gotten tangled up in it. Unfortunately, the bass drum was too big for Shermey to see over, so he had no way of knowing that Sally had been caught up on the front of his instrument, and ended up dragging her half way across the field as a result.
"BIG BROTHER!! LINUS!! COME HELP GET ME OUT OF THIS!!" She screamed over the band. Eventually, her screams did cause everyone to stop. But they did not come over to help her. They were all too busy laughing at the sight. Peppermint Patty and Marcie laughed hysterically as they helped untangle Sally's hair from the bass drum. Incredibly embarrassed, Sally walked off the field.
At lunch time that day, Molly Volley joined Charlie Brown. "Listen here, Kid," she said. "We got the sectional poster contest coming up. The section that makes the best poster gets to be first at the water cooler all next week. Now I hope you know that I expect to WIN!"
"Um...ok," said Charlie Brown. "What do we need to do exactly?"
"Here's the deal. We make a poster that gets hung up on the wall in the band room. And not only does it have to look cool, but we have to have a cool sectional slogan as well." She explained. "So start thinking so we can have some good ideas!"
"Let's see..." thought Charlie Brown. He never thought himself as being very creative, but as long as Molly Volley was asking his opinion, he thought that he should at least give it some consideration. He thought back to what his original thoughts were when he first saw his instrument. "A mellophone....but there's nothing mellow looking about it!" He thought to himself.
Charlie Brown then said aloud, "How about...'Mellophone: Nothing mello about it!'"
"Sounds good, Kid! We're gonna WIN!" Molly Volley said.
Later that afternoon all of the instrument sections were together working on their respective posters. Molly Volley and Charlie Brown were working hard on their poster, drawing and coloring in letters and musical notes. When they were finished, it looked perfect.
"Now we gotta get it taped up on the wall," said Molly Volley. Charlie Brown moved a chair over towards the wall, and climbed up on it so that he could put up the poster.
At that same moment, Snoopy and the rest of the trumpets were playing football in the parking lot outside the band room.
"Woodstock! Go out for a long pass!" Snoopy ordered as he threw the football across the parking lot. Unfortunately, Woodstock wasn't very good at catching footballs, or really anything else for that matter. The football hit him square in the head and bounced up into an open window to the band room.
Inside the band room, Marcie and Peppermint Patty were working on painting their drumline poster when all of a sudden SPLASH! the football had come in through the window and landed in a container of water colors that they were using. This sent paint flying in all directions. Marcie and Peppermint Patty looked at each other with total amazement, as they were both covered with green.
"Where in the world did this come from?!" asked Peppermint Patty.
"It came in through the window, Sir. The football team must have lost it. Perhaps we should go and give it back," Marcie said.
"Give it back? No way, Marcie! Just look at this mess. And our poster is ruined. Now we have to start all over again. If they want their football back, let them come and get it themselves!" Peppermint Patty firmly stated.
Just then, Snoopy entered the band room, wondering where his football had ended up. Seeing Peppermint Patty holding it up, he walked over to the two girls and held his hand out for the ball.
"Is this you're football?" Peppermint Patty demanded. Snoopy grinned innocently and nodded. "Well, just look at the mess your football made with our paint!" Peppermint Patty shouted.
Seeing that his brand new football was now covered in green paint, Snoopy frowned and thought, "Well, just look at the mess your paint made of my football!" He was still holding his hands out for the football, expecting Peppermint Patty to give it back to him, but she did not.
"Well, if you want this back so bad, then you'll just have to go and get it yourself!" Peppermint Patty said as she aimlessly tossed it across the band room. Snoopy ran after trying to catch it as it soared through the air. He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going. All of a sudden he ran into something. That something was Charlie Brown, who was still standing on the chair, trying to hang up the poster. "Whoops! Whoops! Whoa!" Charlie Brown shouted as he tried to maintain his balance on the chair after the collusion. Then suddenly, BONK! the football had come down and hit Charlie Brown right on the head. This sent him falling fast to the floor. CRASH!
A few minutes later, Charlie Brown found himself on his back, lying on the floor. The room was spinning.
"Are you okay, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked, who had rushed over to help his friend.
"What...what happened? Where am I? Why is the room spinning?" Charlie Brown asked. He was very confused.
"Snoopy ran into you, and you got hit in the head with a football and fell off the chair." Linus explained.
"Good grief! I don't think I can stand up! I think I need to go lay down for a while," Charlie Brown said.
"Maybe you need to go see a doctor, Charlie Brown." Linus said cautiously.
About an hour later, Charlie Brown found himself waiting in the emergency room at the hospital. "Good grief. I must be the only kid in the world who managed to end up in the emergency room during band camp!"
Snoopy threw his Joe Cool sunglasses down on the ground in frustration as he and the other trumpets scowled at the other sections. The band was working on the drill for the very last song of their show, Spanish Nightmare. They were having some problems. A company front was decided on for the next to the last move, but they just couldn't seem to make a straight line, no matter what.
"Get into the line, you stupid blockheads!" Lucy shouted from down the line.
"Just who are you calling 'stupid blockheads' Lucille?" Peppermint Patty snapped back.
"Everyone who isn't in the right spot! That would mean you too!" Lucy shouted.
"Come on, Lucy," Linus said trying to be the peacemaker, "We're supposed to be guiding to the center of the line. Mr. Dunlap said so."
"I don't care about the people in the center! The people in the middle are WRONG! I marked off and set my spot, so I am RIGHT!" Lucy insisted.
"But Lucy," said Linus calmly, "We have to guide to the center even if they aren't exactly where the drill charts say."
"NO! I am RIGHT! You all guide to me, because I am RIGHT because I set this spot!" Lucy continued to argue.
"You think you have problems?" Frieda joined in, "All this heat and humidity is ruining the curl in my naturally curly hair! And more than that, I can't even breathe because of this big old dust magnet marching next to me!" She added as she pointed to Pig-Pen.
"You know, Mr. Dunlap said that we could use this dust to create something for our general effect score!" Pig-Pen said, trying to defend himself.
"What seems to be all of the trouble?" Charlie Brown asked as he and Molly Volley walked up to the aggravated group of students.
"This whole line is messed up, and I'm the only one in the entire band that is RIGHT!" Lucy complained.
"Actually," explained Charlie Brown, "It's the trumpets. Snoopy especially. Snoopy is the exact center point of the line, so everyone has to follow Snoopy."
"Well then, Snoopy should follow ME because I set this move!" Lucy said. She then turned around and made her way to Snoopy. "Listen here, you stupid beagle!" Lucy shouted as she shook her fist. "If you don't get this move right, I'm gonna come back over here and clobber you? Do you understand me?"
"What's this?" Snoopy thought to himself. "A disgruntled fan? Joe Cool, the world famous bugle player, can not have any disgruntled fans! We must take care of this immediately!" Snoopy then leaned over and kissed Lucy right on the nose. SMACK!
"AAUGH! Dog germs! Dog germs! AAUGH!" Lucy cried as she ran away from Snoopy.
"There goes another happy fan of Joe Cool!" Snoopy thought to himself, grinning.
"Linus!" Lucy shouted, "Give me your blanket!"
"But ...." Linus protested.
"Linus! NOW!" Lucy shouted as she grabbed the blanket away from Linus, and wiped her face off on the blanket. "Dog germs! Yuck! Here you go," Lucy said as she threw the blanket back at Linus. "Now your stupid blanket is infested with dog germs."
"Just what I need," said Linus, "A population inside my blanket."
At this time, Mr. Dunlap decided to run the show from the very beginning, to see how well the students know their music and their drill moves. Things looked reasonably well, until about the middle of the first song. In this part of the drill, there was a move that required the drum line, and the color guard to move in parallel lines, but in opposite directions past each other, with the color guard marching in front of the drum line. They had already successfully done this move several times, how ever this time was going to be different.
Suddenly, everyone heard a cry, "MR. DUNLAP! MR. DUNLAP! HELP! LINUS! BIG BROTHER! I'M STUCK!!! HELP!!!!!!" It was Sally. Somehow, Sally had gotten too close to Shermey's bass drum behind her, and her hair had gotten tangled up in it. Unfortunately, the bass drum was too big for Shermey to see over, so he had no way of knowing that Sally had been caught up on the front of his instrument, and ended up dragging her half way across the field as a result.
"BIG BROTHER!! LINUS!! COME HELP GET ME OUT OF THIS!!" She screamed over the band. Eventually, her screams did cause everyone to stop. But they did not come over to help her. They were all too busy laughing at the sight. Peppermint Patty and Marcie laughed hysterically as they helped untangle Sally's hair from the bass drum. Incredibly embarrassed, Sally walked off the field.
At lunch time that day, Molly Volley joined Charlie Brown. "Listen here, Kid," she said. "We got the sectional poster contest coming up. The section that makes the best poster gets to be first at the water cooler all next week. Now I hope you know that I expect to WIN!"
"Um...ok," said Charlie Brown. "What do we need to do exactly?"
"Here's the deal. We make a poster that gets hung up on the wall in the band room. And not only does it have to look cool, but we have to have a cool sectional slogan as well." She explained. "So start thinking so we can have some good ideas!"
"Let's see..." thought Charlie Brown. He never thought himself as being very creative, but as long as Molly Volley was asking his opinion, he thought that he should at least give it some consideration. He thought back to what his original thoughts were when he first saw his instrument. "A mellophone....but there's nothing mellow looking about it!" He thought to himself.
Charlie Brown then said aloud, "How about...'Mellophone: Nothing mello about it!'"
"Sounds good, Kid! We're gonna WIN!" Molly Volley said.
Later that afternoon all of the instrument sections were together working on their respective posters. Molly Volley and Charlie Brown were working hard on their poster, drawing and coloring in letters and musical notes. When they were finished, it looked perfect.
"Now we gotta get it taped up on the wall," said Molly Volley. Charlie Brown moved a chair over towards the wall, and climbed up on it so that he could put up the poster.
At that same moment, Snoopy and the rest of the trumpets were playing football in the parking lot outside the band room.
"Woodstock! Go out for a long pass!" Snoopy ordered as he threw the football across the parking lot. Unfortunately, Woodstock wasn't very good at catching footballs, or really anything else for that matter. The football hit him square in the head and bounced up into an open window to the band room.
Inside the band room, Marcie and Peppermint Patty were working on painting their drumline poster when all of a sudden SPLASH! the football had come in through the window and landed in a container of water colors that they were using. This sent paint flying in all directions. Marcie and Peppermint Patty looked at each other with total amazement, as they were both covered with green.
"Where in the world did this come from?!" asked Peppermint Patty.
"It came in through the window, Sir. The football team must have lost it. Perhaps we should go and give it back," Marcie said.
"Give it back? No way, Marcie! Just look at this mess. And our poster is ruined. Now we have to start all over again. If they want their football back, let them come and get it themselves!" Peppermint Patty firmly stated.
Just then, Snoopy entered the band room, wondering where his football had ended up. Seeing Peppermint Patty holding it up, he walked over to the two girls and held his hand out for the ball.
"Is this you're football?" Peppermint Patty demanded. Snoopy grinned innocently and nodded. "Well, just look at the mess your football made with our paint!" Peppermint Patty shouted.
Seeing that his brand new football was now covered in green paint, Snoopy frowned and thought, "Well, just look at the mess your paint made of my football!" He was still holding his hands out for the football, expecting Peppermint Patty to give it back to him, but she did not.
"Well, if you want this back so bad, then you'll just have to go and get it yourself!" Peppermint Patty said as she aimlessly tossed it across the band room. Snoopy ran after trying to catch it as it soared through the air. He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going. All of a sudden he ran into something. That something was Charlie Brown, who was still standing on the chair, trying to hang up the poster. "Whoops! Whoops! Whoa!" Charlie Brown shouted as he tried to maintain his balance on the chair after the collusion. Then suddenly, BONK! the football had come down and hit Charlie Brown right on the head. This sent him falling fast to the floor. CRASH!
A few minutes later, Charlie Brown found himself on his back, lying on the floor. The room was spinning.
"Are you okay, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked, who had rushed over to help his friend.
"What...what happened? Where am I? Why is the room spinning?" Charlie Brown asked. He was very confused.
"Snoopy ran into you, and you got hit in the head with a football and fell off the chair." Linus explained.
"Good grief! I don't think I can stand up! I think I need to go lay down for a while," Charlie Brown said.
"Maybe you need to go see a doctor, Charlie Brown." Linus said cautiously.
About an hour later, Charlie Brown found himself waiting in the emergency room at the hospital. "Good grief. I must be the only kid in the world who managed to end up in the emergency room during band camp!"