CHAPTER 4: CONTACTING AUSTRALIA

At the Brown household, Snoopy was going through his own souvenirs he got from Australia. He had a boomerang and gave Woodstock and the other birds rides on it as he tossed it and it swirled in the air. He even nailed the cat next door on the head with it. He knew he had to get it back.

"HEY, STUPID CAT!" he yelled over the fence. "GIVE ME BACK MY BOOMERANG!" And the cat obliged and nailed Snoopy in the head, knocking him off his doghouse in the process.

Inside the house, Charlie Brown was on his computer, posting the photos he took in Australia to his FacePage account. Sally walked in.

"What are you up to, big brother?" she asked.

"Posting the photos I took online," Charlie Brown replied. "Is Michael taking you to the movies?"

"He is. My sweet babboo is taking me to the new Ray Raymondson movie called 'Until The Fat Lady Sings, Nothing Is Over, Part 9'."

"Good grief, do they have enough sequels?!"

"Apparently not. Anyway, I better wait for him to arrive. Mom and dad are out. They said you'll be watching Wyatt while they're out."

"Yeah. Frieda is coming over soon to keep me company." And Sally left. Charlie Brown resumed posting his photos when a call on webchat came in. He clicked on it to see it was Jadan calling from Australia.

"Hey, Charles!" she greeted.

"Jadan, what a surprise!" said Charlie Brown, smiling. "To what do I owe this sudden call?"

"Jus' seein' if y' guys had settled back at home."

"Yeah we have. You just missed Sally. She's going on a date with her boyfriend Michael. Frieda is coming over soon." At that moment, Wyatt walked into his older brother's room.

"Charlie, I'm thirsty," he said.

"Just one minute, Wyatt," said Charlie Brown. "Hey come on up." He picked up his baby brother for Jadan to see. "Jadan, this is my baby brother Wyatt. Wyatt, this is Claudia's cousin Jadan Grandin, who we stayed with in Australia."

"How are ya, Wyatt?" said Jadan.

"Good," said Wyatt.

"You're brother's a cutie, Charles," said Jadan, smiling. "Y' wanna trade brothers?"

"I 'EARD THAT, JADAN!" yelled Joey from somewhere in the house. Charlie Brown just chuckled. Then the doorbell rang.

"Hold on a minute, Jadan," Charlie Brown. "I think that's Frieda. She was coming over." And he went to answer the door. Then he and Frieda came back with Wyatt, who now had a sippy cup filled with milk.

"Hey, Jadan!" said Frieda.

"How ya doin', duet partner?" said Jadan.

"Pretty good. Keeping my sweetie company while Sally and his folks are out."

"I see. Anyway, what I was calling y' about, Charles, was that I wanted to thank you fer your help with the 'roos and everythin'. What y' didn't know was that Frieda and I talked 'bout how your life was before you two started datin'. How Linus's sister used to pull th' football away, losing baseball games, and how y' got teased on a regular basis. I jus' wanted you t' know that you are a great guy and even if no one else thinks that, you 'ave a friend with me. An' th' same goes for Drew an' Zac, too."

"Thank you, Jadan," said Charlie Brown, smiling. "And I will keep in touch with you guys, as well. I see we're now friends on FacePage. You can see what me and the gang are up to."

"I 'preciate that, Charles," Jadan replied, smiling. "Y' take care o' him, Frieda."

"You don't have to ask me twice, Jadan," said Frieda, holding on to Charlie Brown's arm.

"Well I'll be in touch soon," Jadan said, getting ready to sign off. "G'day now, mates!"

"See you, Jadan." And the webchat ended.

"Well, babe, what do you want to do?' asked Frieda.

"How about a horror movie on Channel 6?' suggested Charlie Brown. "I was going to order a pizza, as well."

"You know I can't resist a good horror movie with you, baby." And Frieda kissed Charlie Brown. And they and Wyatt went into the living room to watch some TV. Charlie Brown ordered two pizzas; one for him, Frieda, and Wyatt, and the other for Snoopy. And they enjoyed the rest of the evening.

END OF WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA, CHARLIE BROWN!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I would like to thank LivingOnLaughs/Dolores_The_Dip and Zahir678/890 for use of their characters for this Next Chapter mini-series. As promised, I will be bringing back Budget & Beagle, as well as some more Alt. universe PEANUTS stories, which will lead to the premiere of the 5th season of PEANUTS: The Next Chapter. Stay tuned!