Schroeder was barely through the second verse of Beethoven's "Fidelio" when he heard it. The loud noise sent him scrambling from his toy piano and out of his
house. When he reached the sidewalk, he saw Charlie Brown staring at a truck that was making its way down the street. Charlie Brown didn't look happy at all.
"Where's that big truck going?" Schroeder asked.
Charlie Brown sighed. "That was a moving van. Linus and Lucy have moved away."
For a moment Schroeder couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was as though he'd been thrown into a dream-or, in this case, a nightmare. It was one that he
wanted out of as quickly as possible.
"B-but I thought that she was kidding when she said she was moving!" he protested. "I –I didn't think she'd actually go!"
Charlie Brown's expression turned to one of anger. "What do you care? You were always mean to her!"
Schroeder's shoulders slumped. He felt lower than the flattest note on his toy piano. Maybe, just maybe, Charlie Brown was kidding, trying to make him feel
bad.
It was definitely working. Lucy wasn't so bad. Sure, she annoyed the heck out of him while he was trying to play his piano, but he never considered that the
things he said to her were mean. He wasn't a mean person; or at least until that moment, he'd never imagined himself that way. If this was a trick, Schroeder
was determined to get to the bottom of it .
"I-I just don't understand!" Schroeder continued. "I mean-."
"Oh, just… go home and play your piano!" Charlie Brown yelled, startling Schroeder with his outburst. He'd never seen Charlie Brown so angry before.
Schroeder watched helplessly as Charlie Brown turned and headed down the sidewalk to his house. As Schroeder stood there, he could see Linus and Lucy's
house in the distance. As fast as he could, he ran toward it. Maybe Lucy was inside, waiting to greet him with a smile. Maybe she'd told Charlie Brown to pretend
that they were moving away. Yes, that was it. And Schroeder fell for it in a big way. Well, he'd show her!
Curious, he walked over to the house, where a big yellow sign was stuck in the yard. The sign read "SOLD". He swallowed hard. Good grief! He peeked into the
window and his eyes widened when he noticed that the house was empty. Gone were the curtains, the sofa, the love seat, the tables and the chairs.
Heart pounding, he ran around to the backyard. But when he got there, he couldn't believe his eyes. The swing set, the jungle gym and the slide were gone,
leaving only the big grassy yard. A weird feeling came over him. Lucy really was gone.
Slowly he walked home, staring at the sidewalk. He went inside his house and sat down at his piano. Maybe playing "Fidelio" again would cheer him up. But he
couldn't make his fingers touch the keys.
He tried simple scales and even "Fur Elise", but nothing seemed to work. Every time he looked across his piano, he imagined her sitting there, wearing a blue
dress; her black hair flowing behind her.
As he pressed the keys of the first notes of the slow, sad song he sighed. "I never even said goodbye."
Time seemed to move slower than ever. Nothing was fun anymore; baseball, school and even sledding in the snow during winter break. But most of all he had
lost all interest in his music. His worried parents sent him to all kinds of counselors, but Schroeder couldn't tell anyone the real reason for his gloom.
He missed Lucy.
Day after day he wished for her to show up at school. Night after night he dreamed about her. In his dreams, she destroyed his piano over and over, smashed
his statues of Beethoven and did went on and on about what life would be like when they got married.
Married! The thought woke him up in the middle of the night. But as he sat in bed drinking his cup of water, he looked up at the stars through his bedroom
window. He didn't want to marry Lucy, but he sure did miss her. He missed her a lot.
(Six months later)
It was a Saturday when it happened. He'd woken up early and deiced that it was time to try again. He sat at his toy piano and concentrated as hard as he could.
"Come on Schroeder." He said to himself. "You can do it!"
He knew every one of Beethoven's songs by heart. He could play them in his sleep. But now he could only manage a few notes. The unexpected outburst
startled him so badly that he almost broke his piano.
"WELL, ARE YOU GOING TO FINISH THE SONG OR AREN'T YOU? YOU'RE ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH! YOU CAN'T LEAVE A SONG UNFINISHED!"
Schroeder's eyes widened and his heart began to pound. For a moment he thought that he was still in bed, and it had been yet another dream. But when he
looked again, he could see her clearly, sitting on the end of his piano.
"Lucy?"'
She leaned closer and batted her eyelashes. "Yes, Schroeder?"
"I-is it really you?"
Her face crumpled into a crabby expression and she started to yell again. "Of course it's me! Who do you think it is? I bet you were hoping that it was someone
else, huh? I bet you were hoping it was someone with a prettier face than mine, right?"
Schroeder swallowed hard, and Lucy's crabbiness increased.
"You didn't answer right away! That means you don't think I'm pretty, doesn't it?"
The truth was that Schroeder did think she was pretty. In fact, he was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.
"WELL? SAY SOMETHING!"
"I-what are you doing here?"
"What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm waiting for you to finish your song! Now finish it!"
"I mean… how? Charlie Brown said you moved away! And your house was empty! There's a sign out front that said it was sold!"
"My dad didn't like his job so he got his old one back."
"What about your house?"
"We bought a new one. A bigger one! In fact, it's on the next street, right behind yours. We're neighbors!"
Schroeder was so happy he didn't know what to do. He felt like crying, but what would Lucy think if he did? How could he possibly explain?
"Well?"
"I'm just-I-."
"Yeah?"
"I-."
"Well, come out and say it!"
He stood and ran toward her and then it happened. He stood in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. And then he moved closer and closer until he
planted a kiss right on her mouth! When he drew back, she was wearing the most stunned expression he'd ever seen. Had he really kissed her?
"I missed you, Lucy." He managed to say. "Um… welcome home."
"I-Thank you, Schroeder."
His heart fluttered as he returned to his piano. She was still staring at him in disbelief as he began to give his best piano performance of his life.
When the song was over, Lucy said "Schroeder do you think we'll get married someday?"
"I-I don't know."
"That song was beautiful. You do love me, don't you Schroeder?"
When he didn't answer right away, she sighed. "You don't have to say anything. I already know the answer."
Schroeder knew the answer too, but he couldn't tell her. Not yet, anyway. Someday, when they were older, like in high school, he'd tell her that he loved her.
But the truth was that he'd loved her all along.
THE END
