CHAPTER 5: "WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED, LUCY VAN PELT?"

Present Day

Now I'm here placing flowers at Schroeder's gravesite. His funeral was a sad affair. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Lucy was inconsolable that day. Linus felt some guilt himself due to his revenge scheme being the reason Lucy went nuts that day and it ended up with Schroeder losing his life saving her. I assured him he had nothing to do with it. I didn't even blame Lucy, either. Though everyone did agree had she not burned Linus's blanket, Linus wouldn't have wanted revenge, Lucy wouldn't have drove herself crazy over said revenge scheme, and Schroeder would still be alive.

After Schroeder's death, Lucy changed quite a bit. She was no longer forcing her ideas on others. No longer was she crabby 24-7-365. No longer was she putting down people without any regards to their feelings. In fact, she wasn't even running her psychiatric booth no more. She pretty much stayed to herself, only talking when she had to. In fact, she even started leaving Linus and Rerun alone at home. She no longer forced Linus to change channels with threats of a beat-down like she used to. She had become a former shell of herself. She also seemed to realize what repercussions burning Linus's blanket had brought her, and I'm not talking about her comic book collection. I'm talking about people messing with something that doesn't belong to them. Now I don't find fault with her wanting Linus to give up his blanket. Not at all. That wasn't the problem. It was how she went about it that was wrong. And it wasn't the first time she pulled stuff like this. She had done plenty of schemes to rid him of his blanket, and burning it in that fire was the final straw for Linus. It wasn't the fact she wanted him to stop relying on it for security; it was trying to force the issue and take something that didn't belong to her. That's why Linus targeted her comic book collection. In the past he would sneak in and read one of her comic books, essentially doing the same thing she was doing as far as his blanket went. And she didn't like it just like HE not liking her taking his blanket from him. Only she didn't get the similarity like he did.

As I place my flowers at Schroeder's gravesite (he finally got his gravestone just a week ago), I think about how this all came to be. Had Lucy had the patience, the temperament, the compassion, not to take what didn't belong to her, and destroy what didn't belong to her, to break someone of their "crutch", we wouldn't be where we are now. Our friend would still be here with us, and things would still be the same.

One Year Later…

Charlie Brown was walking to meet up with Peppermint Patty at the old oak for some talk about life and everything going on in their lives. It had been a year since Schroeder's death and the events involving Linus's blanket and Lucy mental breakdown. He figured he'd update her on all that had happened.

"Heya, Chuck!" she greeted, seeing him walk up to where she was.

"How are you, Patty?" Charlie Brown greeted back.

"Same ol', same ol'," said Patty, shrugging. "Having to wait for the next baseball season, wondering if my father has to work at night, and avoiding all things D minus-related."

"I wish those were my only worries."

"So what's on your mind, Chuck, ol' pal? How's Lucille and Linus doing after, you know?"

"Well I'll get to Linus in a bit. Lucy is still not doing much talking. She's better than she was, but no longer the fussbudget we all grew accustomed to. I guess after Schroeder's death, she lost her zeal for life. I'm kind of worried about her, to tell you the truth. As far as Linus goes, I guess you can say what Lucy tried to accomplish with ridding him of his blanket actually worked. He no longer needs a blanket to get through life. He never even asked his parents to buy him another, or even went out to get one himself. In hindsight, Lucy's burning of his blanket actually worked. I just wished she had the patience to let him give it up on his own rather than go to this extreme that she did. Maybe they'd be the same right now. And maybe Schroeder would still be here. It's pretty much bittersweet that Linus don't need a blanket anymore."

"I understand, Chuck. We all miss the maestro. There won't be another one like him, that's for sure."

"Tell me about it." And Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty continued to talk to each other about their lives. Lucy eventually received counseling for everything she had went through. Linus, for all the trouble he endured, has actually grew a backbone and no longer needed his blanket. He had even stopped waiting for the Great Pumpkin every Halloween. Rerun was more or less the same and was doing fine. The Van Pelts learned something that year after Schroeder's death and that was respect. Lucy now respected Linus's space and he hers. And it took a burning of a blanket to make them see the light.

THE END