CHAPTER 4: WHERE'S YOUR VOICE?
Back at the chapel, Charlie Brown and Linus were in the audio booth grabbing some mic stands to take down to the staging area in the sanctuary. The show was two days away and everyone was ready.
"I heard that Peppermint Patty was able to get Thibault out of the house finally," said Linus.
"Yeah, she used her tough talk on him," Charlie Brown replied, "but according to her, it was something Franco told him that finally snapped him out of whatever he was going through. She didn't tell me what it was, but at least it helped."
"Well here's hoping he's better now." At that moment, Snoopy walked in wearing headphones.
"There goes the world-famous sound engineer getting ready to do a sound check and adjust the levels," announced Charlie Brown. And Snoopy sat at the soundboard moving the sliders and knobs around until some electricity shocked him, making his fur stand on end.
"That was a short career," retorted Linus.
"Very short," Charlie Brown agreed. A tearful Frieda ran in and hugged Charlie Brown. She was sobbing hard, but no sound was coming out.
"Frieda, what's the matter?" asked a concerned Charlie Brown. She pointed to her neck and tried to talk, but no sound came out.
"Good grief!" exclaimed Charlie Brown. "You lost your voice?!" She nodded.
"Oh no!" gasped Linus. "You know what this means? She won't be able to sing in the show, Charlie Brown!"
"Rats! That means we need a replacement! And it's too late to call my cousin Trevor! Where in the world are we going to find someone on this short of notice?!"
Then, the three kids and Snoopy heard some pretty singing coming from the staging area. They looked down at where it was coming from. They saw Kennedi, singing "Silent Night", and not just singing it; singing it good! Frieda wiped her eyes and calmed down. The kids looked at each other and nodded.
After she was done singing, Kennedi saw the kids clapping their hands. She blushed with embarrassment.
"Kennedi, that was amazing!" lauded Linus.
"I agree," added Charlie Brown, "and so does Frieda."
"Well, I can't hold a candle to Frieda here," said Kennedi. "I try, though."
"Well, Frieda has lost her voice," Charlie Brown explained, "and we were wondering who we could think of to replace her in the show."
"You don't mean me, do you?!" said a nervous Kennedi. "I'm really not that great. Why don't you call your cousin Trevor, Charles?"
"It's much too late for that, Kennedi," said Charlie Brown.
"It's either you, or no show," Linus replied bluntly. Kennedi thought for a minute.
"Well, I don't want to be the one to end a performance from happening," she said finally. "But what if I mess up? What if I get stage fright? I may fail big time!"
"Kennedi, ask anyone I know, they will tell you I am the king of failures," said Charlie Brown. "You really haven't failed until you had straight seasons of nothing but losses on your baseball team, failed attempts at flying kites, un-kicked footballs due to Linus's sister pulling the ball away, or never being able to do ANYTHING right. Take my word for it. If any of that has happened to you, ONLY THEN can you call yourself a failure. And as someone who's an expert at all things failing, YOU WILL BE GREAT!"
Kennedi looked at her friends and saw they were sincere.
"You can do this, Kennedi," Frieda whispered due to her voice being gone.
"Okay, I'll sing in the show," said Kennedi, smiling. The kids cheered and Snoopy danced around. The show would go on as planned, with Kennedi taking Frieda's place.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE BIG SHOW AND THIBAULT'S RETURN TO SOCIETY