TAKE THE WHEEL
A PEANUTS ONE SHOT
Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Claudia were laying down on the latter's bedroom floor one beautiful afternoon after they had promptly finished up their school homework,the three kids appeared to be drawing with some crayons as a way to pass the time as Patty was doodling the baseball field, Marcie was carefully drawing a red rose and lastly Claudia was making a drawing of Snoopy, Olaf, Andy, Gracie and Roger. Despite the three friends not saying much of anything while they made their art, Peppermint Patty and Marcie couldn't help but notice that Claudia seemed to be a little more mellow and melancholy than usual as the former politely decided to confront her about it "Hey Claude,what's up with you?"
"Huh?" Claudia perked up and meekly wondered with a raised eyebrow to which the tomboy merely repeated herself from before "What's up with you today? You seem much more….quiet than usual." before Marcie couldn't help but agree with the tomboy's observation "It was kinda hard not to notice at school today,is there something on your mind in particular? You can tell us." which prompted the auburn haired girl to sit up straight and meekly explain herself "It's j-just some stuff that I've b-been thinking about l-lately."
"What kind of stuff? Other boys?" wondered Peppermint Patty in response to which Claudia immediately brushed that possible idea aside "No way! I m-mean…...last night I h-happened to see s-some stuff on the n-news about some things g-going on in other p-places,and it j-just made me a little n-nervous about what could happen to us if S-Sparkyville ended up like those places." which prompted Patty to merely shrug her arms and nonchalantly try to cheer the girl up "I don't think you need to be worrying about that kind of stuff Claude,what were you doing watching the boring news anyway?"
"I was f-feeding Gracie and it j-just happened to be in my line of v-vision." timidly explained Claudia as she could feel her face start to turn a little red at the seams before Marcie sat up straight as well and tried to cheer her up "Well I think you're getting needlessly worried about that stuff Claudia,I think Sparkyville's gonna be just fine,we've all made it through the Black Plague,we've made it through the World Wars and lord knows we've made it through the Lizard Ladies twice over,the Hawaii scandal and our last trip to France." to which Patty nodded her head and optimistically added in agreement "Yeah Marcie's right,we've gone through our fair share of problems and still managed to make it out alright. I mean Ed lost his eye to a bully and he's still kicking just fine."
However it appeared that Claudia was still a little on edge about the whole thing as she merely turned her head to look out the window and stare into the bright blue afternoon sky,and it was right then and there that Peppermint Patty seemed to get an idea as she softly sighed and stated "You know Claude,there's this nice little metaphor that my dad sometimes likes to tell me about,and it's that all our lives are on a giant wheel,and we're all walking down that wheel including our friends and family too along with everything that happens to us with a steady pace,never slowing down or speeding up,we're just going with the flow and making it through everything in the end."
Peppermint Patty:
I bet you didn't know the sun took a shine to water.
She drinks up a bit,floats it up to the sky.
Now what she takes from our lake will make her a storm cloud that rumbles and tumbles rain.
From up high,high,high.
It's a wheel Claudia.
This journey of ours.
Sun to lake to cloud that showers rain back to the lake below.
And you'll ride that wheel wherever you go.
Marcie:
Not a minute or moment's the same.
The wheel keeps you guessing.
And everything around you is along for the ride.
The pond,the bullfrogs,the birch trees and hound dogs plus people.
All people have been ebb and flow with the tide,tide,tide.
It's a wheel Claudia.
A ripple in water.
Girl to wife to mother to daughter.
Like all your kinfolk come and gone.
Can't stop rowing,growing,changing and moving on.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie:
Once you drop an anchor,the boat gets stuck.
And it would stay forever.
Claudia:
Just floating on top.
Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Claudia:
Watching life pass it by.
Just floating on top.
Peppermint Patty:
Show me how to climb back on the wheel.
I'll be there slick as a slingshot.
Marcie:
Prepare to get off at the end.
And share with someone my spot.
Peppermint Patty And Marcie:
You can't have living without dying.
So you can't call this living what we got.
We just are.
We just be.
No before.
No beyond.
A rowboat anchored in the middle of a pond.
"Don't be afraid of death Claudia,be afraid of not being truly alive. You don't need to live forever,you just need to live…...do you understand?" encouraged Marcie with a friendly smile on her face just before Claudia turned her head around to reveal a small smile of her own.
Claudia:
It's a wheel.
Peppermint Patty:
(It's a wheel Claudia.)
Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Claudia:
A ripple in water.
Girl to wife to mother to daughter.
Like all your kinfolk,come and gone.
Marcie and Claudia:
It's a wheel.
Peppermint Patty:
(It's a wheel Claudia.)
Peppermint Patty. Marcie and Claudia:
A circle in motion.
Can't stop rowing,growing,changing and moving on.
Can't stop rowing,growing,changing and moving on.
The End
"The Wheel." Written by Nathan Tysen and Chris Miller.
Author's Note:
This is a much more personal and relatable story to me considering that I suffer from anxiety regarding certain things that I won't say here,and I decided to write a story that reflected that.