#5: "The Play-Let My Sister Live (Episode 28)"
HPDrummerman: Sometimes something bad happens to a character you know and love. And at the end of the episode "The Play-Showtime!" that happened to Sally when a faulty sandbag fell on top of her knocking her out. Well in the following episode "The Play-Let My Sister Live" we learn what happened to Sally after that tragic accident.
1st Clip from "The Play-Let My Sister Live"
That Saturday, Charlie Brown, Frieda, Michael, Linus, and Eudora was once again by Sally's bedside, seeing if she would wake up. Eudora was also concerned about her best friend seeing how they had not too long ago made amends over what happened on Valentine's Day. So to say she was anticipating Sally waking up was an understatement. Charlie Brown was feeling better after a good night's sleep, but still worried about his sister, but it was made easier with Frieda by his side the whole time. Schroeder had even started feeling a little better after his talk with Michael and his friend Tyler. So things were getting a little better, but Sally was still in a coma.
All of the sudden, Sally started moaning softly. Charlie Brown took notice. He whispered to her, "Sally? Can you hear me?"
"B-b-big brother?" she said, not completely awake yet.
"I'm here, Sally," said Charlie Brown. "Michael, Frieda, Eudora, and Linus. We're all here."
"What happened?" Sally asked, still regaining her bearings. "The last thing I remember was standing on the stage taking our final bows after the Christmas show."
"You were, hun," said Frieda. "A faulty sandbag fell from the rafters and landed on you. You've been out for almost a week."
"A week?" said a shocked, but still groggy Sally.
"Not only that," Michael began, "but they had to operate on you a little. You had sustained some spinal damage, but they think you'll be okay after a while."
"Really?" Sally at that point tried to move her legs, but couldn't. Something was very wrong and she couldn't figure out why she couldn't move her legs.
"Big brother," she said, getting scared, "I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!"
"What?" said a shocked Charlie Brown.
"What's happened to me?!" said a near-tears Sally. "I can't move them at all!"
"That may have to do with the surgery you had," suggested Linus. "It may take some time for you to completely heal."
"You mean I won't be able to walk?!" asked a frightened Sally.
"Probably not for a while," said Linus, "but you may go into rehab to re-learn how to walk and regain that ability."
"Oh no!" cried Sally.
"I'm so sorry, Sally," said a tearful Eudora. "I wish I could do something for you."
"We'll get through this, Sally," said Charlie Brown, who looked as upset as his sister. "Somehow." And the Brown siblings and their friends wondered what the next few months were going to be like.
End of Clip
HPDrummerman: Sally, as you saw in the season finale "Peggy Jean's Return", is completely healed from her predicament. Well, Schroeder, who was the director of the Christmas show at the auditorium where the show was held, was feeling responsible for what had happened to Sally, even though he wasn't the one at fault.
2nd Clip from "The Play-Let My Sister Live)"
Lucy had went over to Schroeder's house. She was worried about her boyfriend and wanted to see if he was all right. He hadn't gone to school, either, but unlike Charlie Brown or Frieda, who was watching over Sally, no one knew why he was missing at school that day. So Lucy took it upon herself to check up on him. When she got there, his mother answered the door and told Lucy that he wasn't feeling well. She allowed her to check on him, though. And when she opened the door, she was shocked to see a rather depressed Schroeder moping in bed. Not since Charlie Brown did she see something like that, but while she expected HIM to do something like that knowing Charlie's nature, she wasn't prepared for Schroeder to be the same way.
"Honey!" she gasped. "Are you okay?"
"Is any of us really okay, Lucy?" he moaned. "Is this world even okay?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Why didn't I see that sandbag? Why did I not go up to the rafters to see if it was in good shape?"
"I told you before, you blockhead! It wasn't your responsibility to do that! The school maintenance was supposed to do that. If anything, it was THEIR fault for that, not yours!"
"I know. It still doesn't make it any easier."
"You know, Charlie Brown is taking this much better than you right now. And it was HIS sister that got injured. I can understand you being upset about this, we all are, but you're not to blame, baby. It could have been you, or me, or anyone else who was on that stage that night. You need to stop beating yourself up over this, Schroeder. Nobody blames you. Not Charlie Brown, Frieda, me, and when she does wake up, Sally won't even pin the blame on you. The only person blaming you is yourself."
And Schroeder looked up at his girlfriend. He looked her in the eye. She saw that he was tearing up and opened her arms to him. He fell into her embrace and started sobbing uncontrollably. This breakdown was what he needed to release all of the tension he'd been feeling over the accident. Lucy comforted him. She also sang a song to him that Peppermint Patty once sung to Charlie Brown before he dated Frieda.
Poor sweet baby
Poor, poor, sweet, sweet baby
Show me where it hurts, I'll tell you how to make it well
I've won lots of loving cups for playing show and tell
My poor sweet baby
Poor, poor, sweet, sweet baby
When you need a shoulder, come and try mine on for size
I'm real good at holding hands and
Really great at drying eyes!
Just try me, cry me
All your tears
Why deny me
The pleasure of dryin' 'em
Stoppin' you cryin' 'em?
Don't despair, for
Smiles are what I'm there for!
You won't have to call on me, I'll always be right near
Here to kiss and cuddle you and
Whisper in your little ear
Don't fear!
There, there, baby
Poor, sweet baby
Poor, sweet baby
Lucy's here!
3rd Clip from "The Play-Let My Sister Live"
Michael headed for Sally's room when he saw that Schroeder was already there. Michael didn't see him go by nor did Charlie Brown say he was there. He figured he snuck by Charlie Brown while he was out and Frieda was getting the coffee. Schroeder turned around to see that Michael had just arrived.
"Michael!" he began. "Words cannot express how sorry I am for this."
"It's all right, Schroeder," assured Michael. "You had nothing to do with this. The bag falling on Sally, tragic as it was, was just an accident. None of us had any control over it."
"People keep telling me that, and yet, I can't seem to stop thinking that I was responsible! It's like, I know the situation was out of my hands and I had no control over the sandbag falling, but I can't stop thinking it was my fault. I know it was an accident, but I can't stop feeling guilty. Why can't I stop feeling guilty?!" And Schroeder broke down yet again. Michael just shook his head.
"Come with me, Schroeder," he finally said. "There's someone I want you to meet. In fact, they're here in this hospital right now." And the two boys left Sally's room to go meet Michael's friend.
They ended up in the children's ward where a lot of kids were trying to get over their ailments. Michael brought Schroeder over to a bed where a young boy, slightly younger than them, was laying watching TV.
"Oh hi, Mikey," said the boy.
"Schroeder, I want you to meet Tyler," Michael announced. "He was hit by a tree branch during that freak storm we had back in July. He's still getting worked on to this day. Tyler, tell my friend here your story."
"Sure, Mikey," said a chipper Tyler. "I was trying to save my cat Tibby from a tree she was stuck in, but as I finally reached her, something bad happened. The storm rolled in before I could get her out of the tree. I finally reached her, but after I got out of the tree, a bolt of lightning hit a large branch and it fell on me, severing my spinal cord. After I got here, the doctors told me that there was a chance I wouldn't walk again. But I didn't give up or feel sorry for myself. I kept moving forward, not lingering on what I could have done different. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can do that, but I decided that day that I WOULD heal and get better. And now I am regaining some movement in my legs and even learning to walk with a walker. But I never linger on the past, nor do I feel sorry for myself because of my predicament. I just keep going."
Schroeder took in what Tyler was saying to him, and he finally was starting to feel better for the first time since the accident.
"I get what you're saying, Tyler," Schroeder said. "Thank you. I think I can go on now. And thank you, Michael. I needed this."
"I'm sure you did," said Michael.
"How's your girl, by the way, Mikey?" asked Tyler. "Is she still in intensive care?"
"Yeah, I was about to head back over to check on her," Michael replied, "but I figured my friend here needed some much-needed advice."
"I gotcha, dude," Tyler said with a wink. And the two boys headed back towards Sally's room to see if she had awaken.
End of Clips
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