Arthur's Christmas Break
Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur or any of its characters or content from the series. The characters and etc. from Arthur belong to Marc Brown, PBS, WGBH, and Cookie Jar (formerly CINAR).
Chapter 1: The Last School Day before Break
On Friday, December 19th in Elwood City, it was 32 degrees F, and there was barely any snow.
At the Reads' house, in the living room below Arthur's room, there was a Christmas tree with a yellow star on top, ornaments and ribbons and candy canes around the whole tree, Christmas lights around the tree that run, a Christmas tree blanket underneath the tree, and a lot of Christmas presents surrounding the tree; a red ribbon around the top corners of the piano, a musical downtown Christmas set on the table, there were some Nativity figures on the fireplace mantel, and there were Christmas stockings above the fireplace. There were Christmas vine decorations around the stairs, around the dining room walls, around the second story hallway, and around the walls in both living rooms. There was a wreath on the front door. And outside the house, there were Christmas lights around the house that run. There were candy canes on the sides of the path that goes to the front door.
16-year-old Arthur Read was getting ready for school. He had shaggy brown hair plus bangs, and was wearing round brown glasses, a yellow sweater with a white shirt underneath, blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. He packed his lunch into his blue Bionic Bunny lunchbox and sat down at the table for breakfast. He was eating a Christmas version of Bionic Bunny cereal with milk. His sisters, 12-year-old D.W. and 9-year-old Kate were also at the table, and they were eating just common Christmas cereal. D.W.'s hair was down to her shoulders, but she still had bangs; and Kate's hair was the same length as D.W.'s but more wavy. D.W. was wearing a pink plaid dress with long sleeves, a pair of brown dress shoes, and long white socks. Kate was wearing a pink dress with purple sleeves, a pair of black Mary Janes, and long white socks.
After Arthur and his sisters were finished eating, it was time for them all to go to school. Arthur put on a Santa Claus hat, his brown winter coat, a blue scarf, and a pair of red mittens. D.W. put on her white stocking cap with a fluffy pink ball, a gray winter coat, and a pair of pink mittens. Kate put on her purple stocking cap with a fluffy pink ball, a purple and pink winter coat, and a pair of teal gloves. Their mother, 40-year-old Jane was getting ready to drop off the girls. Jane had shaggy brown hair like before, and she was wearing pink Christmas dress with long sleeves, brown boots, and a brown winter coat. Arthur and his sisters' father David was 40 years old, also. David had brown bangs like before, and he was wearing a red and green Christmas sweater with a white shirt underneath, blue jeans, and brown loafers. He was setting up his kitchen in the garage to bake Christmas cakes and other desserts while his older sister Loretta helps him out once she and her family arrive.
As Arthur and his sister and their mother walked outside, Arthur walked to his car, the teal 1994 Ford Escort 2-door hatchback coupe that was parked behind his family's purple 4-door station wagon. The wagon was over fifteen years old, and it was over 130,000 miles, but there was some minor rust on the exterior. Jane and the girls all walked to the station wagon. After Arthur stepped inside his car, Jane and the girls stepped inside the wagon and the two girls both sat in the rear seat. Arthur backed out of the driveway and headed to the school, and then Jane backed out and was on her way to drop both girls off to their schools.
After Arthur reached Lakewood High School, his friends had arrived at nearly the same time. 16-year-old Francine Frensky was just stepping out of her family's junky old red 1980 Chevrolet Caprice 4-door sedan that was very rusty that they had eight months ago, and the car itself was over 200,000 miles. Francine had long brown hair and bangs, and she was wearing a red plastic headband, a red long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, red and white sneakers, a brown winter coat, red mittens, a sky blue scarf, and a blue Hanukkah hat that was the same shape as the red Santa hat.
Arthur and Francine then walked up the steps and into the school building. As they walked inside, they walked into the gymnasium where many of the students sit together on the floor and talk with each other before the bell rang. They found 16-year-old Buster Baxter, 16-year-old Alan Powers who goes by "the Brain", 16-year-old Muffy Crosswire, 17-year-old Prunella Deegan, 16-year-old Sue Ellen Armstrong, and 16-year-old Fern Walters. Buster had shaggy auburn hair with bangs and was wearing a light blue polo shirt, blue jeans, red and white sneakers, a gray winter coat, a green scarf, and a Santa hat. The Brain had shaggy brown hair with bangs and was wearing a green sweater with a white shirt underneath, blue jeans, red and white sneakers, a brown winter coat, a red scarf, and a Santa hat. Muffy hair was very long and it was worn in pigtails, plus she had bangs, and she was wearing a red and green Christmas dress, brown shoes with long white socks, a purple winter coat, a pink scarf, and white earmuffs. Prunella's hair was very long with bangs and she was wearing a lavender plaid dress, brown shoes with long white socks, a brown winter coat, and a white winter hat. Sue Ellen's hair was very long with bangs and she was wearing teal barrettes in her hair, a white T-shirt with an anime-style Santa Claus on the front, a long teal skirt, brown shoes with long white socks, a brown Japanese-style winter coat, a teal scarf, white mittens, and a Santa hat. Fern had very long brown hair and was wearing a purple blouse, a long cream-colored skirt, brown shoes with long white socks, a brown winter coat, a yellow scarf, gray mittens, and a Santa hat. Muffy was talking to Prunella, Buster was talking to the Brain, and Sue Ellen was talking to Fern. The Brain was a senior with Prunella and he skipped junior year. Arthur and Francine joined in with Buster and the Brain.
About ten minutes later at 7:50 AM, the bell rang and all of the students left the gym and walked to their lockers.
Arthur, Buster, and Francine walked to their first period class, which was American Government. When the clock struck 7:55 AM, the bell rang and it was time for school to start. In that class, they were watching a Christmas special that the teacher put into the VCR on the middle-shelf of the cart with the CRT TV on the top mount.
During second period, Arthur, Buster, Francine, and Muffy went to Chemistry class. During that class, their teacher was asking the class questions about they each would mostly like to have for Christmas. Francine was Jewish since celebrates Hanukkah, and like Christmas would receive Hanukkah presents from her relatives but would give some of friends some Christmas presents. When the students were asked: Arthur's answer was Bionic Bunny stuff, Buster's answer was video games, Francine's answer was anything good (even though she was thinking of her family celebrating Hanukkah), and Muffy's answer was jewelry. Then the teacher was playing a VHS Christmas movie that was leveled for teenagers and the movie was around fifteen years ago.
During third period, Arthur, Buster, the Brain, Francine, Muffy, and Prunella went to speech class. In that class, each of the students stood in front of the class to talk about what they will be doing over the holidays. The first person to have the turn was Arthur.
"My family is going to celebrate Christmas at my house," said Arthur, giving out his speech. "And my grandma is coming over, and my Aunt Loretta and Uncle Bud, and Cousin Mo and her siblings, too."
After Arthur and three more students, it was Francine's turn.
"My family is celebrating Hanukkah at my apartment, starting tomorrow," said Francine, giving out her speech, "And my sister Catherine is coming over, and my grandmother, and aunts and uncles, and cousins."
After Francine and two more students, it was Buster's turn.
"My mom and grandma and I are going to a movie," said Buster, giving out his speech. "And it will be a lot of fun."
After Buster, it was Muffy's turn.
"My family is celebrating Christmas at my mansion," said Muffy, giving out her speech. "And my brother Chip and my sister-in-law are coming over."
After Muffy and another student, it was the Brain's turn.
"My family and aunts and uncles and cousins are celebrating Kwanzaa," said the Brain, giving out his speech. "And it's a lot of fun."
After the Brain and two more students, it was Prunella's turn.
"My mother and I are celebrating Christmas at my house," said Prunella, giving out her speech. "And my sister Rubella is coming over, and my grandma, my aunts and uncles, and cousins."
During fifth period, Arthur, Buster, the Brain, Francine, Muffy, Prunella, Sue Ellen, and Fern went to music class, and it was junior-senior choir. Miss Krasny who was their music teacher back in elementary school was now a high school music teacher, and she was also the director of the music department. Miss Krasny's hair was longer, but she still had bangs, and she was dressed up like Mrs. Claus. Instead of having the class sing, Miss Krasny asked the students all about Christmas.
Right after music class, Arthur and his friends went to lunch. On the way to lunch, they saw their third grade teacher Mr. Ratburn who was now a traffic education teacher. Mr. Ratburn's hair was now longer and down to his neck, but he still had bangs; and he was wearing a red suit and a Santa hat.
Arthur and his friends sat together at a table. In Arthur's lunchbox, Arthur had a Christmas tree gingerbread cookie, an apple, and a lemon juicebox. In Buster's lunchbox, Buster had two chocolate candy bars and two carrots. In Francine's lunchbox, Francine had an apple, a pear, a cherry cupcake, and a cherry juicebox. In Muffy's lunchbag, Muffy had a peach, a cinnamon muffin, and a grape juicebox. In the Brain's lunchbox, the Brain had a slice of pizza from last night, a slice of chocolate cake, and a lime juicebox. In Prunella's lunchbag, Prunella had a peach, a slice of blueberry pie, and a grape juicebox. Sue Ellen and Fern were writing in their own diaries instead of eating lunch.
After lunchtime at school, it was time for the students to leave, since it was early dismissal for Christmas break to start.
When the students walked outside, they all headed to their cars. Besides Arthur and Francine's cars, Buster's car was a blue 1991 Chevrolet Lumina 4-door sedan, Muffy's car was a white 2003 Cadillac DeVille, the Brain's car was a red 1994 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, Prunella's car was a sky blue 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S 4-door sedan, Sue Ellen's car was a teal 1994 Ford Taurus GL 4-door sedan, and Fern's car was a white 1994 Ford Tempo GL 4-door sedan.
It took Arthur and his friends about two through five minutes to leave. Arthur and his friends were all excited for Christmas break to start.
To be continued…