AUTHOR'S NOTE: I sort of took an idea from one of Sean Mahoney's fanfictions and put it into here… I hope he doesn't mind… x3
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DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the few ideas I've taken from Nowhere Boys either. This disclaimer applies to the whole fanfiction.
Chapter Two: Parallel – Charlie and Snoopy II
POV: Charlie Brown
No. No no no no no.
I couldn't bring myself to believe it. I looked over at Snoopy. He had fainted. I was surprised I didn't.
"She's… what… how?"
Tears had started to come out of Violet's eyes – which I had never seen before, not even when we were little. "D-D-Did you know her?" She whispered.
I didn't know what was going on. Violet was being more sympatric, Patty as well, Linus seemed insecure, they all hated Schroder, Linus liked Sally, Freida was messy, Marcie's glasses were broken, Lucy was in a hospital… and Patty was dead… Snoopy was the only one that seemed normal… and neither of us existed in this world.
"I… have some thinking to do… I'll see you tomorrow, Violet…" I picked up Snoopy, who was still unconscious.
Violet sighed, and I heard her mutter, "I said the wrong thing again…" I nearly tripped when I heard that. I almost made a told her that she didn't, but I let it pass.
I sighed as I passed Schroeder's house. Why did they hate him? I continued until I came up to the lake near the wall, dumped Snoopy in it, and then pulled him out. He was spluttering, spitting out water.
"Sorry, Snoop. Can we just… stop and think about what's going on?" Snoopy nodded. I sat down on the opposite side of the wall. Snoopy laid down next to me.
"Okay, Snoopy, let's get this sorted… I think that this all started with the tornado." Snoopy nodded. That's all he really could do, I guess. He couldn't talk.
"I think that tornado somehow made everyone forget us… but it looks like whole places have changed as well, so it's not like forgetting us would've done that." Snoopy nodded, anxious.
"So then, what could've happened?" Snoopy just looked scared. I don't think I've ever seen him this terrified…
I tried to remember the events that led up to the tornado. Two moments stood out to me;
Linus smiled, as if he were waiting for this moment. "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the answer."
A mirror that showed me a house from a parallel universe... a parallel version...?
Snoopy nudged me, as if to say, You know what's going on?
"Snoopy, I'm not sure if you're going to believe me, but…" Snoopy sighed, and then said, "Kid, something's clearly wrong, so any theory would be good."
I nodded. "Yeah, I guuuWAIT WHAT?!" I yelled, shocked. I quickly looked around, hoping no-one had heard. Snoopy raised an eyebrow.
"Now he's having a mental attack… this isn't good…"
"HOW ARE YOU SPEAKING TO ME!?" I shrieked again, petrified. Snoopy raised his ears in shock. (Yes, he does that.)
"You can hear me?!"
"Yes! Yes I can!"
I stared at him. "How…" I clasped my hand to my head. "All this is giving me a headache…"
"I've never spoken to a human before…" He said, more to himself.
"Man, this is so weird… I can finally talk to you…"
He nodded. "I haven't actually tried… well, uh, 'speaking' until now. I just assumed you couldn't hear me. We can use this to our advantage, though." He slammed his fist to his palm. Wait. His paw? "Maybe this is a side-effect of everything weird that's going on?"
"That can be the only explanation… anyway, I think I know what might've happened. It's a longshot… but Linus – our Linus – once said, 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the answer.'. I think… we're in a parallel universe." He stared at me intently.
"That's… I think that's possible."
"It all has to do with that weird tornado… I don't know how long we'll be here for, Snoop, so we need a place to sleep… when I ran away, you know, and I met The Goose Eggs, I had to sleep in a box, but I don't see any boxes… and something other than a box would be nicer…"
Snoopy smiled. "I know a place."
…….
As I followed Snoopy, I thought about the way all my friends had changed. So, could this be a world where Snoopy and I never existed? It may seem impossible, but in these circumstances, it's just improbable… this hurts my head so much… so, because I never existed, Patty committed suicide? But how does that work out? How was I, wishy-washy Charlie Brown, the one that saved Peppermint Patty from suicide?
And what happened to all the other people I've made a slight effect on, even in other places, like The Goose Eggs? My Pen-Pal? Were – are their lives drastically changed as well?
I looked down at Snoopy. And Snoopy… he affected our lives as well. That's the only explanation… when you eliminate the impossible…
"We're here." Muttered Snoopy. He was about to nudge me. "Snoopy, I can hear you now." He blushed. "Oh yeah…" I had to get used to this as well. I was trying hard not to freak out – I nearly already did with Violet.
I looked around. "Where are we?" The place was overgrown with weeds and wild flowers. We were standing on a large dirt pile. There was a bench straight ahead, but it looked like it hadn't been used for a couple of years.
Snoopy hesitated. "This… is the baseball field." I blinked.
"…how?" I muttered. We must've been standing on the pitcher's mound. Snoopy shook his head.
"I don't know. This probably has to do with the fact that you and I don't exist here… wait… weren't you the manager of our team? So, you made the team, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah…?"
"Well, maybe without you, the team never would have existed?" I shook my head.
"Snoopy, I'm just plain ol' wishy-washy Charlie Brown. Plus, the whole team – included you – hated me whenever I did the slightest thing wrong. How could I have caused all this?"
Snoopy looked down. "You're the one that makes all of us interested in baseball, Charlie Brown."
I blinked. "I am?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry for being rude to you… but we can talk about that later. Let's go in here."
I looked around. "Where?"
"Step of the mound." He said. I carefully slid of the pitcher's mound.
"What are you goi-" Snoopy plunged his hand in the dirt, and then 'pulled up' the pitcher's mound. I noticed he was holding a metal handle.
"What the… how long has this been here, Snoopy?' I asked, shocked. He shrugged. "It's a small World War I bunker… so since World War I, I guess? I used this, back in World War I.
I frowned. "Wait… you were actually… an actual, World War I Flying Ace?"
He nodded, and grabbed a candle that was on a man-made dent in the dirt. As we walked down, he closed the "mound" with the metal handle, and then somehow lit it by rubbing it. "I learnt how to do a lot of things back in the War… hopefully it'll help us…"
I nodded, agreeing. After a few more seconds, we made it down to a small bunker with three beds. There was one drawer with a typewriter on it. In the draw, there was a batch of candles.
I gasped, amazed there was something as old as this under my pitcher's mound… "Are you… like, the only one that knows about this?"
He shook his head. "Marcie knows about it too."
"Marcie?!" I said, surprised. He nodded. "She's my French waitress."
"Oh." So that's where Marcie goes when Peppermint Patty and I are alone. They roleplay World War I.
I have stranger things to worry about now, though.
"We still need to worry about food…" Said Snoopy.
I felt my pockets, feeling if there was any food. I felt something, and pulled it out. I gasped.
"Rations, Snoopy! Rations from the camp!" I yelled.
He looked in the box eagerly. "What do we have?"
"Uhm…" I pulled out three medium-sized slices of bread, a wad of butter, tuna, two small Kit Kats, a chunk of cheese, and an apple.
"That's… quite a bit, actually… why would we need this on a 40-minute trip?" I wondered, aloud.
Snoopy went to inspect all the edible items. I checked my Blackberry. "Good grief, Snoopy, its 12:32pm… man, in that forest, did I really sprint for ten minutes?" I said, suddenly remembering. He nodded.
"I wish I felt that power now… I'm really scared, Snoopy… my own sister doesn't know who I am… not to mention no-one else does…"
He nodded. "I know we need to preserve the food, but… it's nearly lunchtime. Can we have half of a bread each, maybe with some butter?"
I nodded. "Sure… we might as well make it as good as we can… we can spare a little bit of cheese and tuna…"
"I'll have the tuna one." Said Snoopy.
I carefully made sure not to drop any bread, as I normally would due to my bad luck. I made myself a cheese-butter sandwhich, while Snoopy just had tuna.
We carefully ate and chewed it, nibble by nibble. By the time we were done, it was 12:41pm.
"Alright, Snoopy. Lets head up, and see everything else that has changed."
"Okay..." I put my money in the tin, closed it, and left it in the draw. Who knows, Violet had said there were a lot of bullies, so it would better not to have it on me so no-one would mug me. Then again, Snoopy would probably bite them…
He walked up the stairs, and Snoopy carefully closed the pitcher's mound behind us, so no-one could hear us.
We walked over to the next field yonder, where only a shack, large boulders and some trees lay. It was also overgrown with weeds. "This is where Lucy's booth was… I guess no-one goes here anymore…"
Snoopy looked around, and yelped. He pointed to the shack.
"What is it?" I asked.
He carefully hid behind a boulder, so he couldn't be seen. I hid with him. "What is it, Sno-" I faltered, when I saw the person sitting behind the shack.
He had messy blonde hair, dirty and unevenly cut as well. He wore a familiar purple-and-black striped shirt, along with black shorts. He wore a scarf (in the middle of the Summer?) which matched his shirt. There was a backpack that was at his feet, that had an iPod and some crumpled papers sticking out. He was the same person that Linus, Patty and Violet despised for an unknown reason.
"Should we go talk to him?" I whispered. Snoopy shrugged, scared again. "Your judgment is better than mine, kid." I frowned. "It is?" He nodded.
I looked over at Schroeder again. In this universe, he might be a bully. But how? And why wasn't he at home, playing his piano?
I nodded. "Let's go."
…….
I carefully walked up towards him, with Snoopy in tow. He was clearly lost in thought.
"Um, excuse me?" I asked. He whipped around, as if about to run away, but he loosened when he saw me. "You're new." I nodded, mystified for about the hundredth time in this world. This Schroeder instantly seemed more creepy, and distant.
"I'm Charlie. Charlie… Braun." He frowned. "That's not your last name." He said, looking away. I quickly whipped to Snoopy, then back at Schroeder. What the heck?!
"How does he know?!" Shouted Snoopy. I looked over at Schroeder. For some reason, he couldn't hear Snoopy. I mouthed I don't know to him. I turned back to Schroeder.
Could this be… the… real Schroeder? After everyone else? Was he stuck here too…?
"How do you know?" I asked. He smirked. "I've been… observing people for a while now. You hesitated when you said your surname, which means you are probably lying."
I nodded, uncomfortable. He seemed as observant as our Linus… yet, a lot more creepy.
"Um… why are you alone?" He had a distant look. "You're new here, so I might as well give it to you straight. You can choose whether to run away or not."
He sighed. "Years ago, maybe about three or four, I knew a girl called Lucy Van Pelt. She always stalked me, and went on about marrying me or living together every single day…" He shook his head. "One day, I snapped. I went crazy, and hurt her… really badly. I had to go to jail for a year and a half. When I got out, everyone despised me." He shook his head. "I'd do anything to reverse… or un-make that. She's still in hospital, and as far as I know, she'll be in there for a few more years."
I gaped at him. It was this Schroeder's fault that this Lucy was in hospital?!
"But… what about your toy piano? And Beethoven?"
He frowned. "That music dude? I've never even had a toy pi…" His scowl deepened.
"Wait a second… actually, I did have a toy piano, when I was quite young. However… I've never even played a note on it. And I've never mentioned it to anyone."
"Uh…" I hesitated. Snoopy looked frightened.
He frowned again when he saw the look on my face. He stood up, and walked around me, inspecting Snoopy and I.
"Neither of you are from here."
I didn't say anything. I started sweating.
He then raised an eyebrow. "Huh… you… no, this can't be…"
He got up, and started muttering inaudible speech. He picked up his backpack.
"I'll be seeing you around, Charlie… and DON'T follow me." He emphasized viciously on the last sentence, just as I was about to say 'wait'. He walked off, and he didn't look back once.
…….
"What was that about?" Asked Snoopy. I shrugged, confused once again. "We should ask him tomorrow…"
We walked along the path, the same footpath that led past the Van Pelt residence. I looked over at their house. "The house seems fine…" I said. Snoopy nodded.
"That's probably why Linus was crying before." He said.
"Huh?"
"He was crying because he was remembering Lucy. Which is weird, come to think of it, because I am certain that the Linus kid used to hate his sister."
I nodded, somewhat unsure. "Well… he never really hated her. Just… at times, disliked. Hey, what's going on over there?"
On the street opposite, at the Wall, there was a big commotion going on, and I just make out four people.
Three of them were Patty, Violet and Linus. Linus looked like he was about to cry again. Me and Snoopy briskly walked to the opposite side of the road and hid behind another rock.
The fourth kid was spot-clean. His white sneakers were shining and sparkling, and his white shirt had not a single speck of dirt on him. His clothes seemed newly-bought as well. Was this the person that came here in Pig-Pen's absence? Was Pig-Pen non-existent in this world as well?
The kid was shouting at Linus – bullying him.
"You're a pathetic idiot, you know that, blanket boy?" Linus nodded, on the brink of tears, clutching his dirty blanket for dear life. He sounded like any confidence he had was drained out of him. "I know, Matt, I know…" Violet and Patty stood awkwardly at the side, angry yet miserable. Why didn't they – or at least Violet – beat this guy up?
The clean kid stood up right in his face. "Now, blanket boy, I'm going to-" He faltered when a thread of the blanket touched him, and a speck of dirt landed on his shirt.
Violet and Patty went from miserable to petrified.
The kid, Matt, went into a full-on yelling mode, and grabbed Linus by the collar, who was shaking in fear.
"YOU FREAKING IDIOT! HOW DARE YOU GET YOUR STUPID, DUMB-ASS BLANKET ON MY WHITE CLEAN SHIRT AND NOW THERE IS AN ENOURMOUS SPECK OF DIRT ON IT! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU DUMB BITCH?!" Linus looked shaken, and attempted to step back, but couldn't, as the wall was behind him. "I'm s-s-sorry, Matt…"
"WELL IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT, DWEEB! ALL THIS DIRT ON ME MAKES ME LOOK LIKE… A DUST MAGNET!" He shrieked. My eyes widened when I heard that.
"Oh… no…"
'Matt' was not Pig-Pen's replacement.
He was Pig-Pen.
I peeked over the rock again, and saw that Matt had his fist ready. Violet and Patty still looked petrified, backing away, as if they couldn't do anything.
This was too much. How could Pig-Pen become this?!
"And now, you little dimwit… "He put his fist up. "I'm going to make you pay." Linus attempted to kneel and pray.
And I decided his prayers would be answered.
I looked and Snoopy. "Bark." I whispered. WOOF, WOOF, WOOF! Barked Snoopy, without hesitation, attempting to sound menacing. I stood up.
The group turned over to me, all of them evidently shocked. Taking in all the courage I could muster, I yelled, "Get your dirty hands off him, Pig-Pen!"
They all looked shocked when I emphasised the last word. Matt dropped Linus, and walked over into my face.
"You're new here, kid, so I won't kill you this time… but here's a tip… DON'T… EVER… CALL… ME… PIG-PEN!" He spat in my face, and walked off, taking hand sanitizer out of his pocket and rubbing his hands with it.
As he walked away, Linus, Patty and Violet looked at me, shocked.
"I hate that kid!" Shouted Violet distastefully.
"Charlie, thank you so much, for… well, for stopping Matt from punching me…" Said Linus gratefully, shaking my hand.
"How did you do that, Charlie? You stood up to Matt, of all people!"
I rubbed my head. "I… I'm not sure, I guess…"
Violet still looked distastefully in that direction.
"He's the worst kid in this whole neighborhood!" She yelled again. She sighed, and turned to me. "Thank you, Charlie. Just a question, you're new here, right?"
"Shit…" Snoopy muttered. Snoopy could swear – who knew?
"Uh, yeah?" I said, responded to Violet.
She frowned. "I'll talk to you later…"
I nodded, uncomfortable. "Why are you all here? Why aren't you at… er, Sally's house?"
"I wanted to think by myself a bit, so I came to the wall. I took more than two minutes, so Violet and Patty came to see what was wrong. I told them I had lost track of time, when Matt came just a minute earlier."
I nodded. I looked around, and noticed Schroeder peeking out from a rock on the other side of the street. When I saw him, he quickly ducked. What was he doing there? "Well, I'm all done with… my parents. I can come with you, if you like?" Violet nodded enthusiastically. "Sure!"
We walked back to Sally's house, with Snoopy in tow.
"You guys took a while! Is everything okay?" Sally asked when she opened the door. Linus burst into tears. "Oh, Linus! What happened?" She said, hugging him, and taking him inside.
I hesitated. Was this a common occurrence? I grasped my head again… too many questions…
We walked inside, the Peanuts gang greeting me again. Linus seemed to have calmed down, and was telling the story of what had happened.
"And then Snoopy started barking, and Charlie burst in, looking as confident and courageous as a lion!" They all marveled at me, and congratulated me on standing up to Matt.
We talked about various things for an hour afterward. They commented on how obedient Snoopy was, ("They only compliment the dog when he doesn't do anything…" He muttered.) and decided to tell me about their backstories.
Marcie was first, and told me how a 'unintelligent, dumpy, dim, dull, brainless guy named Thibault punched her in the face' after Marcie had kicked him in the stomach. They all said how Marcie was the smartest in the gang. I smiled, noticing that some things didn't change.
Rerun was next, stating that he was Linus' brother and there was nothing really interesting about him.
"You can ride a bike magnificently for your age!" Linus had remarked, as Rerun blushed. Rerun also stated that he wanted a dog like Snoopy, to which Snoopy smiled to. "At least this kid is familiar…" He mumbled.
Freida was next, and she was the one I was really intrigued about. . Her 'naturally curly hair' was straightened, and was also dyed brown. Her clothes were somewhat ragged and dirty, but it seemed she did it on purpose. This was not her usual 'posh' look.
"I'm sure all of you remember my hair used to be 'naturally curly'." They all laughed. "As you all know, I also used to pride on myself being a 'conservationist'." They all went into hysterics again.
"So, of course, I noticed that none of you ever listened to me, so I decided to try a new look, and I really do think this suits me better."
They all looked over at me now. "What about your backstory, Charlie?" Violet asked, intrigued.
I hesitated, and looked over at Snoopy. "Say mine first." He said.
"Well, Snoopy came from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, which you could say is more or less nearby here. My parents bought him for me when I was upset, because a boy had dumped sand on my head." I smiled, and they all giggled.
"Um, at the time I was in a neighborhood quite far away, and I made a few friends… but now I'm here, and uh, that's it!" I finished, hoping it sounded convincing.
Sally was about to start a new subject, when Frieda yelled "Good gosh!" I looked over at Snoopy, who looked confused (again). 'Good gosh!'? I thought.
"It's 3:00! How time goes by!" Everyone checked their phones, including me. The time was 2:52pm, surprisingly.
All the kids except Sally got up, and retrieved their things. "Everyone's leaving?" Violet nodded. "Pretty much everyone has to go do something at this time, except Sally and I. Do you, Charlie?"
I shook my head. "No, I don't…" Sally blushed. "Actually, I've got a book report." Everyone else nodded, except Marcie. "I normally go home to study at this time."
Violet laughed. "I finished my book report during class!" Violet turned to me. "You don't go to a school yet, do you Charlie?" I shook my head. "No, I don't…"
"How about I show you around town?" She said, blushing. Someone snickered – Patty, probably. I looked down at Snoopy, who nodded. "Sure, Violet…"
…….
Everyone walked out, saying goodbye to Sally. Linus thanked me for the seventh time. As everyone walked off to various places, Violet stood next to me, blushing.
"So, where to first, Charlie?" I shrugged. "Er, just walk me around, I guess…"
She nodded, and saw this as an opportunity to take my hand. I blushed, and Snoopy sniggered. Still, Violet, no matter what mood she was in, would never do this in our world.
We walked around, and she pointed out various places I already knew, like people's houses and certain landmarks. Her hand was still grasped onto mine.
During our walking, I hesitated. "Um, Violet? Is it okay if I ask a couple of questions?" I said, uncomfortably.
Her mood wavered. "Can I ask you one?" I nodded, unsure.
"How did you know that Matt hates to be called Pig-Pen?" She asked. I stopped in my tracks. So this is why Snoopy swore before…
"Uh… lucky guess?" I said. She looked unconvinced, and let go of my hand.
"Seriously, Charlie. How do you know? Actually… now that I think about it… you knew a lot of things… like how the blanket is pretty much Linus' lifeline, and you knew who Peppermint Patty was… yet, you've never talked to any of us. How?"
Crap. I looked down at Snoopy, who was scared stiff. Were they about to find out the truth? If they did, Violet would probably would tell the rest of the Peanuts, and I would never have any help on how to get out of here… what was I to do? "Uh… I… uh… well…"
"Cut it out, Violet."
Violet whipped around, and Snoopy and I looked behind her.
Schroeder walked up to us carefully, his strap from his backpack nearly falling off. His hair looked messier than before, as well as his clothes, as if he had taken a nap in the sewer.
Violet shrieked, put her fists up, but backed away. "Wh-wh-what do you want, Schroeder?" She said, attempting to sound menacing.
"It has been a while, hasn't it? I haven't talked to you since before… the incident." He said blankly, and then continued.
"I've visited her, you know. She forgives me." Violet wavered, but then went back to her fighting stance. "You're lying!"
He shook his head, and sighed. "Don't worry… it'll be fixed soon…" Violet shook her head, shaking. "I'll beat you up, Schroeder, if you take one more step towards me and Charlie!"
He raised his eyebrow. "Charlie who?"
She faltered again, confused. "Ch-Charlie Braun?" He squinted at me. Crap. Was he about to reveal me to Violet? Snoopy growled towards Schroeder. Schroeder looked down at him, and then hesitated. Thank goodness for Snoopy.
"I don't want to hurt either of you, Violet. I just want to talk to Charlie… Braun."
I nodded cautiously. "Sure…" Violet snapped at me. "Are you crazy, Charlie?! He… he's the one that put Lucy in hospital." I nodded again.
"I can… uh, defend myself Violet. I stood up to Matt, remember? And I've got Snoopy." Violet slowly put her hands down, and then spat at Schroeder. "If I see him coming back with one scratch, I'll slug you!" She walked backwards, and then turned a corner. At least she seemed less out of character when Schroeder was around…
Schroeder sighed. "As I said, Charlie, they all hate me…" He checked his iPod. "It's 4:12pm." I had been walking with Violet for an hour?
"You're quite different, Charlie… I've been watching you, do you know that?" He said, walking around me. The warm summer breeze lifted his scarf into the air.
"I noticed." I remarked, remembering him hiding behind a rock when I stood up to Matt.
"I know you noticed." He looked around, making sure no-one was watching. "How about you and… what's your dog's name?"
"Snoopy."
"Can you and Snoopy meet me in the public library tomorrow? You know where it is, seeing how much you know." I nodded, uncomfortable. Could Schroeder somehow have figured out where I'm from?
"Right. A public library is a place where I can't hurt you, so tell Violet that if you see her, would'ya? I'll see ya tomorrow." He walked away, towards the direction of the library.
I checked my Blackberry. "4:16pm, Snoop. Back to the bunker?" He nodded. "Sure."
......
I lay in one of the beds inside the bunker, the candlesticks lit. It was only 6:02pm. Snoopy had found a chessboard under the bed, along with chess and checker pieces. I was alright at chess, but horrible at checkers. Snoopy kept giggling every time he took a checker, and I pretend to act annoyed, but I smiled on the inside. We were basically lost in our hometown, scared of the unknown – a little bit of a laugh is always fine.
We decided to sleep early, because the longer we stay awake the hungrier we are. Snoopy was trying really hard to conceal his hunger. Of course, this partly my fault, as he always is given a lot of dog food for Suppertime.
For dinner, I had a bit of cheese with a sprinkle of Kit-Kat chocolate on top. Snoopy had the same, but had tuna instead of cheese. It didn't taste that bad.
I tried to sleep like a log, but as usual, it didn't work, and I stayed awake worrying about the day ahead. What was Schroeder going to tell us? Would Violet look for me? And I still thought about the fact that I could talk to Snoopy now. How did that happen? This all had to be connected with that tornado, right? I feel asleep, thinking about tomorrow's problems.
When I woke up, I expected to see some sort of light, but I was stuck in darkness. I found it a tad hard to breathe. That's right, I'm in a World War I bunker… I felt Snoopy's body, and shook him awake.
"Huh? Why is it so dark?" He muttered. "Snoopy, can you light a candle?" I asked. I felt him rub his eyes, and he remembered the event's of the day before. "Sure…"
He picked up a candle, and quickly lit. I was again amazed by how he just rubbed it and it lit up.
I checked my phone. 8:03am. We had slept for more than fourteen hours – just.
"Should we go to the library straight away, Snoop?" He contemplated it, and shook his head. He looked under the bed, and brought out a paper and pencil.
"That's under there too? Well, at least it's not a pen… what do you want me to write?"
"Something to the… what were they called? Peanuts gang?" I nodded. "You said that you would visit them, didn't you?"
"Ah, yeah…" I decided to choose Violet. Her house is near the library, and I doubted she would be out. Hopefully.
Dear Violet,
I'm sorry that I cannot meet up with you guys today. An important matter came up and I cannot come because of it. I may be able to visit you later. I hope you understand.
Regards, Charlie
"Does that look convincing?" I asked. Snoopy nodded.
"Alright… let's go to the library…"
As we walked towards the library, Snoopy started talking.
"Wait! I just remembered!"
I frowned. "What's wrong now?"
"The library has a sign that says 'No Dogs Allowed'! And I only have my Beagle Scouts uniform, not Joe Cool!"
"Well, you can sneak in, right?" He hesitated. "I hope so…"
Violet's house was right next to the library, so I slipped the note under her door before walking up the steps.
We walked up to the steps of the public library, and the first thing Snoopy yelled (before we even got in) was "It's gone!"
I looked around. "What is?"
"The sign! The 'No Dogs Allowed' sign! It used to be right here, written in a black marker on white poster paper."
I nodded, and frowned. "Snoopy… I think I've figured out this one."
"Well, tell me why it's not there!" He said, somewhat frantically.
"I think that because you don't exist in this world, that rule was never created." I said, hesitantly. "But that's just a theory."
"A good one, though… that makes a lot of sense."
We walked into the library, and looked around for Schroeder. The library was filled with books as usual, and the librarian was the same librarian from our old world.
"Psst!" Whispered a voice brusquely. Schroeder was sitting in the corner of the library, wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Snoopy and I walked over to him.
"Hello Schroeder… what is it that you wanted to talk to us about?" I said, attempting to be brave. "Good attempt." Said Snoopy.
"I've figured out quite a bit about you guys. First of all, I know you aren't from around here. You haven't even moved here. I keep track on any new moving truck in this neighborhood, and the last one was four months ago." He paused, and rummaged through his bag. He brought out a large, ancient book.
"This," He said, slamming it on the table. ", is my Book of Shadows. Now, I'm show you've been through a lot of things. I don't know how you got here, but I can tell you right now – it was by magic."
"Magic?" I asked, mystified. He nodded.
"I hope you have no trouble believing me. I'm sure everyone you know is now different, or something like that."
I nodded. "Snoopy and I just want to get out of here. We've figured that apparently in this world, neither of us exist."
"Neither of you?" He asked. I nodded. "Hm… if we find out which spell was used, then we might be able to do it again, and figure out a way to get you back home."
He searched through his book, looking for possible spells. "So, wait… magic actually exists?" He nodded.
"Some people have magical potential. You clearly do, otherwise you wouldn't be here. I'll try to explain this so you can understand.
I'm earth, from what I've figured out. Everyone in that Peanuts gang – that you've probably met – also has magical potential. I haven't figured out all their elements, of course."
"What am I?" I asked.
He looked at me. "Describe yourself in one word."
"Wishy-washy." I said immediately.
He frowned. "Really? From what I've seen, you're not like that at all… but I guess you're water then."
"So, do I have superpowers or something?" I asked hopefully. Knowing my luck, though…
He shook his head. "No, neither do I. I'm not sure how I could get them yet." I sighed.
"So, please tell me all the details you can about how you got here."
I told him about my trip to camp, and how we fell down the cliff, and then the tornado. When I told him that I could talk to Snoopy, he muttered "That's very interesting…". I told him every moment and detail I could up until this visit, Snoopy telling me important details that I forgot when he could.
When I finished, he looked up from his book. He had a notebook in his hand as well. "I've written down about ten potential spells that could've been used… we need to narrow it down more…"
Snoopy got up and looked around at the books. "They're still all the same…" He muttered.
"So, what are the elements?" I asked, still amazed that this Schroeder knew about magic. Even though it defied science, I had to believe it. Plus, if this was the case, it would be the only thing that could get me out of here.
"Earth, water, fire, air, and I guess spirit." He said.
"And, um… how long have you known about magic?"
"Since I was four. Of course, I never wanted to go into detail or study it… until I snapped it."
"With Lucy?" He nodded, and sighed.
"There's a camp thing coming up in four days. You went back in time as well, as you said. That's a common side effect. I also checked over the side effects for all of the spells – all of them say that if you travelled with an animal, you can talk to that animal forever more. And is it really true that Sally is your sister? I don't see the resemblance." He was clearly trying to change the subject.
"Back to Lucy." I said. He sighed again.
"Alright, fine. At the camp, I was going to attempt to use a spell to… undo Lucy's accident.
She's going to be in the hospital for a couple more years. I was also hoping to undo Peppermint Patty's suicide as well, because that was a great loss." I nodded, uncomfortable. I was going to ask why she committed suicide, but I thought that I would ask later.
"The camp has a big forest around it, and I know we're probably going to have to go into the forest at some point. I think that's a perfect opportunity for me to use a spell that I recorded on my iPod. However, I also need to be in same Group as at least some people in the Peanuts' gang. I think I can do that.
But now, you've come. That's a problem to me. What if I do the spell, and I become non-existent? So I'm helping you for two things."
I frowned. "Two?"
"One – to get you back home. Two – to find out what spell was used, and not use that spell. I still want to unmake Lucy's accident, Charlie."
I nodded, about to speak, when a loud BARK come from the other side of the library. The librarian looked up, annoyed, but let it slide.
I stood up. "Snoopy?" Schroeder glared at Snoopy when he came to the table. "What's wrong?"
He panted, and pointed to a stand that showed a featured book series. Was it that 'Bunny Wunny' thing Snoopy goes on about?
"Please look at it!" He whined. I sighed, and walked over to the stand. It was a series with twenty-one books.
"What about it, Sno-"
I faltered when I saw the author.
'Written by Snoopy the Beagle'.