||| | | | ||||?"
Snoopy rolled his eyes. "Listen, after this, we can have all the cookies that we want."
|| | |||| ||| |!
"Well, do you have any money?"
|.
"So then, here's the plan. You'll distract the round-headed kid, while I snoop up from behind and take all the cookies!"
|||?
"Don't worry Woodstock, it'll be fine... don't worry a thing!"
……
It was Friday prevening, and school would end in a few minutes.
Oh boy… as soon as school ends, I have to find Linus… then I have to bake cookies and brownies… Thought Charlie Brown, his head on his desk. I wonder how many people will come this time… I know Patty said she probably would… but will she really?
"Charlie Brown!" Violet whispered sharply from the desk behind him.
Charlie's head shot up. The teacher had asked Charlie a question.
"Uh… could you repeat the question, Mrs. Donovan?"
Luckily, the bell rang at that exact moment. "Phew…" Charlie Brown said to himself, retrieved his things and walked out with Violet.
"Thanks for the save, Violet…" He said, warily. Violet was most well-known for her rude and bossy attitude, but Charlie Brown also knew that on some days she was neutral, and just liked to chat.
Luckily, it seemed that she was on one of her good days.
"You're welcome, Charlie Brown…" She said, smiling. They both walked out of the class and went to their lockers, which happened to be next to each either.
They both attended Pinecrest Elementary School, which used to be James Street Elementary School, but was changed a little bit after the school collapsed, they decided to change the name, because the teachers and the principal thought that a new, rebuilt school deserved a new name. (Even though that it had keep the "James Street Elementary" name for a little bit afterwards.)
Violet, Shermy, Patty and Charlie Brown were all in the same grade, their last year of school. Most of their friends were in the year below, which is why Charlie Brown had to wait for Linus. Then again, all classes finish at a different time. Charlie was just lucky to have a teacher that let everyone leave as soon as the bell rang.
He sat down on the steps outside the school, Violet plopping down next to him.
"Are you waiting for Patty?" He asked. She nodded. "Yeah. And Frieda."
"So…" Charlie hesitated, not certain on how to start a conversation. He felt more confident behind the Crumby Cookies stand, and he had only been there twice!
"Uh, are you coming to our store today?"
"Oh! You mean Crumby Cookies?" Charlie was silently surprised that she had remembered the name. She was probably on one of her bad days last week… he thought.
"Yeah, of course we'll come! Patty, Frieda and I were planning on coming down. When does it open again?"
"4:00." He replied immediately.
"Wow! You've memorized it already, Charlie Brown?" Said an amused voice from behind. They both turned around. Patty was standing behind them, grinning, and squeezed inbetween.
"Uh, yeah, I guess." He said, slightly embarrassed. "That was weird. I don't even remember attempting to memorize the times… that's normally something Linus would do." Patty giggled.
"Well, we made plans to come down to your stand today! We were also going to-"
"I literally just told him, Patty." Violet cut in. Patty blushed. "Oh, uh, sorry…"
"Charlie Brown! You finally got in with the ladies, I see!"
Shermy walked in from behind, laughing, and squeezed in between Charlie and Patty. Patty blushed and giggled. Violet rolled her eyes and Patty's antics, but in a joking way.
"Hey, Shermy…" Charlie said warily. He hadn't seen Shermy for a while, but he looked like he normally was; determined and strong.
"I heard that you have started a business, in cookie-baking no less. The news is getting bigger in the school by the day. Even Patty couldn't help telling me how remarkable your cookies were." He said, smiling.
"Uh, yeah, yeah I have." Charlie said, his confidence growing a little.
"Well, I guess I'll have to drop by later today, eh?" He remarked. Patty spoke up, stuttering and blushing.
"We-well, Shermy, i-if you wanted to-"
Violet cut Patty off. "Shermy, Patty, Frieda and I are going over to Crumby Cookies at four. Want to come with us?"
Shermy nodded. "Sure! I gotta go for now, though, but I'll meet you at… Crumby Cookies is at your house, right?" He asked, turning to Charlie.
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll meet you at Charlie's house at 4:00. See you then!" He said, scrambling off.
Patty sighed dreamily, while Violet rolled her eyes again. Charlie laughed, something he hadn't done since last week. Before that? He couldn't remember.
"Charlie Brown! Come on, let's get going!" Linus quickly scurried to Charlie Brown, his bag unzipped as if he had ran out of the classroom in a rush.
"Uh, Linus, you dropped a book back there…" Pointed out Patty, trying not to chuckle.
"Oh, thanks Patty!" He quickly ran, grabbed the book, and then pulled Charlie Brown up. "Come on, Charlie Brown! We got a picnic table to install!"
"I wasn't the one late, Linus…" He said, as they both ran off together, leaving Patty and Violet waiting for Frieda.
……
"You used the same paint as Snoopy's doghouse, I see!" Remarked Linus, looking happy as usual.
"Yeah…" It was 3:45, and Charlie Brown was assembling the picnic bench outside. The cookies were baking inside the oven, in Charlie Brown's house.
As Charlie constructed the picnic bench, Linus reinstalled the Suggestion Basket.
Meanwhile, Snoopy and Woodstock watched from the roof. Snoopy had binoculars in his hand.
It seems they are setting up for their guests, Woodstock. Snoopy noted. Woodstock nearly fell onto Charlie's head, but Snoopy caught him.
Stupid bird!
At 4:00, Charlie Brown and Linus were sitting behind the counter, not bothering to take out their comics yet.
The blackboards had changed. The top ones said "FRIDAY SPECIAL" in many different colours of chalk, along with a big 'explosion' design around it. Under it, were the prices of the cookies. Charlie had added brownies and raspberry cookies to the mix. (The raspberry cookies were twenty cents, along with the other cookies, because the special indicated that all prices were 20% off. The brownies were forty cents each, and on other days would sell for fifty.)
They could see their first four customers approaching in the distance.
Linus rubbed his eyes. "Wow, I didn't expect so many already!"
"Oh… sorry, I forget to tell you. They were planning to all come as soon as it opened."
"Well, I hope made a lot of cookies!"
"I did. Uh, fifteen of each cookie, and thirty brownies."
Shermy, Frieda, Patty and Violet were all chatting in the distance, their words becoming more and more audible as they continued walking. Charlie Brown could make out some words like "cookies" and "Charlie Brown".
As soon as the group was within distance, Shermy yelled in amazement. "Woah! Who knew you could make a picnic table, Charlie Brown? It's slick!"
Charlie beamed with pride as the group chattered about the picnic table. It was painted red, and looked somewhat shiny.
"It's the same wood I use to rebuild Snoopy's doghouse…"
"Wait, you built Snoopy's doghouse?" Frieda asked, surprised.
"Uh… yeah…?"
"How did you manage to make it so enormous on the inside?" Asked Frieda, aghast.
"Er… what?"
"Oh. I guess it's something Snoopy installed himself…" Frieda muttered. Charlie still looked confused. "His doghouse is bigger on the inside." She explained.
"What? Oh! Right. Yeah, he did that."
"So you rebuild it every time that cat from next door scratches it apart?"
"Yeah?"
"Does he pay you?" Frieda asked.
Charlie sighed. "It's just a doghouse, Frieda… anyway, what would you guys like from Crumby Cookies today?"
"Oo! I see you have added brownies! They're my favourite!" Violet said joyously.
"You have raspberry cookies? The colour of the raspberry will go perfectly well with my naturally curly hair." Frieda remarked. Linus snickered, and Frieda gave him a playful glare. "I'm joking doofus."
"I'll take the chop chips!" Shouted Shermy, smiling.
"I'll have choc chips as well… or should I have blueberry?" Pondered Patty.
After they had all decided their choices of food, they bought it and sat at the picnic table, munching at their cookies (and brownies) while chatting about various things.
Shermy had offered Charlie Brown and Linus a spot, but they declined, as who knows when another customer might come?
They read their comics while waiting for another customer, Charlie Brown reading Spider-Man again while Linus was still deeply engrossed in The Avengers.
"Hiya, Chuck! I heard that you were runnin' a business or sometin'!" A happy voice called out from the sidewalk.
Charlie looked up, and smiled when he saw Peppermint Patty, with Marcie tagging along behind. "Hello, Charles."
"Hi, Peppermint Patty. Hey, Marcie." The other Patty nearly looked up when she heard her name, but quickly dismissed it when she realised it was the other Patty.
"Me and Marcie came over-"
"You mean 'Marcie and I', sir." Marcie cut in, correcting Patty's grammar.
Patty sighed. "Stop calling me sir, Marcie. Anyway, we heard about this cookie stand and came to check it out!"
"Wow! The news of my stand has reached to the next neighborhood?" Charlie said, shocked and happy.
"Mm-hm! Well, sorta. Pig-Pen told Franklin who told us. So, we'd like to have, mm, how many would'ya like, Marcie?"
"I don't mind, sir."
"Five choc chips for me, and five brownies for Marcie." Marcie smiled a little bit.
Marcie put her hand in her pocket to look for a dollar, but Patty stopped her. "I'll pay, okay?"
"Sir…" Marcie rubbed her head.
"Let me do sometin' good for once, alright Marcie?" Said Patty, chuckling. "Here's the money, Chuck."
"Thanks, Patty… Linus, five brownies and five choc chip cookies please."
Linus, of course, was still in the middle of an Avengers comic. Charlie sighed and snatched the comic out of his hands.
"Hey! …oh." Linus blushed, embarrassed. "Heyyy Patty… hey Marcie. Ehe. Whoops."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Five brownies and five choc chips, please."
Linus nodded. "Right…" He gave the cookies and brownies to Patty, who gave the brownies to Marcie.
"Thanks, Chuck and Linus!" She said, as she bit into one. Her eyes widened them.
"Uh, is something wrong Patty?" Said Charlie, worried.
"MARCIE, YOU'VE GOTTA TRY THESE!" She yelled, her voice somehow flipping everyone within earshot over onto their backs. She quickly shoved a chop chip into Marcie's mouth, and turned to Charlie.
"I didn't expect these cookies to be so good, Chuck! To be honest, we came here just to be nice!"
"You… did?" Charlie said, rubbing his hand on his head.
"Yeah! But these are actually good!"
Marcie stood up, and put her glasses back on. "They are really good, Charles…"
"Alright Chuck, we should be leaving now. See you two later!"
"See you, Patty… see you, Marcie!" He waved as they walked away. The group at the picnic table continued chatting.
Linus snatched his comic back from Charlie Brown, and continued reading. Charlie Brown continued reading his as well.
I wish I could be like Peter Parker… thought Charlie Brown, midway through the comic. He's not afraid of all these villains, yet he still is treated like a villain through the press… that's some commitment… of course, Charlie Brown didn't notice the noise from the picnic table die down.
Ting-a-ling-a-ling!
Hearing the familiar tingling of the bell, he leaned down to put his comic away, and nudged Linus, who actually responded this time.
But for some reason, all he did was look up, and gape.
Charlie looked at Linus, slightly confused and still annoyed, and then turned to the customer.
"Sorry about that! Hi, welcome to Crumby Cookies, what can what caaaaaaa-" He stopped mid-sentence when he focused properly.
His speech became a slur.
Standing, right before him, was the Little Red-Haired Girl.
...
She was talking, but he wasn't listening.
His breathing was confused. His mind was shaky. Wait, no, the other way around...
Linus had to interrupt. "I'm sorry! Could you please give a moment for my friend to talk?"
He had pulled Charlie away.
"Listen, Charlie Brown, this is your chance, what are you waiting for?"
Charlie Brown felt dizzy... but he steeled himself. Linus was right! This was his chance!
Suddenly, a loud noise came from inside the house. The two boys quickly looked inside - and then a bird flew out!
Woodstock...? Charlie wondered aloud. But he shook his head. He had to focus!
Linus smiled as Charlie Brown walked to the Little Red-Haired Girl. He couldn't look at her in the eyes, but gestured towards the cookies. "So, which ones would you..."
He faltered. All of the cookies had disappeared.
"OH, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were all out. I'll come by another time!" Said The Little Red-Haired Girl, walking away before Charlie Brown could say anything. He was dumbstruck
Linus was confused. "But we had a lot of cookies! Where could they have...?"
A BURP! was heard from the backyard, and then the sounds of a dog and a bird laughing. Charlie Brown and Linus looked at each other.
And then, Charlie Brown he sighed. "Of course they took the cookies..."
...
Snoopy and Woodstock were laughing, enjoying the spoils they had gotten.
|| |||| || |!
"And they would never suspect it was us, Woodstock!"
||| ||||!
"Your agent name, right, sorry. They would never suspect it was us, Agent Bird!"
|||| |||.
Snoopy rolled his eyes. "Right. Agent Woodstock, I meant. Got it."
...
Charlie and Linus sat on the curb near their house. They decided to maybe sell more cookies tomorrow.
"Well, Charlie Brown, I think this has been a pretty succesful thing for you so far, don't you?"
Charlie Brown sighed, exasperated. "I should've bought insurance."
"We can do this again tomorrow, if you like! Or maybe we work on something new. Or do something else. The world is our oyster, Charlie Brown!" Linus stood up, looking into the distance, spreading his hands encouragingly.
"Maybe. We'll see. Who knows if the cookies were really that nice..."
Linus rolled his eyes, and sat down. "Is that really how you feel?
Charlie Brown thought about it. He thought how even Lucy had called his cookies good. How people from all over had come to visit - Violet, Patty, Shermy. Even people from the next neighborhood - Peppermint Patty, Marcie... even the Little Red-Haired Girl had come to visit.
As much as people said Charlie Brown couldn't do anything right... there was no denying that people enjoyed what he made.
Maybe that meant... he could do something right, sometimes.
Charlie Brown smiled. "No, I guess not."
They sat on the curb, together, watching the cars go by.
Thank you!
The "Cookies" fanfiction is now over!
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Thank you again for reading.