Barney and Snoopy's Christmas Star
Chapter 1: Preparations
It was a fresh December morning in the Peanuts Gang's neighborhood. School was out for winter break and the kids were all enjoying the two week break.
"Marcie, what's going on?" Beth asked, walking over and seeing Peppermint Patty with her tongue stuck on a pole.
"Patricia got her tongue stuck on the pole." Marcie sighed in disbelief.
Beth gasped. "Patty!"
"She wanted to see if it would freeze like in A Christmas Story..." Marcie added, rolling her eyes.
"Good grief..." Beth looked over "How haven't you lost patience with her?"
"Long story..."
"Hey guys!" Charlie Brown greeted as he, Heather and Snoopy were racing across the parallel sidewalk.
"Gangway!" laughed Heather.
"WAHOOO!" cheered Snoopy as he dragged a sled behind him.
"LAST ONE TO THE PARK'S A ROTTEN EGG!" announced Heather,
"Wait up!" gasped Charlie Brown, nearly slipping on an ice patch.
The two lovers and the beagle laughed and kept running before nearly trampling Lucy, Linus, Janice, Schroeder and Rerun down.
"YOU BLOCKHEAD!" Lucy hollered, clinging onto the Barney doll tightly. "YOU NEARLY PLOWED US ALL DOWN!"
Janice was more confused. 'Did Snoopy's sled say 'Rosebud' or was I imagining that?'
"I'm so excited! It's our first Christmas in the park! We're going to decorate, sing songs, and exchange presents!" Heather squealed with delight.
"You notice the way how her eyes sparkle when she gets excited, and the way her voice gets high? I got to tell you, I'm a lucky guy." Charlie Brown whispered.
"WE GET IT!" Sally voice boomed from the Caboose.
"Anyway, I got a really fun idea for the park's first Christmas!" Heather smiled.
"Really? What is it?" asked a smiling Beth.
"SECRET SANTA!" Heather smiled.
"Huh?" Beth asked, confused.
"It's where you have to pick a name out of a bowl, and you have to give that person a present." Charlie Brown explained.
"Oh, that sounds fun!" Beth smiled.
"So, who else is going to help all of us out with the park's first Christmas?" Heather asked.
"Well, besides Beth, and since everyone else away on vacation, it's Kami, Darnell, and Kevin." Lucy explained.
"Well I'm so excited!" Janice squealed with delight. "And you know, Linus, it's our first Christmas as a couple..."
"Do you think everyone's gonna be on board with it?" Beth questioned.
"I hope so!" Heather giggled happily.
Later, after all the kids were in the caboose, Heather ran the idea by them. "So, are we in?"
"Sounds fun." Peggy Jean commented.
"I'm in!" Darnell declared.
Heather smiled 'Good, cause I already got the Secret Santa hat ready."
"How do we do this?" Kami asked.
"You take a name from the hat, and it can't be your own name. Whoever's name you get, don't tell anyone. You have to get the Secret Santa a present but don't tell anyone who you got. On Christmas Eve, we'll all meet back here to open Secret Santa gifts." Heather explained. "Now, who wants to go first?"
Lucy smiled. "Me first!" she announced and walked up to the hat. She then grabbed a name and walked back to her spot to see what the folded paper read.
"SNOOPY"
Lucy sighed.
Sally went next and grabbed a named, then read it.
'KEVIN'
"RATS!" she yelled. 'I wanted Linus'! she thought to herself.
Peppermint Patty went up next and drew a name from the hat.
'Darnell'
"Cool." she shrugged.
Marcie went next.
'Woodstock'
Marcie shrugged and let Heather take her turn next.
'Franklin'
Heather smiled before letting Lila take her turn next.
'PigPen'
"Uh oh." she gulped.
Peggy Jean took her turn next.
'Charlie Brown'
"This should be easy enough." Peggy smiled.
Janice took her turn next.
'Linus'
"Yay!" she whispered to herself.
Kami took her turn next.
'Marcie'
"This might be difficult." Kami said.
Beth took her turn next.
'ReRun'
"OK." she shrugged.
Charlie Brown trembled with terror as he took his turn next, but his fear turned into joy.
'Heather'
"YES!" he cheered.
Linus took his turn next.
'Sally'
"Oh no." he gulped.
ReRun took his turn next.
'Beth'
"What kind of gifts could she like?" he whispered to himself.
Schroeder took his turn next.
'Lucy'
"You got to be kidding me." Schroeder whispered.
PigPen took his turn next.
'Kami'
He shrugged and let Franklin take his turn next.
'Schroeder'
"This one should be easy." Franklin smiled.
Snoopy took his turn next.
'Lila'
"WHOO HOO!" Snoopy cheered.
Woodstock took his turn next.
'Peppermint Patty'
The yellow bird shrugged before letting Kevin take his turn next.
'Peggy Jean'
"I wonder if she likes trucks." Kevin whispered to himself. That left Darnell with the last name in the hat: 'Janice'
"Okay, this is gonna be easy as pie." Janice smiled to herself.
"Mmm hmmm!" Snoopy nodded.
And over the next few days, it was easy...mostly.
"Perfect!" Rerun declared, before picking out a teddy bear from the toy store. "My Secret Santa is gonna love it!"
Linus smiled and reluctantly grabbed a Snoozy Suzy set. "I bet they will."
"I take it you got a girl." Lucy laughed a little, with a wooly red sweater in a bag.
"What gave it away?" Linus asked sarcastically.
The three siblings then took the mall escalator to go get a bite to eat. They were about to step off when a chunk of Linus' blanket got caught in the escalator.
"MY BLANKET!" Linus gasped, horrified.
"That's life." Lucy shrugged. "Come on, boys."
"My... my blanket..." Linus repeated.
Meanwhile, Charlie Brown was busy looking around in the mall before seeing Heather eyeing some cute mittens. "Awwww, they're so cute. I wonder if I can buy them with my own allowance!" and she went to see the tag "Twenty-five dollars for mittens? I know inflation is high but this is something else..."
Charlie Brown smiled to himself and turned around to see Snoopy "Maybe if I shovel enough yards, I can get enough to buy the mittens for her as a Christmas present." He whispered.
Snoopy nodded.
"Do you know what're you getting your Secret Santa?" Charlie Brown asked.
Snoopy thought about it. Turned out he didn't have many ideas, after all.
"We'll find something for him or her." Charlie Brown comforted.
The two continued to walk in the mall together before spotting Sally walk out of the toy store with a red firetruck in her shopping bag. "Did you already shop for your Secret Santa?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Yes! And my Secret Santa will really love this!" Sally smirked.
Snoopy entered the toy store and browsed till he found a stuffed Nemo from Finding Nemo. He giggled to himself, knowing this might be perfect for his Secret Santa. He paid for it and exited the store.
Meanwhile, Janice was also shopping and helped Linus get his blanket unstuck. "Thank you, Janice." he smiled gratefully.
"You're welcome." Janice smiled. "So, shopping?"
"Yep! I see you've been doing shopping too? For your Secret Santa?" Linus asked.
"You bet!" Janice smiled and winked.
"I hope your Secret Santa enjoys their gift." Linus smiled before sighing. Even though the chunk of blanket that got stuck was freed, he knew it was gonna be hard to sew both pieces back together. With a sigh, he put his torn blanket in his backpack and decided to keep shopping.
Janice then gasped. "I think I'll make that spiritual poster his Christmas present. I got a better idea for a Secret Santa present." She thought.
Lucy was busy talking to Rerun about how to choose the ideal Secret Santa present when they saw Kami looking around in the Chapters near the food court. "Let's check it out." Rerun motioned.
"Hey Kam-Kam!" Lucy called out, startling the smaller girl.
Kami then looked over "Hi, Lucy!" she waved.
"I didn't know you like reading." Lucy commented before something clicked "Are you shopping for your Secret Santa?"
Kami nodded her head.
"Is your Secret Santa Marcie?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, but don't tell anyone..." Kami whispered.
Lucy smiled "I won't."
"Cause I need help choosing a gift." Kami said and handed Lucy a nickel. "What do you think?"
Lucy smiled. "Marcie has always loved books, but when we first moved our hangout to the caboose, she lost a book in the treehouse and we never found it..."
"Which book?" Kami asked.
Lucy then looked around and whispered it to Kami.
"Got it!" Kami smiled. "Thanks, Lucy."
"This will be perfect for Rerun!" Beth smiled to herself as she chose a plush dog for Rerun. "He LOVES dogs!" she then went to pay for the plush dog when she saw Darnell looking through some hats. "I wonder who he got." She giggled.
A few days later, nearly half the gang had gotten their Secret Santa presents ready and were talking together.
"You know, Christmas is always great. Visiting Grandma, eating her famous cookies, playing in the snow..." Lucy rambled.
Linus sighed and snuggled half his torn blanket as Janice patted his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay." She comforted.
"I hope so." Linus said as he tried taping his blanket together. It didn't work. "Rats!"
"Maybe your blanket will be all mended for Christmas. A Christmas Miracle!" Janice squealed.
"A Christmas Miracle?" Lila asked, amazed. "Those are always amazing!"
Marcie hummed happily, reading 'A Christmas Carol' on the couch, catching Peppermint Patty's attention. She grabbed a sprig of mistletoe and dangled it over her little friend's head. Franklin took notice of the mistletoe and without hesitation, kissed Marcie on the cheek.
"Franklin?" Marcie looked up from her book in surprise.
"Mistletoe." Franklin said, motioning at Peppermint Patty still holding the plant.
Heather giggled. "Wouldn't it be nice to kiss under the mistletoe, babe?"
"Sure would." Charlie Brown said, holding her hands. "I really like your hands. I want them to stay warm this winter."
"Thanks, babe. But when I'm holding your hands, mine are already warm." Heather cooed.
"Check out this new hat I got for Barney." Lucy beamed happily.
"Ooooooh!" Snoopy gasped in awe.
"This is going great! Tomorrow, we'll decorate the big tree in the park, wrap all the gifts for charity, and then exchange presents!" Heather smiled.
"This is going to be one of our best Christmases ever!" Charlie Brown smiled.