Chapter 5: Christmas Fables

"Hey guys, I wonder what's under here..." Kami commented.

"Let's look!" Rerun announced as he, Kami, Linus, Lucy and Janice pulled a quilt down, revealing something interesting.

"Is this some kind of furniture?" Kami asked.

Linus smiled "That's an old, rolled-top desk.

"You sure are smart." Janice cooed.

The seven year old blushed. "Thanks. In fact, the cover rolls right up!"

"Let me show you." Offered Beth as she did just that.

Snoopy gasped at what was inside the desk.

"Is the star inside?" BJ asked, but the beagle shook his head.

"That's not a star." Charlie Brown said.

"Well WHAT is it?" BJ asked.

Barney chuckled. "That's a typewriter. Snoopy loves to use his to write stories."

"How DOES a typewriter work?" Peggy Jean wondered.

"Each key has a letter on it." Barney began.

"Oh yeah! Like a computer keyboard!" Lila gasped.

"Right! And we can use a typewriter to write letters."

Baby Bop gasped "Let's write a letter to Santa!"

"Can't; we're looking for a star." Lucy reminded.

"A very quick letter won't hurt." Lila reassured.

Franklin smiled "What do we want it to say?"

"Let's see..." Lila thought about it.

Barney:

We're writing a letter to Santa, today

With so many things that we want to say

Baby Bop, Sally and Peggy Jean:

Dear Santa, we're writing to wish you good cheer

And tell you how good we've been this year

Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:

Oh Santa Claus, Santa Claus, please visit me

The house will look pretty, with lights on the tree

I'll leave some cookies, on Christmas Eve night

I'll be tucked in bed, all snuggled up tight

"How's the letter?" Heather smiled.

Lila smiled "I got something!"

"I can't wait!" BJ announced.

BJ, Peppermint Patty and Pigpen:

Fly up to my roof in your reindeer sleigh

Baby Bop, Sally and Peggy Jean:

Then slide down my chimney, with gifts, right away

Barney, Charlie Brown and Heather:

Before we forget, here's one thing more

For kids without chimneys, please use their doors

Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:

Oh Santa Claus, Santa Claus, please visit me

The house will look pretty, with lights on the tree

I'll leave some cookies, on Christmas Eve night

I'll be tucked in bed, all snuggled up tight

"One more time!" Janice giggled.

Oh Santa Claus, Santa Claus, please visit me

The house will look pretty, with lights on the tree

I'll leave some cookies, on Christmas Eve night

I'll be tucked in bed, all snuggled up tight

Lila then grabbed her letter. "Dear Santa Claus, I know it's Christmas Eve already and you're pretty much on a deadline; but I have one wish. I wish you a very special journey and merry Christmas."

Lila:

With love from Lillianna and her friends

A bit later, the kids were still looking around.

"I found a ball! I found a ball!" Baby Bop declared.

"I found a photo album!" Pigpen announced.

"I found more music for the Victrola!" Schroeder smiled.

Beth looked over "What did you find, Charlie Brown?"

"I found a rock..." Charlie Brown sighed.

"Anyone find the star yet?" Barney asked, looking up high on the ceiling.

"Nothing yet." Charlie Brown announced.

Heather smiled optimistically. "We just need to keep looking!"

"Yeah. It's gotta be SOMEWHERE in Grandpa Phillip's attic." Peppermint Patty commented.

Janice nodded in confirmation. "We just need to keep our eyes open and not get distracted."

"Exactly!" Linus agreed.

Franklin however was looking around the attic "Guys, where's Marcie?"

They looked around till they found Marcie shifting through some old books. "MARCIE!" Lucy yelled. "What are you doing?!"

"Looking through books?" Marcie casually shrugged.

"We're supposed to be looking for the star!" Peppermint Patty scolded.

"Sorry. I got distracted." Marcie shrugged.

"Did you say books? I like books!" Baby Bop smiled. "Will you read a book to us, Barney?"

"Well, we should be looking for the star." Barney said.

"Pretty please?" Baby Bop asked sweetly.

"Well, I guess we can read just one book." Barney smiled.

"Here's the Gingerbread Boy." Sally smiled.

"That's one of my favorites!" Barney smiled.

"And Mother Goose Rhymes!" Marcie smiled.

"Another personal favorite!" Barney smiled before Baby Bop held a book of The Night Before Christmas.

"Oh, a book with Santa on it! What's this about, Barney?" Baby Bop asked.

"Oh, it's a special book for this time of year, Baby Bop. It's called 'The Night Before Christmas'." Barney explained.

"Can you read it to us? Please?" asked Rerun.

"I'd be delighted!" Barney explained. "Now let's see here..."

"How many books have you gone through?" Beth whispered.

"All of them." Marcie whispered back. "And none of the boxes had the star in it."

"Everyone ready?" Barney asked.

"Ready!" the kids said.

"The Night Before Christmas. By Clement C. Moore..."

"Ooooooooh!" Snoopy smiled and wagged his tail.

"T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse." Began Barney as the kids began to imagine themselves in the story.

"That's my favorite part: the opening verse." Lila whispered with a smile.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there. The children were nestled, all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads." Barney continued with Sally, Lila, Kami, and Kevin playing the children.

"What's a sugar plum?" Sally whispered to Linus. "And more importantly, what's a plum?"

"It's a type of prune." Linus whispered.

"Oh. What's a prune?" Sally whispered to which Linus rolled his eyes.

"And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap, when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash." Barney continued with Heather and Charlie Brown playing the mother and father.

"Yipe!" Snoopy gasped.

"The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave a luster of midday, to objects below..." Barney continued. "When what do my wandering eyes should appear? But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer."

Snoopy then leapt into an empty box and pretended to steer it, making Woodstock and Lila giggle.

"With a little ol' driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment, it must be Saint Nick!" Barney added on, also chuckling. "More rapid than eagles, his coursers, they came. And he whistled and he shouted and he called them by name."

"Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Dandruff and Blister!" BJ declared proudly, confusing Snoopy with the last two names.

"To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall, now dash away, dash away, dash away, all!" Barney chuckled and continued.

"They forgot Rudolph." Peppermint Patty whispered disappointedly.

"Mm hmm..." Marcie said, getting a little drowsy from the story.

Snoopy laughed and kept playing in the box.

"So up to the housetop, the coursers, they flew; with a sleigh full of toys, and Saint Nicholas, too! And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof, the prancing and pawing of each little hoof." Barney continued as Heather and Charlie Brown looked over. "As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney, Saint Nick came with a bound!"

"YIPE!" Snoopy tumbled out of the box, making the kids and dinosaurs burst into laughter.

"Oh brother...he was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot. And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys, he had flown on his back; and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack."

"What's a peddler?" Janice asked.

"A salesperson." Linus whispered back.

Barney smiled "His eyes, how they twinkled. His dimples, how merry. His cheeks were like roses; his nose, like a cherry."

"More like a lump of coal." Lucy snarked.

"His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow." Barney added as Snoopy danced around for the kids. "He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed, like a bowl of spaghetti."

"Go, Snoopy!" Peppermint Patty hollered as Marcie looked at her friend wearily. "He does a good Christmas dance, dontcha think?"

"He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread." Barney continued as Snoopy winked at Lila.

"You're so silly, Snoopy." Lila whispered with a smile.

"He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, and laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose." Barney continued as Snoopy continued to steer his 'sleigh'. "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, 'HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!'"

"I liked that story, Barney!" Peggy giggled.

"Me too! Santa on the roof, the clip clap..." Baby Bop giggled.

"I wish Santa would come today and bring us a star." Beth sighed.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find it soon. Let's keep looking." Barney assured.

"And I'm gonna look here." Marcie said, before glancing at the books. "Okay, maybe I'll read ONE CHAPTER of 'A Christmas Carol' FIRST..." she told herself as she grabbed a blanket and curled up with the book.