The Christmas Dance

Inside the auditorium, as Charlie Brown entered, Schroeder was playing lively jazz music on a toy piano, with Pig Pen accompanying him on a very dirty guitar, and the same kids who were skating at the pond were now dancing wildly to the music.

"ALL RIGHT," Lucy shouted, "Quiet, everybody. Our director will be here any minute and we'll start rehearsal."

"Director?" the brown-haired girl exclaimed. "What director?"

"Charlie Brown!" Lucy responded.

"Oh, no! Patty, we're doomed," Violet sighed.

"This'll be the worst Christmas play ever," Patty said grumpily.

"Here he comes!" Lucy exclaimed, cutting her off. "Attention everyone! Here is our new director!"

The kids clapped, seemingly enthusiastically, but one "Boo" penetrated the noise. The crowd parted, and the "Boo" turned out to be from Snoopy.

"Man's best friend," Charlie Brown said sarcastically, throwing his coat off. Snoopy looked abashed.

"Well," Charlie Brown began, taking a stand by the director's chair, "it's real good to see you all here. As you know, we are going to put on a Christmas play. Due to the shortage of time, we'll get right down to work. One of the first things to ensure a good performance is to pay strict attention to the director. I'll keep my directions simple." He began gesturing to ensure his point. "If I point to the right, it means focus attention stage right, and the same with stage left. If I make a slashing motion across my throat, it means cut the scene short. If I spread my hands apart, it means slow down. It's the spirit of the actors that counts; the interest they show in their director. Am I right? I said, am I right?"

But the group wasn't listening. The music had started up again, and they were all dancing. "I call this 'Linus and Lucy', " Schroeder declared. Alice, Gideon, Danny, Minnie Mouse, Peter Pan, and Wendy then came into the auditorium and joined the others and started dancing, too.