Hello,

I just came to wish you...

hello im stephy and i love icarly im 17.i turn 18 next year.see you round

Quote:Chapter 11b: Souls in The Stars


"Hey, bro," Almond said when I got out from Uncle's car.

"I pretty much failed," I said. "Were you luckier than me?"

"Yes and no," he replied.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

"I found him, but because of a few things I lost him again," he said.

"Really? Where did you find him?" I asked.

"A tree house in the park," he said.

"A tree house in the park..." Uncle said. "The Secret Place?"

"How did you know?" Almond asked. "And who are you?"

"Alright, let me introduce you," I said. "Almond, this is Uncle, one of Randy's closest friends. I met him on my search and he agreed to help. Uncle, this is my brother Almond Cookie."

"Hey! My name is..." Almond said before I interrupted.

"He already knows everything from Randy. It's fine," I said.

"If you found him there, then I believe you found ChaCha as well," Uncle said. "What remains of him anyway."

"The yellow toy car?" Almond asked, and Uncle nodded. "Though I'm kinda confused now."

"I haven't told you about things here because I wanted it to become a surprise," I said. "Randy had a number of magical friends. They are souls of deceased animals possessing inanimate objects."

"I see," Almond said. "Come to think of it, I remember that there were a few things put in the car. A small green toy car, a toy robot, and an even smaller toy police car."

"I don't know the other two, but the police car is probably Papa Rat," I said.

"The green car is Pyoko, and the robot is Bull," Uncle said. "After their soul was gone, Randy gathered their bodies in that tree house. Unfortunately, four of them were just impossible to bring."

"The hippopotamus truck, Cindy the elephant excavator, the leopard sports car, and...?" I asked.

"The whale cargo plane," Uncle said. "The truck and the sports car were left in the plains not far from Greenhill, and the excavator is still used by people."

"How about the plane?" I asked.

"No idea," Uncle said. "There weren't any news about plane crash or such, so it probably fell down to the ocean and sunk. Nobody knows where it is now."

"That's sad," I said. "By the way, we have been talking for a while but Randy hasn't come back yet."

"Do you think it's because we're here standing in front of his house?" Almond asked.

"Maybe..." I said, then I noticed a familiar red car coming and parking right behind Uncle's car. Soon, Randy's father came out from it.

"Hi, what are you all doing here?" he asked.

"We are waiting for Randy to come home," I said.

"Why are you standing here outside? Come in and have a seat inside!" he kindly offered, and we accepted. All four of us then entered the house and sat in the main room. We all talked together for a while, but Randy didn't return home even after the sky had become completely dark.

"I honestly am starting to worry," I said.

"Me too," Almond said.

"I feel the same," Randy's father said.

"Let's go look for him," Uncle suggested, and everyone else agreed. Soon, all of us went out to look for Randy again. Randy's mother stayed at home in case Randy returned when we were out looking for him. I went with Almond to The Secret Place, but we didn't find Randy there. We then continued looking for him in the park, but it was of no success.

"I really wish your scanner worked right now," I said.

"Me too, Bro," Almond said. "But like I said, this planet has no soul. It won't work."

"Yeah..." I said, looking at the stars above. "Wait a minute! I think it can work!"

"Huh?" Almond asked in confusion.


Meanwhile, on a plain barely within walking distance, Randy was sitting alone on the top of a small slope. He kept looking upwards to the starry sky, musing and not knowing what to do. He was aware that his mother and father were probably worried about him, but he didn't want to meet the two visitors again. He would rather be scolded by his parents later than seeing them again and had his heart broken. He had decided to stay there until morning.

"Hey there," suddenly he heard a familiar voice from behind. Without looking, he knew that it was me, and Almond was with me.

"What are you doing here?" Almond asked, but Randy didn't show any response.

"May I sit here?" I asked, standing next to him at his right side.

"Whatever," he said, and I sat down. Almond immediately followed by sitting at Randy's other side.

"Nice view, eh?" I said, looking at the stars above.

"Makes you want go there," Almond said.

"You can't," Randy said.

"Why not?" Almond asked. "You won't know if you don't try."

"Well then how? We don't have a rocket or spaceship here!" Randy said, looking at Almond. I silently chuckled a bit, knowing that actually there was a spaceship right there.

"I didn't mean about going there literally," Almond said with a little laugh.

"If you mean telescope or book, I already know," Randy said, still looking upset.

"I think you should tell us why you don't want us to be here," I said.

"Why should I?" he said. "You don't exist anyway!"

"Eh? What do you mean?" I asked. "We're right here."

"No! You don't exist!" Randy shouted, closing his eyes and hugging his legs tight.

"Then you should just say it loud to the stars," Almond said.

"Huh?" Randy asked, seeming confused.

"We don't exist, so you're now alone. The stars are good listeners when you want to say something," Almond said.

"I don't want to say anything," Randy said.

"It's not good to keep it to yourself for long. You'll feel pain in your chest," I said. "Believe me, I have experienced it myself."

"No! I don't believe!" Randy shouted, quickly standing up. "I don't believe in you! I don't believe in Cindy! I don't believe in Leopard! I don't believe in Hippo Truck! I don't believe in Bull, Pyoko, and Papa Rat! I don't believe in ChaCha!"

"Eh? What are you saying?" I asked.

"I don't believe in miracles! All my friends were not and were never real! They were just my imagination!" Randy shouted with tears leaking from his eyes. "I keep telling myself in front of those toys that they were not real! I don't need to feel sad for them!"

"So that's what you do in The Secret Place?" Almond asked.

"Yes, but why should you care?!" Randy replied. "You both are from imaginary world! You're just my imagination! Please, make it stop!"

"Randy..." I said, looking at Randy, who sat down again hugging his legs and sobbing.

"Please... make it stop... Make me forget... Please..." Randy said, still sobbing. From what we had heard we could understand that Randy had been suppressing his deep sadness of losing ChaCha and his other friends by telling himself that they had not been real, hoping that he would forget them all. His hate upon us was because our presence reminded him of his lost friends, and it broke his heart.

"No, you shouldn't forget," Almond said. "You have a room in your heart for them, right? Leave the room as it is. Don't lock it off and forget, because after they were gone they can only live in others' memory."

"I don't get what you said, and I don't want to care," Randy said, still in sad tone. "People said that Greenhill is a city of miracles. If it is true, then why the miracle didn't keep them to stay with me?! I lost my best friends! They're gone! I don't believe in miracles anymore!"

"No, they're not gone," Almond said. "They are still there," he continued, pointing at Randy's chest. "In your heart."

"I know! Mom and Dad have told me that! But it's pointless if I can't talk to them and play with them!" Randy said. There was a silence for a moment because neither of us knew what to say.

"Randy, hold my hand," Almond said, with his right hand offered to Randy.

"Huh? For what?" Randy asked.

"Just do it. Please," Almond said. Randy reluctantly complied without saying any words. Almond then held his forehead with his other hand and concentrated. From seeing what he was doing, I could immediately guess that he was going to communicate with the souls of Randy's lost friends, just like how he had done it to locate Randy. This planet indeed didn't have a soul, but there were the souls of Randy's friends among the stars above. With his ability to telepathically communicate with souls, Almond had been able to ask them for Randy's location.

Soon enough, I could see Randy's face looking surprised. I couldn't hear what he heard, but I could safely assume he heard the voice of his lost friends. He was so surprised that he couldn't say anything. Tears then started to leak from his eyes, but he smiled. The communication lasted for quite a while, and in the end he fell asleep on Almond's shoulder. Almond smiled looking at Randy, then he looked to the sky while still holding his forehead.

"Thank you," Almond said, and for a moment the stars twinkled brighter than before.

"Is it over?" I asked with low voice, and Almond nodded.

"He sure has good friends," he said. "And now I know his real reason."

"Huh? What is it?" I asked.

"He actually could accept them being gone, but he wanted to at least say proper farewell before that happened," he replied. "Too bad it happened so suddenly without any warning."

"So that's what has been burdening him for years," I said, and Almond nodded.

"He also couldn't forgive himself for starting to forget about them back then. All he said about desiring to forget them was just a cover to suppress his sadness. In truth, he would never forget them, ever," he said.

"I guess it's time to bring him home," I said.

"Yeah, we cannot keep his parents worried for too long," Almond said. He then carried Randy on his back and we walked back home. Later when we arrived, his mother was waiting anxiously at the front door. When she saw us, she was surprised and immediately came running.

"Is Randy alright? What happened?" she asked.

"He's just asleep. We better put him on his bed now," Almond replied. She agreed and then all of us entered the house. Almond followed Randy's mother to the bedroom and then he put Randy on the bed. After that, the three of us went to the living room. Randy's mother immediately used the phone there to call the others and tell that Randy has been found and returned. Within minutes, Randy's father and Uncle came back to the house and all of us sat in the living room.

"Where did you find him?" Uncle asked.

"The plains not too far from here," I said. "He was looking at the stars."

"Ah yes, I completely forgot that it is his favorite place when the sky is clear at night," the father said.

"How did you know that place?" Uncle asked.

"We were just lucky," I said, thinking that it would be better not to reveal that Almond could telepathically communicate with the souls.

"Please don't scold him tomorrow when he wakes up," Almond said. "It's our fault that he went off like that."

"No, don't blame yourselves," the father said. "And don't worry about that."

"Thank you," I said. "I guess it's time to go home."

"It's already late," the mother said. "Why don't you spend the night here?"

"Don't worry. This time we got good transport," I said.

"Good transport?" the father asked.

"Oh, you mean that?" Uncle said. "But you put it pretty far from here. I'll take you there with my car."

After saying that, Uncle gave us a wink, which we immediately understood.

"Thank you," I said. Soon, all of us went outside. Almond and I entered Uncle's car, and with handwaves from us we left Randy's house.

"Can't have them see you opening the portal to your world, right?" Uncle said while driving.

"Yeah. Thank you," I said. "I couldn't think of a good excuse."

"No problem," he said. "By the way, take me to your world some time. I'm curious about many things there."

"We will, when we come back someday," I said.

Soon, the car stopped right outside the city and the three of us got off from the car.

"Be careful on your way," Uncle said.

"You too," I said, taking the Time Remote II from my pocket.

"Goodbye," he said as I opened the dimension door to Strawberryland.

"See you next time," Almond said, and both of us entered the dimension door. We ended up right in the living room of my house, and the dimension door vanished immediately.

"So, how was it? I mean, our trip to Greenhill," I asked.

"If you ask me, it was actually great," Almond replied. "But there were too many sad things."

"Indeed," I said. "But I believe everything will turn up okay."

"We have the same thinking," he said, and I yawned.

"It's bed time. I'm going to sleep," I said.

"Good night, bro," he said, sitting down on the sofa.

"Happy watching life," I said, going into my bedroom.


--End of Chapter 11b--

Quote:Chapter 11a: Blackberry's Path


Almond and I parted ways to search for Randy, our friend who suddenly hated us for unknown reason and went away. Almond went with Mary, Randy's friend next door, while I went alone because I was more familiar to the area than Almond who came there for the first time. While walking, I kept wondering why Randy suddenly hated us even though he had been still nice the last time I had met him. Maybe something had happened during my years long absence? Or maybe he was mad because I had not visited him for years? In the end, there was no way I could figure out the reason without asking Randy himself.

My first search point was the old house where an old lady lived with a ghost named Sarah. When I arrived there, I was quite surprised that the old house no longer looked old and haunted. The house was clean and neatly painted, and the broken windows had been fixed, unlike the house I remembered. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I knocked again, and there was still no answer at all.

"Hey, aren't you... David?" suddenly someone asked from behind. I turned around and saw that it was Randy's father.

"Randy's father? It's been a long time!" I said.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm looking for the old lady who lives here," I said.

"Oh..." he said. "Let's sit down for a bit."

Both of us then sat on the stairs right in front of the door of the house. The father looked a bit sad, which gave me a bad feeling.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked.

"I'm sorry to say this, David," he said. "The lady who lived here, is no longer here..."

"What...?" I asked. "You mean she's..."

"She became one with the stars two years ago," he said, looking to the sky. There was a silence for a moment.

"How come? And why this house is now very clean and tidy?" I asked.

"Her time had come, like any other old human" he said. "This house was inherited to her distant relative, and he had been taking good care of it ever since then."

"I see..." I said.

"Ah, there he is!" he said, pointing to a man walking from the distance. It was a rather fat man with thick dark brown beard. He wore green jacket with yellow shirt underneath and blue jeans.

"Him?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. He then stood up and approached the man once he got close to us. "Hello."

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" The man replied with a thunderous roar which surprised me, but Randy's father was not so surprised.

"People in town call him Mr. Daa because of that roar," he said, looking at me. "Why don't you greet him?"

"Uh, hello," I said reluctantly.

"Ahhh...." the man said, smiling. He then entered the house.

"He cannot talk properly because his tongue is handicapped," Randy's father said. "But he's very nice and helpful, and he loves kids."

"That's pretty sad," I said.

"Ah, I have to go now," he said, looking at his watch.

"Be careful on your way," I said.

"You too, and don't hesitate to visit us again," he said, and then he left waving his hand.

"Now, where next?" I said to myself. Then I remembered the antique store in the nearby dark alley. I tried going there and explored the dark alley, but no matter how hard I looked I couldn't find the antique store. However, I occasionally felt that someone or something was watching me during my exploration. I couldn't find the watcher either, so I gave up and left the dark alley. I then couldn't decide where to go next. Orgel House was not in walking distance, so it was not an option. I had been able to go there in my first visit because the Hippopotamus Truck had given me a ride, but the truck was not with me this time.

"Maybe I should try the park," I said. "Maybe Almond is there as well."

I then walked to the park. While walking, I kept wondering about Sarah and Papa Rat, who had lived with the deceased old lady. What had happened to them? Had they moved somewhere else? Or were they still living in the house secretly? I was still thinking about it too much by the time I arrived at the park that I didn't notice a bicycle coming.

"Watch out!" I heard a voice of a girl. I looked and saw a teenage girl speeding with her bicycle towards me. She almost hit me with her bicycle, but she narrowly evaded. However, as the result she hit an iron fence and got thrown off from her bicycle. To my surprise, she sommersaulted and landed on her feet.

"I'm sorry! Are you alright?" I asked, running to her.

"Don't worry. I'm just fine. I'm the one who should say sorry," she said, retrieving her bicycle. "I'm looking for my missing cousin so I wasn't paying attention."

"Hey, we're pretty much the same!" I said. "I'm looking for my missing friend."

"Huh? Hmm...." she said, thinking. "Are you... David?"

"How did you know?" I asked. "So I guess we're looking for the same person."

"I just visited his house and I heard about what happened from his mother," she said. "Yes, we're looking for the same kid. I'm Catherine, his cousin."

"Do you know where he might be headed?" I asked.

"I'm not really sure. He has a lot of places to go," she said. "This park is one, but I couldn't find him here."

"I looked for him near the formerly haunted house, but he's not there either," I said.

"I see..." she said. "Where could he had gone?"

"Maybe Orgel House? But the distance is quite far, so maybe not?" I said.

"He might have taken a bus ride," she said. "In here buses are free of charge for children under 10."

"Is that so? Then maybe that place is worth a visit," I said. "But I'm already over that age."

"I'll give you a ride!" she said, getting on her bicycle. "Come!"

"Thanks!" I said, then I sat behind her on her bicycle. The ride to the Orgel House didn't take too long and I got to enjoy a good sea scenery while on the way. When we arrived, I saw that Orgel House had not changed at all, still the same building on the sea side. After Catherine parked her bicycle, both of us entered through the main door and started searching. However, the search was no success.

"Looks like he's not here," I said while both of us were walking at the hallway.

"Let's take a short rest," Catherine said. "I'm kinda tired after the ride. You're quite heavy, you know."

"Good idea. I haven't been here after all, so might as well take a tour," I said.

"Huh? But you knew this place," she said, wondering.

"I once came here, but I went straight to the balcony through the side walkway. I've never seen the inside of the building," I said.

"Then you should come here," she said, directly walking to a door. "Inside this room is one of the many Greenhill miracles."

We entered the room and found the musician of the house in there, playing his large bass violin while the old-looking organ-like instrument next to him was playing a matching song by itself. Right above the instrument there were a number of musician miniatures which also played a song by themselves. I recognized the miniatures as the same ones I had seen in the antique store.

"See? The musician only played his bass. The rest played by themselves!" Catherine said in excitement, just as the music ended.

"The instrument is a machine, so no wonder," I said. "But the miniatures are sure wonders."

"Unfortunately, they are beginning to end..." the musician said.

"End? What do you mean?" Catherine asked.

"Lately, they don't want to play anymore. I often had to play only with the instrument, and it doesn't sound happy when that happens" he said, looking at the instrument and the miniatures above it.

"How come?" she asked.

"It seems people no longer believe in miracles," he replied with a sigh. "And that is very unfortunate."

"But they just played," I said.

"They seem to play only in the presence of someone who truly believes in miracles," he said. "I believe, but truth to be told, I'm not fully certain."

"I think I believe, but maybe not? I'm not sure either," Catherine said. Then she and the musician looked at me.

"Huh? Me?" I said. "Yes, I believe in miracles. But I didn't think I would qualify for them."

After saying those, I began to think that the term might be, in other words, people who could see ChaCha and his friends. But as far as I knew, the only one who could besides me and the Strawberryland kids was Randy himself. Could it be that Randy was actually there, or it was true that I qualified for the miniatures? While I was still thinking, suddenly the door opened and someone entered. It was a guy in his early-mid twenties. He had black hair and wore glasses with thick frame. His shirt, pants, and shoes were all black, and he wore a chain necklace with a metal scorpion figure on it.

"Oh, hi Uncle!" Catherine greeted him.

"Hey, Catherine. How're you doing?" the guy replied with a smile.

"I'm just fine," Catherine replied. "David, this is my friend. His real name is not Uncle, but we call him Uncle."

"Hi," I said. It didn't take long until we then told Uncle about what was happening and the fact that we were looking for Randy.

"I see. I'll help too," Uncle said.

"Thank you!" Catherine said.

"You can ride in my car," Uncle said, looking at me.

"Thanks," I said.

"Huh? What about me?" Catherine asked.

"If you want to leave your bike here, go ahead and join us" Uncle said.

"Oh yeah I forgot!" Catherine said and we laughed a bit. Soon, we left the place after giving proper farewell to the musician. In the parking area, I saw that Uncle's car was a black sports car which looked a bit old, but also very well maintained. It seemed to be able to run much faster than Leopard.

"Well, get in," Uncle said, unlocking the doors.

"Okay," I said, getting in. We then left the parking area after waving hand with Catherine.

"It's a very nice car," I said, trying to open a conversation.

"It's old, though," he replied while still driving.

"Why are you called Uncle?" I asked.

"Because I want to," he replied. "And why are you called David... Blackberry Bun?"

"Huh?" I said. His last sentence really surprised me. "I... I mean..."

"Relax," he said with a giggle. "Randy is my best friend. He told me a lot of things about you."

"Things about me? Everything? And you believe?" I asked.

"Yeah, everything, and I believe," he said. "If you ask why, it's because I'm pretty much the same as him."

"The same as him?" I asked.

"This car..." he said. "...was my late brother."

"Eh?" I said, surprised again.

"It's a long story, and I don't feel like telling it," he said.

"Alright," I said. "But you said 'was'? Does that mean...?"

"Yeah, his soul has become one with the stars now," he said. "It happened two years ago."

"How come?" I asked.

"I have no idea," he said. "It seemed that on that day, all souls possessing inanimate objects returned to the stars without warning."

"How did you know that he really returned there?" I asked.

"I had a dream of him telling me that it was time for him to go back to the stars," he replied. "The dream felt so real, so I knew that it was true."

"Wait! You said 'all'? Does that mean... ChaCha too?" I asked. Uncle weakly nodded.

"Poor Randy. He was so shocked," he said.

"Yeah, losing his best friend like that..." I said.

"There's something more about that, though," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Actually, Randy was starting to forget about ChaCha at that time," he said, which surprised me.

"Why?" I asked.

"He grew up like any other kid, and eventually ChaCha became too small for him to ride. So he started playing outside without bringing ChaCha, and little by little ChaCha became forgotten," he said.

"That's pretty sad," I said.

"Indeed," he said. "But like people said, 'You don't know what you've got until it's gone.'"

"By the way, where are we going now?" I asked.

"Like I said, I'll help looking for him," he said. "As you can see, it's almost sunset. He probably has returned home already, so let's look there first."

"You're probably right," I said. "And I promised my brother to return there by sunset."

"Oh, you have a brother?" he asked.

"Yes, and I love him very much," I said.

"Take a good care of him. Don't repeat my mistake..." he said. "Ah, never mind. I believe you won't."

So, we went back to Randy's house hoping that he had really returned home. When we arrived, I saw Almond already there standing around and waiting. My search for Randy was pretty much a failure, and I hoped Almond had been luckier than me.


--To Be Continued--

We're now on a new server, in case you've been wondering why the site seems to be responding a bit faster:

Chris Wrote:Good news everyone!

After a period of fairly random unreliability and some downtime over the past month, we decided to move to a brand new dedicated server. The new server has a better processor, almost 3 times as much RAM, twice as much bandwidth, and a 1Gbps connection speed - that's 10 times faster than what we had previously!

This should really help improve our reliability, and we can now realistically aim for almost 100% uptime through the year.

The move is complete, and everything should be working as normally, but if you notice anything strange, let us know!

Quote:After I had awakened, I smelled a familiar smell of Bacon and Eggs.

“Come on Galaxyman!” My friend Eridell said as he called to me.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and then looked at him, “What’s for breakfast man?”

Eridell opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted as the pieman entered with two plates, “Eggs anyway you want them.”

As he put the two plates down, setting one down in front of Eridell, Sourgrapes emerged along with one of my other friends, Jakeye. They both were carrying two plates of Eggs just as the pieman did.

“Good morning Jakeye, and you too Sourgrapes.”

“Good morning Galaxyman!” They both responded.

I slowly made my way to the table beside Eridell. I put the plate of eggs closer to myself and then looked at pieman.

The Pieman looked at me confused, “What?”

“Oh, I still can’t believe that you can make other things besides pies.”

Everyone, except the pieman, chuckled.

The pieman sighed, “Must we have this conversation again?”

“We don’t have to, but I just thought that it was worth mentioning.”

We all sat down and ate our breakfast. After everyone had finished, Sourgrapes took all the dishes and went to wash them.

The Purplepieman stood up, “Would you and your friend do me a favor Galaxyman?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Would you go to the Strawberryland store and get me some berries?”

“We’ll be happy too,” I said to him and then I chuckled a little.

“What’s so funny this time?” The pieman asked, getting irritated.

“The fact that you want us to go buy berries instead of stealing them, that’s what.”

“At least he wants us to buy them,” Eridell whispered to me.

The pieman was not amused, “Will you two knock it off?” He said to us half yelling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white piece of paper, “Okay, all of the types of berries as well as how much you need to get are written here.”

Eridell and I looked it over, “4 pounds of blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries,” I read out loud.

“Yes, that’s correct!” Pieman told us. “Also, my card number is on the bottom so when you get done, just tell the clerk to bill me later."

“Ah! There’s nothing more suspicious then buying 4 pounds of three types of berries and telling the clerk to bill the card later!" I said sarcastically.

“Will you two just go get the berries?" He said loudly as he went to another room. He then turned around, “While you’re there, please try not to run into “that girl”

I raised my eyebrow, “That girl? Who do you mean--? I then figured it out, “Are you talking about…?
“Never mind who I’m talking about! Just go!”


“Is this everything then?” A pink haired girl at the cashier machine asked.

I looked at the list again, “We’ve got 4 pounds of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries; yep, that’s everything.

“How do you want to pay for this?” the girl asked.

Eridell then took the piece of paper and handed to the clerk, “Well, we don’t have the physical card, but the card number is on this paper and that is how we’d like to pay. Please bill us later.”

“Interesting! Please wait a moment,” she said before she went into a backroom.”
“Uh oh!, I hope pieman didn’t give us a stolen card number,” Eridell said with concern.

“Nah, The pieman’s not that dumb!” I assured him.”

“I do hope you are right, Galaxyman!”

The clerk returned with the paper, “I just spoke with the manager and he said that the card was good.”

“That’s good to know,” Eridell said as we finished putting all the berries in sacks.

The clerk waved to us, “Have a good day.”

“Thanks!” We both said as we exited the store.


Well that was fun.” I told Eridell as we continued walking.

“I agree Galaxyman! We better hurry and get back to the pruplepieman with these berries.”

I heard the sliding doors to the store open and I caught a glimpse of a girl with a red hat leaving. I quickly grabbed my friend and we hid behind a bench that was nearby us.

“What are we hiding behind this bench for Galaxyman? What’s going on?”

“Shh…She’s hear you!” I told him.

Eridell’s voice became a whisper, “Who’ll hear me?”

“She will!” I said as I pointed to the girl who was walking by us.”

Eridell looked and saw a girl with a red hat on with orange hair and a small chameleon on her shoulder. He then ducked back down, “Who is she?”

“Her name is Peppermint Fizz and she’s the girl who was in my dream.”

I heard a small chuckle, “Wow, Galaxyman! I never realized you were that obsessed with girls.

I narrowed my eyes at him and then struck him in the head with my hand.

“OW!” Eridell said somewhat loudly.

The girl turned around to see what was going on, but then continued on her way when she didn’t see anything.

“Thanks for almost giving us away there, man.”

Eridell rubbed his head, “That was uncalled for.”

I sighed, “Will you quit your whining?” I watched as the girl got further away. “Now, as I was saying, “I had a dream and her name was mentioned.”

“How come?” He asked.

“I’m not sure exactly, but in the past, this girl had become a bully to another girl, and if I understand correctly, the other girl kept on being nice to her; eventually, the two girls became friends.”

“Interesting! But so what?” Eridelle asked.

“The two girls are still friends, but the weird thing is, Peppermint might go back to her old ways. However, I’m not sure when or how.”

Eridelle shook his head, “Yes, but Peppermint might not go back to her old ways. If they have been friends for a long time and have forgotten about those incidents, then they should be fine.”

I stood up since I knew Peppermint was now a distance off and couldn’t see us, “I’m sure the other girl has forgotten about it and even though Peppermint may have forgotten about it, but maybe she remembers it to.”

I helped Eridelle up, “Personally, I think that if anyone has a questionable past, you should always trust them with extreme caution no matter how good they have become.” I started walking in the direction she went.

“Personally, I think you’re loony,” my friend said as he came up to me. “What are you going to do? Spy on her?”

I looked at Eridelle, “You know what’s funny? I asked the white figure that.”

He raised his eyebrow, “White figure?”

“It’s complicated, forget I even mentioned it. Let’s follow her; she’s even heading in the direction where the pruplepieman lives.”

I quickly ran so I could try to keep her in sight while I was far behind her where she couldn’t see me.

“Be careful with the berries man!” Eridell called as he ran after me. We both continued running after Peppermint. After awhile, we both saw her still walking straight. I looked around to make sure that there were plenty of trees around for both of us to hide behind In case she saw us.

“This is insane!” Eridell said in protest, “Why don’t we just go up to her and confront her?”

I looked at him as I went by a tree, trying to keep an eye on Peppermint, “Why would we do that? I’m not going to blow our cover!”

Eridell shook his head, “Perhaps blowing our cover in this case isn’t such a bad idea.”

I sighed as we both continued to pursue her, keeping our distance as best as we could. We had no idea where she was going either. At some points, we thought we had lost her, but with a little luck, we managed to stay on her trail.

“Look Galaxyman!” Eridell said loudly pointing at a house in the distance. We’re almost back to the pieman’s house. How about if we just abandon this pursuit, give the pieman his berries, and then chase this Peppermint some other time?”

“I want to know what she’s up…Hold on!” I said as I stopped myself. Eridell slowed to a stop, only after he saw that I had stopped. We both saw Peppermint standing still looking around. I looked around and hoped that there was a tree close by us. We both continued to look at Peppermint who, thankfully, hadn’t seen us yet. I moved towards the tree.

“Are we supposed to duck behind the tree now?”

“No Eridell, but we should get close to the tree just in case she does.” As soon as I had finished speaking, I saw her slowly turn her head towards us. I motioned for my friend to get behind the tree. The girl saw my friend’s foot go behind the tree. She scratched her head and started walking towards us.

“Shoot!” I whispered to Eridell, “She’s heading our way!”

“I know,” he replied, “What are we going to do?”

I whispered into his ears for a few seconds and then he backed away when I finished, “Are you crazy? That’s not very nice.”

I smiled, “I never said it was nice, but it has to be done, or else, she’ll tell everyone she knows about us.

Eridell shook his head, “Well, I’d rather she tell everyone about us and leave a good report than the other way around.”

“Maybe that will happen a few years from now, dude. I saw Peppermint get closer. “Alright dude, I need two of your berries.”

“Why do they have to be mine? How come they can’t be two of yours? Eridell complained.

“Just give them to me and hurry!”

Eridell reached into his bags and pulled out one strawberry and one blueberry. I took them and held them in my hand which was behind my back, careful not to squash them. We both could hear the girl’s footsteps get closer.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Peppermint began.

“BOOGA! BOOGA!” I shouted as I took my hand that contained the berries and smashed both of them directly in Peppermint’s face.

“AAUUGHHH!” She screamed as the berries made contact and the juice flew on her face, some of it going on her clothes and in her eye. She then dropped to the ground holding on to her face while still screaming.

I turned to Eridell, “Now’s our chance, to the purplepieman’s house, Hurry!” I told him as I made a mad dash towards the house off in the distance.

“Goodness! Gracious! Our silly adventures!” He then turned towards peppermint who was still on the ground, “I’m sorry about that, my friend can sometimes be rather rash.”

“WHO ARE YOU? I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS!” She yelled, still not being able to see.”

“Oh my goodness!” Eridell exclaimed before he finally took off for the house.”

At this point, Peppermint was furious, “Cola! Cola! Where are you?”

The chameleon tugged on her shirt to let her know that he was there.

“Go after those two and find out where they are going. After you are done, come back and tell me everything you’ve found out.” She felt all around until she touched the tree; lifting herself up off the ground. She swept some more of the berry juice off her and saw her pet looking at her.

“Why are you still standing there?!” After them!”

The chameleon turned camouflage green to make himself look like the grass before taking off after us.

The orange haired girl looked at her hand which was now stained with both of the berries.
“I’ll get you for this!” She said to herself through clenched teeth. A sly evil smile and a chuckle then came from her, “I promise you that!”

So, I mentioned a while back to people who remember that I was getting the Strawberry Shortcake comic books as soon as I could. Well, I have two issues now so I thought I should give them some review, let people know what I think.

Starting with Strawberry Shortcake, Berry Fun, Volume 1.

The first story is the Pineapple predicament, the main story of the comic. Each comic seems to come with one major story and two minor ones. It was written by Georgia Ball, the Art was done by Tanya Roberts and the Colors by Amy Mebberson. In the side stories, the art AND colors are done by Amy Mebberson and it just seems a tad prettier, but that's just a personal opinion. The art is colourful and vibrant.

In the Pineapple Predictament, Strawberry is delivered some Pineapples instead of the regular apples she had actually ordered. After comforting the upset postal worker, who was beating himself up for the mistake, Strawberry gets in her mind to find recipes to use the Pineapples on for her cafe. After borrowing a book about Luau Island which contains some recipes for pineapples from her good friend Blueberry Muffin, she talks to Custard about how lovely Luau Island looks in the pictures. Jadie Bug over hears her talking about it and makes the assumption that she must be taking a trip there, and starts to spread the rumor around Berry Bitty City.

Soon enough, all of her friends think she is going and that she was just keeping it a surprise, and try to help her out and give her the best trip she could get. They are very sweet and try not to let on that they know, and still try to give her things they think will be helpful. This causes a chain of silly situations where Strawberry comes for one thing and comes out with something very different.

At the end, they feel like they haven't done enough to get her ready for her trip and so surprise her with a gift basket, only to find out that she isn't going at all. It's important to check your facts before you go believing rumors, and the moral here good. Luckily, Strawberry has a plan on what to do with everything..

There was some definitely cute moments along it, though reading it I feel like sentences like..

"Respberry Torte may know about trends but that fashion statement is too wild for me!"

and

"That was strange, Lemon always has great beauty advice, make I should get some sun!" would suddenly send warning bells in the minds of the people who are overly sensitive to the "girly-er" aspects of the new Strawberry.

Which is a shame.

The second story is the Blueberry Flu.

It's a cute little story about Strawberry getting sick, but her friends are there to support her work in the cafe, and realize the kind of work that Strawberry does everyday!

The third story is the "cutest" of the bunch, the one with a sweetest message. Special Delivery

It's holiday time and Orange Blossom is really excited to receive her usual holiday card from her big sister. She comes to the post office everyday looking for the card, only to be sad when it doesn't arrive. When Christmas Eve comes and the card still does not arrive, Orange Blossom starts to cry, feeling like her sister doesn't care anymore and forgot about her. Postmaster Bumblebee comforts her, reminding her mistakes happen and something can get overlooked, but to remember about all the people who love her, that presents and cards are nothing compared to the love of friends who care. I won't ruin the ending, but it ends up pretty sweet.

Afterthoughts: Honestly, reading the comic makes me sad that there are aspects about the new series that you all don't like, because the same elements that got me into the series are there and strong. The sweet morals, the kind friends, and the cute colour. I really love the art, and it really made me excited to get the next issue as soon as I could. As time goes on, you really start feeling that every girl is different, you start noticing all the subtle differences between them and I feel like the comics could be an avenue of introduction to the series that people who dislike CGI could get into. I only wish there was more than 4 planned.

Also, I wish we knew the name of Orange's sister! She looks like she would be named Orange Blossom too, there is no hint in her appearence. Dx

Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Fun #2

In the Sour Truth, Katie and Sadie Bug (the bugs look really cute), hear about the story of a wonderful postman who was honest and reliable, and gained a big reputation for being honest even. Katie and Sadie but hear this and decide that they should try being completely honest, that it would get them famous. However, they don't realize that it's important to have your own opinion, but still be encouraging to those you love. No one wants to be famous for being rude. These are the words of Strawberry Shortcake, after Katie and Sadie Bug hurt the feelings of a lot of girls.

This was a better main story then the Pineapple Predicament, even if the stories were predictable as always. That's something that's always been true with almost all stories to me though, and it was still intriguing enough to read.

A Little Kitchen Help

Strawberry Shortcake needs a little help keeping up with the demand that Valentines day will bring, giving away a free treat to everyone who comes. (As we saw before, her store get's pretty busy just normally!) She hires the adorable Littlest Berrykins, and we end up with a cute little story about giving someone a few chances to shine, they'll find something they are good at in th end.

Berry Fashionable

Raspberry Torte surprises her friends with beautiful dresses, (especially Strawberry's. I am in love with her dress, I wish I had a scanner so bad right now.), She leaves the clothes with Strawberry for a night while she thinks about how to make them perfect, having trouble being inspired. Strawberry vows to take great care of them, but when a blender goes out of control, all the beauty dresses become stained with rainbow berry juice! They try to get them out, but have a ton of trouble and only make them a little worse. Worried that Raspberry Torte will be mad, they realize they can't hide it from her anymore and have to tell her.

Raspberry walks in the shop, sad that she was unable to find the inspiration in time for Fashion Forward, her own little fashion show. She has a bunch of accessories, and is wearing a hat that looks a LOT like the original Strawberry Shortcake's hat, which I thought was a cute little nod. Raspberry seems down at first, but is happy that the girls were honest. However, after getting a good look she finds the unplanned splash of colour new and exciting, perfect in their own way. Friendship is the greatest inspiration of all.

Afterthoughts I liked this comic better than the last one, the art was slightly cuter, the stories were really cute and there was a little more of a wait for them. I really wish I had a scanner when I was reading it, I feel like the some of the pictures are berry cute.

Well, I'm short for words, but...

Happy Birthday!

I've already told Strawberry Shortcake's Hungarian name, Eperke, which makes "Strawberry" with a diminutive suffix. But, as I just found out, "Eperke" is an actual Hungarian name, according to Wikipedia. People can actually give this name to their daughters officially. Even though it's quite unprobable that I'll ever have children, but sure I'll consider to name one of my daughters as Eperke, especially if she'll have read hair. As you might suspect, it's not a popular name (considering that even I didn't know it exists), so it could be consiedered as a quite unique name nowadays. Another reason why is it a cool name.

Note, the Hungarian "Eperke" name itself is surely not inspired by the Strawberry Shortcake franchise. It's just a coincidence that "Strawberry Shortcake" was translated as "Eperke", which is also an official name.

Hi! I found these dolls while on a pony hunt at my local good will. They were $1 ea, plus $.50 for the frog and the figurine. Does anyone know anything about them? The yellow and blue doll are dated 1979, and the blinky eyes Strawberry Shortcake doll is 1984. Help! Value..? Production line...?



Sorry for the poor quality of the photo - it's late and I haven't had a chance to take a display photo yet.