Chapter Text
The sky was dark purple, and the stars were scattered across the sky. Fireflies flew freely over the fields, their abdomens glowing brightly, though not outshining the brilliant moon. On the ground, the green grass, flowers, and berry bushes were softly blown by the night wind, but the trees remained steady. A small river flowed, babbling as it did so. Crickets chirped and owls hooted, creating music in the night. It was a humble land, but many plants, animals, and people called it home. This was Strawberryland, and as far as its residents were concerned, it was the best place in the world, and soon, there was going to be a new one.
A wagon was being pulled along a dirt path. It had many things inside of it: clothing, packets full of strawberry seeds, a watering can, cookbooks, kitchen supplies, pantry items such as flour and sugar, and pet supplies. It also had two animals inside of it. One was a pink cat with a bow tied around her neck, and the other was a small white dog with green spots and a collar with a strawberry. The cat was named Custard, and the dog was named Pupcake. Pulling them was their beloved owner: she was a girl with fair skin, short red hair, and eyes green like the leaves on a tree. She had on a white shirt with green stripes, covered with a strawberry red jacket. Her legs were covered in green and white striped tights, red sneakers, and a pink skirt with dark polka dots, similar to the seeds on a strawberry. Her hair was accessorized with a pink bow, with a strawberry in the center. With her right hand, she pulled the wagon, and with her left hand, she held a map of Strawberryland, which she carefully observed. She walked briskly, though not so fast as to make the wagon ride for her pets uncomfortable. Her name was Strawberry Shortcake.
“So, Strawberry,” Custard began, “how much longer is it until we get to the new house?”
“We’ll be there berry soon, Custard!” Strawberry exclaimed.
Strawberry took another look at the map.
“It says here that our house is along the river,” Strawberry explained, “all we have to do is cross this bridge and it’ll be straight ahead!”
Strawberry looked up from the map, and sure enough, she saw a small bridge going over the river. She smiled at it.
“Hold on, Custard,” Strawberry said, “hold on, Pupcake!”
Custard and Pupcake did as Strawberry said and held on tightly to the wagon. Strawberry crossed the bridge, and soon, she could see her house: it looked like an actual strawberry shortcake with windows and a door. The roof of the house was white and covered with red strawberry decorations. Her eyes lit up, and she grinned.
“Wow,” she whispered, “it looks wonderful!”
Strawberry walked to the entrance of her new house. She let go of the wagon’s handle and put her free hand on her hip, taking a moment to admire how sweet her house looked. When he realized that they had come to a stop, Pupcake jumped out of the wagon and began running circles around the new house. Custard looked up at the house and smiled softly at it. Strawberry turned her head to face Custard, and then, she walked over to the wagon and picked her up.
“What do you think, Custard?” Strawberry asked.
“I think it looks neat,” Custard began, “but I haven’t seen the inside of it yet. I need to know if there’s somewhere nice and comfy to take my naps.”
“Oh, we should go take a look inside, shouldn’t we?” Strawberry replied.
Custard nodded her head, and Strawberry walked to the door, still holding Custard in her arms, and opened it. Pupcake ran inside before Strawberry could walk in, and she followed him. There, they saw the living room. It was covered in carpet, and there were a few tall shelves with nothing in them. There was a red couch that had yellow dots all over it, resembling strawberry seeds, and a big, bulky red television resting on a pink table. Strawberry set Custard down and spun around.
“Wow!” Strawberry exclaimed, “it’s like this house was built with me in mind!”
Custard jumped onto the couch and laid down. As she started to close her eyes, Pupcake jumped on the couch and gave Custard a wet kiss, waking her up.
“Ah!” she said, “Pupcake, I was just about to take a nap!”
“Ruff!” Pupcake replied.
Strawberry giggled as Pupcake laid down beside Custard, when suddenly, she heard a masculine voice.
“Miss Shortcake?” the voice asked.
“Oh!” Strawberry exclaimed, “I have a visitor! But who could be visiting this late at night?”
Strawberry carefully approached the door and took a peek. To her surprise, the voice didn’t come from a human: it came from a giant green snail, who was pulling what looked like an empty cart behind his back. He was much bigger than any snail Strawberry had seen before, and he had a smile on his face. She didn’t know him, but he seemed friendly, and if there was one thing that Strawberry knew, it was that everybody deserved a chance, no matter how they looked. Strawberry walked outside and waved hello to the snail.
“Hello there!” she said, “if you’re looking for Strawberry Shortcake, that’d be me! It’s berry nice to meet you!”
“‘Berry’ nice to meet you as well, miss,” the snail replied with a slight French accent and a giggle.
“Who must you be?” Strawberry asked.
“My name is Escargot. I am the mailman here in Strawberryland. Well, I am not a human, so maybe ‘mail snail’ would be more accurate.”
Strawberry chuckled.
“I’ve never met a talking snail before,” she said.
“Well, I am the only talking snail that most people know,” Escargot explained, “the other talking residents of Strawberryland are humans.”
“Oh, alright!” Strawberry exclaimed, “can I ask you a question?”
“Of course!”
“What are you doing here this late at night? You should be asleep!”
“Oh, well, I will go to sleep later. It’s just that I have a very special letter for you!”
“A letter? For me? Oh boy, where is it? What does it say?”
“It’s in this cart I’m pulling, and I don’t know what it says. I haven’t opened it. I can’t open it; I don’t have hands!”
Escargot chuckled to himself as Strawberry went over to his cart and leaned in. She stretched her arms out as far as she could until her hands touched a blue envelope. She picked it up and got out of the cart before ripping open the envelope and taking out a small slip of paper.
“Dear Strawberry Shortcake,” she read, “all of us in Strawberryland are dying to meet you! There will be a welcome party at the picnic grounds tomorrow afternoon, and all of us will be there. We hope you’ll be there too! Your new friend, at least, I hope I’ll be your new friend, Huckleberry Pie.”
Strawberry gasped and grinned.
“Aw!” she exclaimed, “this is so berry sweet! I can’t believe they’re throwing a welcome party for me!”
“Are you going to go?” Escargot asked.
“Oh, yes!” Strawberry said, “of course I’m gonna go! I could never say no to an invitation like this!”
“Wonderful! I’m happy to hear it!”
“Oh, thank you Escargot for bringing me this!”
“You’re welcome, Miss Shortcake! Get some rest now, alright? It wouldn’t be good if you were tired while you were at the party, and I assume you came a long way to get here.”
“Oh, I sure did. Going to bed would be a good idea. Goodnight, Escargot! Take care!”
“Goodnight, Miss Shortcake!”
Strawberry waved goodbye to Escargot and shut the door. Then, she began looking for the bedroom. Pupcake, who was asleep while she was talking to Escargot, jumped off the couch and followed her. When Strawberry found her bedroom, she didn’t bother to turn the light on to look for her bed nor did she even think about going to get her pajamas. Instead, she felt around the room for her bed. Once she found it, she smiled, picked Pupcake up, and set him on top of the bed. Next, Strawberry pulled down the comforter and got in bed. Once she was in, she pulled the comforter over herself and closed her eyes. Pupcake walked in a circle before curling up and falling asleep next to Strawberry.
“Goodnight, Pupcake,” Strawberry said before dozing off.