Chapter Text
Autumn in Strawberryland was a beautiful sight. The green leaves of the trees turned red, orange, and yellow, and a chill breeze could be felt in the air. Fluffy clouds blocked the sun in the sky. This may have been Strawberry Shortcake’s first autumn in Strawberryland, but so far, she was loving every second of it.
Strawberry walked down a dirt path, whistling a familiar tune to herself as she walked. Her pet dog Pupcake ran ahead of her, barking at leaves and squirrels scurrying up the trees. Strawberry smiled at him and sighed.
“Pupcake,” she said, “be nice to the squirrels. They’re trying to prepare for the winter!”
Pupcake looked up at Strawberry and frowned. He then rolled over on his back. Strawberry giggled, walked up to him, got on her knees, and started rubbing his belly.
“Silly dog.” Strawberry smiled.
Strawberry looked up for a moment, and she saw her friend Lemon Meringue skipping by. Strawberry hadn’t known Lemon for a long time, or any of her friends for that matter, but she really enjoyed her company, and she wanted to get to know her better. Why was she skipping around? Normally, Lemon wasn’t the skipping type. Lemon Meringue was one of Strawberry’s more reserved friends. She was happy to speak her mind, but she generally kept her cool no matter the situation. She had to talk to her.
“Hi Lemon Meringue!” Strawberry exclaimed.
Lemon stopped skipping, turned around, and smiled at Strawberry.
“Hi Strawberry!” Lemon replied.
“You seem to be in a good mood today,” Strawberry said, “what’s the occasion?”
“It’s my birthday today!” Lemon exclaimed.
“Oh, how wonderful! Happy birthday, Lemon Meringue!”
“Thanks Strawberry!”
“Are you gonna do anything special later?”
“Hm…”
Lemon tilted her head and put her fingers on her chin. Then, she looked at Strawberry and shook her head.
“No,” Lemon answered.
“Why not?” Strawberry asked, “it’s your birthday! You should celebrate!”
“I know,” Lemon replied, “it’s just that… I don’t really want to throw myself a birthday party, you know?”
“How come?”
“I don’t know, it just seems selfish to throw yourself a birthday party, not to mention all the work it takes. You need decorations and a cake, and then you have to clean it all up afterwards! I just think it’s easier for me to try to enjoy myself and let people come over and leave presents when they feel like it. If they have any, that is.”
“Oh, I understand.”
“Don’t get me wrong, Strawberry, I love parties, I really do. I just don’t want to seem like a jerk to everyone by throwing myself a birthday party.”
“I gotcha, I gotcha. Well, I hope you have a berry great birthday, Lemon Meringue!”
“Thank you, Strawberry!”
Lemon waved goodbye to Strawberry and walked off. When Lemon was gone, Strawberry frowned. Pupcake stood up and whimpered, and Strawberry rubbed his back.
“Poor Lemon,” Strawberry said, “she must be worried about feeling like a burden, and all over birthday parties.”
Pupcake barked. Strawberry thought for a minute. Lemon said she didn’t want to throw herself a birthday party because it would be lots of work for her and she feared it would make her seem selfish. However, she did say she liked birthday parties. It didn’t seem to Strawberry that Lemon had enjoyed a birthday party for herself in a long time. Then, she got an idea. She gasped. Pupcake tilted his head. Strawberry picked up Pupcake and stood up.
“I got an idea, Pupcake!” Strawberry exclaimed.
Pupcake made a confused noise, wagging his tail.
“If Lemon Meringue doesn’t want to throw herself a birthday party,” Strawberry explained, “we can throw one for her! That way, she can have a party without having to do all that work, and she won’t think she’s being selfish either!”
“Ruff!” Pupcake said.
Strawberry set Pupcake down and smiled.
“I have to tell the others!” Strawberry exclaimed.
Strawberry started running back to her house, Pupcake in tow. As she ran, she came by Lemon again. Strawberry and Pupcake dashed past her, and Lemon watched.
“Hi again, Strawberry!” Lemon said.
Strawberry and Pupcake stopped in their tracks.
“Oh, hi Lemon!” Strawberry replied with a smile.
“Why are you two running so fast?” Lemon asked.
“Oh, um, well, Pupcake has a lot of energy,” Strawberry explained, “so the two of us decided we would race home!”
Strawberry’s eyes were wide, and her smile was fake and large. Pupcake simply barked happily at Lemon. Lemon looked confused at first, but eventually, she simply giggled.
“That makes sense,” Lemon said, “have fun, you two!”
Lemon waved goodbye to Strawberry, and when she was gone, Strawberry sighed.
“That was close,” Strawberry told Pupcake, “come on, let’s get back home.”
Pupcake started running again. Strawberry had only said that to cover up how excited she was about planning a surprise party for Lemon, but if Pupcake was having fun, then she was going to have fun with him. Strawberry followed Pupcake back home.
As Strawberry and Pupcake ran, they saw their friend Huckleberry Pie come out of the pie-shaped house that was next to the shortcake-shaped one that she lived in. Strawberry knew that she wasn’t going to be able to plan a party for Lemon by herself. Everyone else knew Lemon much better than she did, and surely everyone would be willing to help. Huckleberry in particular seemed like he’d be happy to help out: not only did he have lots of energy, but he also was the one who wrote the letter Strawberry got inviting her to her welcome party. Strawberry turned to look at Huckleberry and waved.
“Huckleberry!” Strawberry called.
Huckleberry zipped to Strawberry’s side as soon as she called.
“Hi Strawberry!” Huckleberry exclaimed, “what’s up?”
“I wanted to ask for your help on something,” Strawberry said.
“What do you need?” Huckleberry asked, “I can help with just about anything! Well, except gardening, but still.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not gardening. It’s Lemon Meringue’s birthday. I was talking to her earlier, and she said she wasn’t going to do anything special because she’d feel selfish for throwing herself a party.”
“Yeah, that’s Lemon for ya. She’s… well, she has a sour outlook on life sometimes.”
“I was hoping to throw her a birthday party so she could have a party without having to feel selfish or like she has a lot of work to do, but I know I can’t do it alone, so I wanted to ask you for help!”
“A surprise party for Lemon Meringue?”
“Yeah!”
“Oh, count me in! Lemon hasn’t had a birthday party in forever!”
“Yay! Do you think the others will want to help out?”
“Oh, absolutely! Come on, let’s go get them!”
Huckleberry grabbed Strawberry’s hand and took off running, Pupcake running behind them.
“Whoa!” Strawberry said with a smile.
Huckleberry and Strawberry started laughing. Strawberry had never thrown anyone a surprise birthday party before, but she knew in her heart that she and her friends could pull it off.