It's traditional at every Disneyland celebration to have a parade down Main Street. And there aren't many Main Streets left where you can see a parade. -Walt Disney

Things were starting to take form as the Disneyland Band lined up to march out to the plaza to start the "Happiest March on Earth." Their regal uniforms all bright and shiny like the instruments they played. Behind a pair of large gates that lead inside Sleeping Beauty Castle, a bunch of character actors stood waiting for their cue to walk out and join them in a march down Main Street U.S.A. Brendan was among these character actors, but he kept the Mickey headpiece off, as he found it irritating. The list of irritations went farther than that, as he felt the big shoes were a bit clumpy, it was intensely hot under all the layers of clothing, and when he had the headpiece on, it limited his vision.

He was the only character to have his headpiece off. Other characters around him included many of Mickey's usual group of pals, such as Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and lastly, Chip and Dale; whom remembered Brendan's face from their encounter from the previous day. They behaved accordingly around him, as if to insinuate that he would potentially snarl at them again. Brendan took notice and rolled his eyes, wishing that he didn't have to be in this predicament, again. Chip playfully points to the Mickey headpiece lying on the floor and panickily brings his hands up to the sides of his head. Almost as if he was freaking out about Brendan not having the head on. Brendan didn't do anything, and just let the large chipmunk swing two of his four fingers back and forth to indicating that he was keeping an eye him for his shifty attitude. Brendan just hissed and lifted the headpiece back onto his shoulders, just as the call came out for the band to start marching out.

Marty came walking up to Brendan just as he was hooking the strap under his chin. He wiggled his lower jaw to find some contentment with the uncomforting strap, only for Marty to come up to him and distract him. Brendan could barely see his slim body and dorky glasses through the cloth of the eye covers.

"How do you feel in there, Brendan?" Marty inquired with a tone of uncertainty. He knew Brendan wasn't all too happy about being the mouse and knew to be patient with him. He could hear him grumbling behind the cheerful, static smile of the mouse's bust.

"Like an over-heating fool! I swear, this is ridiculous!"

"I promise you. It'll be nice and quick." Brendan glared at his supervisor with an un-convinced expression. "All you have to do is the bit of choreography, wave to the kids, and pose for a few pictures at the end. That's all."

"That doesn't sound quick" the young lad groaned, still irritated by the chin strap tugging under his jaw. "And this headpiece doesn't feel very nice."

"Just loosen the strap, it's completely fine."

"Yeah. You say that now while I'm static" Brendan barked anxiously. "What happens when I start dancing and prancing around like a magical pixie horse?"

"Trust me. All that moving around and waving at everybody will ease you're worries. Haven't you ever been in a parade before?"

"No!"

"Well then, this should be a very exciting moment for you." He said it with a sincere smile, confident that Brendan would take off that headpiece at the end of the parade with such jubilant energy that he would wish to be Mickey more often. At least, that what he thought would happen in his best version of reality. "Now, the band is just about ready to introduce Mickey and his pals. Let's get you into position."

Brendan was dragged by Marty to the back of the character line-up. He almost lost balance and the head shifted a bit, making Brendan even more irritated. Soon enough, they walked out past the two large gates where the characters were ready to skip out to the plaza to join the band. As Brendan stepped out, he heard a couple little children scream out Mickey's name nearby. Brendan looked over to where the sound came from, only to see a few three to four-year-olds bouncing with joy at the sight of everyone's favorite mouse. Seeing their excitement made him, not smile exactly, but gulp and press his lips thin with stress and anguish. As if he was embarrassed to be out in the open in the costume, even though no one would know who is under the headpiece. Matter of fact, most people wouldn't even think that there was an actor underneath. Whenever you see Mickey, you just assume its Mickey, no matter how old you are. So, Brendan gave a small wave to the pair of children, making them squeal with innocent laughter.

*sigh* Okay, just... do your job. He took his place in line. It should only take ten to fifteen minutes. I can handle that, right? What could happen?

In the distance, he could hear the band doing their arrangement of the "Mickey Mouse March," letting him and the other actors know that it was time to cheerfully skip out to the plaza. As he passed through the castle portal, he saw Annie watching them pass by. She looked to Mickey and sweetly said, "Have fun, Mickey!" A tug on Brendan's lips came suddenly, but softly. Like he suddenly had a small amount of joy and energy needed to make his performance as joyful and happy as everyone expected from the iconic mouse.

VIDEO BELOW IS FOR A VISUAL REFERENCE. SKIP IF YOU WISH. (START AT 4:17; END AT 11:47)

https://youtu.be/TRSWDONSDa0

Across the bridge, a large crowd was already assembled. The band had been playing for a good few minutes before Mickey and his pals came out. The band shifted from a large group into a split division, allowing the characters to walk through and take center stage. Donald Duck was the first to take a bow, followed by Goofy and Pluto, then Chip and Dale, and finally Minnie and Mickey. Brendan always remembered that he had to give Minnie a quick smooch before addressing the audience, so he did.

It's all part of the choreography, I guess.

The band leader greeted Mickey and the others and invited the audience to participate in a march down Main Street. They pulled a young volunteer from the crowd to help demonstrate and were soon off. Brendan could feel the strange rhythmic groove of the drums and horns of the band slowly start to break his walls down. As his steps were now in a more prancing mood as he entered Main Street in a strut.

Echoing from the back of the parade, he could hear Annie's voice pronouncing the march to the guests ahead. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you're all having a magical time here at the Happiest Place on Earth! We are here with Mickey Mouse and his pals marching down Main Street while we sing our favorite Disney tunes. Feel free to march along with us; right behind, Chip, Dale, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto! They're having a good time and so is our Disneyland Band, who is going to take us "Under the Sea"! Here we go!" Her voice was full of enthusiasm, even for someone that was doing this for the first time. And again, it made him feel, quite frankly, proud. At least in a way that made him feel like he could make it through the march contently, maybe even joyfully.

Just as Annie had announced, the band started playing the famous song from "The Little Mermaid." He could see the excitement from the crowds on the sidewalk of Main Street. All pulling their children to their hips to get a better look at the fun and to see their favorite characters. Kids stepping out onto the street just to dance along with Mickey and Minnie and all the other characters bringing up the back of the parade. It truly looked like the happiest march on earth.

When the band finished playing the song, Annie made another announcement as Disneyland's singing quartet, The Dapper Dans, joined the march. Decorated in their iconic barbershop striped outfits in pastel colors, they took their position in the brigade between the leading Mickey and Minnie, and the band. Annie continued addressing the crowds and invited them to join as they played a fan favorite tune from "The Lion King." And with a celebratory blast from the horns, the first notes from the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" echoed down Main Street and into Town Square. Many more guest turned their heads at the euphoric heralding of nostalgia. Even Brendan couldn't deny how awesome it was to hear something so pleasant and wonderful.

The brigade reached the end of Main Street and started making the right turn, into Town Square U.S.A. Brendan continued waving and dancing, noticing how much people smiled just because he acknowledged them as Mickey. As he came up in front of the City Hall Building, he noticed a pair of smiling faces that were particularly familiar.

Oh, if they only knew! He grinned.

Lizzie and her fiancé, Bobby, had just entered the park to spend the day together. It had been a while since Brendan had seen him. He was tall and athletic. An almost bald head with a face that was undoubtedly friendly. They looked happy together and even more happy that they walked in just as the march was coming by. Bobby called out Mickey's name and gave a hoot of excitement, making Lizzie laugh and Brendan smile.

They marched up to the front of the train station, with the Dapper Dans now singing a few verses of the song. The band lined up behind Mickey and Minnie as their pals joined on either side of the pair. They danced in place and waved at the assembled crowd for another moment more before ending the fun with cheerful, "I just can't wait to be king," putting the exclamation point of the march. The crowd applauded excitedly, with Lizzie and Bobby now amongst the large mass of a thousand mouse ears and Disney apparel.

Though he could only see a limited amount through the eyes, Brendan couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him. The sight of little children, teenagers, adults, and elders alike collectively sharing a moment of happiness. All because he had brought joy to them all by dressing as the mouse. It left him with a profound feeling that he hadn't felt in a long while. For once, he thought that maybe he could find a way to piece back his life and feel content with himself.

Why am I so happy all of a sudden?

He took a bow with all of Mickey's pals, thanking the audience for their glorious reception. As the applause died down, Annie started speaking through her headset microphone as she stepped out in front of the crowd. She looked as chic as the Dans, with a classic red vest over a white t-shirt and black pants. She asked for the Disneyland Band to take a bow for their performance before they left, then addressed the crowd directly. "Thank you to everybody that joined the Disneyland Band, the Dapper Dans, Mickey, Minnie, and all their pals in the Happiest March on Earth. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Now, if you want to take the time to take a picture with Mickey or any of his friends, we will be doing that for the next 5 minutes. Does that sound good, Mickey?" She looked to mouse she had named, and almost as if he had embodied the mouse through some magical force, Brendan behaved as if he chuckled like Mickey and gestured an arm movement that practically said, "You betcha! Ha-ha!"

Soon enough lines formed in front of each character with people that eagerly wanted to meet them. Most were comprised of parents with their young children wanting to snap something for their family vacation album. Others were teenage Disney fanatics that leapt at any chance they could to get an interaction with a Disney character. Still, this was by far the easiest thing for Brendan to do in costume. He patted boys and girls of all ages on the head, hugged excited teens even if it felt weird hugging random strangers, and posed for a good number of pictures.

He noticed that Lizzie had gotten in the other line for a picture with Minnie, which wasn't too much of a surprise since she once went through a phase of buying only Minnie Mouse apparel when they first started working at the park. She looked over to Mickey, who was surrounded with a family of four, smiling at the happy sight. Brendan saw her smile and gave a wave to her once he had waved goodbye to the family. Lizzie waved back, humming hilariously to herself. Brendan smiled, glad to have brought some joy to his friend and turned back to his line to find a very familiar face in it.

Second in his line, a woman stood with blonde wavy hair with a teal blue graphic shirt that was probably inspired by "The Little Mermaid." His eyes were instantly drawn to her sparkling sapphires, dimpled cheeks, and pearly whites that defined her facial features. Brendan thought he had entered a dream. One that felt more real five to six years ago, and now seemed more like fantasy than reality. The only other things that he was quick to pick up on was one of her arms hooked around the handsome specimen to her right and the wide inquisitive eyes of the toddler in her other arm. Only at this did he second guess his thoughts, but knew that his eyes would have to betray his heart as he confirmed who was standing in line: Kathryn, the former love of his life.

He was so distracted by her appearance that he could barely interact with the children that went before them. And the sight of what he assumed to be her husband and child made it even more difficult to form thoughts, as it made him totally forget how exhilarated he had felt before laying eyes upon them. Now, his thoughts channeled regret and a bit of boiling resentment as flashes of his time with her started popping back into his head; only with a depressing note hitting with each one. He hoped he didn't have to interact with them for the sake of hearing her angel like voice making his saddened memories even more painful to bear. Still, the family was able to interact with their favorite mouse, despite not knowing that a saddened ex-lover of the mother was being forced to encourage the family moment.

Kathryn and her daughter came up with a beaming smile, saying hello to the big-eared character. "Who is that, Jodie?" she says in a sweet tone that practically broke Brendan under the headpiece, making the allusion of her having a child more of a reality. The child quizzically stared at the mouse's large smile, determining whether it was something to scream or laugh at. Brendan stared back at the strange creature, observing all the little details that reminded him of the traits and qualities of her mother. She had bright blue eyes like her, and a studying look that reminded him of the times Kathryn had a long hard day.

She looks just like her. It's almost scary. Probably scarier than me not responding to them because I'm thinking about it.

He shoved his thoughts aside and twiddled his thumbs in a friendly fashion, making the child pull its lips into an open smile. "Is that Mickey?!" Kathryn continued pleasantly to her daughter. "Wanna say hi? Say hi, Mickey!" She took her arm and waved it at the friendly mouse, making her giggle at her mother's gentle touch.

"Okay you two" her husband said behind them with a phone ready to take a picture, "stand next to Mickey and say 'cheese'!" The mother and daughter slid next to Brendan's right side, with the child at ear level of the costume. Kathryn put on her beautiful smile, while Brendan cringed on the inside, feeling the slightest touch of her body against him for the first time in a long while. The touch triggered a feeling deep in Brendan's muscle and sensory memory. A sweet gesture of affection in which he would hold Kathryn close when they were together. In this moment, he instinctively brought his right hand around her waist and gently set it on her hip. Kathryn felt the strange hand placement, but didn't think too much on it other than having a very vague sense memory about it.

Her husband took a few pictures, some vertical and some horizontal, but Jodie only looked at the camera for one of them. She was more interested in the strange character and his enormous ears that were practically in her face. Brendan couldn't really see her due to the limited amount of peripheral vision of the eye holes. He felt like she was probing at the ears, trying to figure out what they felt like or why they were so big. The headpiece wobbled a bit, due to how Brendan's chin strap was a tad loose. Kathryn saw that too and asked Jodie to stop. However, that didn't stop the toddler from being even more curious.

With a quick swipe of her arm, she hit Mickey's ear so hard that the headpiece lifted off his Brendan's head. Kathryn stepped away quickly so she couldn't hit Mickey again and scolded her accordingly. She turned back to Mickey to apologize. "I AM SO SOR—!"

The whole crowd collectively gasped as a very unfortunate sight that laid across their eyes. Kathryn especially froze from seeing Brendan's scared expression. As for Brendan, all he could do was try to pull the headpiece back down and cover his face. He did, but the damage was done. And all he could do was timidly look at all of the frightened and unsure faces staring at him. Lizzie and Bobby were also staring, probably just as shocked as Kathryn was. The sound of voices murmuring rose amongst the crowd, commenting about what happened, making the moment all the more pressing and vulnerable for Brendan.

"Uh... okay were going to wrap things up and say goodbye to Mickey and all his pals. Give a big round of applause for Mickey Mouse everybody!" Annie said from the side, trying to quickly think of something to draw attention away from the accident. Brendan was the first to walk away, rather hastily, as all the characters went to a backstage area away from the crowd. The crowd that saw Mickey Mouse unmasked.    

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And now your host... the author!!!

Hiya pals! Were doing better now that time is passing. Just keep practicing social distancing for a few more weeks and we should hopefully be back to a semi-normal world. In the meantime, I hope that I'm providing you some entertaining storytelling. Just so you know, I have no affiliation with The Walt Disney Company and its many branches of entertainment. I'm just a casual fan that tries to make exaggerated logic to make a hopefully decent story. So lets have some fun.

This was a big chapter to write. I think of it as the event that will launch the rest the majority of Brendan's character arc into motion. Hope you'll stick around to find what that entails. I introduced a couple of new characters this chapter, but only two will be given character models. I introduced Lizzie's fiance, Bobby Sherman. Hmm, that sounds familiar. He'll be portrayed by Game of Thrones actor, Jacob Anderson.

He won't be too important to the story, but the second character will be. I've been teasing this character since the first chapter. And now she has finally made her appearance. And boy, is it at terrible timing. This is Kathryn Howard, or at least, that is who Brendan knew her as. She is the sweetest human being on the planet and has such caring, gentle nature to her approach to things. She will be portrayed by Britt Robertson.

Thanks to everyone for reading and I hope you guys liked the chapter. Leave a vote if you did, and don't forget to express your thoughts in the comments. The next chapter will be released next month. So, be sure to look out for the "May Updates" announcement to find out when the chapter will be released. Until next time, SO LONG FOLKS! SEE YA REEEAL SOON!!!