A Cup of Kindness

[TogetherAgain]

I felt like writing a Christmas story this year. So I'm working on one. It will be relatively short, but... it will exist. And hopefully, it will be finished relatively quickly. Fingers crossed on that. You guys know my track record.

Happy Holidays, folks!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Part One​

Miss Piggy was in a fantastic mood—and how could she not be? It was the morning of Christmas Eve, and she was almost home from a whirlwind international promotional tour. The fact that she should have been exhausted hardly mattered. She had slept on the plane and had a cup of coffee since then, and besides all that, it was Christmas! All she had to do now was retrieve her luggage, and then Kermit would be meeting her at the baggage claim, and then they would go home and spend the holiday with the Muppets. What could be better?

“Merry Christmas!” she trilled to everyone she encountered, from the man who sold her the coffee to the family whose out-of-control luggage she nearly tripped over. She laughed and hummed carols as she searched for the baggage carousel where the luggage from her flight and two other flights would be distributed. When she found it, she waved at the nice old man who had sat across the aisle from her on the flight and stationed herself near the conveyor belt.

Not everyone at the airport was in such a chipper mood. The woman standing next to her faced the conveyor belt with an empty stare, heavy bags under her eyes, and dark red hair falling out of the loose bun she had tied it into. Her sweatshirt, decorated with penguins and a Christmas tree, was the only acknowledgement of the holiday.

It was acknowledgement enough. “Merry Christmas!” Miss Piggy said to her cheerfully.

The woman’s lips twitched towards a wistful smile. “Merry Christmas,” she said listlessly.

“Where are vous coming from?” Miss Piggy asked.

The woman sighed. “Nowhere,” she said miserably. “I was supposed to be—” And then she turned and looked at Miss Piggy, and she blinked twice. Recognition flickered in her green eyes. “You’re—I mean, aren’t you…”

Miss Piggy laughed. “Yes. Moi am Miss Piggy,” she said.

“Wow.” The woman stared at her, too exhausted to show her enthusiasm. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you…”

“Oh, thank you,” Miss Piggy said sweetly. “And what’s your name?”

“Oh—I’m Casey,” the woman said, holding out her hand to shake. “Casey Campton.”

“Casey Campton?” Miss Piggy repeated, shaking her hand. “Vous have a name for show business, Casey Campton.”

Casey scoffed, a weary smile on her lips. “I have a name for teaching pre-school,” she said.

“Or for show business,” Miss Piggy insisted.

Casey shook her head. “That would require talent.”

“Not necessarily. Have vous seen some of the stuff Hollywood puts out these days?” Miss Piggy said, her voice a teasing growl.

Casey chuckled. Then something in her pocket started ringing, and she quickly whipped out her smart phone. “I have to take this. Excuse me,” she said, and she touched something on the screen to begin a video chat. “Hi, Nick,” she said, and something in her face immediately seemed calmer.

“Hi. I got your text,” the man on the screen said. “I’m sorry, honey. Can you get on another flight?”

Casey sighed and shook her head. “Everything going into New York is canceled or delayed because of this blizzard. I tried for a later flight, but they’re all booked solid. I can’t even get on standby.”

Miss Piggy knew about that blizzard. Her own flight had narrowly missed it. New York City was definitely getting a white Christmas this year—two or three feet of it. She looked around and realized one of the flights receiving luggage here had to have been a canceled flight to New York; Casey Campton was one of quite a few people who had already checked their bags and now had to retrieve them. Whole families were standing around with disappointed faces. Parents were trying desperately to be patient and cheerful with their children.

“What about tomorrow? Is there anything?” the man on Casey’s phone was asking.

“It’s all booked,” Casey said miserably. “And who knows if the snow will even be cleared by then.”

The man on the screen ran his hand through his hair. “So… You might miss Christmas.”

“Probably.”

Under normal circumstances, Miss Piggy wouldn’t have tried to eavesdrop—or at least, wouldn’t have done so quite as blatantly. But… missing Christmas? Poor Casey!

The conveyor belt began distributing bags, and Miss Piggy started looking for her luggage while she listened to the conversation; and since Casey’s eyes never left her phone, Miss Piggy also checked the tags for any labeled Casey Campton.

“Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?” asked the man on the screen—what had she called him? Nick? Nate? “I don’t like the idea of you sleeping in an airport alone.”

“I won’t. I’ll find a place,” Casey promised. “There’s gotta be a motel or something around here.”

“Hopefully something cheap,” the man on the screen said with some reluctance.

“Yeah, hopefully,” Casey agreed, and she sighed. “I’m sorry, Nick. I shouldn’t have gone to this stupid conference.”

“Hey, you had fun. And it was for a good cause. Don’t feel bad about it, Casey,” Nick said. “If you can’t make it, then… We’ll just wait a day to open presents. You won’t miss anything.”

“Oh, don’t make Tasha wait. She’s been patient enough,” Casey said, a soft chuckle in her voice. “How is Tasha? Is she there?”

“Yeah, she’s here. You wanna see her? Hey, Tasha! You wanna talk to Mommy?”

Miss Piggy pulled two of her suitcases off the conveyor belt—the third hadn’t appeared yet—and glanced at Casey’s phone as a cherubic little girl appeared on the screen. “Hi Mommy!”

“Hi, Tasha. Merry Christmas!” Casey said. She almost looked cheerful now.

“Merry Christmas, Mommy!”

“Are you being a good girl for Daddy?”

“Yup! And we dec’rated the cookies!”

“Oh, good. Did you taste any of them?”

“Only one,” the little girl said, holding up a single finger. “Daddy said they’re for Santa.”

Miss Piggy smiled and went back to examining the luggage on the conveyor belt, reading every tag that passed.

“It’s snowing here, Mommy!” little Tasha said excitedly. “It’s snowing a LOT. It’s all white outside, and the wind is blowing really loud, like—” The little girl blew air at the phone as loudly as she could.

Casey laughed. “Well, you stay inside where it’s nice and warm for now,” she said. “Maybe when it stops snowing, you and Daddy can go outside and play in it.”

“And you too Mommy, right? Because you’re coming home?”

Casey sighed. “I thought so, honey, but it doesn’t look like I can today,” she said sadly.

“But why not?” The little girl sounded heartbroken.

“Well, because my plane can’t land in all that snow and wind, sweetie,” Casey explained.

“But… Then… Does that mean you have to keep flying?”

“No. It means I’m not flying at all,” Casey said. “I’m staying in L.A. until I can come home.”

“Oh…”

Casey tried to comfort her daughter as little Tasha slowly realized her mother wouldn’t be home for Christmas. Miss Piggy bit her lip as she listened to the conversation and kept examining luggage tags until she found one labeled Casey Campton. She pulled the battered gray suitcase off of the conveyor belt and then kept checking tags, just in case Casey had more than one bag checked.

Her own missing suitcase appeared. With all three of her bags now, she could have walked away and started looking for Kermit. She was certainly anxious to see him again. But she continued checking luggage tags for anything else that belonged to Casey Campton.

Casey talked to her daughter for a long while, and then briefly with her husband again before she reluctantly disconnected the call with a heavy sigh.

“Is this your only bag?” Miss Piggy asked, gesturing to the gray suitcase she had retrieved.

“Oh—yes. Thank you,” Casey said, her voice full of gratitude and surprise as she gripped the handle of the suitcase.

“Moi heard your flight was canceled,” Miss Piggy said sympathetically.

“Yeah,” Casey said, and she sighed. “You live around here, right? I don’t suppose you know any hotels…”

Miss Piggy knew several hotels—well out of Casey’s apparent price range. She shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I—”

Then her ear pricked on the sound of someone in the crowd whistling a line of “One More Sleep ‘til Christmas” — Tis the season to be jolly and joyous! Oh, that had to be Kermie! Where was he? She scanned the crowd for him, and then looked at Casey again.

And something clicked.

“Yes!” Miss Piggy said decisively. “Yes, I do know where you can stay.” She gathered her suitcases. “Come with moi, Casey Campton. I’ll take you to the best place in town.” She marched towards where Kermit was still whistling.

“Oh! Oh, I—” Casey hurried after her. “Thank—Thank you, so much, Miss Piggy. Thank you,” she said. “But, I… I—should maybe mention that I—I can’t afford—I mean—” Her pale cheeks were bright pink now. “How expensive is it?”

“It’s free.”

Casey’s jaw dropped. “Free?”

“Kermie!” Miss Piggy put a suitcase down and waved when she finally found the frog, and then she picked the suitcase up again and hurried to him.

“Hi-ho there, Piggy! Merry Christmas!” Kermit said warmly, greeting her with a tight hug.

She kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas, Kermie,” she said, and she put her suitcases down to pull Casey closer. “Casey, vous know who Kermie is, don’t you?”

Casey’s jaw was still hanging open. “I—yeah, I—”

“Kermie, this is Casey—was it misses? This is Mrs. Casey Campton,” Miss Piggy said to Kermit. “Her flight was canceled, so she’s going to spend Christmas with us.”

“Oh, great!” Kermit said cheerfully. “Nice to meet you, Casey.”

If it was at all possible, Casey’s jaw dropped even lower. “I—what?”

“You’re spending Christmas with us,” Miss Piggy told her firmly.

Casey looked back and forth between them. “I—I can’t—I mean—Thank you so much, but I mean—I couldn’t—I couldn’t intrude on your—”

“Oh, you wouldn’t be intruding at all! Everyone’s welcome,” Kermit assured her.

“But, I…”

“Look. Listen, Casey. It’s Christmas,” Miss Piggy said firmly. “You can’t get back to your family tonight or tomorrow. Do you want to spend Christmas alone in some cheap motel room? Moi will deny ever having said this, but the Muppets are the best place vous could possibly spend Christmas—aside from your own home. It’s warm and cheerful and homey, and it’s free, and it’s crazy enough that you can’t possibly feel miserable. Now, are you coming or not?”

 

[Beauregard]

Oh! Its Christmas! There is Miss Piggy! She's been promoting (the new movie?)! She's looking for Kermit! And she finds, instead, something truely heartwarming I have no doubt!

It already reminds of the way that Gonzo spent his Christmas helping out his neighbor's daughter in LTS. Christmas is a time for helping others then, as a Muppet tradition, one assumes!

 

[mostlikemokey]

Great story! you are so good at showing the good side of Miss Piggy, an aspect of her personality too often ignored.

 

[We Got Us]

OOOooohhh....you meant that Christmas story you had started. I was thinking of 'Christmas Cheer' which of course, was finished. I loooove this! As usual! Gorgeous stuff, what else can I say?! As if you didn't know....you have a great way of writing the dialogue so that you can just hear the Muppet's voices. Love, love, love Miss Piggy! Your fan is impressed yet again!

 

[The Count]

Mwaha! A Toga original fanfic? For Christmas? Yay!

And you make Piggy be the star of the show, and yet you also have her show her good side in offering/making Casey stay with the Muppets for the holiday.
I heartily endorse this and sincerely hope more gets posted promptly.
Now go post more! Please?
*Leaves more hot chocolate.

 

[charlietheowl]

I'm sure it's going to be a crazy christmas for Casey with the Muppets, but a memorable one as well. Can't wait to read more!

 

[Muppetfan44]

ooh new story from TogetherAgain!!! Very cute so far...glad to see someone writing about the kinder side of Piggy...poor Casey!

Great job so far; excited to read what's next!

but really? Kermit only gave her a hug?!, lol...just kidding! I'm sure there will be some well-used miseltoe later in the story

 

[TogetherAgain]

Mistletoe? You don't need mistletoe when you're green! ...Yeah, we'll see.

 

[ReneeLouvier]

I love this fic, Lisa! Can't wait to see more of it!!!