A Muppet Family Gathering.

[BEAR]

Sorry to hear of the dilemma. Well, hopefully you'll be able to pick it back up. We'll try to be patient.

 

[The Count]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Sara, it's extremely good to hear from you again, wondered where you were since I noticed you got back Sunday.
Well... Will manage to do some rewrites tomorrow and hope for the best... Not sure if it'll be what I had before, but I'll try to capture the sense of what I was working on. Maybe this way it won't take so long... Then again, no promises on when the update will come.

Thanks, good night to all.

 

[redBoobergurl]

No worries Ed, we can be patient! Sorry to hear you lost everything, but I'm sure your re-write will be just as good!

 

[The Count]

Chapter 26.

The entire Muppet clan, all their grownup friends from Sesame Street, the townspeople of Hensonville converged as one many-headed entity upon the Christmas tree set up in the castle's master study eager to find their presents. Many were wondering just which present was theirs, what they would find inside, and how long until they could get it in their hands. Because there were just over 250 guests gathered here, everybody decided they would form short lines reaching the Count seated in his armchair in order, the rest hanging back grouped together in several clumps throughout the rest of this inner sanctum. Nora, the blue-skinned and haired Muppet girl who arrived just the night before, dispensed coconut chocolate chip cookies or fragments of seven-layer bars amongst the smiling faces. Cookie Monster almost frightened her as he chased after his favorite food in the world, until Kyle grabbed the monster by the arm, keeping him under control.

The lines started forming, about ten to a group with one of the grownups at the end of the line. Christy and Ed stood guard next to the Count, receiving and handing out gifts between the master vampire and his friends and family members present for the holiday celebration. Big Bird stood near them, since his help was needed after the Count oohed and aahed when opening the little ribbon-topped white boxes. Each box contained a cute white batty number miss. Each number was fully-sculpted out of hardened white plastic, black seductive womanly eyes sculpted and painted near the top, black lipstick-painted lips with two little white fangs placed just beneath the eyes, a pair of black batty wings coming out from the sides and back of the number, and a black batty ear headpiece atop the number itself. The majority also had little black skirts, though some wore different hats or cultural skirts like kilts and cowboy hats or even spider legs. Each of these was handed to Ed or Christy, who along with Big Bird, placed them on the tree's branches decorating the evergreen previously bereft of ornamental baubbles.

Everybody got a great present, handed out by those who were now working much like Santa's little helpers. Those Muppet members who already previously got action figures released in the form of their likenesses received crisp clean light tawny jacketed vests, their names in small platinum white lettering on the front collars and big bold lettering across the back. Since this was a small group, a larger chunk was left wondering just what their parcels contained. They were surprised to find even more action figures of themselves, as Eduardo managed to get advanced releases of the final versions from the manufacturer, now that there was a company large enough and determined enough to get the licenses so that all if not most facets of the Muppet Universe would finally end up being represented in figural form.

Not only were the Muppets pleased, but so were the grownups. Each got a gift they loved, as it was something particularly suited for each individual person. Gordon got a new chess set with the pieces modeled after the Sesame Street Muppets, he needed one after Cookie Monster ate both the old knights and most of the pawns. Susan was delighted to receive a book on gardening, which also had some recipes from her family inserted in its pages. Likewise, María leafed through the Puerto Rican cookbook Ed bought, a few of his mom's recipes jotted down near the back of the book. Luis played some snatches of music for Rosita on the authentic Spanish Guitar he received. Miles and Gabi got tickets for one of the trendy recording artists' concerts, whereas John-John had some new portable video games for his home computer. Lilian and Savion held copies of filmed recordings of their favorite Broadway stage shows. Olivia busied herself playing with her new digital camera, taking photos of anybody who wanted their pictures taken, adding their E-mail addresses so she could send them the snapshots later on. Linda poured over an updated Muppet Family photo album, not noticing Tattiana Bat and her flowing ghostly white scarf posed upon her shoulder, while Bob reminisced over the memories found in his CD of classic Muppet music which included some Joe Raposo standards. Ruthie was amazed with the actual treasure chest and all the fairy-tale items inside, tagged for rental purposes at her Finder's Keepers outlet store... Seems that a few fairy-tale Muppet friends were happy to donate some of their treasures to her establishment. Celina and Gina, twin beauties, chatted away in the corner, one grooming and caring for her long-cherished childhood stuffed kitten, the other fingering the case that housed a brand new signature Russian violin. Alan browsed through the international cookbook, greatly interested in the oriental recipes, New York delicacies, and even the recipes for birdseed cuisine. Finally, Doc and Emily Bear were eyeing the scrapbook filled with memories of the Fraggles and the rest of the family,as some of the younger guests gathered near them to hear the stories associated with their memories.

Next came the residents from the Muppets' unofficial hometown of Hensonville. This bustling city, filled with shops and the Muppet Theater, was where the Muppet Boarding House was located. Others tried to find it, aliens, magazine suscription salesmen, even two Muppetlike creatures who said they worked for C.O.V.N.E.T. in a failed attempt to capture and/or possibly exploit Gonzo to gain more prominent positions of power within the agency. But those times of struggle were behind them, obstacles met and defeated each time they arose. These plucky citizens even banded together to drive out a nafarious seed by the name of Denays, implanted innocently enough a few years ago. Now, their minds were untroubled, enjoying the Christmas season with their Muppet friends. Beth was the first, receiving a jewelry box with a little rhinestone bat-topper and a full-color photograph of Jim and Rowlf, surrounded by a few of his other better-known characters. Bryan ripped open the paper wrapped around a few videotapes marked by the classic SS logo, as each had classic episodes recorded on them, finding a full-color photo of Caroll Spinney surrounded by his own characters. Catherine rejoiced when she saw she got a copy of Miss Piggy's Guide to Life, a mint edition of the Wedding Set figures Ed managed to track down, and a full-color photo of Kermit and Piggy from that same scene from The Muppets Take Manhattan. Christy was next, swooning over the full-color photograph of Steve Whitmire surrounded by his own characters, as well as the complete Moppet Family historical tales in a brightly bound book. Diana quickly popped the CD of the Electric Mayhem and Monkees' greatest hits into her portable player, beaming at the full-color photo of the band in full swing with all of their according Muppeteers. Kathy tore through her own package, finding a full DVD boxset of Garfield the Animated Series, along with a full-color photo of Fran Brill surrounded by her characters, showing it to Prairie and her mom. Kyle chowed down on some snacks, his furry blue buddies eating and playing cards, while he read through the Muppet songbook he got and admired the full-color photograph of Frank Oz surrounded by some of his classic Muppet characters. Kim hugged the collection of stuffed plushies of the main Fraggle five as she gazed on the full-color photo of them with their according Muppeteers, Grisha Bat and her ghostly white scarf mounted atop her shoulder. Sara was positively delighted to get a full-color photo of Richard Hunt surrounded by his characters including the Grosse Family, chatting about the professional Muppeteer recording of Sadie's Stories she held to Misha Bat, her own ghostly scarf flapping down from Sara's shoulders. Lisa bounced about the room when she found a set of three lovely catlike dolls, not to mention the full-color photo of Jerry Jull surrounded by Camilla, Robin, a Muppet ghost, the water fountain from The Great Muppet Caper and the lilypad decorated pizzeria from Leeland. Sasha Bat had a hard time staying perched on the girl's shoulders, trying not to get tangled in the folds of her own ghostly white flowing scarf. Last, but not least, Ryan almost immediately started programming the robot penguin's cue card commands, also happy with the full-color photo of Dave Goelz surrounded by his Muppet characters.

All that was left were one unopened white box... Left by noone knew just who...
And of course, a giant rectangular squarish package for Eduardo, with a loving card attached on the box's outside.

 

[BEAR]

YAY!!! That was a fun one!

And boy, do you know how to shop or what! I love love LOVE my classic SS tapes and gotta love the Carroll Spinney pic.

 

[The Count]

Thanks... Tried to capture something for everyone. Woulda come across a bit better though longer with what I had that I lost, giving the characters lines during the nad-off.
Will wait till some others come in and read... Also, might be a bit much for Sara, but I'm looking for help with a full transcript of the sing-along at the end of MFC.

More when I get that for the next chapter.

 

[theprawncracker]

WHAHAHAHA!!! ED!! THAT WAS SOOOOOO AWESOME!! My present!! Wow!! That was great!! And you even brought in Butch and Clyde! WOW!! Thank you soooooo much for this Ed! You're amazing!!

 

[BEAR]

Funny how well you know us when writing these stories. I mean, with the presents, you match us up with just the right thing. Kathy's Garfield set, Kyle's Muppet song book, Dee's CD, my classic Sesame, even a cue card penguin robot for Ryan. That last one tickled me as you know what a fan I am of that silly tuxedo-d bird.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Wow Ed, that was great! I loved the present! I wish it was real! Very awesome, I can tell you worked hard on this chapter really personalizing those gifts and that is very awesome. Way to go, gold star and hugs for you!

 

[Java]

And we still have to wait to find out whats in the white box! Oh, what agony!

A wonderful Chapter. Hope you don't have to re-write the next ones.