Chapter Six
They wrapped her boots very carefully, gently packing them. They were very precious now.
Kermit personally folded her gloves in half, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and tucked the handkerchief into his bag. Then he took the handkerchief back out to keep it with him for a little while.
Gonzo called the Muppet Boarding House. Kermit didn't have the heart to, and Fozzie couldn't bring himself to bear that news, and Rowlf didn't feel much like talking.
They didn't bother asking Scooter.
They sat on the floor of the hut in a tight circle as silent tears slowly rolled down the kid's cheeks and the bear occasionally sniffled.
There wasn't much to say.
"...I-- ...I guess-- ...we'll go home, soon," Gonzo finally whispered.
Kermit stood up suddenly, and turned to pace, and stopped and went to the door, and put a hand on the wall, and stared outside, and turned towards them, and turned back to the door, and--
"Kermit--" Fozzie pushed himself to his feet and approached his friend. "Wha--"
"I don't know," Kermit said, putting his hand back on the wall and staring outside, fingers gently rubbing against the handkerchief. "I don't
know..."
Fozzie put his hand on his friend's shoulder. Gonzo sat a little straighter, and Rowlf wrapped an arm around Scooter, who lifted his head just slightly.
"...I-- I don't-- something-- ...It-- it doesn't
fit right, doesn't--
feel-- I-- ...I don't know..."
Fozzie gently pulled the frog into his arms for a warm bear hug.
Kermit settled against his friend's fur, fingers still rubbing the handkerchief in his hand. "...I... I just... have this... feeling," he said, barely able to talk with the lump in his throat. "And I-- ...I don't-- ...know what it is..."
"...Grief?" Rowlf whispered thickly.
Kermit shook his head. "...Besides that," he whispered.
Fozzie gently guided his friend back towards their circle. Kermit resisted some, looking outside, but soon let himself be guided.
They sat in their tight little circle for the rest of the night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Miss Piggy sighed as she settled to rest on a branch.
She couldn't help feeling like she was on a futile mission. There was no telling how tall these trees were. She'd seen buildings as tall as these trees. She'd slept in hotels as tall as these trees. What made her think she would get high enough to see the sky? And besides, moving up was not moving forward.
...Well... maybe she could move up
and forward, if she could climb and move from tree to tree...
She took a deep breath and continued in this new manner, slowly climbing from one tree to the next, higher and higher branches...
She reached for a branch and froze.
There was a tail hanging down from that branch.
Leopard. Nocturnal. Probably sleeping. Possibly guarding a kill.
She bit her lip.
...Maybe going straight up for a while wasn't such a bad idea.
She climbed up... and up... and up...
And then she felt something.
Warmth. On her cheek.
How she noticed it, she wasn't sure. There was plenty of heat to go around.
She slowly turned her head, and she squinted.
Sunlight. A tiny little stream of direct sunlight.
She slowly sat down on the branch she'd been standing on, staring up at the tiny little stream of direct sunlight from a less painful perspective.
Sun.
...Sun…
She watched as the sun drifted, leaving blue sky in its place.
Through all these leaves, all this green, one tiny patch of blue...
She watched as a cloud came and hid the blue from sight.
...Through all these leaves, all this green, one tiny patch of gray...
She watched as rain began to fall, dripping down on the leaves and the trees and all the plants and her and…
...And then she watched as the rain stopped, and started to dry, and the gray faded back to blue...
She watched as the blue slowly got darker, watched as darkness
fell, instead of just thickening...
She sat and watched as one little star appeared among the leaves above her.
She watched as the star left and was replaced with another, and sometimes there were a few stars, very faint, and sometimes there was one, and…
She did not realize she had fallen asleep, so very carefully balanced, until she woke up to find that there was plenty of light.
She thought about this for a long moment.
She was certainly closer to the canopy now. There was less worry about leopards and jaguars and… well, snakes could still be an issue, but the big ones liked it better on the ground... There was plenty to eat up here, and although the leaves weren't as hydrating, there was more direct rainwater, and she did still have that empty thermos in her pack... And if she could keep her balance in her sleep...
...Maybe... Maybe this was worth a try.
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