A Fresh Start
Kermit laid on his stomach in the pile of hay, with his head tucked into the crook of his arm. He could almost feel the sun rising ouside. He rolled over so he could see, and sure enough, the cabin was a little brighter than it had been when he had fallen asleep. A soft beam of sunlight gleamed in through the window, just touching the cabin floor.
He sighed, not quite ready to get up yet. He turned his head to watch his sleeping nephew as he let his mind wander.
They had fallen so easily into their routine here. The cabin had such a feeling of home to it that it would have taken a real effort to be uncomfortable. It was exactly what a summer home is meant to be- a place where you can forget your worries, leave absolutely all your cares behind, and just relax.
But relaxing time had ended. The week was up. Where had time gone? And still he didn't know what to do when he got to Galt. Just say, "please leave us alone now?" What good would that do? He sighed. Maybe it would come easier when he was actually looking the man in the eye. On the other hand, maybe it would be harder then.
He heard something and realized Gina was already up, making breakfast. She was humming something to herself. That sounds familiar, he thought.
He turned his head the other way, to where Miss Piggy was lying. Her body was turned away from him, towards the wall. His mind wandered between his original train of thought and what Gina was humming.
Life was so simple here. They had absolutely no responsabilities, no cares, no worries. Except of course for keeping Robin caught up in school, but he learned quickly, and that wasn't difficult at all. What was it... less than three months ago? Had it only been that long? Less than three months ago, this was the very kind of life they were sick of. But now it was so wonderful, to have absolutely nothing...
...We sang that song, didn't we? When did we sing that?...
Maybe it was because they had absolutely nothing that they were enjoying this so much. Last time they had a break, they had had more than nothing. They had had places they could have gone, things they could have bought, things they could have done. But now there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy, no one to see but each other. All they had was a pond to play in and some woods to explore. And that was more than enough to keep them occupied. He felt like they could have stayed there forever and been happy.
...Was it on one of our shows?... No, it's from one of our movies...
But of course he knew that couldn't work. Of course there was the obvious reason that Gina was leaving that day, and they couldn't stay. But even if that wasn't the case, he knew they wouldn't have been able to stay there forever. They would get homesick eventually. They would miss... they would miss the sort of things that they were missing now. He pondered that for a bit. Yes, they definately missed some things.
...Which movie did we sing that in?... It was one of the earlier movies...
It was the little things that they missed. He smiled. How did that song go? "I believe in little things..." it was true. Little things. Seeing people other than each other. Standing on a stage. Entertaining people.
...If only I could remember the words, that would help... It was at the end of the movie, wasn't it?...
The little things. Little things, like singing. Laughing. Sleeping in their own beds.
...It was the end of Muppets Take Manhattan! Yes, that's it... the wedding...
Little things, like taking their time when they ate. Eating at their own table.
... It makes sense for Gina to be humming that. She's going to a wedding today, I forgot about that...
Little things, like asking everyone questions at the breakfast table. Little things. Little things, like the morning kiss routine. How long had it been since he and Miss Piggy had done that? Months. Somehow, it had drifted out of their pattern when the men had first started to follow them around.
He watched as Miss Piggy rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling, letting out a soft sigh. Kermit realized that she wasn't really asleep. She was just delaying actually getting up, the same way he was. She probably didn't even know he was awake.
He wondered if she missed the good morning kiss routine, too. She probably did. Or maybe she had been too miserable over the past months to miss it. But on the other hand, he had been miserable, too, and he missed it. And this past week, well, they hadn't been miserable at all. But although this cabin was most definately a home, it wasn't their home.
Home. That's what they missed. Home.
Well, maybe that wasn't such a little thing, after all...
He was certain that Miss Piggy was awake. He leaned over to her, gave her a little peck on the cheek, and whispered, "Good morning."
She smiled, turned her head and watched as he got up and walked towards where Gina was standing.
She was still humming the song. She had no idea that any one was awake yet, and she let a few lines slip out with the words.
"He'll make me happy,
Each time I see him.
He'll be the reason
My heart can sing..."
She turned and saw Kermit standing just a few feet away. She blushed a little, but the smile on her face refused to fade as she continued making waffles.
"Good morning, Kermit," she said.
"Good morning, Gina"
"Kinda hard to leave this place, isn't it?"
He nodded, wondering how she always seemed to know what he was thinking. "Yeah."
"Yeah, I know. We go through it every summer. As soon as we leave, we start counting the days to when we can come back again." She started to wash a bowl she had been mixing in. "Do you guys have a place like that? A place where you can always be comfortable? Like a second home?
He thought about it before answering. "Well... yeah, I guess so. I mean our home is the boarding house. But we have the theater, too. That's sort of like home to us. And of course I have the swamp. That's home. And it's Robin's home, too." He turned and saw that Miss Piggy had gotten up and was standing right next to him. "Can you think of any place else, Piggy? Any other place we have a home?"
Miss Piggy's eyes faded into a far away look as she thought. She spoke softly. "I miss home."
Kermit nodded. "So do I, Piggy. So do I."
Slowly, everyone woke up. They ate breakfast and loaded their belongings into the bus. Gina's car was still hooked up to the bus. She was going to drive with them as far as Galt's place, and then head to the wedding.
Kermit had told the others at breakfast that morning how close they were to where Galt lived, and that they had to face him. None of them asked any questions. No one asked what they would do when they did see Galt. He was thankfull for that. He still didn't know.
They got on the bus and took their seats in silence. Gina was the last one on. She could see how grim the muppets were, all of them nervous. She understood why, of course. She wasn't sure she would want to approach her own antagonist. Yet she could barely contain her excitement for the wedding. But still, she felt the need to give some sort of comfort.
"Guys?..."
Their heads turned from their windows to her, perfectly synchronized. It was almost creepy to watch.
"Guys... you remember, after the accident, when I told you to call me if you needed anything?"
They nodded, vaguely. Of course they remembered. It was the only reason they hadn't felt any guilt about joining her at the summer home.
"It still stands," she said. She sat down in the driver's seat and let her enthusiasm take ahold of her once more. "Alright, everybody- Destination: Lloyd Galt!"
They wondered at how she could act like Lloyd Galt was a happy destination. They sighed, each returning their gaze to their windows. It was all they could do to hope things would go well.
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