Destination: Home

[TogetherAgain]

Rest Stop Part I. With Commentary. Yay!

Floyd felt the bus roll to a stop. He blinked, looked around. Dr. Teeth turned to face them.

"Alright folks, last rest stop in seventy-five miles. Everybody out." He said.

They slowly unboarded again. The usual stretching and yawning was followed by an unexpected race to the bathrooms. Animal dragged Floyd there first.

commentary Apparently being Animal's caretaker has it's advantages. Well actually I just needed an excuse to get Floyd by himself, which he is in the next paragraph. end commentary​

​

When he was done, Floyd stood out in the parking lot, completely empty except for the bus. They were no longer any where near the city. Signs of civilization were scattered across the landscape, but they were becoming more and more scarce. They were surrounded mostly by desert. The six-lane highway was down to two lanes now, and what traffic they did see was all headed towards the city.

Floyd gazed off into the distance, losing himself in his thoughts once more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The emergency workers had arrived within minutes. They had to use the jaws of life to open the truck door. They were working as fast as they could. But due to the circumstances, "as fast as they could" was fairly slow.

commentary Lots of references in this chapter. Very fun. end commentary​

The muppets all sat on the porch steps, worrying about the girl. It was strange to think about- they had no idea who this girl was. They had never met her before, never seen her face. But they were insanely worried about her. Perhaps it was just seeing her in so much trauma that had caught hold of their heart strings. Whether that was it or not, they all knew they wouldn't be able to sleep that night until they knew she was alright.

Kermit seemed to be the most distressed. "I told her she would be alright," he said. "But what if she isn't?"

"She will be," Rowlf assured them. "It was good that you told her that, Kermit. Sometimes just hearing they'll be alright is enough to make a person well."

Miss Piggy could see how upset Kermit was. Rowlf's words hadn't provided quite enough comfort to set him at ease. She couldn't stand seeing him like this, and her own curiousity and worry were getting the better of her.

commentary Ok so it's a little out of character for Miss Piggy, but I needed to get her over to the truck so she could worry about Gina's hair. That was just too good of a situation to resist. end commentary​

"I'll go see how she's doing," she said. The other muppets watched her as she got up and walked over to the truck, where the paramedics were still working.

They had just gotten the door open and the seat belt off as she cautiously approached. One of them was giving instructions.

"Okay, Frank, on the count of three: one, two-"

commentary Frank Oz! A little ironic for him to have a conversation with Miss Piggy, don't you think? end commentary​

"Wait a second, Jim," the one called Frank said. "Look at this. Her hair is all tangled on the headrest."

Jim looked at where Frank was pointing. "Hmm. So it is. We can't take her out with her hair holding her in."

commentary Jim! Jim Henson! I've read that he used to say "hmm" all the time, so I thought it would be good to have him say "hmm." And the young Jim Henson in KSY said "hmm," too. end commentary​

"We'll have to cut it," Frank agreed.

"Woah! Hold it! Cut her hair?" Miss Piggy interupted.

Jim turned to her surprised. "Yes. How else can we-"

"NO!" Miss Piggy shouted. "Absolutely not!"

These silly paramedics! She thought. It was clear to her that this girl cared for her hair. It was long, it had been well-brushed before the accident, and it had a healthy sheen to it. Yes, this was a girl who cared for her hair. Something these paramedics clearly knew nothing about- guys with long hair and beards- they looked like a couple of hippies.

commentary Well what do you expect, they're muppeteers. Of course they look like hippies. I think it's part of the job description. Ok so maybe not, but really. Look at the old pictures. They all look like hippies. end commentary​

Surely they had no idea how to cut her hair so that it would look good.

commentary Except that they cut her hair, too. Irony is so awesome. end commentary​

She would wake up and find her hair in a wreck. That would be trauma enough to match the enitre rest of the accident. So if Miss Piggy had any say in it, those paramedics wouldn't lay a finger on this girl's hair.

"Do NOT cut her hair! Here, just... just untangle it..." And she started to work at the girl's hair, slowly trying to untangle it.

The paramedics looked at her, looked at each other, sighed. Jim turned to another paramedic standing by the ambulance. "Jerry!" He called, signalling for scissors with his hands.

commentary Jerry Nelson! Jerry Juhl will come in later. This is Jerry Nelson. Just thought I'd clarify, there's multiple Jerry's, you know. end commentary​

He turned to the pig and gently pushed her away from the girl. "Ma'am," he said softly, "We'll be as careful as we can, I promise. But right now it's important that we get her to the hospital as soon as we can."

Miss Piggy realized she was crying. "Well... alright." She whimpered. "Just... just cut as low as possible..."

Jerry came with the scissors, and Jim cut carefully, following Miss Piggy's instructions. The pig stood watch to make sure the hair could be restored easily. Finally the paramedics lifted the girl from the truck wreck.

Miss Piggy returned to the muppets on the porch steps. "The poor thing," She said, "they had to cut her hair to get her out!"

"Miss Piggy? Is she going to be okay?" Robin asked. Miss Piggy nodded. Kermit looked encouraged.

"We'd better go to the hospital with her," he said. "Just until her family comes. So there'll be someone to speak for her."

The other muppets nodded, and got onto the bus to follow the ambulance.

They waited in the emergency room for hours. No one came for the girl, no doctor came out to report. It was around midnight when a nurse finally approached them.

"You're the folks who came with the girl in the truck?" She asked. They nodded. "Well, I have good news, and I have bad news." she said. Judging by her voice, the bad news wasn't that bad.

"Give us the good news first," Kermit said.

The nurse nodded. "Well, the good news is that she had identification on her, so we know who she is. Her name is Gina Brinks, and she's going to be just fine. In fact, she doesn't even need to stay here over night. She'll need plenty of rest, of course, but she'll be just fine."

commentary Now since I was so descriptive on the origin of Lloyd Galt's name, I'm sure your wondering where Gina Brinks is from. So. "Gina" is me twisting around "Jenny" of Muppets take Manhattan fame. That's sort of the kind of idea I was aiming for with her character. And "Brinks" well... actually, I don't know where I came up with Brinks... end commentary​

A collective sigh escaped from the group of muppets. Then they were confused. "Well, then, what's the bad news?" Kermit asked.

"Well, the bad news is that she doesn't live any where near here. We've called her parents, and they're about a thousand miles away. Apparently she was on some sort of road trip. Getting something, I guess." The nurse shrugged. "Basically, she has no where to go until her parents get here to take her home, and that won't be for a couple of days. But we don't want to keep her in the hospital. Like I said, she doesn't need to stay here. We have a shortage of beds as it is, and we wouldn't want to charge her for the extra time in the hospital. It gets expensive, you know, and we try to think of our patients wallets as well as their health."

The nurse took a deep breath. "So what I was wondering, is if... if maybe you folks could let her stay at your place until her parents come? I mean they should get in town by tomorrow night, they said they were leaving right away, and... I mean, if it's not too much trouble..."

commentary She just contradicted herself. Did anyone catch that? She said Gina's parents would take a couple days to get there, and then she said they would be in by "tomorrow night". This nurse can't make up her mind. But that's really because I can't make up my mind. end commentary​

Kermit nodded. "Of course. We understand. We've got plenty of room, she can stay with us. Right, guys?" He looked around at his friends. They all nodded except for Miss Piggy. She was hesitant. But Kermit hadn't noticed, and the nurse hadn't either.

"Oh good! I'll go tell the doctor, then." And the nurse hurried down the hall, calling for Dr. Goelz.

commentary Dr. Goelz would be Dave Goelz. So we don't see him, but that's because he's busy performing Gonzo in this scene. I mean... something like that. end commentary​

The muppets set up a bed for Gina on the couch. There were more than enough bedrooms, but the doctor hadn't wanted her to deal with stairs for a while because of her broken leg.

commentary And the only reason she's on the couch is so they can all crowd around her in a little bit. So I broke her leg, so she would be on the couch, so they could crowd around her while she read, so I could have this cute little hearwarming scene. Yeesh. end commentary​

All of them slept soundly except for Miss Piggy. Sure, she had been worried about Gina, they all had. But this whole having-the-beautiful-damsel-in-distress-stay-with-them thing was worrying her. Because she was a beautiful damsel in distress, and beautiful damsels in distress get Kermit's attention and care. Attention and care that belonged to Miss Piggy. She rolled over in her bed. Well, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. After all, it was only for one day. But still... She rolled over again and finally drifted to sleep.

commentary I could have worded the damsel-in-distress bit better. It doesn't come off as well as I would have liked. meh, too late now. end commentary​

Kermit woke up earlier than usual the next day. The doctor had said for Gina to get as much rest as possible. Kermit had an idea: why not give her breakfast in bed? That way she could relax, get some rest, and eat.

He hurried downstairs to make some french toast. As he did, he thought about what little conversation he had had with Gina the day before. It turned out she was something of a fan. Well, maybe more than "something" of a fan- the first thing she did was ask for everyone's autograph.

commentary And for that, I'm jealous of her. How crazy, I'm jealous of a character that I created. end commentary​

He carried the food over to the couch on a tray. Gina was laying there awake, staring at the ceiling. She turned and smiled when she saw him. He sat and talked with her as she ate, and they both enjoyed having someone new to talk to.

Miss Piggy heard them talking and came down to join them. She did NOT want any flirting going on while she was sleeping. Of course, there hadn't been any flirting, but she didn't know that.

Soon everyone was downstairs, eating their breakfast in the kitchen while Gina drifted back in and out of sleep. Then Robin went off to school, and everyone went about their usual routines. Except of course for Kermit, who was on his way out the door for his meeting with Mr. Lloyd Galt.

He arrived at the hotel exactly on time and was escorted to Mr. Galt's room. He walked in to find that it had been set up to appear as more of an office. The desk had been pulled away from the wall so that it faced the door, with an extra arm-chair facing either side of it.

"Ah, Mr. the Frog. Come in, please, have a seat." Mr. Galt was tall, with thick muscles. He had light brown hair that looked like it had been tossed onto his head, and grey eyes that seemed to pierce right through Kermit. Something about his composure refused to set Kermit at ease. He had a bad feeling about this Mr. Galt. But surely he was jumping to conclusions- the greeting had been welcome enough.

commentary I threw that description together at the last minute. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted Galt to look like. So I was thinking of giving him dark features, but I realized that would make him like Gina, and I wanted them to be opposites. So I gave him opposite features. Of course that ended up working against me later on... end commentary​

Kermit sat in the arm-chair opposite Mr. Galt.

"I'm so glad you came, Mr. the Frog" Lloyd Galt continued. "You see I would just be thrilled to have you and your friends in this movie. I actually wrote it with you in mind," he said.

"Oh! Well, I'm, I'm honored, Mr. Galt-" he started to say.

"Please, call me Lloyd."

"Ok, then, Lloyd. Call me Kermit."

"Kermit. Right."

"You see Lloyd, we would like to know more about the movie before we agree to do it," Kermit said.

Lloyd hesitated before answering, his grey eyes seeming to freeze on the frog. "Well, um... here!" He handed Kermit a large manilla envelope. "Why don't you read the script? You'll need to read it anyways... learn your part and all."

Kermit took the envelope. "Alright." This wasn't making any sense at all. Why didn't he just tell Kermit what the movie was about? "Are you sure you don't want to just give me, you know, a basic overview of the plot?"

"No, just read the script." Lloyd's eyes narrowed on the frog like a hawk taking aim on it's prey. Then he suddenly relaxed and smiled at Kermit. "I'm sure you'll like it. It's perfect for you and your friends." He pulled his chair in, set his arms on the desk. "Now then, shall we discuss pay? I'm sure you're accustomed to getting a lot..."

"Well now wait a minute, Lloyd," Kermit said. "We haven't even agreed to do the movie yet. We haven't even read the script. We don't even know what the movie is about!"

Lloyd leaned back in his seat, his grey eyes growing narrow again. If it was possible, flames would have surely flown from his eyes. He stayed silent for what seemed like a long time. "Alright." he said finally. "Go read the script. Call me when you've decided to do the movie."

" If we do the movie." Kermit corrected him.

"Right."

Kermit was relieved to be out of the hotel room. He got into the waiting cab, and slowly opened the manilla envelope and took out the script. He began to read as the cab slowly made its way to the boarding house.

Meanwhile Miss Piggy was not at all pleased with having Gina on the couch. After breakfast she was making her way upstairs when she heard singing coming from the family room. She paused to listen.

"Darling can't you see
what you do to me?
Oh, how you fooled me
with those giggles, winks and nudges.
The love that you gave me was
a duplicate with smudges!"

"Oh, brother." Miss Piggy muttered. "And she sings, too." She walked away, still listening to Gina sing,

" 'Cause you put a piece of carbon paper
under your heart,
And gave me just a copy of your love!"

commentary "Carbon Paper," good song. It was sung by another rival of Miss Piggy's, Annie Sue. So Miss Piggy right now is subliminally connecting Annie Sue the rival to Gina Brinks as a rival. Wait, did that make sense? Oh well. end commentary​

Robin came home from school to find Gina reaching a book in her bag.

commentary I meant of course, that she was reaching for a book in her bag, but I forgot a word. Oops. end commentary​

"Hey, Gina" he said. "what are you doing?"

"Oh hi, Robin. I was just going to read my book."

"Oh. What book?'

"It's called Old Con and Patrick. Hey, want me to read it to you?"

commentary That's a real book. I've read it several times. If you're interested, it's by Ruth Sawyer. Very good book. end commentary​

"Sure!" The young frog hopped up onto the couch next to her.

Soon Rowlf, Fozzie, Gonzo, Camilla, and all of the Electric Mayhem were crowded arounded Gina, listening intently to the story. Then Miss Piggy came downstairs and, seeing that all attention was focussed on Gina, was immediately jealous. Then she heard a piece of the story, and was immediately captivated. She hurried to the couch to hear the rest.

It wasn't long after that when Kermit finally arrived in front of the Muppet Boarding House. He gave the cab driver his fair, then looked at the script and sighed. How would he tell them that they couldn't do this movie? They had all been so excited. But the script was disgusting and depraved, and even Pepe wouldn't stoop to that level. The story line itself was enough to make Kermit's stomach turn. He trudged wearily into the house and set the script in its envelope on the counter. Slowly, he made his way into the family room... and couldn't believe what he saw. Every single one of them was crowded onto the couch, listening to Gina read. It was a truly beautiful, heartwarming sight. It was exactly what he had needed after reading the script.

Robin was the first to notice him standing there. "Hi, Uncle Kermit!" he said cheerfully, and a chorus of hellos followed.

Kermit smiled. "Hello, Robin. Hello, everybody."

"How was the meeting?" Gonzo asked eagerly. Gina looked around, confused. Meeting? What meeting? Oh well, it was none of her business.

Kermit hesitated. "I'll tell you about it later. What are you guys reading?" He said, quickly changing the topic and sitting next to his nephew on the couch.

"It's called Old Con and Patrick," Gina said.

"Oh. That's a good book."

commentary See? If Kermit thinks it's a good book, it's gotta be a good book. Actually I have no idea if he's ever read it. But I think he would like it. end commentary​

Gina nodded, and continued the narration.

"For the second time since his home-coming Patrick wanted to cry. The fall had wrenched his whole body, scraped the braces against his legs, rubbed the skin off his nose, and hurt his pride abominably..."

commentary That's an actual excerpt from the book, too. Chapter six, page 81. I'm starting to feel like I'm plugging this book. end commentary​

Gina's parents came to pick her up after dinner. They thanked the muppets a thousand times for taking care of her, and were quickly ready to go. Gina hobbled to the door on her crutches, turning to face them before she went.

"If you guys ever need anything... anything at all... I'll be happy to help you. You have my number." She said. And like that, she was gone.

commentary More foreshadowing. Darned English class. end commentary​

All attention immediately turned to Kermit.

"So?" Rowlf asked. They all knew what he was asking about.

Kermit sighed. This would be tough. "So, we're not doing the movie."

"WHAT?!?" They were all shouting instantly.

"What do you mean, 'we're not doing the movie'?"

"Why not?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why wouldn't we do the movie?"

"QUIET!" Kermit shouted. He picked the script up off the counter. "It's no good, guys. It's absolutely disgusting. It has absolutely no morals at all, the jokes aren't the slightest bit funny, it's wretched!"

They stood silently, staring at their leader in shock.

Gonzo spoke up. "What about stunts?"

Kermit shook his head. "The closest thing to a stunt is crossing a busy street."

"Any love scenes?" Miss Piggy asked.

Kermit sighed, opened the script to a page about half way through it. "This is the closest thing to a love scene, if you could even call it that." He handed the script to Miss Piggy, and the rest of the muppets crowded around, trying to read over her shoulder. Kermit pulled Robin away, shaking his head. There was no way he would let his nephew read that.

commentary I actually have a vague idea of what's in that script, and even in that specific scene. I would tell you, but it's not forum-friendly. But I suppose you could e-mail me or pm me if you're absolutely dying to know. I wouldn't suggest it, though, I mean that script is lower than the dirt in the road. I don't like thinking about it. end commentary​

Miss Piggy threw the script down on the floor, repulsed. "HE EXPECTS ME TO DO THAT!?!" she shouted. "Well, he can FORGET about it!" And the other muppets nodded in agreement. They wanted nothing to do with this pathetic excuse of a movie.

"My point exactly." Kermit said. He went to the phone and called Lloyd. He got an answering machine, so he left a message. "Hello, Lloyd, this is Kermit the Frog calling about that script you gave me today. I've read through it, and we've all discussed it-" he looked around at his friends, "And we've decided that we're not interested in working on it. But thank you for the offer, and best of luck to you."

He hung up. They stood around looking at Kermit, at the floor, at each other. They were bored. Again.

"So now what?" Floyd asked. "We just go back to doing nothing?"

"Rully, like, that was sooo dull," Janice added.

"BORING! BORING!" Animal agreed.

"No," Kermit said. "No, now we're going to do a new show." He had been thinking about it for a while now, without saying anything to anyone. But now it was clear that they needed something, and a show would be perfect. They would have total control over it, it would be an outlet for all their creative muses, it was perfect!

And everyone else seemed to agree. They were all excited.

"Oh, Kermie, really?" Miss Piggy gushed.

"Yes, really. In fact, let's start on it tomorrow." The room roared with excitement. Kermit smiled, knowing that the same old same old was gone. "I'll have to get everybody together. We'll all meet at the theater." And with that, he picked up the phone and started dialing.

"Hello, Scooter? It's Kermit. Yeah, listen, we need to do a new show. Yeah. So start calling people, and tell them all to meet at the theater tomorrow. Yeah. Here, why don't you call Rizzo, Pepe, Clifford, Beauregard- you know what, I'll call Beauregard. But call Pops..."

commentary Of course that meant I had to put all those characters in the next chapter. I had several others worked in, but I hadn't meant to work in Pops. But I did! I'm so proud of me. Well, -ish. end commentary​

 

[The Count]

Again, good stuff.

Two things though...
1 When you say the nurse's condused about the "two days" deal, I can understand that this might reflect your own thought process while writting the story. But... The whole day of the accident that they got her to the hospital would be one day. And day after when Gina's parents would get to the MBH would be the second day.
2 When commenting about Gina's name... Liked it cause I always thought you were meaning to reference Gina from Sesame Street, what with the references to all the other Muppeteers in your vonderful story.
Even if that wasn't the case, nice how that somehow works out.

Keep up the good job. Like it so far.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Rest Stop Part II. With Commentary!!!

Suddenly Floyd felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to see who it was.

Janice.

He put his arm around her waist, she put her arm around his shoulders. They leaned on each other, both seeking comfort.

"I was just thinking about the show," He told her. She nodded.

"Rully. Like, we've gotta get back there."

He nodded. They stood together, with nothing to look at but stars.

commentary Well, technically they could have turned around and looked at the rest stop, or the bus, but stars are more interesting. At least that's my opinion. end commentary​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The morning after Gina left, after Robin had gone to school, the rest of the boarding house piled into the Electric Mayhem bus and headed for the Muppet Theater.

As soon as they pulled up, Kermit could see work that needed to be done: the sign was falling off. He sighed. Well, that was why they were here. To see what needed to be done before they could start doing a show again.

"Okay, I'll be around soon to see what needs doing," he announced as they got off the bus. "In the meantime, everybody go take care of whatever it is you take care of."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was being trampled by his friends, all eager to get back to the theater. When they had all passed, he stood up and watched the theater door slam shut behind them. "Sheesh!"

commentary That's more of a visual gag. Doesn't transfer quite as well to paper. Er... computer screen? I mean... well you know what I mean. I think. end commentary​

He went in and stopped by the ticket counter, where Pops already was.

"Pops, how are we doing on tickets?" he asked.

Pops looked at him. "Well, assuming we only fill half the theater, we've got enough for two nights."

commentary I was trying to make Pops sound like Pops. (?) Not sure how well I did. end commentary​

Kermit folded his face. "Why didn't you just say we have enough for one night?"

"Because I wanted to make it sound like more."

"...Right. I'll order more tickets." And Kermit made his way into the theater house. Where he was immediately hit by a fish.

"Lew!" He shouted.

"Sorry, Mr. the Frog!" Lew Zealand said. "Tommy got a little carried away!"

commentary Now if you look back to page two of this thread, you'll see that just before this chapter Kim aka Skeeter Muppet had mentioned that she is accustomed to picking out references that are "some very subtle and others about as obvious as a boomerang fish upside the head". So I read that and I thought, perfect, I'll throw in a boomerang fish! Er... no pun intended... I don't think... end commentary​

Kermit handed the stray fish, apparently named Tommy, to Lew. "Well, tell Tommy to try to watch where he's going. Do you need anything before we start the new show?"

"Nope! I've got plenty of fish right here!" Lew patted his bucket.

"Oh good. I'll see you around, then, Lew." Kermit headed for the backstage area. That was where his attention was really needed.

"Hey boss, it's good to see you again!" Scooter greeted him. Scooter had recently reunited with his twin sister, Skeeter, and they were now living together.

commentary I figured I would throw in a mention of Skeeter too, since so many people seem to miss her. One of the things I tried to do was to mention characters that people miss. Therefore Rowlf has a lot more lines than he would in a typical modern muppet production. Trouble is I figured if I left out all the newer muppets, people would wonder... so I put Pepe in. Much as I tend to get sick of the prawn, he does come in handy. end commentary​

"Good to see you too, Scooter. How's your sister doing?"

"Well, actually she's having some financial trouble. I was wondering if you could give her a job here."

Kermit looked skeptical. "I don't know. What can she do?"

Scooter leaned in as though telling a secret. "Kermit, what can anyone here do?"

Scooter had him there. "Good point."

"Hey, Kerm!" Clifford called as he walked over, "When do we start the show?"

"As soon as we can get the theater into shape, Clifford." Kermit said. "How are the lights looking?"

"Man, we've got more burnt out bulbs than my aunt's christmas tree. I think there's some faulty wires up there, too."

commentary Once again, trying to sound like a character I'm not overly familiar with. end commentary​

"Which ones?"

"Here, I'll show you." The three of them walked out onto the stage, where Beauregard was already sweeping.

"Hello, Kermit!" the janitor said.

"Hi Bo. Need any cleaning supplies?"

"No... I don't think so..."

"Good. Now Clifford, you were saying-"

"Oh Kermit?" Beauregard interupted. "Be careful on the stage. I think one of the boards is loose-y"

Kermit turned. "Which one?"

*crack*

"WOAH!"

Clifford stepped on the loose board and fell through the stage.

commentary From what little I've seen of him, I don't particularly like Clifford, so it was very rewarding to send him through the stage. end commentary​

"Um... I think it was that one" Beauregard decided.

Kermit shook his head. "Sheesh. Well, thank you for telling me, Beauregard."

"You're welcome!"

commentary You've gotta love Beauregard. He's so absent minded it's awesome. end commentary​

Clifford crawled out of the new hole in the stage.

"Are you alright, Clifford?" Scooter asked.

He coughed. "Yeah. I'm-" he coughed again. "I'm fine."

They heard laughter coming from the balcony. They turned, knowing who they would see. Statler and Waldorf.

"Who called them?" Kermit asked Scooter.

Scooter shrugged. "I think they're still here from the last show."

commentary Yeah, they're still glued there from the Gilda Radner episode of The Muppet Show. You know, that super adhesive from Muppet Labs? Yeah, they never got unstuck. At least that's my theory. Why else would they stay? On the other hand, why would they have come in the first place? You know what, they're both old fools. end commentary​

Kermit called up to the old men, "does the balcony need any work?"

"Yes!" Statler cried

"Lots of it!" Waldorf agreed.

"What does it need?" Kermit asked.

Statler spoke slowly, as though giving very deliberate instructions. "It needs to be turned around, so that it faces AWAY from the stage!"

"Doh ho ho ho!" the men laughed.

commentary Under the circumstances, it was the best I could do for heckling. It's based loosely on a comment- I forget which one of them said it, but something along the lines of "I know what's wrong with this theater. It's the seats. They face the stage!" end commentary​

Next Kermit went down to the cafeteria, where the Swedish Chef was at work.

"Need any ingredients, chef? How are you doing with supplies?"

The chef looked flustered. "Vell! I cuoold hefe-a iferytheeng thet I need. Bork bork bork! Boot it vuoold be-a a lut ieseeer tu keep it ell in stuck iff zeese-a rets vuoold stup ieteeng it ell!" He pointed furiously at Rizzo, who was taking a huge loaf of bread off the counter to eat.

commentary Thank goodness for the Dialectizer Seriously, I don't know what I would do without that thing. end commentary​

"What? A rat's gotta eat, ya know!" He said.

commentary And eat, and eat, and eat, and eat... Yeah, that's Rizzo for you. Come to think of it, this scene would be incredibly hard on Steve, wouldn't it? Oh well. end commentary​

Kermit tried to keep the peace. "Look, Rizzo, why don't you just-"

The chef was taking out his cleaver and waving it at Rizzo.

"Not now, frog-man, I gotta go!" and the chase was on. Kermit sighed and went to find Bunsen and Beaker.

"Hey Kermin!" Pepe stopped him, "What is this new pill the crazy scientists are making, hokay?"

"New pill?" Kermit's face fell. "I haven't heard anything about it."

"You should go see them, hokay! I could have sworn I heard them say it will make you sexy, hokay."

Kermit folded his face. "I'll look into that." He wasn't quite sure he believed the shrimp. Er, King Prawn.

He found "the crazy scientists" a few minutes later.

"Do you guys need anything?" He asked.

"Yes," Dr. Bunsen Honeydew said, "We are running severly low on several important chemicals.

"Mee mee mou moo!" Beaker agreed.

"Oh. Such as?" Kermit asked.

"Well, for one, we desperately need twenty moles of silicon tetrachloride." Bunsen said.

commentary Silicon tetrachloride does exist. I got it off a chemistry worksheet. What it is, I have no idea whatsoever. But it exists. And a mole is a form of measurement that I don't particularly care to explain here. Go look it up in the encyclopedia or something. I'm lazy. end commentary​

"Oh." Kermit had no idea what that was. "Uh, is that expensive?"

"Extremely."

"Oh dear. Um, what do you need it for?"

"I'm so glad you asked! You see, we here at Muppet Labs are developing a new pill, guaranteed to raise any body temperature by at least thirty degrees!"

Now Kermit understood what Pepe had been talking about. The pill would make you hot, which the prawn had thought to mean "sexy." Typical frame of mind for Pepe.

"Now then, my assistant Beaker will demonstrate!" Bunsen continued.

"Mee mee mou! Mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mou!"

"Come on, now, Beakie, take the pill!"

Beaker sighed, swallowed the pill, and followed it with a gulp of water.

"Now then, as you will see, this pill is perfectly harmless!" Honeydew explained.

Perfectly harmless? It didn't look that way. Beaker's eyes lit up, steam came from his head, and the usual meeps ensued.

commentary "A perfectly harmless Muppet Labs invention" is an oxy-moron. end commentary​

"See? Perfectly harmless!" Bunsen repeated. "But unfortunately, the effects wear off very quickly."

"MEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEE!" Beaker had been pointing to a chart displaying the time effects of the pill, but his touch had set the paper on fire. He tried to smother the flame with the arm of his lab coat. The flame didn't go out, though- it just moved from the chart to the coat before quickly dying down to a mere ember.

commentary Another one of those visual gags that doesn't quite work as well in text form. Grr. end commentary​

"Oh dear," Bunsen said, "It would appear that Beaker needs a new lab coat, as well."

"I'll get right on it," Kermit said. He wandered back to his desk backstage right. First day back, and already he needed a break. He turned as the Swedish Chef ran behind him, still chasing Rizzo. They were headed for the stage.

The stage?

He shouted after them, "GUYS! WATCH OUT FOR THE-"

There was a crash as they fell through the hole. "Sheesh. I'll put that at the top of the list," he muttered. He heard them climbing out, starting up the chase fresh. He didn't bother to try and stop them- he heard other trouble coming. Specifically, it was coming out of a certain pig's dressing room.

"Kermie!" she called. "Kermie, my dressing room needs some remodeling!"

No it didn't. It had just been remodelled after the last show. The other dressing rooms had never been remodelled at all, and they were holding up fine. There was no way her dressing room needed to be remodelled.

"Uh, not now, Piggy. I've got a lot of stuff to take care of-"

"Frog, you will listen to me! Now. I was thinking a new vanity, oh, and that mirror is simply out of style! It has to go. I think a nice mirror from-"

He took a deep breath. "Piggy, not now."

"YES, NOW!"

"No, NOT now! Miss Piggy, I have other priorities. We can talk about your dressing room later."

Of course that was a big mistake. He knew better than to tell Miss Piggy that she wasn't his number one priority. She glared at him. Her words came out as almost a growl. "Put this at the top of your list," she warned him.

He couldn't afford to take this right now. He had a theater to run. So he kept it simple. "No."

She was quite visibly angry now. He knew he was in the danger zone. But as long as he didn't push things any farther, he should be able to get away without a karate chop.

"Fine!" She huffed, storming off towards the stage.

...the stage? Oh not again... "MISS PIGGY! WAIT!"

crash.

commentary My poor attempt at a running gag. Silly me, I made it a running visual gag. Oops! end commentary​

He rushed to the hole and helped her out. She stood there, a piece of floor board sticking out of her hair, with a look that should have made him burst into flame. She was absolutely furious.

But she couldn't get mad at him! Because now it was clear why he was being short with her, and he had even tried to warn her of the hole. She couldn't blame him for anything.

"That is at the top of my list," he said simply, plucking the board from her hair and turning back to his desk.

By the time Kermit got back to the house that night, he was downright exhausted. He plopped down on a chair near the piano, where Rowlf was playing a relaxing tune. It was just what he needed.

"Long day, huh." The dog said quietly.

"That's an understatement" the frog said.

Rowlf nodded. "Well, you knew it needed work." He tried to reassure his friend. "It'll be worth it," he said.

Kermit nodded sleepily. "I know it will. It just seems so overwhelming now." He shifted in his chair. "Do you need anything, Rowlf? For the show?"

Rowlf hesitated before answering, but his fingers never stopped moving. That had always amazed Kermit. "Well, the piano there could use a little tune up," he said.

Kermit nodded. "I'll take care of-"

"Don't worry about it, Kermit. I like an out-of-tune piano. Besides, you've got enough on your plate."

Kermit managed a tiny smile. "I'll put it at the bottom of my list."

commentary That was supposed to be funny. I feel like my humor in this chapter is very ineffective. Maybe I oughta start saying "Wocka Wocka". end commentary​

Then Robin walked in. "Uncle Kermit?" he said meekly, "can I talk to you?"

commentary I love Robin. Just thought I'd share. This scene is my three favorite muppets. end commentary​

"Of course, Robin." He pulled his nephew up onto his lap. "What's on your mind?"

Robin seemed a little nervous. "Well..."

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath. "Uncle Kermit, am I important?"

Kermit was shocked. Rowlf stopped playing. "Of course you're important, Robin." Kermit said. "Why on earth wouldn't you be?"

"Well, you didn't really pay much attention to me when I got to the theater after school today, and you won't let me read the script..."

Rowlf picked up the melody where he had left off. Kermit sighed. He tried to be tough for his nephew, but it was confession time.

"Robin, that script gave me nightmares last night. I don't want you to read it because it's very inappropriate for a frog your age. In fact, it's inappropriate for a frog any age. That has nothing to do with whether or not you're important. And as for today at the theater, well..." He hesitated. He had to admit, he had hardly noticed his nephew at all. Except of course for when he fell through the stage. It seemed everyone had done that today.

Rowlf eyed Kermit carefully. Robin sat, patiently waiting for his uncle to explain why he had been ignored. Finally Kermit sighed. "I'm sorry, Robin. I was really busy, and I wasn't really paying much attention to you. Do you forgive me?"

Robin nodded. "Yes, Uncle Kermit. I forgive you."

Rowlf nodded as he continued to play.

Then Fozzie came in the room. "Um, Kermit?" He was wringing his hat in his hands. "Telephone for you."

commentary Galt said something to Fozzie that scared the bajeebers out of him. But I have no idea what he said. end commentary​

Kermit followed the bear into the kitchen. "It's Mr. Galt," Fozzie explained.

Kermit picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"What's this I hear that you don't want to do my movie?" Lloyd Galt sounded like he was angry enough to tear a car in half.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd. I explained in my message. We're not interested."

He heard a crash at the other end of the line. He could feel Lloyd's anger boiling through the telephone wires.

"You'll be sorry for this, Frog!" He shouted.

"Lloyd- Mr. Galt- please-"

click.

Kermit stared at the receiver in his hand.

Now what on earth was that supposed to mean?[/QUOTE]

commentary What does he think it means? It means he's staring at the receiver in his hand. ...oh, before that? Oh, the click means Galt hung up. Oh, oh you mean what Galt said! Oh. Well that means Kermit's in big trouble. So! That's chapter four. Now we live happily ever after, right? WRONG! Far from it. We've still got sixteen chapters to go. end commentary​

 

[TogetherAgain]

1 When you say the nurse's condused about the "two days" deal, I can understand that this might reflect your own thought process while writting the story. But... The whole day of the accident that they got her to the hospital would be one day. And day after when Gina's parents would get to the MBH would be the second day.

Hm... I didn't notice that... Well, just goes to show what I know. Hey, that rhymes! Um, I mean... yeah... next chapter later today, I think.

 

[Beauregard]

Hey, Lisa, stop bashing your jokes, running gags, and charcter lines! They are all very funny...and your commentry is brilliant!!!

 

[The Count]

OK comments on the comments.

1 Your dialogue for Clifford came across OK. As far as not liking him, well I guess that's a matter of personal tastes. Most don't cause they saw him with his bare buggy eyes supplanting Kermit in the host's role on MT, but he had a much better intro in JHH and Muppets at WDW. The band rocking out with him on glockenspiel at the World Showcase is a great memory to have.
2 The heckler's comments... Well yeah, your theory of the rogue glue is just as valid as any other. Course, you could've explained it as another theory from their comments, the ones whhere they shout:
Statler: OK frog, we've watched the whole show.
Waldorf: Now let us out!
Inferring that they've been locked there after the show.
3 The scene with Rizzo, Chef and Kermit wouldn't necessarily be tough for Steve. He could be performing Kermit and Rizzo as marionette and puppet at the same time, take your pick as to which. And Bill would be performing the Chef. True, Jim's characters were handed off to Steve, but the only time we've heard Steve voice the Chef was in the I Love Lucy screen tests Muppetism. Bill mainly performs the Chef nowadays.
4 Humor can be a funny thing. Sometimes it hits us like a boomerang fish upside the head. Sometimes it makes us chuckle while witnessing a bear and a snowman do their routine. The lines of Rowlf needing, yet liking an out of tune piano work well, referenced from MFC right?
Good stuff Lisa.

 

[TogetherAgain]

ooh, commentary on the commentary! That's happy. Thanks!

Yes, I was trying to reference MFC. Difficult, since I've never seen MFC, but I've heard about that part, so.... yeah, I'm rambling. Oh goodness, never let me ramble when I've just had a bottle of water. It's dangerous. I can't remember the last time I typed this fast. I'm not sure I ever have. Woo Hoo!

And Beau, thank you for the comment on my jokes. I tend to doubt myself more than I should. Comes from having a very critical big sister. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Rest Stop Part III With Commentary!

commentary Well here it is the beginning of chapter five and I was running out of ways to get Floyd to have a flash back. I think I covered it very well though. end commentary​

"Bus is leaving!" Dr. Teeth called into the night.

Floyd and Janice turned and walked back towards the bus, joining the other muppets and taking the same seats.

All of them were tired. Kermit and Robin had given up on the spelling list, and everyone but Dr. Teeth was drifting in and out of sleep. Still, Floyd kept thinking back...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

They had planned for each day of the next few weeks to have the same structure: Get up, go to the theater, work till they dropped, go home, sleep. They had planned to keep doing that until the theater was ready for the show. But things didn't quite work out that way.

Because first thing the next morning, the phone rang. Kermit answered sleepily.

"Hello?"

"Have you changed your mind yet?" It was Galt.

"Lloyd, we gave you our answer already. It's not going to change. We're not interested."

Kermit could feel Galt's anger even more this morning than he had last night.

commentary That's because today, Galt is in a van outside, whereas last night he was in his hotel room. And because he's angrier today. end commentary​

"Frog... you will regret that." He said. "You'd better change your mind soon!"

click.

Kermit hung the phone up, deep in thought. Why did Galt keep insisting he change his answer? What did Galt have up his sleeve that he was so certain Kermit would regret saying no?

An hour or so later, the muppets were walking out the door to head for the theater. But as soon as they were on the porch, they stopped, uneasy, looking from the street to Kermit and back at the street.

A large blue van was parked in front of the boarding house. Leaning against it was Lloyd Galt, dressed in grey pants and a grey T-Shirt. Beside him were twelve other men, all dressed in grey pants and grey T-Shirts. The men said nothing, simply stood and watched the muppets. Their eyes never wavered. It was horribly unnerving.

commentary I wasn't quite sure I got the scaryness aspect across here, but apparently people understood, so... end commentary​

"Come on, guys," Kermit whispered, nudging his friends towards the bus. "Let's just ignore them."

So the muppets boarded the bus, and Dr. Teeth started it up. They watched as Galt and his men loaded themselves into the blue van. The muppets faced forward in their seats, deliberately trying not to notice the van as the bus pulled away... and the van followed.

From then on, anywhere the muppets went, they could be sure that blue van filled with grey men would be just behind them. Every morning Kermit awoke to a phone call from Galt, asking if he had changed his mind. Every morning they were greeted by Galt and his men, silently watching their every move. Every afternoon, when they left the theater for lunch, twelve grey men followed as they walked along the street. Every evening, the blue van would follow them home, and sit in the street. Every evening, they were bombarded with phone calls- all of them from Galt. Every night, at precisely eleven o'clock, the van would pull away. After a month, Galt disappeared from the line of men, as he had returned to his home in Pine Springs, Texas. But the men stayed.

Kermit tried to hide as much of this as possible from Robin. He didn't want his nephew to worry, or to be afraid. The men didn't arrive until after Robin left for school each day, and they never followed Robin alone. But Robin was an observant young frog. He left for the theater with everyone else on the weekends, he came home with everyone else everyday, and he saw the van on the street through his window every night. He heard the phone calls every day. And he was scared.

They were all scared. Any one of the men looke like they could tear them apart without even trying. They were being stalked individually, they were being stalked as a group, they could never guarantee their own privacy. They were never alone.

commentary This is part of why I couldn't have Rizzo still living in the house. I did miss him later in the story, but he's not accustomed to solitude. He says so in Muppet Christmas Carol. So I figured the lack of privacy wouldn't quite bother him as much. end commentary​

Then one day, a couple of weeks after Galt had left, they had a slightly different schedule. Kermit had hired some men to lay some new carpet in the theater, so they had to leave much earlier than usual to stay out of the way. The left for lunch, and then simply went home. Lloyd's men followed, as usual.

commentary Now I think that in "real life" you would stick around when people were laying carpet to make sure they were doing a good job. But I needed to get them to the house during the day so Robin could come home all freaked out. So they left. end commentary​

The Electric Mayhem gathered in the family room, no intention to play.

"I can't take it anymore," Dr. Teeth said. "Those guys follow us everywhere!"

"Rully," Janice said, "Like, they're rully creepy looking."

"Yeah, they're creeping me out!" Floyd said.

"WEIRD MEN! WEIRD MEN!" Animal agreed.

Zoot nodded.

"You guys are sick of them too, huh?" another voice asked.

The band turned to see Rowlf sitting at the piano.

"Yeah, man..." Floyd strolled over and sat by the dog. "I'm sick of it."

Fozzie heard them talking and walked in. "Yeah. They're scary! I don't like it."

"Me either." Gonzo came in with Camilla, who clucked in agreement. "I mean, they're straaaaaaaaaaange."

The rest of the muppets stared at Gonzo. If anyone could call those men strange, it certainly was not him.

"What?" he said.

Then Miss Piggy came in. "Moi simply can not handle being watched in such an unpleasant manner," she said. This from the diva who loved being in the spotlight. Something was definately up in this house.

commentary You know it was kind of hard for me to remember to have Miss Piggy use French. I just feel like it's so unnatrual for her. Which is weird, because her attempts at French are like, a huge part of her personality. But anyway. end commentary​

They looked around, all in agreement. They had had it. There was only one thing to do, and they all knew what it was. But none of them wanted to do it, so they sat in silence for several long minutes, each waiting for some one else to suggest it. Finally Fozzie spoke up.

"We should tell Kermit."

They turned and looked at the bear. They were a little relieved that some one had finally said something. But they were set even more on edge at the idea of actually approaching the frog. Because they didn't know what he woud say. They had two choices: do the movie, or disappear. Disappearing would take a bit of work. They would have to leave before the men came in the morning. And where would they go? Still, if the only other choice was to do that movie...

Kermit stood outside the door of the family room, just out of sight. He had been listening to every word they had said, and he knew they were right. Galt's men were simply unbearable. Something had to be done. Something... something...

commentary Tsk tsk, Kermit's eavesdropping. But it was easier than having the muppets approach him. And it allowed for one of those "What the heck am I doing" moments from Kermit, which I think was sort of an essential ingredient to the early muppet movies. end commentary​

He had been hoping they could decide something to do. Then he heard Fozzie's comment. They were turning to him. Kermit sighed. How was he supposed to know what to do? All he knew was that they couldn't do the movie. And how else would they rid themselves of the grey men? He didn't know what to do. But they were relying on him. They needed him.

He listened to the silence in the other room. Absolute total silence. He sighed again. That was his cue.

Kermit felt the tension triple in the room when he entered. He looked at his friends. Each and every one of them was looking at him, trusting him, waiting for some one else to say what was on their mind.

He could feel them watching him.

Their leader.

He tried to remember how he had been given the position of "leader". It had never been official. So when had it happened? He didn't know. Any way, it wasn't important now. Now they had a problem, and they were depending on him to fix it.

The tension mounted as the silence continued.

"Uh, Kermit..." Rowlf started...

"Yeah, um..." Floyd tried to help...

"Kermie? Um..." Miss Piggy made an attempt...

"Yeah, see Kermit..." Gonzo contributed.

Kermit looked at each of his friends as they spoke. At this rate, Beaker could have made him understand before they would say what they were trying to spit out. But they all fumbled.

"Kermit. We were thinking..." Fozzie said.

"I heard," he whispered.

The silence immediately returned. He had heard them.

"And?" Rowlf said.

Kermit looked at Rowlf. Then at his feet. And back to his friends. He might as well tell them the truth. It had gotten him this far.

"And I don't know."

And the silence came back again for a little while.

"We could leave," Gonzo finally said.

commentary This is sort of everybody saying exactly what all of them are thinking. They're all having the same basic thought process, and this is just them vocalizing it. The hard part is figuring out who says what how and in what order. Very complicated. end commentary​

"Where would we go?" Fozzie asked.

"Well like, maybe we could just, like, wander around until they give up, maybe," Janice suggested.

Dr. Teeth smiled. "Like a cross-country tour!"

"Wouldn't they still follow us?" Miss Piggy asked.

"Not if we left early enough!" Floyd said.

"Yeah, that's right!" Gonzo said. "They don't come until after Robin leaves for school!"

"Robin..." Kermit thought out loud. He sat down in an armchair by Gonzo and Camilla. Everyone looked at him, waiting.

He looked around at them. "What would we do about Robin? He still has school."

They sat back, dissapointed. It couldn't work. There was no way they could get away from Galt and his men. They would be followed forever by twelve men in grey outfits with their blue van. Well, at least they left Robin alone.

commentary That's what they think end commentary​

They could take some comfort in that. But it wasn't much comfort. That silence was back.

Then they heard the front door open.

"I'M HOME!" they heard Robin call, his voice trembling a little. "Where is everybody?"

"We're in here, Robin." Kermit answered.

commentary Of course after I wrote this, I realized it doesn't exactly match up with what was established for the muppet boarding house in Muppets From Space. So if anyone asks, they got an addition on the house. Wait that doesn't make sense either, because people moved out, not in. Oh well, we never saw the whole house anyway, right? end commentary​

The young frog walked into the room, shaking.

"Robin?" Kermit was alarmed. He immediately crossed over to where his nephew was standing and knelt in front of him. "What's wrong?"

Robin just stood there shaking.

Kermit picked him up and carried him back to the armchair. He sat down with his nephew in his lap. He hugged him, trying to comfort him, then simply, quietly, said, "Tell me."

Robin slowly stopped shaking, clutching onto his uncle. "Uncle Kermit..." he tried to speak.

"I'm listening, Robin."

He tried again. "Uncle Kermit... you know... those guys... the grey..."

Kermit's face became increasingly grim. "Yes?"

Robin was shaking again. He took a deep breath, and it seemed to help. "Well..." Another breath. And another. He seemed to have control of himself now, but his grip on Kermit did not lessen at all. The poor thing was petrified.

He spoke very slowly, forcing every word.

"Uncle Kermit, when we went outside for recess today, one of those men was standing by the playground. And he was just standing there watching me. And then when I came outside to leave, he was there again. And he followed me home..."

commentary If I recall correctly, I was breaking my own heart when I wrote this. I mean, how dare somebody scare poor little Robin? end commentary​

He was shaking again, and he couldn't stop his tears. He cried into his uncle's shoulder.

Kermit held his nephew, deep in thought. They had crossed the line. This was going too far. It was the absolute last straw. He would not let them do this to Robin. He could not let them do this to Robin. He had to protect his nephew.

"Uncle Kermit?" the young frog whimpered. "I'm scared."

No kidding.

commentary Yeah, that's the narrator's commentary. Like, we know that Robin is scared. It's a little obvious. He's crying and shaking uncontrollably. But he actually says he's scared, too, and that's just sort of the last straw for Kermit. But I felt a need to point out my own redundancy. end commentary​

The rest of the muppets watched, deeply concerned. They knew what Kermit was thinking, and they had to agree.

Thought's flew through Kermit's head. He could teach Robin, couldn't he? He could call the teacher, find out what they were learning... he could keep Robin with the rest of the class...

He looked at his friends. They were waiting. Waiting for him to make a decision. Waiting for him to give the final word.

He would have to call some one at the theater, so they knew what was going on. Scooter. He would call Scooter. Explain everything to him, give him specific instructions, leave him in charge. He was sure to do everything he was told. Yes, that could work...

He looked down at his nephew, still crying in terror. And he looked back at his friends.

He spoke very, very softly.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning." He held his nephew a little closer. "Start packing."

commentary Ok now that last line, that's me compromising. My first thought was that I would just have Kermit say "We'll leave tomorrow morning." But then I thought, wouldn't it be more effective to have him say "Start packing" ? But then it's not clear when they intend to leave. I couldn't decide which line I liked better, but when I combined them, it just didn't seem right. So I seperated them with him holding Robin a little closer, and I think it works very well like that. end commentary​

 

[TogetherAgain]

Bump Wake Up with commentary- this is too fun!

commentary Chapter six already. Yeesh. end commentary​

A sudden bump in the road shook the whole bus and awakened its sleeping occupants. Startled, they each sat up, looked around, shifted a bit before resettling.

Dr. Teeth glanced back at them over his shoulder. "Sorry folks," he said.

Rowlf looked out the various windows of the bus and saw seemingly endless desert.

"Nothing around, huh?" he said to Dr. Teeth.

"Nope. Looks like we're driving through the night this time."

Rowlf nodded. It was his turn to drive next.

Floyd hadn't realized he had fallen asleep until the bump woke him. He looked at the nothingness out his window. What had he been thinking about? Oh yeah. Now where had he left off? The last thing he remembered remembering, they were getting ready to go...

commentary The last thing he remembered remembering. That was fun to write. And type. And comment on. end commentary​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

They had tried to keep packing to a minimum. They didn't know how long they would be on the road for, and they wanted to travel light.

It was a difficult concept for Miss Piggy to grasp. She had to pack and repack several times before getting her load down to three large suitcases. Then Kermit came into her room to see how she was doing.

commentary I wasn't originally going to have this scene in here, but I'm glad I added it. It shows some of the "this is hard on everybody, especially Miss Piggy" That would have been missing otherwise. end commentary​

"You're bringing all this?" he asked.

She sighed, and glanced at the piles of things she had already decided not to bring before returning her gaze to the open suitcases on her bed. "Is it still too much, Kermie?"

He came and stood next to her at the foot of the bed.

"Piggy, when we stop for the night, we're going to want to get into where ever we're staying pretty quick. So we're all carrying our own things, and unless you want to make two trips..."

"Alright, alright. I'll pack less." She started taking things out of one of the suitcases. "Kermie, I don't even know how much to pack for."

He took a hanger and started replacing the piles of clothes to the closet. "I would say about a week. We'll stop at a laundromat and clean our clothes if we need more than that."

Piggy turned to him in disgust. "A laundromat?" She returned to unpacking. "Great. Now I can't bring anything that needs dry cleaning. That's most of my wardrobe right there!"

Kermit teased her. "See, you're cutting down already."

She made a face. "Well it's easy for you, Kermie. You don't wear clothes!" She closed the now empty suitcase and turned to look at her frog.

commentary I love that line. "you don't wear clothes!" It's happy. commentary​

He was standing by the closet, putting a flowered dress on a hanger. But his mind was clearly elsewhere, as he seemed to be struggling with this simple task. His head was down with a vacant look in his eyes, and his whole composure was reminiscent of a young boy on his first day in a new school.

It was hard to walk away from it all so indefinately, especially when they were just starting up again with the new show. It was all of their dreams they were suddenly taking a time out from. And they had no idea when they would be able to come back.

Miss Piggy walked over to Kermit, took the dress and hanger gently out of his hands, and hung them up. His gaze followed her hands, and then slowly, he looked her in the eyes.

Softly, she asked, "How is Robin doing?"

He nodded vaguely. "Better. He's stopped crying now. I think he'll be alright." He reached for her gloved hand and gave it a tiny squeeze. "I'd better go see how the band is doing," he said, and he walked out of the room.

commentary Aw... that was sweet... Oh wait, I wrote that. end commentary​

She stood watching the doorway for a moment. Her eyes drifted to a picture of the two of them that had been taken at a fair, several years ago.

Then she snapped her attention back to the piles of clothes all around her and began sorting through them. So no dry cleaning, and only a week's worth of clothes. So she would need... ten skirts, twelve shirts, eight dresses, nine pairs of heels...

commentary Now just to add to the craziness of that sentence. I own maybe five or six skirts and two or three pairs of heels. You know why she's taking nine pairs of heels? Because at the last minute I realized everything she was taking was divisible by two. Oh by the way, we are now where I originally wanted to start this chapter. See what you would have missed? end commentary​

The next morning, they rolled out of bed, grabbed their bags, got on the bus, and left at five o'clock in the morning.

Kermit had called Scooter the night before and explained the situation, so everything at the theater was relatively under control. Thank goodness for go-fers.

And he had also called Robin's teacher, Mr. Barretta, to explain his nephew's sudden absence and find out what they were learning. He copied down that weeks spelling list, convinced Mr. Barretta that he knew his multiplication tables, and promised a thousand times that he would keep in touch. He felt like he had been put through a wringer. Twice. Mr. Barretta sure was a tough teacher.

commentary Actually, Bill Barretta is a muppeteer. He's Pepe. And, um, some others. But off the top of my head- he's Pepe. end commentary​

Once they were on the road, everyone fell back asleep except for Dr. Teeth and Kermit. Dr. Teeth because he was driving, Kermit because he was directing. They didn't have a final destination, but Kermit knew a good place for them to stop for a meal, so they headed there.

After a couple of hours on the road, the other muppets started to wake up. After that, it didn't take long for the complaints to start.

"Kermit?" Fozzie started. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, Kermit, when can we stop and eat?" Gonzo asked.

"Did you have anything in mind for food?" Rowlf asked.

"Kermie? Where are we going to eat?" Piggy chimed in.

"HUNGRY! HUNGRY!" Animal shouted.

"Relax, guys," he told them. "We're on the way to a place right now." He looked at his still-sleeping nephew next to him, wondering if he should wake him up. "We'll be there before you know it."

Floyd smiled at Janice. "The frog has it all under control."

She nodded. "Rully. Like thanks, Kermit."

Kermit nodded and gave Robin a little nudge. "Uh, Dr. Teeth, turn left up here."

"Here?"

"Yeah."

Dr. Teeth turned the bus onto the street. They were in a city now, surrounded by apartment buildings and little shops. Robin woke up and looked out his window. He saw kids playing on the sidewalks with...

With...

He rubbed his eyes.

commentary I love this part. It was so much fun. end commentary​

With a giant yellow bird?

And over there were some monsters playing hopscotch, and here was a green furry thing in a trash can, and some funny things with horns for noses...

commentary Yeah yeah, I know, I messed up the description of Honkers. I really should have just said honkers. Oh well, it's too late now. Well no not exactly, I could change... oh whatever! end commentary​

His jaw dropped and he turned to face his uncle. The rest of the bus looked at him, too.

Kermit was humming a song to himself. He let a few lyrics slip out.

"Friendly neighbors there,
that's where we'll meet..."

commentary It was such a dilema to figure out which line he should sing. Really, it was. end commentary​

"Uncle Kermit," Robin said, "are we on-"

"Yes, Robin." Kermit smiled at his nephew. "We're on Sesame Street."

commentary You know how I said I loved writing this part? Yeah. This is the part where, while I was writing it, I got up and started dancing. And then I ended up just spinning around and landing on my bed. Oh, and did I mention this was the first chapter that was not originally written on the computer? I used this funny little journal that's been kicking around my room since winter break. So after I wrote this part, I kept nagging my mom, "hey mommy you've gotta hear this part mommy mommy mommy you're gonna love this part wanna hear it wanna hear it wanna hear it?" end commentary​

Robin was excited. He was on Sesame Street! A place he had heard about a thousand times before. It was exactly the way his Uncle Kermit had described it to him. This almost made up for not being able to bring his Frog Scout uniform with.

"It's right here," Kermit said, pointing to a small restaurant. Dr. Teeth pulled over. If they felt like the entire street was watching them unboard, they were right. No one on Sesame Street had ever seen such a brightly painted bus. And when they saw who was on it, the street erupted with noise.

commentary This part, I was going around the room, "dialogue or text?" And people had no idea what I was talking about. See I couldn't decide if I should just describe the noise, or actually give people specific things to say. I felt lazy, so I just said- um- what did I say? end commentary​

Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, everyone was swarming Kermit. They hadn't seen him for a while, and they were thrilled to have him back.

commentary I guess I said that. commentary​

Kermit greeted them, scanning the crowd. He noticed one face missing, and it concerned him- for a moment. He had other concerns. Like feeding his friends.

"Listen guys," he addressed the street residents. "I'm happy to see all of you too. But we're really hungry, so-"

And before he could finish his sentence, they were being ushered into the restaurant. Well, maybe more like pushed in.

The Count von Count stood by the door and watched them go in. "That's von dog, von bear, von vhatewer, von animal, von pig, two frogs, and four humans! That makes TWELVE vonderful people! Ah ah ah ah ah..."

commentary Well, it's twelve with Camilla. I forgot to throw her in. But this mistake led me to notice a mistake in Muppets Take Manhattan. The first time they're in Pete's, Kermit only orders eleven bowls of Yankee Bean Soup (with spoon). But there were twelve of them. Maybe they forgot Camilla, too. Or maybe Camilla doesn't like soup? I don't know. end commentary​

Kermit led his friends to a round booth and stood waiting while they scooted in and sat down.

"Uncle Kermit, after breakfast, can we stay here for a while?" Robin asked as he sat down.

"We'll see, Robin. We have to-"

"HEYYYYYY FROGGIE BABYYYYYYYY!"

commentary Now this part was hard. I've never seen any of the famous Kermit-and-Grover-interplay scenes, and it's very hard to base something off of something you've never seen. But no one complained that it was way off, so I must have done something right. end commentary​

Kermit felt a furry hand slap him on the back and he doubled over.

"Hello, Grover," he said, and he sat down next to his nephew.

"Oh, I am SO happy to see you again!" Grover gushed. He was clearly more interested in talking than waiting on their table. "So what brings you back to Sesame Street?"

Gonzo butted into the conversation. "We're running for our lives from a bunch of crazy men who want to force us into doing a disgusting movie! Isn't that exciting?"

commentary "Isn't that exciting?" Is a direct pull from Muppet Treasure Island. "Yeah, and the wanna kill us for it. Isn't that exciting? Well, yeah, if you're Gonzo... end commentary​

Clearly, "exciting" was not how Grover would have described it. But Gonzo moved on.

"Oh by the way I love your fur. It's a very nice shade of blue."

Grover brightened up at that. "Oh thank you! I brush it every day. Just like Mommy tells me to."

"Grover?" Kermit interrupted. "Could we get some menus?"

"Oh certainly! I will be riiiiight back."

He rushed to the back of the restaurant. Kermit turned to Robin.

"What I was saying, Robin, is that we might not be able to stay for very long. We should really keep moving as much as we can."

"Oh." Robin looked disappointed. "Okay."

Kermit put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "We'll come back some time," he said.

commentary It's random little comments like that that will hopefully connect to the next time I write a fanfic. Continuity is fun. end commentary​

Grover ran up to the table, carrying a single menu. "Here you go, Froggie!" he said triumphantly. "Here is your menu."

"Well, um, thanks Grover. But what about everybody else?" Kermit said. "I asked if we could have some menus.."

"Ohhh, you allll need menus?"

"MENU! MENU!" Animal shouted.

"Oh, I am so sorrrry! I will go and get you lots of menus!" And the monster was off again.

"Kermie?" Miss Piggy said, "Will we be eating at this kind of place for the entire trip?"

Kermit shrugged. "Maybe. We'll probably just be stopping where ever we can find food. This might actually be nicer than a lot of places we'll eat at."

Miss Piggy scowled. That was not the answer she wanted to hear.

They heard a grunt and a groan and turned to see Grover carrying a stack of menus about as tall as he was.

"Ohhhhhh!" he pushed the stack of menus onto the table. "Here you go," he gasped. "Here... are... your menus..."

Kermit shook his head.

"Thank you Grover. But we don't need that many."

Grover froze. "You don't?"

"No, see, there's only twelve of us, and you've got a lot more than twelve menus there," Kermit explained.

"Ohhh, how silly of me! I see, you only need twelve menus. I will take these back then..." and he took the big stack of menus off the table and started to carry them all back. "Oh, these are so HEAVY!"

Kermit called after him, "WAIT NO GROVER LEAVE SOME OF... them... here?" but Grover was gone. "Aw, sheesh!" Kermit turned back to the table. "This could take a while."

"It looks like twelve is the number of the day," Rowlf said.

commentary Yes, twelve was the number of the day on Sesame Street. I wonder if they showed the pinball count, or the ladybug's picnic... end commentary​

"Yeah," Kermit nodded. "I guess so."

They did eventually get the right number of menus, their food, and a relatively good meal.

"Uncle Kermit?" Robin asked when he was done. "Could you please show me around Sesame Street now?"

Kermit looked at the clock. Well... they hadn't been there that long... besides, everyone else was still eating...

"I suppose we have time to see Big Bird's nest," he said.

The frogs excused themselves from the table and went to leave. Kermit opened the door for his nephew... and immediately pulled him back in. He closed the door almost all the way, staring out in disbelief.

No.

commentary Yes. end commentary​

A blue van had pulled to the curb. A grey outfit. And another. And another.

Kermit ran back to the table, practically dragging Robin.

"They're here!" he whispered urgently. "Hide!"

Then he grabbed Grover and ducked behind a counter.

"Grover," he said, "You see those men coming in, all dressed in grey?"

Grover peered around the counter.

"Yes"

"Good. Because they would love to hear all about your mommy."

"Really?"

"Yes. So go tell them!"

commentary 101 ways to create a diversion... I'd say this is a bit more effective than the one Gonzo and Rizzo provide in the computer game version of Muppet Treasure Island. "Run, Rizzo, Run!" "Whaddaya think I'm doin? Throwin a tuppaware party?" Good stuff... end commentary​

Grover didn't need to be told twice. Kermit watched carefully. When he was satisfied that all twelve of Galt's men were thoroughly distracted, he crept out of his hiding place and signalled for the others to do the same. They slipped out of the restaurant and onto the bus undetected.

And they went for all they were worth.

commentary Now in the movie version- because in my mind, this was going to be a movie- This is the part where we have a montage of them leaving sneaking out of various diners, resturants, hotels, and motels, with The Electric Mayhem playing something in the background about "running" or "getting away". Similar setup to "You Can't Take No For an Answer". end commentary​

It was a pattern they had to get used to. For the next five weeks, they roamed the country. And almost every time they stopped for a meal, or checked into a hotel, they would soon be joined by twelve men dressed in grey, and they would have to sneak out. And they very rarely had the good fortune of a distracting waiter to create a diversion. There were several times when they hadn't even been able to pay for their food because they were busy sneaking out. Almost every night, they would check into a hotel, and find that Galt's men were in the room next to them. So they would check out, and go to some other hotel, usually one that was dingy, dirty, and generally unkept.

Before long, they had settled into their "usual" seats on the bus. Kermit managed to find a payphone once a week to call Mr. Barretta for that week's spelling list, and to call Scotter with that week's instructions.

And in this fashion, they travelled throughout the continental US for a month. Until one night, after transferring once again to an exceptionally disgusting hotel, Kermit had a brainstorm. They would start out even earlier than they had on that first morning, and they would just drive and drive and drive. They would go through fast food chains for their meals. And, hopefully, they would lose the grey men.

It had worked just fine until dinner. At dinner, they found themselves in Houston, Texas, and they stopped at a diner to eat. They had thought they were well ahead, so they had ordered dessert. And then the men had come.

The muppets had practically thrown the money at the waitress before bolting for the door. They had gotten onto the bus quickly, and they had been driving ever since.

Floyd shifted in his seat. Well, that was it. And now he was here. Probably still in Texas somewhere, nothing but desert for miles around, no sign of life anywhere.

He sighed deeply. Hopefully, nothing else would go wrong.

commentary Well yeah, that would be nice, but it makes for a much better story this way, don't you think? What amazes me is that they drive almost completely across Texas in one night. I think they were speeding. end commentary​

 

[Beauregard]

Aesome! But don't think you get a comentry on my story...you should be happy with the deleated scenes you already got!

I may do a making-of though.