FanFic: Forgotten Wishes

[ReneeLouvier]

Chapter Nine

Bert was sitting outside on the steps to his apartment, Bernice was beside him; eating birdseed out of his hand. He was a little bored, gently stroking Bernice's back while she ate. Ernie was laying down on the thick stone banister that was beside the short stairs. He was whistling softly, watching the clouds pass by.

"Hey ol' buddy Bert?" Ernie asked, turning his head towards Bert a little. "Why do you think Mrs. Vines is late today?"

"I don't know Bert. Maybe she couldn't find the books or something." Bert responded, frowning softly. Mrs. Vines was never late with the bookmobile. They both had books to turn into the main library, but she hadn't come today.

"But she's never late, Bert. She always comes on Wednesdays around 2 pm." Ernie looked back at the sky for a moment, and sighed. "I really want to see if she had found that book on rubber duckies yet."

"You've got late fees to pay too. You destroyed my pigeon book with that last thing you did." Bert said, a sly smile on his face.

"Bert, I'm sorry I did that. I thought the book needed to be cleaned up!" He said, folding his arms behind his head now.

"Yes, with a damp paper towel, Ernie. Not a soak in dishwashing liquid and soap!"

"It was really grimy you know, Bert. Oh well, Mrs. Vines will understand I hope."

"Don't worry, she always understands." Bert said, smiling softly. He watched as Bernice hopped onto his knee, and cooed softly; looking up at him. "You're all done Bernice? Okay then.." He said as he put what was left of the birdseed back into the small box that he kept it in.

"Who always understands?" A lone voice said, as they turned the corner. It was Sara, smiling softly at them both. "Ernie! Bert! It's been a long time hasn't it?"

"Sara!!" Ernie said, jumping off of the steps onto the ground. "Wow, it's so neat that you're here! Do you wanna play?"

"Sorry, Ernie. I just came by to say hi to you both." She said, sitting down beside Bert on the steps. She frowned softly, and Bert tapped her shoulder.

"Would you happen to know why the bookmobile hasn't come by today?" He asked her. Sara froze for a moment, and sighed deeply.

"My Mother's gone, Bert." She hated to have to say that, yet again. But apperently not everyone knew what had happened to her mother, it was like ripping off a scab and letting it bleed anew. She wished she could leave Sesame Street now...she knew what was going to happen.

"Well, where did she go?" Ernie asked her then, as he sat down on her other side. He was smiling, looking up at her.

"She won't be back, Ernie. She died a few hours ago at the hospital." She looked down for a moment. No tears came, she was all cried out by that time. All she could find the energy to do was sigh again, and she placed her arms around the two boys gently. "I'm sorry you haven't heard yet."

Bert and Ernie looked down at the ground as well. Bert sniffled softly, and Ernie lifted his head a little bit. "So....the bookmobile's not coming today? Is...is it ever going to come back?"

Sara looked at Ernie, and wondered why he had said that. She knew he never meant that as rude, but it was a little odd that that was the first thing out of his mouth after she told him that.

"I'm not sure, Ernie. Someone else I guess will run the bookmobile for my Mother." She smiled softly. "You guys really like reading, huh?"

"Yeah...it's really neat." Bert managed to say. He stood up, and tapped Sara's shoulder. "We've got something inside...it...it was for Mrs. Vines. She's so nice to us and everything, we got her a little gift, for her birthday and everything."

"Oh...um...." Sara wasn't sure what to say, but Bert just shook his head, and walked inside the apartment and got the small gift. He brought it outside and handed it to her.

"I know this was for your Mom, but you'd probably like it as well.."

Sara opened the small box, and inside of it was a few paperclips, a Figgy Fizz bottle cap in a clear plastic box, and a small rubber ducky. She smiled, and looked at them both. Ernie patted her back gently, and pointed to the rubber ducky.

"It's the first rubber ducky I got from my ol' buddy Bert here. She bought me a new one, so I figured she'd love to have this one. I've not used it much, but she always said she liked how he squeaked." Ernie said softly, patting the rubber ducky.

"And, and this is one of two of my Figgy Fizz bottle caps, it could be really collectible one of these days you know. And that's some of my paperclip collection. Some of my favorites. We...we weren't sure what to get her, cause she has all the books she'd ever want at the library you know. So we put this together, and...." He stopped talking for a moment, and looked away, a slight frown coming across his features.

"..and it was for her birthday this year." Ernie finished up what Bert was trying to say. "We mean...she taught us how to read, when we were little."

Sara nodded, and then her attention turned from Ernie and Bert to a noise coming around the corner. It was soft panting, and the thuds of rubber-soled sneakers squeaking on the concrete. She saw an orange hand grab the side of the wall, and pause, she heard a slight gasping noise.

"..Scooter?" She asked curiously. Sara thought he was still back in the theatre, in Hensonville. She stood up from the steps, and excused herself; walking down the small way to the corner of the building where the orange hand led too.

Scooter was grasping the edge of the building, softly panting, his jacket tied around his waist. He wished whatever was happening to him would quit once and for all. It was like it was eariler that morning, the redness; shortness of breath. He felt like he was going to pass out again. He looked up, and saw Sara standing in front of him, her hand over her mouth in astonishment. He nodded softly, smiling.

That was the last thing he saw, before his vision went black

 

[froggiegirl18]

This story really fits in with the other one, that focuses on Uncle Deadly. Thanks for writing so quickly and so beautifully. This is such a cute story. I really like the scenes with Big Bird. So yeah keep up the awesome writing. I can't wait to see how this one will turn out.

 

[ReneeLouvier]

So quickly and so beautifully? Thank you! I'm just so fond of typing, that's all I really do actually for the most part. Glad you love it, Sandee. (I think that's your name.)

 

[ReneeLouvier]

Chapter Ten

Sara was pacing nervously in the waiting room of the hospital, her eyes glued to the clock. She felt like she was going to run a rut in the floor, but she didn't care. Bob, Gordon, Susan, and the rest of her surviving family were seated along the walls, watching Sara pace like that.

"Being this nervous isn't going to help, you know." Bob said softly, looking at her concernedly. "You should sit down, try to relax some..."

"Relax?! My husband could be in real trouble, and I have no clue what's going on with him!!" She said forcefully, going towards Bob for a second, before she resumed her pacing in the middle of the hallway.

"Husband? You guys arn't married yet are you?" Susan asked, a slight smile crossing her face.

"Well...no...no he's not really my husband just yet. But we've known each other for a couple of years now, and....the only thing between him really being my husband and not really being my husband is a sheet of paper with our names on it, and a preacher. Other then that, we might as well be." Sara said a slight frown crossing her features. James walked over, and placed an arm around her shoulders and gently led her back to a seat beside him.

"Come on now, lass. There's no need to run that rut the time we're here. He'll be fine, I know of it. He's a tough lad, he is." He gave her a kiss on her cheek, and she finally settled down somewhat.

"Ms. Vines?" A muppet nurse asked, coming from the top of the waiting room, a small clipboard in her hands. "He's awake now."

"Oh, thank you!" Sara said, happily, as she went into the room quickly.

Scooter was sitting up on the bed, a small pulse meter on his finger, but otherwise he was unattached to anything else. Sara walked over and gave him a tight hug, glad that he was okay. He wrapped his arms around her neck, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You know sweetie....there are way better ways to get my attention then that." Sara said softly, while he gave her another kiss on her cheek. She giggled softly, then patted his arm, looking at his face. "You didn't have to go to all that trouble."

"You know I just couldn't help swooning for you." He said, smirking. He coughed a bit, and sighed. "They just think I might have gotten overheated. They can't figure out what's going on with me."

"Either way, I'm glad you're still around sweetheart. They're having the funeral today. Traditional Irish funeral, they don't let us rest at all, till she's in the ground." Sara chuckled lightly, and sat down gently on the bed beside him. "When do they let you out of the hoosgow?"

"In a little while. They're doing a few more tests, then I'm free to go."

"Glad to hear it, Scooter. I guess we'll take it easy, go to Mom's....funeral. Then we'll finally go back to Hensonville. I think Dad would find it best to move back there and live with my sisters." Sara said, smiling over at her father.

"Ahh...no lass. You shan't be ringing me into this. I'll stay here at Sesame Street! The Count would miss me, I know it. And the others, they'll miss me too." He said, crossing his arms, a faint frown crossing his lips.

"Dad....you've got no family here. Friends, yes. But no family. You won't be staying where you have no family." Kim said, smirking. She brushed her long wild red hair out of her face, and gave him a hug. "Plus...we're only an hours drive away from Sesame Street anyways. And you know it."

Lisa said nothing, but gave her father a very tight hug. She looked up at him and gave him a very puppy dog eyed look. James looked down at her, and frowned.

She looked back at him, her eyes widening a little bit.
He frowned even more.
She started to frown herself, and hugged him tighter.
He gently pulled away from her grip, and sighed deeply, still frowning.
Her lower lip trembled slightly, and she looked up again at his face with her sky blue eyes, and her flaxen blonde hair.

"Awww....fine! Fine, ya little scheming brat!" James snarled, but not too meanly, as he gave Lisa a hug so tightly that she shook slightly. "I'll come and live with ya. Just don't think I'm going to get into that bookstore like your mother would. Got it?"

"Certainly Dad. I would expect no less from a man of your stature." Kim said, smiling widely.

"When's the funeral though?" Scooter piped up, asking anyone who knew.

"It's at 4:30 boy. We'd best not be late to it." James said, as he settled down into a chair within the room. He ran a hand through his graying red shock of hair, and sighed. "I just hope it goes alright."

"I'm sure it will, Dad. I'm really sure it will." Sara said, as she settled down beside Scooter, and they waited for 4pm to roll around. They would leave then to get to the funeral itself.

---------------------------------

Kermit was so restless just then. He was glaring at Scooter's clipboard, wishing he could extract some information from it, but it was merely a cardboard and metal thing that held sheets of paper. It had no brain, and he felt like he was like it. Brainless. Dead from the neck up. Fozzie ran by, with his joke book in his hands; he stopped suddenly and looked at Kermit for a moment.

"Is something wrong Kermit?" Fozzie finally asked.

"I don't know Fozzie. I've got this....really terrible feeling." He said slowly, still looking over the clipboard's contents.

"The show! It's about the show isn't it?" The loving bear said, slapping his paws together, while looking quite determined about something.

"No...I don't think it's that." He frowned, and scrunched his face softly. He saw everyone doing their job, and for once, even without Scooter to help him, it was going relatively smooth.

"Then what do you think it is, Kermit?" He asked quietly.

"I...I guess we'll know when it happens." The head frog said quietly as well, as he turned back towards the stairs and started to take them slowly, heading towards Piggy's dressing room.

 

[The Count]

There's some rully beautiful stuff here Sara. The scene with Bert and Ernie was great... Though when Bert's speaking at first, saying he doesn't know when Mrs. Vines will get to SS... Me thinks you meant "Ernie" when Bert was replying to the question posed by his friend, not Bert himself?

And the scene in the hospital with Scooter and the Vines was well done... Just thinking of Lisa using the puppy dog eyes method... Hee.
Hope everything's all right over at the theater though... Would hate for Kermit's fears to be confirmed.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Wow! I'm not able to be on my computer as much so I've missed all these updates! Great chapters! Really liked the stuff with Ernie and Bert, more about the history of the Hensonville residents, touching stuff with Sara's family while Scooter's in the hospital and now Kermit as this feeling and wow! I really, really like this one. I'm enjoying the tie-in to Sesame Street so much!

 

[MartyMuppets]

This is going so well Sara. I agree with Beth. The tie-in with Sesame Street is wonderful. Gives significance to the small references to it in the final installment

You're doing great Sara. Can't wait until the next chapters

 

[ReneeLouvier]

Chapter Eleven

Solemn bagpipe music filled the air, it was lilting and flowing; like water through a river. It was haunting, and to some degree it was calming as well. No one wore black, but instead wore red, and blue, and all the other colors of the rainbow. Lisa was shaking softly, holding onto Kim by her arms. She was crying again. Sara was standing still as a stone, her hand clasped in Scooter's. Her face was expressionless, as she stared towards the gravestone.

It was inscribed with an open book, with letters and numbers coming off of the pages. Underneath it read these words: "Loving Mother, Wife, and Teacher. She taught the world to read, and sing. R.I.P."

Big Bird was shifting slightly, he was uncomfortable. He was always uncomfortable at funerals, and at weddings. He couldn't keep still. Ernie and Bert were quiet as well. The casket lay in it's straps, awaiting to be put beneath the ground. All of Sesame Street was around, mourning and honoring the woman who helped teach many of them to read. She was their libarian, the mobile-bookseller. The sweet part-time teacher at the elementary school.

She was their friend.

James stepped forwards, and looked down at the casket. It was a beautiful carved wooden casket, inlaid with some glass flowers on it's top. He kneeled down and placed both of his hands on the top of the casket, and laid his head down on it, staring at the wood.

"...my dear rose.....Brenda....I'll miss you something terrible, I will, I will." He patted the casket, and sat back, as it was slowly lowered into the ground. He placed his forehead on the ground, weeping openly.

Kim and Lisa walked closer to James and wrapped their arms around his shoulders. Sara came from behind him, and was joining them in this group hug. Scooter meandered over to them, and gently placed a hand on Jame's shoulder. He nodded softly, and looked out over the green fields of the cemetary, and sighed softly.

"May you rest in peace, Mrs. Vines..." He said quite softly. The four of them nodded their heads, and stayed still for quite sometime.

-------------------------

"Oh, this will never work!" Kermit was starting to break down mentally, as he juggled with his many different tasks that evening. He wondered when Scooter was going to finally get back to the theatre. He threw the broken pencil he was working with across the room. It stuck into a huge block of foam that was against the wall. He heard a soft knocking, and looked towards the door. "I don't have time for this....come on inside!!" He yelled out.

The door swung open, and five men were standing at the doorway. They walked inside and grabbed some seats and stools and one of them even sat on the floor. Smiling and laughing softly, they turned to Kermit for a second.

"Okay, Kermit? Have you figured out exactly what you're going to do with the show this week?" A younger man asked, looking up at Kermit through his thick glasses.

"No, Frank. I'm afraid I have no clue what we're going to do exactly..." He said, frowning softly. "Plus our gofer is out of town right now.."

"Scooter's gone? Where did he go to?" The other young man inquired, running a hand through his slight tightcurled afro. "Why would he leave so close to the show's opening."

"Something with family. His girlf---fiancee's mother died. And he accompanied her to the funeral. I think they're having it today, Richard." He said a little softer, while looking down at the phone still in his hands. He had a phone call to make, and they interrupted it.

"We're still catering, right?" A tall, thin man said, his eyes sparkling. "At least the coffee and dessert part, of course."

"Yes, you're still catering, Jim!" He was getting more cranky as the seconds rolled by. "And we're still doing the show! And I've no clue what we're going to do, but we're still having it!! I need somebody, other then that hack husband and wife team to do a duet of "It Had to Be You"!!! Now, I've got some stuff to do, so would you all PLEASE LEAVE MY OFFICE!!!!!!!!!" He was yelling at the top of his lungs, waving his arms, as he shooed the five men out of his office. He slammed the door on them, and slumped down onto the floor with a loud sigh.

-------------------

"Goodness. You'd think he'd never had pressure before..." One of the other men, with a scruffy beard and thin glasses remarked; after being shoved out of Kermit's office.

"Yeah, Dave. I mean....that was a bit rude almost." The last man remarked, as they walked down the stairs.

Richard shrugged his shoulders a little bit. "He's just worried. The poor frog always is. I mean...really Jerry. If you had to deal with pigs, bears, chickens, and whatevers day in and day out, you'd probably go nuts too!"

The men agreed, and they finally headed out the front door, to help Jim with planning the partial catering he was to do.

--------------------

Kermit sat down on the floor, phone in hand. He frowned softly, and dialed a familiar number. He waited and waited for it to ring. He smiled when it was picked up.

"Hello there?" A soft voice asked, as it picked up the phone.

"Hi ho there, Nanny..."

 

[MartyMuppets]

AH-HA! So Nanny Nancy is coming into this installment via a phone call with Kermit. We just don't know who or what to expect.

And the use of Jim and company while Kermit was on the phone is very well done. Richard's response to Scooter running off before the show was in character. Though of course technically we're not supposed to know yet that he is Scooter's Dad. But it will compliment the revelation in the stories we've already read beautifully.

Keep it up Sara

 

[ReneeLouvier]

I changed it BACK. I'm doing this as if it's the printed version. *Sarscastic* God save me, I might end up with an anryusm when this is over with.

I offically HATE prequels. But, I will not stop writing this story, trust me.