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Thank you to everyone who is reading this! If it seems short, it's because it's supposed to be a Muppet Kids storybook-style story. I hope you can enjoy it!
It was a Friday afternoon, and all the members of the drama club at
school were bouncing on their tiptoes with excitement. That day, the
leader, Miss Mildred, was going to announce who would play the roles
in the spring play.
“I hope I get to be the queen!” Piggy whispered in Janice’s ear.
“You’d make a rilly good queen, Piggy. I just know you’ll get the
part, fer sher!”
Right then, Miss Mildred walked in with the casting list. “Alright,
everybody!” She began in cheerful, booming tones. “Here are the actors who will be performing
the roles: Kermit will play the king; Piggy, you can be the queen; and
Janice, you will be Princess Poise, the most graceful lady in the
kingdom.”
Everyone was smiling wide as the rest of the parts were announced.
They were all happy with their roles—except for Janice. How will I
ever play Princess Poise? She worried. Princess Poise doesn’t
stumble in the hallways and crash into lockers!
But Janice sometimes did. Many a time had she spilled a pitcher of
juice or tripped over a shoelace. She could not help being so
clumsy—she was going through a growth spurt.
I’m just not graceful enough, Janice told herself. And everyone will
be mad at me when I trip onstage!
Later that afternoon, as they were walking home together, Janice’s
friends could not help but notice how nervous she was. “What’s wrong,
Janice?” Kermit asked her. “Don’t you like getting to be Princess
Poise?”
Janice just sighed in despair and told them all about her problem.
“What can I do?” She asked them hopelessly. “I’ll trip onstage and
ruin the show!”
“Why don’t you just practice your balance?” Rowlf suggested. “My
cousin does it all the time by walking with a book on her head.” He
then pulled out one of the books from his bag and balanced it on
Janice’s head.
Janice took a few steps forward. She could feel the book wobbling a
little, but she kept looking straight ahead of her. It was working!
Then, in an instant, her foot hit a pinecone and—SLAM! She and the
book tumbled to the ground.
“Like, maybe your cousin can do it,” sighed Janice, “but I’m, like,
rully a hopeless case.”
All that week, Janice kept worrying about the play. And all that
week, she found herself stumbling even more. She spilled her lunch
tray in the cafeteria, she dropped her school papers, and she tripped
on the basketball field.
Then on Thursday afternoon, just two days before the play, Janice
came home to find a terrible surprise waiting for her in the living
room. “Hi, sweetheart!” Her mother greeted her with a giant grin.
“I made your costume for the performance next week! What do you
think?”
On the couch lay a beautiful pink dress sparkling with golden
sequins, shiny red trim—and a long skirt. Janice was horrified! It
was definitely going to make her slip during the play.
“It’s…it’s rully nice…” Janice murmured, afraid of sounding
ungrateful. But she could not help picturing herself tripping over
the skirt and crashing to the ground.
The next day was the dress rehearsal, and, as Janice expected, she
stumbled left and right. Everybody watched in shock as she snagged
her foot on her dress over and over again and fell facedown with a
huge FLOP!
After the rehearsal, Janice was almost ready to burst into tears.
It’s no use, she told herself. I have to tell Miss Mildred that I
can't be Princess Poise in the play tomorrow.
Janice, with her head hung down, sadly approached her teacher. “I’m
totally going to mess up the play,” she whimpered. “Maybe someone
else can take my part—someone who isn’t as clumsy as me.”
Miss Mildred, though, did not seem to agree. “You know,” she
began, “you’re not the only one who trips during a play. Even
professional actors and actresses stumble from time to time. And
sometimes, the best thing you can do is to shrug it off.”
“Shrug it off?”
“Yes, shrug it off—just make a joke about it,” Miss Mildred assured
her. “It’s no big deal.”
Shrug it off. The words stuck in Janice’s head all evening and all
the next morning, too. She felt a little better, but she still wasn’t
sure if she could act as if doing a pratfall during the performance
was no big deal.
The hours flew by, and soon it was time for the program. Everybody
was in costume, bubbling with excitement just as they had been on
Casting Day. Janice tiptoed to the edge of the curtain and stretched
her neck out as far as she could to see the audience. It was a big
crowd, and they all seemed as if they were expecting to see graceful
Princess Poise onstage. Janice’s heart swooped a little, but she kept
reminding herself to stay calm.
In no time, the play was announced, and Janice could feel her feet
carry her onstage to perform. For a while, she was proud of herself
for not making a mistake.
“Oh, no! Whatever shall we do?” Piggy, as queen, dramatically
collapsed into Kermit the King’s arms at the play’s tensest moment.
“My dear Princess Poise,” Kermit addressed Janice, “what do you think
shall be done?”
“I think,” Janice recited, walking towards the front of the stage, “I
think we should—“
THUMP!
Janice looked up. In front of her was the stool she had tripped
over, and above was an enormous audience staring at her with a
startled expression. For a second, she was frozen; but right
afterward, she stood up proudly. She swiped the stool off the stage;
and, just before she threw it comically over her shoulder, exclaimed
with a giant grin,
“—I think we should just get rid of all these stools!”
The audience roared. Everybody loved the joke! Janice was able to
finish her lines perfectly, and once the curtain went down and the
audience had applauded, her friends huddled around her with gleeful
faces.
“Janice, you were great!” Scooter exclaimed.
“That joke was terrific!” Fozzie added.
“And you didn’t even make a mistake onstage!” Skeeter chimed in.
But Janice just grinned at them all. “Well, I rilly did,” she
explained. “I just had to shrug it off.”
It was a Friday afternoon, and all the members of the drama club at
school were bouncing on their tiptoes with excitement. That day, the
leader, Miss Mildred, was going to announce who would play the roles
in the spring play.
“I hope I get to be the queen!” Piggy whispered in Janice’s ear.
“You’d make a rilly good queen, Piggy. I just know you’ll get the
part, fer sher!”
Right then, Miss Mildred walked in with the casting list. “Alright,
everybody!” She began in cheerful, booming tones. “Here are the actors who will be performing
the roles: Kermit will play the king; Piggy, you can be the queen; and
Janice, you will be Princess Poise, the most graceful lady in the
kingdom.”
Everyone was smiling wide as the rest of the parts were announced.
They were all happy with their roles—except for Janice. How will I
ever play Princess Poise? She worried. Princess Poise doesn’t
stumble in the hallways and crash into lockers!
But Janice sometimes did. Many a time had she spilled a pitcher of
juice or tripped over a shoelace. She could not help being so
clumsy—she was going through a growth spurt.
I’m just not graceful enough, Janice told herself. And everyone will
be mad at me when I trip onstage!
Later that afternoon, as they were walking home together, Janice’s
friends could not help but notice how nervous she was. “What’s wrong,
Janice?” Kermit asked her. “Don’t you like getting to be Princess
Poise?”
Janice just sighed in despair and told them all about her problem.
“What can I do?” She asked them hopelessly. “I’ll trip onstage and
ruin the show!”
“Why don’t you just practice your balance?” Rowlf suggested. “My
cousin does it all the time by walking with a book on her head.” He
then pulled out one of the books from his bag and balanced it on
Janice’s head.
Janice took a few steps forward. She could feel the book wobbling a
little, but she kept looking straight ahead of her. It was working!
Then, in an instant, her foot hit a pinecone and—SLAM! She and the
book tumbled to the ground.
“Like, maybe your cousin can do it,” sighed Janice, “but I’m, like,
rully a hopeless case.”
All that week, Janice kept worrying about the play. And all that
week, she found herself stumbling even more. She spilled her lunch
tray in the cafeteria, she dropped her school papers, and she tripped
on the basketball field.
Then on Thursday afternoon, just two days before the play, Janice
came home to find a terrible surprise waiting for her in the living
room. “Hi, sweetheart!” Her mother greeted her with a giant grin.
“I made your costume for the performance next week! What do you
think?”
On the couch lay a beautiful pink dress sparkling with golden
sequins, shiny red trim—and a long skirt. Janice was horrified! It
was definitely going to make her slip during the play.
“It’s…it’s rully nice…” Janice murmured, afraid of sounding
ungrateful. But she could not help picturing herself tripping over
the skirt and crashing to the ground.
The next day was the dress rehearsal, and, as Janice expected, she
stumbled left and right. Everybody watched in shock as she snagged
her foot on her dress over and over again and fell facedown with a
huge FLOP!
After the rehearsal, Janice was almost ready to burst into tears.
It’s no use, she told herself. I have to tell Miss Mildred that I
can't be Princess Poise in the play tomorrow.
Janice, with her head hung down, sadly approached her teacher. “I’m
totally going to mess up the play,” she whimpered. “Maybe someone
else can take my part—someone who isn’t as clumsy as me.”
Miss Mildred, though, did not seem to agree. “You know,” she
began, “you’re not the only one who trips during a play. Even
professional actors and actresses stumble from time to time. And
sometimes, the best thing you can do is to shrug it off.”
“Shrug it off?”
“Yes, shrug it off—just make a joke about it,” Miss Mildred assured
her. “It’s no big deal.”
Shrug it off. The words stuck in Janice’s head all evening and all
the next morning, too. She felt a little better, but she still wasn’t
sure if she could act as if doing a pratfall during the performance
was no big deal.
The hours flew by, and soon it was time for the program. Everybody
was in costume, bubbling with excitement just as they had been on
Casting Day. Janice tiptoed to the edge of the curtain and stretched
her neck out as far as she could to see the audience. It was a big
crowd, and they all seemed as if they were expecting to see graceful
Princess Poise onstage. Janice’s heart swooped a little, but she kept
reminding herself to stay calm.
In no time, the play was announced, and Janice could feel her feet
carry her onstage to perform. For a while, she was proud of herself
for not making a mistake.
“Oh, no! Whatever shall we do?” Piggy, as queen, dramatically
collapsed into Kermit the King’s arms at the play’s tensest moment.
“My dear Princess Poise,” Kermit addressed Janice, “what do you think
shall be done?”
“I think,” Janice recited, walking towards the front of the stage, “I
think we should—“
THUMP!
Janice looked up. In front of her was the stool she had tripped
over, and above was an enormous audience staring at her with a
startled expression. For a second, she was frozen; but right
afterward, she stood up proudly. She swiped the stool off the stage;
and, just before she threw it comically over her shoulder, exclaimed
with a giant grin,
“—I think we should just get rid of all these stools!”
The audience roared. Everybody loved the joke! Janice was able to
finish her lines perfectly, and once the curtain went down and the
audience had applauded, her friends huddled around her with gleeful
faces.
“Janice, you were great!” Scooter exclaimed.
“That joke was terrific!” Fozzie added.
“And you didn’t even make a mistake onstage!” Skeeter chimed in.
But Janice just grinned at them all. “Well, I rilly did,” she
explained. “I just had to shrug it off.”
