Chapter 13
Boober calmly folded his laundry as he pulled it off the drying line. He sighed happily. “This is where I belong,” he said to himself. “Laundry is my calling, not some terrible crisis…”
“BOOBER FRAGGLE!” a voice shouted, echoing throughout Boober’s cave.
Boober jumped, knocking over his washtub, slipping on a bar of soap, and landing in a bucket with a sock on his nose.
“Oh, Boober I’m sorry for scaring you,” said little Cotterpin Doozer as she made her way into Boober’s line of sight.
“Uch a Doozer…” he grumbled. “Scared me, no,” Boober said, pulling himself out of the bucket, “frightened me to the point of a near-death experience-“ Boober threw the sock off of his nose. “Yes.”
“Sorry again,” Cotterpin said, “but I really need your help!”
“My help?” Boober asked. “You’re a Doozer, I’m a Fraggle, and quite frankly, I don’t really have time for this. I’ve got tube socks to wash and I need to sew a patch on one of Gobo’s toques…”
‘But the fate of Fraggle Rock could be at sake here!” Cotterpin said.
“Oh no, they’ve gotten to the Doozers too.” Boober sighed. “Listen, nothing is going to happen to Fraggle Rock, it’s—“
“But a huge hand broke through a cave wall!” Cotterpin shouted.
Boober did a double take. “I beg your pardon?”
“A giant purple hand reached inside! It must be a… a gong or whatever those things are called!” Cotterpin said.
“A Gorg?” Boober asked nervously.
“That’s it! It’s a Gorg! A huge purple hand and—and—“
“Gorgs? In Fraggle Rock?” Boober said as he shook violently. “Um, well th-this is… GORGS!” Boober shouted as he took off his hat, scooped Cotterpin inside and ran out into the Great Hall.
He looked both ways, screamed again and blew loudly on the Fraggle Horn.
“Whoo! It’s a party!” Feeny Fraggle shouted as he popped up from nowhere.
“Ooh a party?” Large Marvin asked. “Where is the food?”
“No, no, no! This isn’t a party you dolts!” Boober shouted. “Where’s the World’s Oldest Fraggle?”
“What is it, what is it?” asked the World’s Oldest Fraggle as he came hobbling in front of Boober with Henchy following in toe.
“Your elderlyness,” Boober said frantically. “This little Doozer in my hat here told me that Gorg’s have broken in to Fraggle Rock!”
The Fraggles started to panic. The World’s Oldest Fraggle rolled his eyes. “Henchy, blow the horn again.”
Henchy did as he was asked and blew the Fraggle Horn. The Fraggle’s panic calmed as they all turned to the World’s Oldest Fraggle.
“Attention Fraggles!” World’s Oldest said loudly. “Do not panic! As the oldest Fraggle in the Rock, it is my duty to protect the Fraggles from whatever horror might be brought upon us!”
“Hey, wait a minute,” shouted a Fraggle in the crowd. “Why should we believe what some Doozer says? We’re Fraggles!”
“Hm,” the World’s Oldest said, “You’ve got a point there! Never mind then, carry on.”
“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Boober interjected. “This isn’t just some Doozer, this is, um, this is my friend, Cotterpin!”
“You’re friends with a Doozer?” another Fraggle in the crowd asked.
“Well,” Boober mumbled, “somewhat, um, maybe… Kind of?”
“Heh, a Doozer, tellin’ us that Fraggle Rock’s in danger,” said another Fraggle, “that’s a riot!”
The Fraggles in the crowd slowly began to return to their games and songs.
“Sorry Cotterpin,” Boober said into his hat.
Large Marvin and Feeny walked up quietly towards Boober. “Um, excuse me Boober?” Large Marvin said.
“Marvin?” Boober asked. “What? What is it?”
“Did you say, um, Cotterpin?” Feeny asked.
“Yes,” Boober said confusedly, “Cotterpin Doozer, she’s in my hat.”
“Oh, miss Cotterpin! Hi!” Large Marvin said excitedly into Boober’s hat.
“Miss Cotterpin, what are you doing in a hat?” Feeny asked.
“You know these guys?” Boober asked Cotterpin.
Cotterpin climbed up on the brim of Boober’s hat. “Oh, yeah, hi guys!” Cotterpin said. “These are two of the bravest and noblest Fraggles in Fraggle Rock!”
Boober looked with disbelief at the two Fraggles. “Large Marvin… and Feeny?”
“Yeah,” Cotterpin said. “Wait! Boober, maybe no one else will help, but I’m sure Large Marvin and Feeny will, won’t you guys?”
“Sure!” Feeny said. “Help you do what?”
“Save the Doozers,” Cotterpin said, “and probably the rest of Fraggle Rock too!”
“Well…” Boober said. “Only because no one else will help…”
“Alright, c’mon guys, let’s go!” Cotterpin said.
“Can we stop for lunch first?” Large Marvin asked.
As the three Fraggles and the Doozer ran off, the World’s Oldest Fraggle looked at Henchy. “Henchy, we’ve got a little trip to take too, come on!”
“Can we stop for lunch first?” Henchy asked. World’s Oldest Fraggle looked at Henchy momentarily, and then whacked him with his cane.
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“Eww, they’re hideous!” Ma screeched.
“Aww, c’mon now Ma, I think they’re cute,” Pa said. “Look at they’re little helmets.”
“Well… what do they do?” Ma asked.
The little Doozer in Pa’s open palm cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but we are Doozers and we build things.”
“They talk?” Ma asked.
“Hey there little green fella,” Pa said to the Doozer. “What do you think you’re doin’, addressing the king and queen of the universe like that?”
“I beg your pardon sir,” Architect Doozer said from the cage he was being held along with all the other Doozers. “But I’m the Architect, leader of the Doozers. I believe anything you… giant beast have to say, you can say to me.”
Pa peered down at Architect Doozer. “Hmph, fine. Junior hold this,” Pa said, handing Junior the Doozer in his hand.
Junior held the little Doozer gently in his hand. “Hello theyah, I’m Junior,” he said.
“I know, we’ve met,” the Doozer said. “Flange, Flange Doozer. From the radish famine, remember?”
Pa picked the Architect up in his purple hand. “And who exactly are you?”
“Architect Doozer,” he said. “I’m the leader of the Doozer community inside Fraggle Rock.”
“Fraggle Rock?” Pa asked. “This here is Kissin’ Rock! Who’d name something after a Fraggle?”
“I don’t know, nor do I know what a ‘kiss’ is,” Architect said, “but we Doozers have been living in Fraggle Rock for the entirety of Doozer-kind!”
“Oh yeah? Well we Gorgs have been utilizing Kissin’ Rock for centuries to—“ Pa cleared his throat, “woo our women.”
“This is beside the point,” Architect said, getting annoyed. “Can you please just put us Doozers back and leave us to be on our own in our home? Our home that you just put a giant hole in that will take months to repair.”
“Ha!” Pa scoffed. “Repair? Little green fella, this is the perfect way for we Gorgs to finally get the respect we deserve!”
“And what about the respect of we Doozers?” Architect asked.
“Respect?” Pa asked.
“Respect?” Ma laughed. “You’re tiny little green specks, we—why, we are Gorgs, the most magnificent creatures in the universe.”
“And as such,” Pa said. “We demand the most respect from… both Doozers and Fraggles and whatever else you’ve got hidden in that rock!”
Pa put Architect back in the cage with the rest of the protesting Doozers. “Junior, put your Doozer back in the cage too,” Pa said.
“Um, I alweady did daddy,” Junior said, nonchalantly slipping Flange Doozer into his shirt pocket.
“Good then,” Pa said. “Grab the cage and haul ‘er inside, let’s see if we can’t find something for these green guys to do.”
“I wonder if they cook?” Ma asked allowed. “I bet those Fraggles can cook. Pa, when do I get some Fraggles for my own?”
“Sometime tomorrow, sugar lips,” Pa said. “It’s gettin’ late and we need to celebrate our newfound respect.”
“Don’t worry mistah Doozer,” Junior said, patting his pocket. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Great,” Flange said, muffled inside the pocket, “but could you stop hitting me?”
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The large light sticks, as the Fraggles called them, clicked on as the sky turned dark.
“Gobo,” Wembley said. “Shouldn’t we stop somewhere? It’s getting hard to see.”
Gobo looked around the alley they had turned down. “Look there, that looks like a cave!” he said.
The three Fraggles and their canine companion walked over to a cardboard box sitting in the alley.
“Kinda small for a cave,” Red said.
“At least it’s a shelter, Red,” Gobo said. “C’mon, we’ll get some sleep and keep looking for Uncle Matt in the morning.”
Wembley yawned. “Sounds good to me Gobo.”
“Yeah, for once I agree,” Red said.
Sprocket barked and ran into the box, running around and curling up inside the box. The Fraggles dropped their bags outside the box and went in, laying against Sprocket’s fur.
“Good night Wembley.”
“Good night Gobo. Good night Red!”
“Good night Wembley. Good night Sprocket.”
“Good night Red.”
“Night Gobo.”
“Night Sprocket.”
“Night Red.”
“Wembley, you already said good night to me.”
“Oh yeah, sorry.”
Sprocket shook his head as he and the three Fraggles drifted off to sleep.
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But there was this tantalizing chapter right in front of me, and nothing else to do to distract me, (well, I guess I could have gone to bed, but let's not talk about that), and I just had to read it! Loved it as always!
