How I Spent My Summer Vacation (A Muppet Fic)

[charlietheowl]

Thank you!

 

[Twisted Tails]

You're welsome, charlietheowl. Speaking of muppet fans, please read my fan-fic, "Remebering Jim Henson" and let me know what you liked about it and what can be changed pleaseeee.

 

[Ozymandias]

Coming up "next": Beaker and Bunsen take the best of Muppet Labs to another esteemed scientific society.

YES.
If you can insert a Mythbusters reference somewhere in there, I'll probably love you forever. This is gonna be fun!

The ending of the last chapter made me giggle. Of course they'd still be at the theatre.

 

[charlietheowl]

^ Thank you! I'm about halfway done with the chapter, and while I can't promise a Mythbusters reference, I can promise lots of things going awry and lots of "meeps".

 

[Twisted Tails]

That's great, Charlie! I cannot wait for the Muppet Labs snippet. I know it will make me laugh.

 

[newsmanfan]

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I cannot BELIEVE the liberties these whippersnappers take with us!

Eh? What do you mean?

Why, to think I'd ever go to Target for slippers!

I know! My wife went on for hours about that same sale!

What are you talking about?

The bargain on slippers! What were YOU talking about, you old coot?

Do the nurses know you've escaped yet?


Heh heh...nicely done again Chris! Yeah, having them still be in the box seats with no one around...priceless. Nice punchline!

As a devoted former potential chemist, I eagerly await whatever the Lab can cook up!
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[charlietheowl]

I may have bitten off more than I could chew with this idea, but I think it turned out all right. Hope everyone likes it.
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The sheepdog slowly whipped his tail back and forth, lost in a dream of limitless piles of kibble and biscuits, until his slumber was interrupted by someone quietly fumbling with the lock to the door of the apartment. Sprocket cautiously leaned back in his bed, ready to strike in case a robber was trying to come in.

"Hi Sprocket! How's my old boy doing?"

Relieved that it was Doc instead of a robber or door-to-door salesman, Sprocket ran up the door excitedly, panting and barking while Doc hung his coat and hat up on the back of the door.

"I see you've kept the house in good shape while I was at my meeting."

Sprocket nodded in assent.

"And you even folded the laundry! Thank you so much! I picked up a special treat for you on the ride home; the pet shop was selling a new brand of dog biscuits. Says these combine the best flavors of both beef and chicken! Just give a minute and I'll get one out for you."

"Ruff!"

Doc placed the box down on the kitchen counter, went to open it, then suddenly turned around to face Sprocket. "But first- you wouldn't believe what happened at tonight's North American Society of Tinkerers meeting."

"Rrro?"

"Well, after we took minutes and attendance and Ned Shimmelfinney showed off his new automatic egg beater- yes, Sprocket, the same one that went flying out of his kitchen window two weeks ago- we had a special guest speaker."

"Ruff?"

"His name was Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and he worked out in Los Angeles at a place called Muppet Laboratory. I'm not sure what university he's affiliated with- seems like an Ivy League guy to me, probably Dartmouth-, but he's lecturing this summer about the latest developments at their lab."

"Ruff ruff rro."

"He was this short, stocky guy, with some giant glasses. And he had this assistant, Beaker, who was this tall, skinny guy with bright red hair. It was hard to understand what he was saying, he sort of mumbled. Didn't speak English very well either. 'Meep' this 'meep' that. He must have been an exchange student from Europe."

"Rrrr?"

"I don't know which country, maybe Switzerland or Austria. I went to Austria in college for a semester, it was a fun place to study. Have you ever been to Vienna?"

"Rrrro."

"Oh well, you should go someday, it's a nice place."

"Rrrrr."

"Well, the two of them went up to the front of the hall and started their presentation."

"Rrro?"

"Yes, PowerPoint. Though it took awhile to load up and Beaker got his finger caught in the laptop's CD drive. Poor thing looked pretty shook up."

"Rrraahh rrahhh?"

"I didn't laugh! What kind of cold-hearted man do you think I am?"

"Rrro?"

"Regardless, he launched up the presentation: Muppet Labs: Where The Future Is Still Being Made Today."

"Rrrr."

"Yes, very impressive slogan. Truly dynamic."

Sprocket shook his front right paw as if to demand Doc move on with the story.

"Well, Bunsen was extremely proud of their latest development in the field of laundry, the Sock Stabilizer 2500. See, it was a machine that would fix the little holes in bottoms of perfectly good pairs of socks. That's the kind of invention that we need, Sprocket. Think about how much money I've spent on socks the past year alone. At least thirty dollars!"

"Rrro?"

"It was on a table in front of where they were speaking. It looked like a microwave, except a little wider. He put the sock in the door and poured some detergent in the top slot, and voila. 10 minutes to a repaired sock. Six dollars saved!"

Sprocket looked like he wouldn't mind spending the six dollars for a new bag of socks, but let Doc go on with the story.

"Then he had Beaker bring out the next invention, which funnily enough came in a beaker. Isn't that ironic, Sprocket? Beaker carrying a beaker. What a coincidence."

"Rrro."

"The scientist launched into a speech about how so many people in the word truly lacked dancing ability and what is called "rhythm" in the scientific world. This is something I obviously never had to deal with, but I've seen plenty of people who can't dance. Like Ned Shimmelfinney. He embarrassed everyone at the holiday party last year."

"Rrraaahaaahaaaa."

"Yes, his attempt at the electric slide was rather weak. But Bunsen said he had invented a solution to help all the rhythmless people in the world. It was called the Insta-Rhythm Supplement, a little purple liquid. Evidently if you drank a couple sips, you could have the gift of fleet feet for a couple of hours. So Bunsen brought the beaker over to Beaker, and asked him to drink some of it. Beaker didn't want to, and Bunsen insisted. They went back and forth for a minute."

"Rrro?"

"Beaker seemed a little scared or something. I don't know why, I guess it must be the language barrier, perhaps he didn't understand everything Bunsen was saying. So Bunsen put the beaker in Beaker's hand, and Beaker kept putting it back into Bunsen's hand, until finally Beaker accidentally dropped it. The liquid poured into the top slot of the Sock Stabilizer, which they had forgot to close evidently."

"Rrro? Rrrr?"

"All of a sudden smoke started billowing from the machine, and it began shaking all over the place like there was an animal in there. We in the audience were startled, and Beaker and Bunsen just stood there, gawking at the machine. Finally the door burst open."

"Rrro?" Sprocket put his paw to his mouth in anticipation.

"A giant sock came out of the machine, it must have been at least three feet long. I have no idea how it fit in there, it must have been coiled on top of itself. And it started to dance! It danced amazingly, it did the waltz, the samba, the foxtrot, everything. It grabbed Beaker and Bunsen and attempted to conga with them, which quickly broke up the meeting."

"Rrro rwow. Rwow."

"We all fled for the exits and our cars. I ran like haven't in years. As I was pulling out parking lot with Ned, the sock was break-dancing in the lobby of the building while holding Bunsen and Beaker in its heel. Very scary."

"Ruff."

"Well, it wasn't a total disaster.

Sprocket looked skeptical. "Ruff-ruff?"

"But, Sprocket, there were no holes in the sock."

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Coming up "next": Dr. Teeth tells all (that is, if you can understand him.)

 

[Ruahnna]

I thought that was nicely done, especially given the scene restrictions you placed on yourself by having only one (Human)-speaking character in the story. Always interesting to see what Muppet Labs are up to.

Speaking of socks.... I am not making this up: Now that school is out, I am going to have to wrestle with two pillowcases full of socks without matches. My dryer doesn't just separate socks, it transforms them so that they don't match anymore. How is it possible to have more than 76 WHITE SOCKS without ANY of them having matches!
Rizzo: The Bermuda Triangle is annexed to your laundry room? I thought it looked a little damp down there....
Ru: Are you eating the potato salad that's for the Father's Day picnic?
Rizzo: (swallowing) No. I'm eating the pie that's for tomorrow's Father's Day picnic.
Ru: Rizzo!

 

[Twisted Tails]

Okay, this snippet is Doc & Sprocket from Fraggle Rock and he talks about Muppet Labs LOL! I cannot wait for what Dr. Teeth has to say about his band. Charlie, you made my night. Thanks!

 

[AlittleMayhem]

I love that you told that story from Doc's point of view! I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that.