Love's Long Journey

[redBoobergurl]

Chapter Six

“SHE’S WHERE?” asked Mokey, Wembley and Boober at the same time when Gobo reported back what the Trash Heap had said.

“It sounds like she might have gone to Outer Space,” Gobo repeated.

“No way, she wouldn’t dream of going there,” said Boober.

“Well, she was pretty upset though, maybe she did,” said Mokey.

“I really hope she’s ok!” said Wembley.

“Well, I’m going to go to the hole that leads to Doc’s old workshop; I’m thinking she couldn’t have gotten farther than that. She was probably too scared and is just sitting there waiting for us to find her,” said Gobo.

“That makes sense! I hope you’re right,” said Wembley.

“It’s not far to go, we’ll go with you,” said Mokey.

The four friends then turned to head to the spot they used to visit so many times before they even knew Doc.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the bird continued to carry her, Red decided to stop making a whole lot of noise when she realized it wasn’t doing her any good. She didn’t want to make the bird angrier.

Finally, the bird came to a tree where it had a nest with several eggs in it. The bird dropped Red down in the nest and flew away.

“Phew, I think I’m safe,” said Red feeling relieved until she looked around and realized she was up in a tree.

“I don’t know what these shiny round things are and I don’t really want to stick around to find out,” she thought and started looking around to see if she could escape. She figured the bird could come back so she figured time was extremely important.

She climbed out of the nest and stepped to the edge of the branch. Below the tree was a running stream of water. It was a long way down though.

“Whoa,” she breathed as she looked down. Suddenly she could hear a bird cawing in the distance which caused her to jump and almost lose her balance. She looked back at the nest and only briefly considered her options.

“Here goes nothing. All right Red, just pretend it’s the Swimming Extravaganza,” she said to herself. Then, taking a deep breath she dove off the branch executing a perfect dive into the stream below.

She fought her way to the surface and grabbed on to a floating branch as the water began to carry her away. It was then that she realized that she left her bag up in the nest.

“Oh no! I can’t believe I did that!” she grumbled angrily. But, after giving some thought as to what could have happened when the bird came back she decided to put it behind her. She relaxed and let the stream carry her away, further away from Doc’s old home and more importantly, her portal to Fraggle Rock.

“Guess there’s no turning back now,” she thought.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back in Fraggle Rock the four friends made their way to the hole.

“All right, let’s go in,” said Gobo.

“Wait! Look here,” said Mokey noticing a piece of paper tacked to the wall.

“What’s that?” asked Wembley.

“Looks like Red left us a note,” said Boober looking over Mokey’s shoulder.

“Dear Whoever Finds This Note,
I don’t belong in Fraggle Rock anymore. I don’t know where I belong. I’ve hurt a lot of feelings and for that I’m sorry. I don’t like it when things change. So, I’ve gone somewhere to find myself. I’m going to Outer Space. I don’t know what I’ll find there, but I hope I’ll be happy. Hopefully you guys will be happy too. Goodbye. Red”

Mokey read the note aloud and began to sniffle. Boober moved in to comfort her as Wembley began to cry openly. Even Gobo had to choke back a sob. They sat in silence for a moment.

“What…what do we do now?” Mokey asked finally breaking the silence.

“I don’t know, this is horrible,” said Boober.

“It’s awful,” said Wembley.

They were quiet once again.

“I’m going to find her,” Gobo said quietly breaking the silence once again.

“What did you say?” asked Mokey.

“I’m going to find her. I’m going to Outer Space!” Gobo proclaimed excitedly.

“That’s great! You can do it! Way to go Gobo!” the other three responded just as excitedly.

“Do you want us to go with you?” asked Mokey after a minute.

“No, I can do this you guys. I’m going to talk to my Uncle Matt; he’ll be able to help me. You guys need to stay here and plan for your ceremonies,” said Gobo.

“We won’t do anything until you come back though Gobo,” said Wembley.

“That’s all right guys. By the time I get back, hopefully there will be three ceremonies,” said Gobo a little bashfully.

“Oh Gobo!” breathed Mokey. Boober punched his shoulder and Wembley half hugged him from behind.

“Now come on you guys we’ll celebrate later, but for now, I’ve got to hurry! I’ve got to find Red!” exclaimed Gobo. The four friends hurried back to Fraggle Rock to prepare Gobo for his journey.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Red found herself getting sleepy as the stream slowly carried her and she closed her eyes for a bit. She didn’t notice when the stream stopped and emptied into slightly murkier water. Her branch became caught up in a lily pad.

“Hey, what do you think that is?” said a small frog discovering the sleeping Fraggle.

“It’s not a frog. You’re a frog and I’m a frog and we’re green see? That’s not green,” said another small frog.

The first frog took a step closer and saw Red’s tail and bushy red hair.

“Didn’t Uncle Kermit tell us about creatures that look like this once?” said the young frog again.

“Yeah, I wonder…do you think it’s a Fraggle?” said the second frog.

The two frogs looked at each other for a moment. Then they took off at a fast hop yelling “Aunt Maggie! Aunt Maggie! Come see what we found!”

 

[ReneeLouvier]

*squealing happily* I'm SERIOUSLY loving this story, Big Sister!!! IT'S....IT'S WOW!! IT'S WONDERFUL!!!

 

[The Count]

So... Are the two small frogs supposed to be any ones we currently know? Rully good chapter, seems Red's getting farther and farther from the Rock... But isn't that what she wanted?
Heh, thanks and hope for more soon.

 

[redBoobergurl]

So... Are the two small frogs supposed to be any ones we currently know? Rully good chapter, seems Red's getting farther and farther from the Rock... But isn't that what she wanted?
Heh, thanks and hope for more soon.

For now, I was thinking of them as random nephews/nieces of Kermit's but they might become something more, not sure yet. Glad everyone is enjoying this, it's so much fun to write!

 

[The Count]

Well... If you read the latest chapter in Sara's story, me thinks you'll see what I hinted at above. The connection's already there, up to you if you want to use it.

 

[froggiegirl18]

Thanks for writing this story

I was serisouly having a bad day yesterday, and of course when those days come along I come to muppet central to see if something can cheer me up. So the other day I saw this story in between classes and it made me smile. I grew up watching Fraggle Rock and to have the characters go through things that will be coming up in my near future, it just touched my heart. Also yesterday I went back and watched an episode of the first season of Fraggle Rock and I agree with the others, that you have done a really good job of keeping the characters in character. I like how you have written this because I can definately see the characters as I read your story. I can't wait to see how it will end. Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule to share this story. I'm loving it.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Well... If you read the latest chapter in Sara's story, me thinks you'll see what I hinted at above. The connection's already there, up to you if you want to use it.

Ooh, yes I did read the chapter and while the connection would be awesome, I think I'm leaving them as Kermit's niece and nephew, as they won't be too much more important to where the rest of the story is going. And it's going someplace good I think. I just wish I had some more time to write! Hopefully later this afternoon.

Froggiegirl - haven't seen you in a long time! I'm glad you're enjoying this!

 

[redBoobergurl]

Another update, I hope everyone likes and catches the references.

Chapter Seven:

Many residents of Fraggle Rock gathered around after hearing the news and wanted to wish Gobo well.

“This is so amazing, I can’t believe she actually did it,” said Lou to Wembley as he filled her in.

“If anyone can find her, Gobo can!” said Wembley excitedly.

Gobo gathered everything together in a knapsack and proceeded to give Mokey, Wembley and Boober hugs.

“Bring her back safely Gobo,” said Mokey and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Just make sure you leave any icky Outer Space germs behind,” said Boober.

“Don’t worry you guys, I’ll bring her back safe and clean,” said Gobo. Then he walked over to his Uncle Matt.

“Are you sure you won’t come with me Uncle Matt? You know your way around Outer Space,” said Gobo.

“Don’t worry nephew, you’ve learned everything I can teach you and the maps I gave you will guide your way,” said Uncle Matt. He paused giving Gobo a long look and then said “You are ready for this young nephew. You’ve become a grown Fraggle. You can handle this,” he said.

“Thanks Uncle Matt,” said Gobo. With a final wave that was met with cheers from all of the Fraggles, Gobo turned and left to finally explore Outer Space and find the love of his life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maggie the Frog looked down at her niece and nephew as they jumped up and down excitedly.

“What is it Ed? What Lisa?” she asked.

“We think we found one of those Fraggle thingys that Uncle Kermit talks about!” said Lisa.

“I’m the one that found it stupid,” said Ed.

“No, I did,” said Lisa. They began to bicker.

“All right, enough! Are you guys sure?” asked Maggie. As much as she loved her brother she didn’t always think the stories he told were good for the young frogs. She was always skeptical of Fraggle stories, even after Kermit and Robin claimed to have met some one Christmas Eve in the country.

“Well, it’s not a frog,” said Lisa.

“Yeah, it’s not green like us. It’s got bushy red hair, yellow furry stuff and a long tail with more bushy hair,” said Ed.

“He’s right Aunt Maggie, come see, come see!” said Lisa excitedly.

Maggie allowed the young frogs to pull her over to the lilypad where Red still continued to sleep.

“Oh my goodness,” she gasped when she saw Red.

“Told you so!” said Lisa.

“No I did!” said Ed.

“Ok, ok, I believe you guys,” said Maggie breaking up another fight before it began.

Red heard the commotion and woke up to the three frogs staring at her.

“Ack! Who are you? Where am I? Please don’t hurt me!” she exclaimed as she tried to back away from them.

“Relax, we won’t hurt you,” said Maggie.

“You’re in the swamp!” said Lisa.

“Hey, you guys look sort of familiar,” said Red. Where had she seen creatures like this before? She racked her brain as to what they could be and when she would have ever seen them.

“And we’re frogs! I’m Ed, that’s Lisa and this is our Aunt Maggie!” said Ed.

It came back to her now. That one year during the Festival of the Bells. Two frogs found their way into Fraggle Rock and they talked with them. Boober gave one of them a pebble.

“I’ve seen frogs before!” exclaimed Red excitedly.

“You have?” asked Maggie and turned white. Her brother was right?

“Aunt Maggie are you ok?” asked Lisa.

“I’m fine guys,” said Maggie and then mumbled under her breath, “Mit will never let me hear the end of this that he really DID see Fraggles.”

“What was that?” asked Ed.

“Nothing,” said Maggie.

“So why are you in our swamp?” asked Lisa.

“Um, I sort of ran away from home,” said Red. Then she started to tell the whole story. Ed and Lisa climbed onto Maggie’s lap and listened intently. A few other frogs came over and began to listen as well.

“That is quite the story,” said Maggie.

“Yeah, the thing is, well, now I’m really far away from home and I don’t know where to go next, I mean, I can’t live in a swamp, no offense or anything,” said Red.

“It’s ok, it’s not where you’re meant to be,” said Maggie.

“You know who will be able to help her don’t you,” said an older female frog joining the group.

“Uncle Kermit will help her, right grandma?” said Lisa.

“Yes, I think he can,” said Jane the Frog.

“We’ll need to send her on the train to Hensonville then,” said Maggie.

“I don’t think that will be a problem. We’ll just go into Leland and call him from Jerry’s Pizza Place and put her on the next train,” said Jane.

“Would that be all right with you Red?” asked Maggie.

“Um, sure. There’s just one thing,” said Red.

“What’s that dear?” asked Jane with the compassion only a mother has.

“What’s a train?” asked Red.

The young frogs burst into laughter as Maggie gently took Red by the hand.

“Come on, I’ll explain on the way. You really are from some other sort of place aren’t you,” said Maggie.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile Gobo made his way into Doc’s old workshop.

“Wow, this brings back memories,” he thought to himself. He came across the same predicament that Red had with the door, but figured out the doggie door a little quicker. Then he truly was outside in Outer Space.

“Wow, it’s just like Uncle Matt described it!” thought Gobo. He walked to end of the yard and up to where the road was. A couple of cars passed by as he stood there.

“If I know Red, she probably went straight into that bushy dark area over there. She wouldn’t follow this path that has big scary rolling things,” thought Gobo. So, he looked both ways a bunch of times and then dashed across the street to the forest.

“I hope I’m right,” he thought as he headed into the dark woods.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chaos as usual was king at the Muppet Theatre. Fozzie was trying out some new jokes while Gonzo was experimenting with some new exploding socks. It was a miracle anyone heard the phone rang.

“I’ll get it!” said Scooter. He was expecting a call from the new girl he was dating, a nice human named Sara.

“Hello Muppet Theatre. Oh hi Maggie, I’ll get him, hold on,” said Scooter. He wandered around backstage looking for Kermit and found him going over lines with Robin.

“Hey Boss, phone’s for you, it’s your sister,” said Scooter.

“Thanks! I’ll be right back Robin, it’s Aunt Maggie,” said Kermit. He walked over to the phone.

“Mags! Haven’t heard from you for awhile, how’s it going?” asked Kermit.

“Hey Mit! You’ll never guess what happened at the swamp today,” said Maggie.

Kermit listened to what she had to say then dropped the phone in shock.

“What’s wrong Boss?” asked Scooter.

“It seems my niece and nephew found a Fraggle in the swamp today,” said Kermit while Maggie kept yelling in the phone for him to come back.

“Boss, your sister…” said Scooter and pointed to the phone.

“Oh yeah!” said Kermit and picked the phone back up. He talked with Maggie for a few more minutes and agreed that Red could come there tomorrow on the train after getting some rest at the swamp.

“Geeze, and this whole time I thought I dreamt that Robin and I met Fraggles,” said Kermit as he hung up the phone.

 

[ReneeLouvier]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! EEEEE!!! This is so awesome Beth!! I love this SO SO much!!! Wowow....It's so awesome!!! I love this so much. Wait, Im so excited with this, it's just so cool!!

 

[The Count]

OK... You want references?

Scooter expecting a call from a nice human girl he started dating... Sara, from all the wonderfulness that are Sadie's Stories.
The fact that Kermit and Robin met Fraggles once that Christmas in the country, and Boober giving one of them a Fraggle pebble... MFC right?
And then Maggy, Jane, and the names of the young frogs... Well, combined reference to Swamp Call and Sometimes It's Better To Go?
Rully great stuff in this chapter, maybe your best.

Wonder what Toga will say when she gets here.