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Sam and Friends Bookevilhopscotch
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Ohboyohboyohboy....
I have never written a Muppets story before, or a Fraggle story before, and I'm petrified of posting this. Please give me feedback on it.
It's a one-shot, which is my usual form of fiction, and that lullaby in the beginning was written by me some late night.
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“Sleeping child, do not part
I will hold you to my heart
I will keep you safe and warm
I will keep you from all harm
Sleeping child, do not cry
Let your dreams begin to fly
I will hold you till the dawn
I will keep you safe and warm”.
The soft glow of moonlight illuminated the cave walls just enough for good visibility, and the murmur of sleeping Fraggles wafted through the entrance to their den, giving it a comfy sort of familiarity, but Boober still couldn’t sleep. He had found sleep to be hard to catch nowadays, for some odd reason, and no matter what he tried he still found himself staring at the ceiling late at night. It boggled his mind. Nothing overly horrible had happened recently, just the usual bout of bad luck and jinxes that were commonplace, no one was hurt or missing, and he had actually enjoyed himself the previous day at the swimming race (Red had accidentally gotten her foot caught in a patch of knobblies, and Wembly had won in an uproar. This had amused Boober immensely).
No, this particular bother that plagued his mind was a song: a sweet, short lullaby he had heard once, but could no longer remember the words to. He sighed heavily and hummed it again. The others, when presented with the problem, all said that they too had heard the song somewhere, far off in the distant corners of their memories, but they had no idea what it was called. That was a bit of a problem. How was it that not just one, but FIVE Fraggles couldn’t remember a song?! The more he thought about it, the more Boober was convinced that it was an important song. He ran through the song again in his mind. It was not quite sad, but not quite happy, and was almost like something you’d sing to a baby…
Maybe that’s why he couldn’t remember.
Boober shut his eyes again, trying to conjure up the image of his mother and father. He had been so young when they died, that any memory he had of them came from the tales that the Storyteller told him. It was the same for the others as well, all except for Mokey: She had been old enough to remember exactly what happened, and even then, she didn’t like talking about it. The story, as far as Boober could tell, went like this: The water was poisoned one year, and a lot of the Fraggles had gotten sick. All of the children had been evacuated, and a cure had been found, but by then it was too late. Half the Rock had found themselves orphans. Gobo had been one of the lucky ones, and had grown up with his Uncle Matt, but most of the little ones had been raised by either the elders or each other, and neither was a very good way to raise kids.
A soft mumble from above him signaled that Wembly was at least halfway awake, and Boober sighed. “Wembly? You up?”
A low grunt. “Mmph, y-yeah? Boober, what’s up?”
“Me.” Boober sat up and craned his neck out, trying to see his temporary bunkmate (Gobo was gone on another trip, and Wembly didn’t like being alone).
Wembly looked down at him, concerned. “Are you ok Boober? You’ve been staying up late a LOT.”
He shrugged. “Eh, it’s nothing.” The younger Fraggle gave him a skeptical look, and Boober dropped his head. “Alright alright, it’s just…. Wembly, do you remember your parents at all?”
Wembly’s eyes widened. “My parents?..... Gee Boober, I’ve never thought about them all that much before.” He wrinkled his nose, thinking. “You know, I don’t.”
“Not even a little?’
Wembly shook his head. “Nope, not even a little.”
Boober pushed a few bangs off of his forehead. “Me either. I mean, It was so long ago….” Wembly had by then climbed down his ladder, and had positioned himself next to Boober. “Does it ever bother you that we never knew them, and never will?”
Wembly shook his head. “Nope, because I know we’ll see them again.”
Boober looked at him. “What? How? They’re DEAD, Wembly. We can’t see them again.”
He smiled. “No Boober, see, a good friend once taught me that death isn’t the end. He’s not around anymore either, but I don’t feel sad about it.” He hugged Boober gently, and started singing softly.
“Once I wasn’t here, and then I suddenly appeared
And now I seem to be at home in earth and air
Just like water flowing, I know where I’m going
Look inside your heart, and I’ll be there
It’s just a dream away
We’ve got to leave to stay
We’ll meet again someday
Just a dream away….”
Wembly smiled at him again. “So you see, no matter what happens, we’re all going to see each other again. So don’t be sad about it, Boober. Just look forward to seeing them again.”
Boober nodded, and let the makings of a smile creep onto his face. “Thanks Wembly. I think I can fall asleep now.” He nodded, and climbed back up into his bunk. Boober lay back down and pulled the sheets up to his chin and closed his eyes. Faintly, he heard the song being sung, echoing through the caves, gently whispering him to sleep. As he closed his eyes, he vaguely realized that he could remember the words again…
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