Say Cheese!

[redBoobergurl]

Eek, I missed the update yesterday! Thursdays are such a horribly busy day for me, I don't get on here much. Anyway, I just feel for Rowlf so much with this portrait you're painting of his almost depression. Then poor Fozzie, he just doesn't know how to act around his friend and it's just so heartwrenching. I loved all the signatures on the cast. Very Muppety and very appropriate. Looking forward to more!

 

[TogetherAgain]

<pulls out bin of teddies> <looks around> <shifty eyes>

We're, uh... We're... gonna need these... trust me...

 

[TogetherAgain]

Chapter Ten

The early morning light found Rowlf at his piano, slowly pressing one note after another. He only played one note at a time, and he played very softly. It hurt to play. It hurt even more to not play.

You’ve got a lot on your mind, Fozzie had said. Don’t worry about it, the bear had told him. I don’t want to trouble you.

Trouble? As if it were trouble to talk to Dr. Teeth- trouble to help a friend. And then the bear had stopped talking- as if it troubled the dog to just listen.

Don’t worry? Rowlf had been listening long enough to know that when someone ended their presentation of troubles with don’t worry, they probably felt guilty about having mentioned the troubles to begin with. No one in the boarding house ever needed to feel guilty about talking to Rowlf.

A lot on his mind? The dog had absolutely nothing to do in the show. How could he have a lot on his mind? Fozzie hadn’t started to back out of their talk until the second time he had peered over the bed… when he could see Rowlf’s casts.

Rowlf looked at his casts.

A lot on his mind.

He held one note.

A lot on his mind.

He stared at his casts.

A lot on his mind.

A lot on his mind.

A lot on his mind.

A lot on his mind.

They WEREN’T on his mind! He crashed his right cast against a few high notes.

The impact was more than he expected, and he let out a small yelp of pain. He pulled his paw to his gut and cradled it miserably.

The casts were on his paws. They were not on his mind. They were not on his ears. The casts were on his paws. They were not on his mind. The three milkshakes per day were in his stomach, not on his mind. The straws were not on his mind.

The silence was on his mind.

He lifted his left paw and poked an A sharp three times. There. That was a little less silence. Even if no one else came to be heard, the piano always would.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

Miss Piggy was curled up in her bed with her blankets snug around her, thinking.

She was trying to tread carefully around Kermit. The events of that night haunted her, haunted her conscience. She wanted some sign of forgiveness from Kermit before she resumed her constant campaign for his affection, and only his affection- as well as everyone else’s attention.

But her beloved frog had been quite pointedly ignoring her. He had a tense, strained presence about him that seemed to intensify as soon as he noticed her near him. It hurt to see him so slow to smile, and it was worse knowing that she was part of the reason. She wanted so badly to kiss away those frowns… but some intuitive voice kept telling her that she would kiss away the smiles instead.

If she had been able to hear the piano, perhaps she would have crept downstairs. Pianos, especially when well played, had a certain allure to the troubled mind and heart. Like the song of a Siren without the hidden peril, a piano could lure the downtrodden to it. It could soothe the soul and comfort the spirit until even the most emotionally shell-shocked could just talk, and with any luck, the piano man- or woman, or dog, as the case may be- will have two ears ready for listening.

But unfortunately, with Rowlf’s paws bound in casts, he could not play well or loud enough to be heard, much less call to the troubled minds of the house in the wee hours of the morning, when most of them wanted to be asleep anyway.

They wanted to be asleep. That didn’t mean they were asleep.

Kermit, for example, was awake, kicking himself for waking when it was too late to go back to sleep and too early to get up. Endless thoughts swirled in his head- thoughts about Gonzo’s conscience, Fozzie’s monologue, his number with Fozzie, why the pig was acting so different, why that bothered him, why the house seemed so exceptionally quiet this morning, why he wasn’t sure why he wanted Rowlf to keep coming to the theater even though there was nothing for him to do, and why there were so many songs about rainbows. He wasn’t coming up with a lot of answers.

Then again, most members of the boarding house- at least, those that were awake- were not coming up with too many answers. Even the Swedish Chef was lying awake. He slowly got up and started to get ready. He had to make breakfast for everyone. But as he tied his apron on, he still couldn’t decide if he should put hot peppers or curry sauce in the pancakes.

 

[The Count]

Oh I trust you all fright Lisa... It's the chapter getting posted I'm a little dubious about.
You got any plush critters other than teddys in there, stuff like bats or ravens or any of those I happen to like?

Oh, and lucky you... You get the privilege of seeing my new siggy and avy, courtesy of Vic's newest visual artwork masterpiece... And Bo's comment about it too.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Methinks I ziffled you, Ed. Otherwise the chapter getting posted would not make you dubious at all!

 

[theprawncracker]

MMMMMM!!! OH ROWLFIE!! That poor sweet pooch! He NEEDS a hug!! Can't you Muppets see that?! He's really really hurting, someone hug him...Please...

Oh, and you there half of mine! More. Please.

 

[The Count]

*In Dr. Teeth voice: Indubitavely... This is truly a narrative of most heavy duty proportions... Oh sorry, that was Flippersteps I was merely commiscerating over regarding the lack of new postage being put up for our orbitals to scan upon. But I like this one too... It has that certain je ne sais qua that becomes an esoteric excellance of the Lisa's stories.
So rock on with your bad selves and post more story soon... As this latest chapter moved one to lament the plight of the ivory tickler, his canine yelps heard as softly as Hilda dropping a pin into that mannequin of hers. Like I said and before I feel the reightousness to repeat myself... More story please!

 

[Leyla]

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa dear! Oh, beloved mentor of my heart! I'm SO sorry for being SO far behind you! It's like 8 chapters now, and they've ALL been so great and so quote worthy and I've been lacking both time and energy.

I"M SOOOOOOORRRRYYYY!!!!!!!

But, you know I love you, right? And your stories?

Good.

Now... I have, despite the fact I don't write him often, and deep affection for Rowlf. I have since I was a little girl. Basically the ONLY enduring muppet show memory I had was of Kermit waving his arms and Rowlf singing "Wonderful World" to a cocker spaniel. That was what I remembered when I didn't remember that there ever was a muppet show... Rowlf. Not Piggy, not anyone one else... that dog.

And you are hurting my puppy! Okay, okay, he's a grown dog, and these kinds of stories have the wonderful affect of teaching readers about the characters and other characters about how much they depend on their friend.

And boy, have you done a phenomenal job of that... phe-nom-en-al.

Okay, the scene a little ways back with Rowlf sitting at the piano and thinking about how everyone came to him to talk to him, how much they rely on him... well that will stay with me a long, long time. Certain scenes do... and that one will...

And now you have Rowlf finally reacting... and it ISN'T really the accidnet that's goten to him, not the pain of him, not the difficulties. It's the not playing, and EVEN more important than that, it's the general feeling of uselessness that is positively plagueing him. He can't play, but he's there, doing nothing. He who is everyone's dependable, wise listener is suddenly shunned for fear of burdening him... his wrists were hurt.... not his mind, not his heart, but they aren't letting him use that anymore.

The silence was on his mind.

Wow.

The.
Silence.
was.
on.
his.
Mind.

I mean.... did you actually READ that?

And at least he can get somme noise of the piano... he can't from his friends.


And! To top things of, friendships are very very reciprocal, the best friendships are anyway.

Rowlf and the muppets have an almost symbiotic relationship. He's a mess because of their silence, and they're a mess because of a lack of his listening ears.

Piggy's fretting...her distress over her perception of Kermit's lack of forgiveness, which probably stems from her own guilt, well, that was heartwrenching... her insecurity, her backing away from her two overriding goals in life... <shakes head> And that's effect on Kermit... boy, sometimes they really don't understand eachother. They need Rowlf's gentle, laid back wisdom so badly right now, and he needs to hear them and feel useful.

I don't know if you even realise how profound this is Lisa... this interconnectedness between the whole muppet family... but let me tell you, there are older writers who couldn't handle this with near as much grace and depth.

Well done, and I mean that from the bottom of my Rowlf loving heart.

 

[The Count]

Agreed... You're doing a vonderful job showing us the insight and plight Rowlf's facing given he can't play the piano at the moment.

One thing I felt needed correcting, since you used the metaphor masterfully... The name of the mythic maiden you referenced is "siren", not "seiren". Should know myself, since I can tell you all about sirens and mermaids, the differences between them, and all other manner of beasties or buggaboos.

Have a pleasant fright, post more soonish!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Ah, thank you, Ed. I wasn't sure, and I looked it up in my copy of the Odyssey... I knew that book had too many bad memories to be trusted... I'll fix that.