Chapter Eighteen
“Ya know what da bright side of stayin’ home is?” Rizzo said as he opened the refrigerator door.
“Nope,” Rowlf said, “What’s that?”
“
That is lasagna,” Rizzo said, pulling out a tin foil covered plate. “And I wanna know who put it back as leftovers instead of callin’
me!”
Rowlf chuckled. “
Lasagna is the bright side of staying home?”
“Well, it’s a part of it,” Rizzo explained.
“What are the other parts?” Rowlf asked.
“Well, let’s see!” Rizzo peered into the refrigerator. “Dere’s some meatloaf, spaghetti, chicken pot pie-
ooh, don’t tell Camilla- some chili…”
“I got it,” Rowlf said. “It’s raiding the fridge.”
“And dere’s
nobody here to stop me!” Rizzo said victoriously.
Rowlf shook his head and jokingly sang to himself, “
Always look on the bright side of life…”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Don’t worry about it, Fozzie, you’ll do fine,” Kermit assured his friend.
“I hope so,” Fozzie sighed.
“I know so,” Kermit replied. “Come on- let’s run through the choreography.”
“Okay,” Fozzie said. “But- Kermit? I keep forgetting- the first step is to the left, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay.” Fozzie got into position. “…Wait,
which is it?”
Kermit hesitated. “I forgot.”
“Oh, brother…”
“You stand on the right, and I stand on the left, so… you go left and I go right.”
“…Won’t we bump into each other?”
“No, because we’ve got our backs to each other.”
“Oh yeah!”
“From the top?”
“From the top!”
They stood with their backs to each other, and spoke and acted in unison.
“Step, tap, step, tap, one-two-three kick. Step, turn, step, tap, step. Cross…”
They walked into each other.
“Oops!”
“Sorry!”
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I was supposed to go…”
“Yeah, and I should’ve…”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“From the top?”
“From the top!”
They repositioned themselves.
“Step, tap, step, tap, one-two-three kick, step, turn, step, tap, step. Cross… stop-“
“Six, seven, eight-“
“Nine, ten, eleven, twe-“
“Fozzie?”
“Yeah?” the bear looked at his friend.
“The count starts over after eight,” Kermit said.
“Oh I know,” Fozzie said. “But I forgot the rest of the steps.”
“I see,” Kermit sighed.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay, we’ve still got most of the week left,” Kermit said. He thought for a moment. “I’ll go get the sheet.” He turned to go.
“Thank you!” Fozzie called after him.
Kermit turned and smiled at him. “Don’t mention it,” he said. He left the stage and examined the papers on his desk.
A voice called softly from his side. “Kermie?”
“Mm-hm?” he said, not looking up as he shuffled through a small stack of paper.
A sixth sense told him that she was standing next to him, though not as close as she usually did. Why was she acting so different, and why did it bother him so much?
Her voice seemed to tremble. “I… I wanted to…” She stopped.
He looked up, his hands still lost in the stack of papers. “What is it, Piggy?” he prodded. He hoped his voice sounded gentler to her than it did to him.
It didn’t. In fact, he sounded demanding, and his eyes were impatient and critical.
She straightened up. “Never mind,” she said importantly. “Maybe
this isn’t a good time.” She turned on her heel and marched up the stairs to her dressing room, proud but far too stiff to be natural.
He stared after her, perplexed and confounded.
What the hey…
“Can you find it?” Fozzie called, concerned.
Kermit grabbed the paper he was looking for. It had been on top all along. “Yeah,” he said absently, and he wandered back onto the stage.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Robin looked up from the piano keys and music he had been studying since returning from school, and smiled at the dog smiling down at him. “Rowlf?” he said quietly. “Do you think we can surprise Uncle Kermit again?”
“Surprise him how?” Rowlf asked.
“With the piano,” Robin said.
“Well, he all ready knows you’re learning it,” Rowlf said.
“I know,” Robin said. “But I wanna do something
big.”
“Hm,” Rowlf said. “…Something for the show, maybe?”
“Yeah!” Robin said excitedly.
Rowlf’s grin grew. “Like the theme song?”
Robin’s face was so bright and full of excitement that it could have lit the stage for him, no spotlight necessary. “Could we?” he whispered.
Rowlf grinned his signature grin. “Let’s get the music out,” he said. “Who knows- if we practice enough, we might be show-worthy by curtain time.”
“Yay!” Robin grinned. “But let’s keep it a secret until the last rehearsal!”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
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