Slackbot's text sketchbook

[mostlikemokey]

I guess I'll just improvise and see where it goes.

 

[Slackbot]

That's how I do it. Get a roll of 1/2" foam and some contact cement and go to it.

 

[Slackbot]

A random little thing inspired by the tomato plants I wish I was growing and the utter lack of space for a garden in my condo.

*****

Organic Refreshments​

by Kim McFarland​

*****


It was a warm and sunny day. The air was still and slightly humid; it had rained last night. The jacuzzi in the back yard of the Muppets' boarding house was unoccupied. Beyond that was a scrubby, neglected area. Few ventured that far out, as there was not much of popular interest beyond the jacuzzi.

In the back Janken had planted a small garden, a few square yards of beans and tomatoes and squash and radishes, just to see what would happen. If nothing grew, it would be no loss. But most of the seeds he planted did come up. He hardly even had to water them. He would have liked a compost pile for fertilizer, but that would be considered antisocial in an area like this. Too bad, he thought. It would have added a homey touch.

He was dealing with the everpresent bugs when he saw a frog hopping his way. "Hey, Robin! Welcome back!"

Robin was growing fast now, most of it in his legs, and he could now look Janken in the chin. Because his reflexes had not kept pace he was a bit awkward. "Hi! I came back here for a snack."

"Cool," the Fraggle said.

There was a tiny pond that sometimes collected in the low spot and incubated mosquitoes. Robin went over to it and snapped up the insects that were innocently reveling in their new lives above the water's surface.

Janken watched, wondering how Robin and Kermit could zap bugs out of the air with their tongues with such uncanny accuracy. Janken couldn't even see the things that the frogs caught. It was impressive, in a queasy sort of way.

Janken said, "You made it all the way here from the swamp by yourself, Kermit said."

"Yeah," Robin replied, pleased with himself. "I took a Greyhound bus here, then the city bus to the house. I bet Uncle Kermit was worried."

"Not that I saw," Janken replied. "If he didn't think you could make it he wouldn't have said okay." Not to mention that he'd had Scooter work out the itinerary ahead of time.

"Yeah, I guess. What're you doing?"

"Dealing with the bugs. They love garden plants."

Robin watched while Janken picked a bug off a tomato plant...and put it down on another tomato plant. "That's not going to kill them."

"Well, no," Janken said. "I don't want to do that."

"Why not? They'll eat up the garden."

Janken smiled oddly as he inspected a small green caterpillar. "All these bugs know is that, hey look, there's some food, let's eat it. That's what they do. I can't blame them for doing what comes naturally."

"Why are you putting them on those plants?"

Janken had set aside a few plants, one of each kind, at one end of the garden for the bugs, and he moved the bugs he found on the other plants to those. "Those are for the bugs. There's enough to go around, and if I put them on the kind of plant they like then they'll eat the one they're on and leave the rest alone. I hope, anyway."

Robin shook his head. Janken was a little odd. Not that that was unusual among the Muppets, but he was skewed in a different direction from the others. Sometimes he was so idealistic it was weird. Robin said, "Most people just use bug spray."

Janken put down a few beetles and said, "Yes. But bug sprays kill bugs by poisoning them."

Robin shrugged. "They're just bugs."

Gently Janken said, "Poison has a way of spreading. It gets on the food growing here. When something eats a poisoned bug, it eats some of the poison. Poison can wash into the soil and contaminate things living in it and growing out of it." Once, before he had been born, his entire colony had nearly died because humans had put chemical waste in the ground nearby without knowing that it would get into the Fraggles' water supply. It was a terrifying story, and because of that Janken could not bear the thought of releasing poison into the world. Besides, the Gorgs and the Fraggles knew that there was always enough food to eat if people were willing to share rather than being selfish or territorial. But he didn't want to lecture Robin, so he simply said, "Besides, what does it matter if they get a free lunch? We won't starve if they eat everything here."

"I guess so," Robin said. "Boy...those plants sure are full of bugs."

The young frog looked eager, Janken noticed. "According to Kermit, they're pretty tasty."

"Can I have some?"

Janken grinned. "Sure! Insecticide isn't natural, but frogs eating bugs, that's natural."

Robin snapped the bugs off the plants so neatly that the leaves and stems barely shook.

*****

Robin is copyright © The Muppets Studio, LLC and is used without permission but with much respect and affection. Janken Fraggle and the overall story are copyright © Kim McFarland (negaduck9@aol.com). Permission is given by the author to copy it for personal use only.

 

[charlietheowl]

I like this story! It's nice to see that Janken is trying to apply the values and ideals he learned from growing up in Fraggle Rock to the world he lives in now. Plus the image of Robin with longer legs is funny. Thanks for sharing!

 

[The Count]

Good ficlet. I'm glad Robin got featured in this along with Janken. Thanks for posting, made me smile.

 

[Slackbot]

Thanks. I considered several characters for this story, and almost went with Kermit for the insectivore angle, but as soon as I remembered Robin I knew he was the one. I've written so little for him, not because I don't like him, but, well, not a whole lot has occurred to me as of yet.

Heh, Janken finds it amusing to be in the position that the Gorgs normally occupy. They raise food in their garden, and the Fraggles swipe it for their sustenance. (Well, by now they have an agreement with the Gorgs; they take what they need without feat of being thumped, and Junior has some little friends to talk to. Even Ma and Pa grudgingly admit that this way is better, because at least they don't have Fraggles sneaking around in their home and generally being pests.) Janken sees it as only fair that the hungry little critters should share in the bounty. But if Janken really needed to discourage them, he might try the old trick of spraying the plants with water laced with cayenne pepper. If he does, here's hoping he warns Kermit and Robin first.

 

[Slackbot]

Dear Nephew Gobo,

As I have reported before, there are Doozers living in the Silly Creature world. You may remember that the last ones I encountered here seemed normal but for their size--they ignored me, a hungry Fraggle, as Doozers typically do--but their cuisine was positively terrible. Still, when I visited one of the places where Silly Creatures congregate to eat and trade things, I saw a truly mouthwatering sight! Doozer constructions of enormous size!

Colossal, even!

I would have to begin at the top, as I wouldn't want this tower to collapse on top of me.

Oh, where to start?

...Strangely enough, nobody else was eating them! I am sure the Doozers must have been insulted at such a slight to their skills. I was about to sample the local cuisine, but my tail caught in one of the moving stairways, and from there things became quite confusing and not a little bit painful. Now I have a white tail (as I once had a white leg) and, although the Silly Creatures here are quite kind to me, the food is awful. I can't wait to get back to traveling.

Love,

Your Uncle,
Traveling Matt.

 

[charlietheowl]

I love the image of poor Uncle Matt struggling with an escalator, lol. Poor guy.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Slackbot]

I'm picturing a "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" kind of scenario.

 

[Slackbot]

Safe Word
by Kim McFarland​

*****

It was a warm and pleasant day in Fraggle Rock. It might have been dark and stormy above the earth's surface, but unless they had to go up there to fetch some produce from the Gorgs' garden the Fraggles didn't care.

Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red were in the Messin'-Around Cave, messing around. Well, most of them were. Red had drawn everyone but Boober into a game of Hidey-Ho which had taken place half on land and half in the pond. After that they had played tag, and then challenged each other to various feats of strength, skill, or just plan nerve. Periodically songs broke out. It was a perfect day for their clan.

Except, Red thought, for Boober. He practically had to be forced to have fun. Left to his own devices, as he was now, he'd set out the picnic spread he'd packed, taking his time and arranging each item to its best advantage, and then sit on his fat behind watching the rest of them play. Well, she'd see about that!

Boober watched her approach. She was wearing that odd smile that meant that she was up to something and didn't want anyone to know about it. She stood over him and asked, "Why don't you ever play with us?"

"Sometimes I do," he answered.

"Why not now?"

"I don't feel like it," he said mildly.

She shook her head with a sound of exasperation. He was such a potato. She said, "C'mere," and beckoned to him.

He got up. She put an arm around his shoulders and led him a few steps away from the picnic cloth. "Boober, sometimes I worry about you."

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Oh, sure, you think you are. But I haven't heard you laugh all day."

"I don't need to laugh to be content."

"Content? Why be content when you can be happy?"

"Same thing."

"Anyway, I want to hear you laugh. C'mon, I know you've got it in you."

He faced her. "Ha. Ha," he said flatly.

"That's not what I mean. I know what you need. Motivation!"

Suddenly she grabbed him around the middle and began tickling him. Shocked, he thrashed his arms--Red dodged the blow--and cackled with laughter.

The other Fraggles, startled by the unfamiliar sound. stopped messin' around and looked over. Red was tickling Boober. Boober was twisting around, trying to push her hands away.

His legs went out from under him, and he collapsed to the ground. Red went down with him and, straddling him, continued tickling. He writhed, trying fruitlessly to escape.

Red was impressed. He was putting up more of a fight than she expected. It was easy to forget that all the scrubbing he did had given him some upper body strength. Not enough to throw her off, however.

He surprised her by abruptly rolling to the side. He almost managed to escape, but that sent him into the pond. It was the shallows, though, so he didn't freak out about being in the water. She recaptured him by sitting on his lap. For a moment she let him catch his breath. They stared at each other. She was wearing that grin again, Boober thought for a moment before she reached back and began tickling his foot.

Boober yelped and flailed. The others could barely see the two Fraggles in the center of the splashing water. Red attacked his weak spots mercilessly. His toes, his sides, under his arms, behind his knees, all were ticklish. She had plenty of vulnerabilities too, but it would never occur to Boober to exchange his futile defense for an offense. He just didn't think that way.

His laughter took on a pained tone. He reached up and clamped Red's mouth shut with one hand--a sure way to get her attention--and gasped, "Artichoke!"

Immediately she stopped tickling him. He panted hard. He sounded exhausted. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

She got up and held a hand out to him. He took it, and she helped him to his feet. Both were dripping wet. She put an arm around his shoulders and said softly, "I like hearing you belly laugh."

"Well...psh..."

He wasn't miffed. Red was a little relieved. Boober was fun to tease. The problem was, Red didn't know where to stop, and before she knew it Boober was angry at her and so was everybody else. She never meant to upset him; he was just so touchy! But then they'd hit on the idea of a special word. She had promised that when Boober said the word 'artichoke' she would stop whatever she was doing to him. It had seemed like a goofy idea at first--but, surprisingly, it made the difference. She realized now that as long as she kept that promise, he knew he had some control. If he could make her stop when he wanted her to, then he didn't get upset when she came on strong.

Weird ol' Boober. What other Fraggle panicked at the thought of swimming, and would rather scrub dirty clothes than run around and sing and play? But she loved him anyway. He was an acquired taste.

When they went over to the picnic blanket they saw how the other Fraggles were looking at them. Boober asked, "What, haven't you seen wet Fraggles before?"

*****

Fraggle Rock and all characters are copyright © The Jim Henson Company. All copyrighted properties are used without permission but with much respect and affection. The overall story is copyright © Kim McFarland (negaduck9@aol.com). Permission is given by the author to copy it for personal use only.