Slackbot's text sketchbook

[charlietheowl]

What a cute story! I love the image of Boober clamping Red's mouth shut, hahaha. Thanks for posting.

 

[Plaid Fraggle]

Aahh! I love Red and Boober!! I'm really glad you wrote this. A very Red thing to do, tease him like that almost a little meanly, but meaning well You represented their dynamic really nicely.

"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."

and

"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."

These are AWESOME! They represent the interesting level of understanding that Boober and Red have for each other's personalities, as well as give insight as to how Red thinks on a competitive level. I was impressed that you could pull off a rather fast-paced story but squeeze in these little asides without it seeming awkward.

Great job!

 

[Slackbot]

Thanks, guys! Boober only clamped Red's mouth because he didn't have a pillow handy to shove into it.

I'm glad that you like the Red-Bober dynamic! I like to think that over the years they've found ways to deal with each other without having to change or pussyfoot around. Red accepts that Boober is "a potato" and doesn't really try to change him, and he accepts a certain amount of teasing from her, as long as she'll stop it when he tells her to.

The "safe word" is a real thing, used to call a halt to, er, rough play when it leaves the comfort zone of one of the players. "Artichoke" was actually used by a friend, and I couldn't resist using that here.

 

[Slackbot]

P.S. One of the most common safe words is..."red." As in, red light, stop. Obviously that wouldn't work here.

 

[Slackbot]

A little something I wrote while thinking of Playing Till it Hurts.

*****

Benched​

by Kim McFarland​

*****

Stiff-bristled brooms made from brushlike bundles of needles dropped by trees around the Gorgs' garden whisked over the flat rock floor. This was a special part of the Great Hall, where the ground was worn smooth by generations of Fraggle feet. Now Fraggles were preparing it, sweeping every bit of loose dirt and grit away.

Red walked out on the clean rock, looking for stray pebbles and other imperfections. The center was clean. She restrained herself from commenting on the edges of the rink. The sweepers had started in the center and were working their way outward. It wouldn't be fair to criticize work that they hadn't yet finished. The sweepers, knowing Red was watching closely, took extra care to render the rink perfectly smooth.

When they finished Gobo, wearing a hooded sweater, walked into the rink. "Does it pass inspection, Red?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"Good. Go sit with the rest of the team."

Feenie, Tosh, Lou, and Mokey were sitting on a bench at the edge of the rink, wearing their rock hockey uniforms. Each had already tied a pair of greaseberry leaves to their feet. Red grunted as she sat heavily down by Mokey.

Gobo said, "Rock hockey season begins tomorrow, and Gobo's Gorgbusters have to be at our best. We're up against Rumple's Roustabouts, and they play a good game. So let's get out there and practice!"

Red thought that she could have given a more inspiring speech. However, the other players cheered and skated onto the field, sliding on the greasy leaves. At first they just skidded around, getting their skating legs back. Then, at Gobo's instruction, they got their sticks and began hitting rock hockey pillows around.

Red called, "Mokey, your grip is all wrong! Hold the stick to the paddle faces forward! The way you're holding it now, the pillow'll go to the side."

"Oh?" Mokey took a swing, and the pillow flew off at a tangent. "So it will," she said, and turned the stick in her hands.

Gobo let the team mess around. Red, however, was frustrated. "Tosh, relax! You can skate faster if you lean into your strokes instead of Doozerfooting around. Look, I'll show you."

She reached for the leaves. Gobo had expected this. He stepped between her and the pile of practice leaves and said, "No, Red. You're benched."

"For crying out loud, I'm just going to give her some skating pointers! What do you think I'm going to do, clobber myself skating across the cave?"

"No, you're not, because you're not going to skate at all."

"Give me a break!"

"No, Red. We agreed. You're co-coach this season, but you won't play."

"This is only practice!" she whined.

He folded his arms and said firmly, "Red."

She gritted her teeth and glared at him. He looked calmly back at her. "Fine," she snapped.

"Good. And keep helping us with technique, eh? Without you on the field we need your advice more than ever."

Red waited until Gobo was back on the rink before muttering "That's for sure." Most of the team was good, she admitted to herself. Not quite her caliber, but then who was besides Gobo on his best day? But now she couldn't do anything. No climbing, no high diving, nothing that might conceivably give her even the tiniest bruise or scrape. And they were all in on it, everyone in Fraggle Rock. Even Mokey. It was a conspiracy! If it wasn't for swimming, she'd go completely out of her mind!

**

The Gorgbusters spent several hours on the rink. Red was pleased that the rest of the team soon got their skating legs back. Their muscles remembered how it went. And they listened to her directions, and most of the time they were able to follow them. Red stopped short of telling Mokey not to get distracted by passing spiderflies, or rock daisies, or pretty reflections of sunlight on the cave ceiling; that was just Mokey being Mokey. Instead, she did her best to get her good and interested in the game so she would stay focused. Would it work? Who knew?

Finally Gobo called out, "All right, let's not overwork it on the first day. Great practice, everyone!"

While everyone skated off the rink and went to an adjacent cave to put away their gear, Gobo walked over to Red. "What'ja think?" He held out his hand.

She took it, and he helped her stand up. Not that she needed help, but she wouldn't refuse it either. "There's hope."

"That's good. Y'know, Red, the team isn't the same without you."

She sighed. "I know, I know. But I'll be back next year!"

"Yeah. 'Til then-" He laid a hand on her very round belly and said softly, "Mama's taking good care of you."

She rolled her eyes, then said, "Kick him for me, would you, kid?"

Gobo chucked. "C'mon, let's go for a swim."

"Now you're talking! Race you to the Fraggle Pond!"

"Okay," he said, and took her hand.

*****

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.

 

[The Count]

That's a cute li'l oneshot. Glad that is only sitting out due to her pending birthing of Poncle. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[charlietheowl]

What a nice story, it's good to see that Red is using some restraint from the bench. I'd imagine she has to use all her self-control to keep from jumping out there herself, lol.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Slackbot]

Thanks. I've had it in the back of my mind that Red would not want to let pregnancy slow her down. Oh, she wouldn't do anything super-risky...but she's pretty close to full term, and her balance is way off. If she tried to skate she'd fall over, and Gobo knows it. Red's used to taking pratfalls, but there's no sense in taking any risks now, is there? That Red puts up with these restrictions shows that she agrees. Grudgingly.

Based on Mokey's experiences, Red expects to be up and playing rock hockey in a week or two. After all, she's strong and she heals fast; If Mokey's back in action after only a few days, this ought to be a piece of cake for Red! Right?

Out of curiosity, at what point in the story did it become obvious that Red is pregnant? I wasn't trying to be obvious, but I wasn't exactly concealing it either.

 

[The Count]

For me, it wasn't obvious until Gobo grabbed Red and it was siad that she had a baby belly bump towards the end of the oneshot.

 

[Ruahnna]

Almost immediately. If Red was benched for behavior, there's no way Gobo would have rubbed salt in the wound by asking her to help, and since you didn't mention a cast or a sling....
(Did everything I wanted up until about 71/2 months with my first, including work out daily, then had to quit because of heart rate issues. Also gave up caffeine--which was pretty awful going, especially since I tended to fall asleep if I sat down. Work was interesting, to say the least....)