SST Fan Fic: The Search for Bert

[TogetherAgain]

Awesome awesome awesome awesome!!!!!! Have I mentioned awesome? Because awesome.

And Beau, don't you worry, mine will have a making of. But first I need to finish the commentary. But more on that in my thread.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Good lord it's contagious!

But seriously, it's cool these commentries. Some 'making of's would also be appreciated.

Beau

I think a making of would be fun! Or some other behind the scenes mayhem of some kind! All I know is I'll be dragging this out awhile. I have an idea for another story, but I just can't put words to paper!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Oh, I know that feeling, Beth. Why do you think I started doing commentary in the first place? First I couldn't come up with a new story, then the one I thought of wasn't working, then I needed another story, and now that story is being annoying. So frustrating! So while our creative pots simmer, let's all do more commentary. Woo Hoo!

 

[redBoobergurl]

Chapter Four (with commentary):

After hours of hard work unloading and setting up the circus, Bert and the other circus members were allowed to go to sleep. However, it wasn’t until about 6:00 in the morning and Amazing Al wanted them all up and at rehearsal by 9:00 am. Bert decided to ask Amazing Al when he’d be getting his pigeons.

“Well, I actually have something else in mind for you,” said Amazing Al when Bert asked.

“Oh, really? What’s that?” asked Bert.

“Well, I’d like you to join our acrobatic squad,” said Amazing Al and pointed to a group of large, mean looking guys. (Author’s note: picture several fat, large purple Anything Muppets) Commentary: I'm not sure why I made them purple, purple is my favorite color, but I just pictured a bunch of big mean looking muppets, human type muppets, not monsters and I see them as being purple with red and yellow jumpsuits. I just don't know why. -end commentary

“I thought you wanted me to train pigeons and show what they can do,” said a concerned Bert.

“Yeah, well that’s cute, but these guys needed someone about your size to be the top of the pyramid. You’ll love it. You’ll still be famous beyond your wildest dreams,” said Amazing Al.

“Ok, I guess I can try it,” said Bert.

“Good! Go get started on practicing, I’ll come see you in a bit,” said Amazing Al while pushing Bert toward the Acrobatic Squad. It was at this moment that Bert realized he didn’t know where he was and began to wish he had never left Sesame Street. Commentary: Well, Al still doesn't seem so bad right? Well, have you noticed each time he appears he gets a little worse? Yep, that's the point! Gradually turn him into the bad guy! -end commentary.

Back on Sesame Street, Ernie woke up early after a fitful night sleep. Gordon and Susan were already awake. Susan was feeding Miles in the kitchen and Gordon was talking on the phone working on tracking down Bert.

“Good morning Ernie. Would you like some breakfast?” asked Susan.

“I’m not that hungry,” said Ernie.

“How about a small bowl of cereal?” suggested Susan.

“Ok. Has Gordon found anything yet?” asked Ernie.

“Not yet, but don’t worry, he will,” said Susan as she went to the cupboard to take out a bowl.

Ernie knew he should be patient and try to stay out of Gordon’s way, so he ate his cereal and then went with Susan into the other room and sat down on the floor with baby Miles. They were playing with building blocks when Gordon came to join them.

“Ernie, I have some news and it’s not great,” said Gordon.

“Is Bert ok?” asked Ernie frantically.

“I haven’t found Bert yet. But, I found out about this Amazing Al’s Circus. It turns out that they’ve been in trouble several times in the past year for overworking employees and maltreatment of animals. They have a tendency to set up the circus in small towns where the police will be less likely to find them. The name has also changed several times as well. If Bert is with them, he could be in danger,” explained Gordon.

“Oh no!” shrieked Ernie as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Hold on,” said Gordon, “The good news is that the police are aware of the situation. I told them all about Bert and how he ran away and they’re going to work really hard to track them down. So far they’ve found out that the circus was heading south of New York and is most likely camped out in northern Pennsylvania right now.”

Commentary: Ok, so some of the plotline seems a little far-fetched I know. Why haven't the police just caught them? But, this is the magic of the Muppets, the story doesn't always HAVE to make sense. Besides, I wanted them to have an adventure and the police do get involved later. So, I figured, it's ok if it's not totally realistic. -end commentary.

“So they’re going to rescue Bert?” asked Ernie.

“Well, they’re certainly going to try, but they can’t do it alone,” said Gordon.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” asked Ernie.

“It means that we’re going to gather up all of our friends here at Sesame Street and form a search party and then we’re going to look for him,” said Gordon. Commentary:This is where the story starts to take after Follow That Bird a little bit more. I decided that if I was going to use a similar approach, I might as well reference it. The first reference is in the next line. -end commentary.

“It will be just like when we went looking for Big Bird when he was trying to get back to Sesame Street!” said Ernie.

“That’s right, and I’m sure everyone will want to help, because they all really care about Bert,” said Susan.

“I’ll make some calls and we’ll meet at Hooper’s Store in an hour to set up our game plan. Don’t worry Ernie, we’re going to find Bert,” said Gordon.

“I’ll go and get a few things for the trip!” said Ernie. He was excited to go on an adventure, but he wished it was for another reason. He headed down to his apartment to grab a few things, especially Rubber Ducky. If he couldn’t go on a trip with Bert, Rubber Ducky was the next best thing. As he was leaving, he paused by the picture of him and Bert that hung between their chairs.

“Hang on buddy, I’m coming to save the day!” exclaimed Ernie then rushed off to Hooper’s Store.

(Author's note - sorry for the inconsistacy in where the circus headed. I originally had them head west and realized they'd end up in Canada, and I wanted to keep the story in the US, so they've now headed south into PA)
Commentary: Do you think I would be smart enough to check a map first? Nope! I live in the midwest and just couldn't picture where they might end up, so then I looked on a map and realized I had it all wrong, so then I fixed it later. There would probably be a scene similar to the one in Follow that Bird with a map and where everyone is located on it. -end commentary

 

[redBoobergurl]

Chapter Five (with commentary):

Bert was exhausted. He’d only been practicing with the Acrobatic Squad for about two hours, but after not sleeping real long, he was really tired. He tried making friends with the big guys, but they were not very friendly. Finally, it was lunchtime. Bert ran over to the lunch line to get his food. He was the first one there.

Commentary: Practicing meant the bigger guys throwing him around and making him run around alot, believe or not, these guys are quite a bit bigger than poor Bert. Also, at this point, Bert is no longer wearing his familiar striped sweater and brown pants, but is now wearing one of the jumpsuits. -end commentary.

“Hold on there, newbie,” growled one of the Acrobats.

“What’s the problem?” asked Bert.

“New people go to the BACK of the line,” explained the Acrobat.

“Oh…” said Bert sadly. Things were really not going the way he wanted them to. He was finally beginning to see that he had really made a mistake. Finally he got to the lunch table. All of the food was gone, only one small half of a sandwich was left. He grabbed it and ate it quickly.

“I’ve GOT to get out of here,” he thought. But, he didn’t know where he was. He walked around the circus area a little bit. They had set up in a large grassy field. Suddenly he spotted a small gas station across the street with a pay phone in the parking lot.

“That’s it! I can call Sesame Street!” he thought excitedly and quickly sneaked across the street.

Commentary: This is where the story really started to get exciting for me, the action was growing, and I was on the edge of my seat as I was typing it! -end commentary.

Back at Sesame Street a crowd had gathered at Hooper’s Store. Monsters, people, animals and kids were all waiting to find out what had happened to Bert and what was going to happen next. Kermit the Frog was outside with a news crew.

“This is Kermit T. Frog with Sesame Street News. We are outside Hooper’s Store waiting to hear about a search and rescue effort to find one of our very own residents, Bert, who ran away to the circus last night. Let’s listen in to what Gordon has to say,” said Kermit. Commentary: I just had to have Kermit pop up in this story, much the way he did in Follow that Bird doing his News Flash bit. What would a Sesame Street story be without Kermit? -end commentary.

“Ok, so what we know is that the circus group headed south into Pennsylvania and probably didn’t get real far and is somewhere along the border. We’re heading out in three search crews. The Count, Grover, and Olivia will go in the Count’s Countmobile. Maria, Big Bird and Oscar are going in Oscar’s Sloppy Jalopy,” started Gordon. Commentary: Similar to Follow That Bird (which I'll just refer to as FTB from here on out) again. -end commentary.

“I don’t know why I have to go on another wild goose chase, we’ve already got a turkey,” interrupted Oscar.

“Because, this is partly YOUR fault Oscar. If you hadn’t pushed Ernie into arguing with Bert, maybe he’d still be here!” exclaimed Maria.

“Oh all right, all right. But there will be no singing Bird!” exclaimed Oscar. Big Bird just smiled at him.

“Can I get back on task here?” asked Gordon.

“Sorry,” muttered Oscar.

“Ok, Ernie, Cookie Monster and I will go in our new Volkswagon and Cookie has promised not to eat it this time. Bob and David will man the command center here at Hooper’s Store. Any questions?” said Gordon. Commentary: Cookie Monster ate pretty much all of the Volkswagon in FTB, so I referenced it here. -end commentary

“Yes, what is the capital of New Mexico?” asked Oscar. Commentary: Typical Oscar -end commentary

“OSCAR!!!” exclaimed everyone in the store.

“Well folks, there you have it. Three search parties heading out to find Bert. We will continue to follow this developing story,” said Kermit.

“That’s three, three wonderful search parties, Ah, Ah, Ah!” exclaimed the Count. Everyone started heading towards their cars.

Bert made it across the street and tried calling Ernie at the apartment.

“Come on Ernie. Answer the phone!” said Bert. When Ernie didn’t answer, Bert tried really hard to remember the number to Hooper’s Store.

“What is it? I just can’t remember. Wait, yes I do!” thought Bert and quickly dialed.

David was standing near the door getting ready to wave goodbye when he heard the phone ring. “I’d better grab that” he thought.

“Hooper’s Store, can I help you?” said David.

“David! David help me! It’s Bert, I’m at a gas station called Gas and Eats and I need to get home!” shouted Bert.

“Bert! Hang on!” exclaimed David. He ran outside to the crowd to Gordon’s car.

“Bert is on the phone! He needs help!” yelled David.

“Oh ok, hang on everyone, don’t leave!” exclaimed Gordon. He ran into the store with Ernie at his heels.

“Bert! Where are you?” asked Gordon.

“I don’t know! I’m at a gas station across the street from this awful circus!” exclaimed Bert.

“Can you see a highway number?” asked Gordon.

“Hang on,” said Bert and looked out at the street. He saw a sign that said 61. “Highway 61!” he said.

“Ok, good! Listen Bert, stay where you are, we’re coming to get you!” said Gordon.

“Ok, I will, I’ll stay right here!” said Bert.

“No you won’t! You’re coming back to work!” said Amazing Al who suddenly crept up behind him. “Say goodbye to your friend!” he growled. Commentary: In the movie version, we would slowly start to see Al's shadow as Bert says I'll stay right here, and then Al would take Bert's hand and force him to hang up the phone. If you haven't figured out that he's the bad guy yet, then there's something wrong with you! He's evil! -end commentary.

“Gordon! Help!” said Bert and hung up the phone.

“Gordon, what happened?” asked Ernie.

“Amazing Al came back and took the phone away. But don’t worry Ernie, we have a path to follow now. I’m going to update the police on what we know and then we’re going to get him!” said Gordon.

Ernie gave Rubber Ducky a squeeze. “I hope he’ll be ok!” he said.

Commentary: The first of many cliffhangers, after this point, I end almost every chapter with a cliffhanger. I'm so kind aren't I? -end commentary.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Oh yes, very kind, considering I ended with all sorts of cliff hangers. Can't wait for more!

 

[Beauregard]

I too head for cliff hangers. Inclding one that got me into all kind's of tourble, because after I had typed and posted it, I realised that I shouldn't have. The cliff-hanger was, "It all went dark" or something like that. I then had to make the rest of the story in the dark...However, this is not my story but yours.

Beth, your "typical Oscar" moment is totally hilarious! I remeber reading it the first time and thinking, "That is sooooo funny!"

Any questians?

 

[redBoobergurl]

Chapter Six (with commentary):

Bert looked up at Amazing Al and started shaking. “Why did you do that?” he asked.

“Because you signed a contract and you belong to me now!” said Al.

“I made a mistake, I really just want to go home to Sesame Street!” said Bert.

“Well, that’s just not going to happen. We’re going to put on one show tonight and then we’re heading out of town,” said Al. Commentary: Ok, do you get it now? He's evil! Eek! -end commentary

Bert didn’t dare tell him that his friends were on the way. He didn’t want Al to skip the show all together. Hopefully his friends would make it on time. But, he didn’t know how far they had to go. He didn’t know it would take them at least 8 hours to catch up with him. The hope of them finding him was enough to keep him going as he followed Amazing Al back across the street to the circus where he was due for afternoon Acrobat practice.

Back on Sesame Street all three search crews headed off to find Bert. Gordon’s crew was going to take the direct route down 61 in hopes that they would catch up to the circus. The Count’s crew was going to take a path that would take them a little bit east and then south so if the circus crew headed that way, they’d catch up to them. Oscar’s crew was doing the same thing, except they were heading west. The plan was for all of them to meet up in a town called Plantersville and re-evaluate where to go if they hadn’t found Bert yet.
Commentary: I totally made up Plantersville out of the top of my head. I remember in FTB they were meeting up in Toadstool, so I wanted something along those lines. There were some Planters Nuts sitting on my counter, and well, you get the picture...-end commentary

“I sure hope he’s ok. What if they don’t let him eat or sleep?” worried Ernie in Gordon’s car.

“Don’t worry Ernie, everything is going to turn out fine,” said Gordon.

“You can have me last cookie. It make you feel better,” said Cookie Monster.

“Thanks Cookie,” said Ernie and quietly munched on the cookie. As soon as Bert came home he would make him some of his favorite Oatmeal cookies and not even eat any of them. He just wanted Bert back home again.

“One telephone pole….two telephone poles….three telephone poles….,” counted the Count as he drove along.

“Is he going to do that the whole time? Because I can come up with some much more fun games to play!” said Grover.

“Count, why don’t you count to yourself?” asked Olivia.

“Oh, ok!” said the Count.

“Let us play the most wonderful game of I Spy!” said Grover.

“Sure Grover, that sounds fine,” said Olivia and they began to play.

Commentary: Much of the dialogue going on in the cars is filler. At this point the main story is at the circus and as you'll see things get more intense there, but I knew I had to fill in with what the search party was doing. Perhaps there would be a song in the movie, but I'm not that good at writing them, so there is no song as of right now. But a song here would be really nice. -end commentary.

Meanwhile in Oscar’s car, Big Bird was chattering away. “This is so much fun! I’m sorry Bert is lost but I love road trips! I didn’t get to go on the road trip when you all went to look for me. Of course, I was the one that was lost, but still, I wish,” chattered Big Bird.
Commentary: another FTB reference -end commentary

“Hey Turkey, shut your beak!” yelled Oscar.

“Oscar, be nice, he’s just trying to make the time pass faster,” said Maria.

“Well he could do it a little more quietly!!” said Oscar.

“I’m sorry Oscar, I’ll be quiet,” said Big Bird. It didn’t last long however as they passed a farm. “Look! There’s some cows and horses! I wonder what kind of farm that is? I wonder if there are kids there….,” rambled Big Bird.
Commentary: Typical Big Bird....I love him, but I think he'd even drive ME nuts on a road trip! -end commentary

Oscar just sighed and kept driving forward.

Back at the circus, it was time for dinner. Bert didn’t even bother to rush to the food line again because he knew he’d be shoved to the back of the line. He was walking with his head down and walked right into someone.

“Hey there, chin up little bugger!” said a blonde woman. Commentary: A light in the darkness! -end commentary

“Oh sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” said Bert.

“It’s ok. I’ve just never seen anyone with a long face like that. What’s troubling you?” she asked.

“I’m really homesick and I want to go home…but I can’t. I probably shouldn’t be talking to you about this!” exclaimed Bert.

“Oh it’s ok, trust me, I understand. I work for Al, but I don’t always like him,” she said.

“Oh, you work here too? What do you do?” asked Bert.

“A variety of things really. I walk the tightrope, but I’ve also become a mother around here. I help cook and sew costumes and stuff like that. It’s because I’m the only woman here,” she said.

“Boys can do that kind of stuff too,” said Bert. Commentary: Hey, this is still Sesame Street, we gotta teach the right thing! -end commentary

“Believe me, I know that. Al is very old fashioned. Hey, what’s your name?” she asked.

“My name is Bert. I live on Sesame Street,” said Bert.

“Nice to meet you Bert. My name is Karen. If you need anything, you just let me know. I’ll help you around here. I’d like to help you get home, but unfortunately, I need this job,” said Karen. Commentary: Karen was a last minute brainstorm that came to me. I'd been writing and writing and was thinking about how depressing the story was getting and wasn't really sure where it was going. Then suddenly she just appeared in my mind and I was like "this is what is missing!" and so I wrote her in. I'm not sure what actress would play her in the movie, maybe Drew Barrymore. -end commentary.

“Thanks Karen. You’re really nice. You promise you won’t tell Al that we talked?” asked Bert.

“Nope, I don’t like talking to him,” she said. Commentary: Then why doesn't she leave? Hmmm, wait, we'll find out later won't we. -end commentary.

“Well in that case, I have a secret,” said Bert.

“Why don’t you tell it to me over dinner?” she asked and together they walked to the food line. No one hassled him because he was with her. They sat together and Bert told her all about how his friends were coming to rescue him.

“What wonderful friends you have! Your secret is safe with me. In fact, maybe I’ll convince Al that we have to sleep here tonight to give your friends more time to catch up to us!” said Karen. Commentary: Now why would Karen all of sudden be willing to talk to Al when she orignally said she didn't like talking to him? Because she saw a glimmer of hope in Bert that she hadn't seen in a long time. Of course, she decided to put Bert's needs before her own, but that's why she's the hero of this story. -end commentary.

“Thanks Karen! I’m so glad I met you!” said Bert.

“You’d better hurry along and get ready for the show, he doesn’t like it when people are late for curtain call!” said Karen.

Bert rushed off feeling better than he had all day. Meanwhile the search parties continued to travel on hoping they would find Bert soon.

 

[TogetherAgain]

ooh yay, more commentary! I was wondering where Plantersville came from. See me, I just go open my encyclopedia to whatever state the story is in and say, "Hm, that sounds like a nice little town nobody's heard of- I'll use that!" Of course I have no idea how small or unknown they actually are, but oh well. Can't wait to see more commentary!

 

[redBoobergurl]

Chapter Seven (with commentary):

Bert hurried to the big tent where the circus would be performed. To his surprise, the mean Acrobatic guys actually gave him high fives and wished him luck. Commentary: He was with Karen and everyone loves Karen, so that makes him ok. -end commentary

“We’re sorry we’ve been so hard on you little guy,” said an Acrobat.

“Thanks!” exclaimed Bert. He still didn’t want to be there, but things were turning around. Meanwhile, Karen went over to the Amazing Al’s trailer to try to talk him into staying the night.

“Al, I was thinking, everyone is so tired after traveling all night, let’s just stay one more night,” said Karen.

“No! That little shrimp made a phone call and I’m sure the cops will be here any minute. We have to leave!” yelled Al.

“Al, if we stay tonight, I’ll make it worth your while,” said Karen. Commentary: Huh? -end commentary

“How?” asked Al.

“I’ll marry you like you asked me to,” said Karen sadly. Commentary: What? Plot twist! Plot twist! This was another last minute brainstorm I had. -end commentary.

Karen had a very long, sad history that she hadn’t bothered to share with Bert. She had joined up with Al’s circus a couple of years ago with her boyfriend James. They did trapeze together and were a huge hit. However, Al saw Karen’s beauty and became very jealous. He set James up to look like he had been stealing money from the circus and he was arrested. James was now in jail and Al wanted Karen to marry him. He’d been blackmailing her for sometime with it saying she could end up just like James or worse, but she kept avoiding the topic. Now, she knew it was the one way she could save Bert’s life. She had never been one to think of herself, she always thought of others first.
Commentary: In movie format, this would be explained later when Karen tells Bert her story. It would probably even include some flashbacks, but for story format, it made sense to tell her story here. -end commentary

“Well, maybe we can stay here one more night…” pondered Al.

Meanwhile, the Sesame Street search parties had all stopped off for dinner.

“Gordon, how much longer do you think it will be until we get there?” asked Ernie.

“Well, I think we could get there in another few hours, but we should probably stop to sleep,” said Gordon.

“Me tired, sleep good,” said Cookie Monster.

“I suppose you are right,” said Ernie.

“Don’t worry Ernie, we will find him,” said Gordon.

The Count decided he wouldn’t mind driving all night, since he preferred night time to day time anyway.

“Count, it is fine that you drive, but I, cute and furry Grover am going to go to sleep,” said Grover.

“Me too, promise me you’ll pull over if you get sleepy,” said Olivia.

“I vill, I vill, I’m going to silently count streetlights which will keep me awake for a long time,” said the Count.

Finally, Maria insisted that Oscar pull over so they could get some rest.

“I’m going to call Sesame Street first thing in the morning, because Gordon wanted everyone to check in,” said Maria.

Big Bird was already fast asleep.

“For once the turkey is silent,” muttered Oscar.

“Oscar?” said Maria.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Go to sleep!” barked Maria.
Commentary: Again, more filler, I figured we'd better check up on where the search parties were. Their roles will get more important later on though. -end commentary

The circus performance finished up. The audience was incredibly small, there were only about 5 people. Bert actually did really well in his performance and was again regarded by his new peers. Karen came and found him when the performance was over.
Commentary: This whole concept reminds me of the Fun Fair from FTB as well, they're off on an abandoned road in the middle of nowhere. -end commentary

“Good news, we’re staying here tonight!” she said excitedly.

“Oh! Thank you Karen!” said Bert and gave her a hug. “How did you make that work?” he asked.

“It’s not important,” she said with a far away look in her eyes, “Now hurry off to bed, get some rest while you can and we’ll do our best to stall him in the morning.”

Bert wandered away towards his tent but couldn’t help worrying about Karen. Something was wrong and he wanted to find out. He decided to go back and talk to her.

He found her sitting on a chair inside the circus tent.

“Karen?” he asked.
“Bert!? What are you doing up?” asked Karen.

“Please tell me what’s wrong, you’ve helped me, let me help you,” said Bert.

“I don’t think I should,” said Karen sadly.

“Really, you can trust me,” said Bert.

“Ok,” said Karen. She told him her entire sad story.

“How can you let him get away with this?” asked Bert.

“I signed a contract like you did and I don’t want to go to jail like James. I miss him so much though,” sighed Karen.

“We’re going to figure something out. Let’s get everyone together and turn this around on Al!” said Bert.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it will be that easy,” said Karen.

“Where I come from we work as a team, it’s called cooperation. We can get everyone to help!” said Bert.
Commentary: I loved the line in Muppet Family Christmas when Bert and Ernie say to I think Gonzo "Where we come from, this is small talk" after saying some letters and numbers. So I tweaked the line and threw it in here. -end commentary.

“Ok, let’s do it!” said Karen. They ran off to find as many circus performers as they could while Al was sound asleep in his trailer.

Meanwhile, the police were closing in on the area around the circus, but were having difficulty finding it. It looked like it would be up to the gang from Sesame Street to find Bert first.