September 12, 2001 Back in New York
Kermit, Jenny, Rizzo, Yolanda and the rest of the rats spent a sleepless night in Jenny’s apartment upstairs watching the footage. In truth, they all just feared going to sleep knowing those same images would haunt their dreams.
Finally at around 5:30 am Kermit got up and switched the TV off.
“Hey, what are you doing that for?” asked Rizzo.
“Because we are going downstairs to open for the day,” said Kermit.
“Are you sure about that, I doubt anyone is coming in,” said Masterson.
“Well, who knows, there may be people coming and going from Ground Zero that might want a hot bite to eat,” said Kermit.
“You know something, Kermit’s right. It’s what my dad would’ve done,” said Jenny.
The rats grumbled a little more but mostly from being overtired, they all agreed opening the restaurant was the right thing to do.
“I’m going to work in the restaurant today. I don’t think my office is going to open and if we are, I don’t want to go in today,” said Jenny.
“I understand,” said Kermit secretly glad as he would’ve encouraged her to stay behind if she had tried to go.
They made their way downstairs, quickly wiped down tables and started up the griddle. Rizzo turned the TV on so anyone coming in would get the most up to date information. Kermit flipped over the closed sign.
To their surprise, a few of the breakfast regulars stumbled in after about a half hour. They all had rather vacant looks in their eyes, but also looks of gratitude as Jenny and the other rats set about taking their orders. It was almost as if they were silently thanking them for granting them some normalcy when the world around them was anything but.
Sometime around 8:00 the phone rang.
“Guess the lines are back up!” said Rizzo.
“I’ll get it,” said Kermit.
He walked over and grabbed it on the third ring.
“Pete’s Delicatessen, Kermit speaking,” he said.
“Kermit! You’re ok!” came a gravelly sounding somewhat familiar voice on the other end.
“Gonzo? Is that you?” asked Kermit,
“Yeah it’s me. I’ve been trying to get through all night! I was worried about you!” said Gonzo.
Even though it had been years since Kermit had spent any amount of time with the weirdo he actually paused waiting for one of Gonzo’s typical obscure responses to what he thought could’ve happened to Kermit.
“Kermit? Are you still there?” asked Gonzo again when it was silent for a moment.
“Oh yes, I’m here, sorry,” said Kermit.
“So you’re ok?” asked Gonzo.
“Yeah, we’re fine, a little shook up, but we’re ok. Still standing,” said Kermit.
“That’s good. They closed down the parks down here and all the guests are stuck in their hotel rooms. It’s crazy, people want to go home, but they aren’t allowed to fly yet,” said Gonzo.
“I can imagine that would be the case,” said Kermit.
“Have you heard from any of the guys?” asked Gonzo.
“No, not yet, I don’t talk on the phone real often with any of you really,” said Kermit.
“Well I want to try to change that. When something like this happens it really makes you re-evaluate your priorities,” said Gonzo.
“I suppose you’re right,” said Kermit.
“Well I’ll let you go for now, I don’t want to keep your phone tied up in case someone else is trying to call. I’m glad you’re ok, I’ll be in touch soon,” said Gonzo.
They hung up the phone and Kermit shook his head at how he’d just had a normal conversation with his normally strange friend. But nothing was normal about today and so much time had gone by.
“Who was on the phone?” asked Jenny coming up to close out a bill at the cash register.
“Gonzo,” said Kermit.
“Oh! Is he all right?” asked Jenny.
“Yep, he and Camilla are still down working at Disney World. Gonzo said they closed the parks down and all the guests are stuck in hotels,” said Kermit.
“Wow, that’s amazing. I wonder how long before the planes will be flying again,” said Jenny.
The morning went on and while there were not a ton of customers, there was still a fair amount. Everyone was sharing stories about where they were when it happened, people they knew who had been there, people they knew who were still missing and people they knew were helping with the search and recovery effort.
Kermit sat back and smiled, he knew he’d done the right thing by staying open; he was giving people a place to connect.
He talked on the phone with several others of his old friends. Scooter, Rowlf and Dr. Teeth all managed to get through. Kermit was touched by the fact that they were all so worried about him and it made him miss them more than ever.
He didn’t ask if any of them had heard from Piggy though and none of them asked him either. He wished more than ever that they were all together again. The events of the last couple of days had proven life was too short for regrets.
After dinner and the last customers had left Jenny, Kermit and Rizzo remained in the restaurant sitting around a table.
“So the phone sure rang a lot today,” said Rizzo.
“Yeah, it was most of the gang calling to check up on me. I can’t believe they all still care so much after all this time,” said Kermit.
“Kermit, they’re still your friends. I’m sure they all miss you and wish that they could still be here,” said Jenny.
“They must miss you for all the mail you get from time to time!” exclaimed Rizzo.
“I just can’t help but wonder why they still care when I failed them all,” said Kermit.
“You didn’t fail them Kermit, it’s just one of those things,” said Jenny.
“I keep telling ya, it’s not too late,” said Rizzo.
“What’s he talking about?” asked Jenny as Kermit shook his head.
“I keep telling him he could still get that show on Broadway, he ain’t tried in years, but now is a different time,” said Rizzo.
“You’re right Rizzo, now is a different time,” said Kermit slowly.
“Of course I’m right, I’m always right,” said Rizzo.
“People aren’t going to come to New York anymore for fear of being killed by terrorists, either on the plane to get here or just by being here. Yeah, sounds like a great time to go sell a show on Broadway, especially a Broadway that’s already suffering. That’s how different now is!” yelled Kermit getting worked up.
“That’s not what I meant,” said Rizzo.
“That might not be what you meant, but it’s true. Forget the show, it’s been too long and after yesterday there’s no way it’s ever going to happen!” exclaimed Kermit pushing out of his chair and storming into the kitchen.
“I didn’t mean to start anything,” said Rizzo.
“It’s ok; we’ve all been through a lot over the last 24 hours. He misses his friends all the time, he still hasn’t heard from Piggy,” said Jenny trailing off on the last part of the sentence.
Rizzo just looked at her. None of them ever talked about Piggy.
Jenny got up and went to find Kermit. She found him out in the back sitting by the garbage can.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Hi,” said Kermit.
“You looking for Oscar?” said Jenny attempting a joke.
“No, of course not,” said Kermit standing up.
“Rizzo wasn’t trying to start anything, really,” said Jenny.
“I know he wasn’t. It’s just that I think about the show all the time and the guys and well everything. I was just thinking about re-writing the show a bit and trying again. I was going to try and get the gang back together. But then the attack happened,” said Kermit.
“I didn’t know you’d been getting serious about it,” said Jenny.
“Not serious, but I literally woke up yesterday and said, ok, I’m ready to take this on again and now I’m like, nope, can’t do this,” said Kermit.
“I have never stopped believing in your show Kermit. I think it could be just the thing to save New York,” said Jenny.
“Really?” said Kermit.
“Think about it,” said Jenny leaning down to kiss him on the cheek and then going back inside.
Kermit walked around a little stepping over a puddle. He thought about what Jenny said. It was a show about life in the big city. The big city was hurting, but maybe a big show about the big city would be just the thing to help everyone heal. And in the process he could bring all of his friends back together so maybe, just maybe, his own wounds would heal as well.
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It's really, really good characterization and, again, very powerful. Loved seeing Clifford, nice inclusion! Can't wait to read more Beth! 
