Chapter Three (with commentary):
Rowlf managed to get some sleep on the long bus ride. When he got off the bus it was morning. The big city of Minneapolis did not look as familiar as he had hoped it would.
“I don’t think the woman I lived with lived in the city,” said Rowlf to himself.
Downtown Minneapolis was hustling and bustling with rush hour traffic and people running around trying to get to work.
Commentary: It really is a crazy place during the day, lots and lots of people work there.
“Hmm, I wonder where I could get myself a map. That might help,” thought Rowlf and started walking in the direction of a bookstore across the street from the bus depot.
He bought a map from the bookstore and started looking for towns that sounded familiar.
“There it is! Columbia Heights! That’s it! I remember now, it was small town and she lived on a street with lots of trees in a small green house!” Rowlf exclaimed excitedly.
Commentary: Again, didn't expect anyone to know this, but Columbia Heights is the city I live in, and it's the city my mom grew up in. He's basically trying to find where my Grandma used to live.
It was less than the width of his finger between the two towns when he measured, so he figured he could walk and get there by noon. It was just a little bit north of Minneapolis.
“Excuse me miss, which way is north from here?” he asked the salesclerk. While dogs are usually known for their sense of direction, it was not Rowlf's strong suit.
“Oh, that way is north, walk towards the bridge down there and cross the river,” said the salesclerk.
“Thanks!” exclaimed Rowlf and hurried on his way. He was excited now. He couldn’t wait to meet his family, but he also couldn’t wait to be reunited with the woman he used to live with. He’d have lots of stories to share with her!
He walked down the street and started humming to himself, feeling good for the first time in a long time.
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Back at the boarding house, the Muppet clan was just beginning to rise for the day. Kermit was in the kitchen putting on the coffee and getting some breakfast ready for Robin.
“Good morning Uncle Kermit!” exclaimed Robin as he hopped into the kitchen.
“Good morning Robin!” said Kermit.
“Uncle Kermit, is Rowlf ok? Did he talk to you about what was bothering him?” asked Robin.
“Our friend Rowlf has quite a story to tell. I’ll let him share it with everyone when he gets up. He’s going to be ok, but we’re going on an adventure first,” said Kermit.
“Ooh! An adventure! How exciting!” exclaimed Robin.
Commentary: This next part is typical Muppet style taken from just about ANY Muppet Movie
One by one Muppets started piling into the kitchen looking for food. Most were too sleepy to remember the incident with Rowlf the night before.
Kermit looked around as the room became more and more packed.
“Where’s Rowlf? Has anyone seen Rowlf this morning?” asked Kermit.
“Nope, but I did find my whoopee cushion!” exclaimed Fozzie.
Commentary: Once again, I don't write jokes well so I figured this would be funny enough for Fozzie.
“Not now Fozzie,” said Kermit.
“Maybe he’s still sleeping,” said Floyd.
“Like, yeah, he was rully upset last night. He’s probably like, rully tired you know?” said Janice.
“Maybe he was abducted by kung fu ninjas and they’ve taken him to become a part of their traveling circus!” exclaimed Gonzo.
Commentary: I worked so hard on Gonzo's line! I wanted it to be weird and crazy and Gonzo-like and this is what came out. I think it works ok.
Everyone just stared at him.
“What? You all think of the obvious response, I was just trying to get points for creativity,” said Gonzo.
“Gonzo, it’s not a game, I’m really wondering where he is,” said Kermit.
“Kermie, I’m sure he’s asleep in his room. Janice is right, he was really upset. If it were moi, I would sleep all day,” said Miss Piggy.
“Yeah, you’re right. I think I’ll go check on him, make sure he’s ok,” said Kermit.
The kitchen got back to being noisy and crazy while Kermit went upstairs. The door to Rowlf’s room was closed.
Kermit knocked lightly on the door. “Hey Rowlf? Are you still sleeping? That’s ok, but maybe you could come downstairs so we can talk to the gang about your family?” asked Kermit.
There was no response.
He knocked again a little harder. “Rowlf? I’ll leave you alone so you can go back to sleep in a minute, I just want to know what I should tell everyone. Rowlf?” he asked.
Finally he decided to open the door. “Rowlf, please, just get up for a minute…”started Kermit and trailed off as he saw Rowlf’s bed neatly made.
“What in the world?” he thought. He walked closer to the bed and saw a note. He picked it up and read it.
“Oh no Rowlf. Why did you do that?” said Kermit.
“Do what Uncle Kermit? Hey, where’s Rowlf?” asked Robin coming into the room behind Kermit.
Commentary: Now if this was a t.v. show, it would probably end here as a huge cliffhanger! Just kidding, but I wanted to leave it here for awhile and focus on Rowlf.
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Rowlf had been walking for hours it seemed and he really hadn’t gotten very far at all. He’d barely gotten out of the city. And he was hungry.
“I’d better stop for lunch,” he thought. He saw a restaurant on the other side of the street called Jazzmine’s.
Commentary: There really is a Jazzmine's in Northeast Minneapolis and they have really good jazz music on the weekends.
“Hey! I’ll bet they have music there! Maybe they’ll let me play some piano too!” thought Rowlf as he hurried across the street.
Inside it was dark and cool and the food smelled wonderful. He could hear someone with a deep female voice singing “Summertime.” He decided to go down in front and listen even closer.
On stage was a beautiful cat with brown and tan tiger stripes wearing a purple dress and singing. Rowlf was amazed at her talent. He’d never heard a cat sing like that before. Usually they just sat on a fence and howled at the moon.
Commentary: This was challenging because I was introducing a new character. It would essentially be a new Muppet. I should've have described her better, but I'll be honest, at this point in the story I didn't know what her role really was!
She finished her song. “Thank you, thank you. Hope you enjoyed Jazzmine’s Jazzy Lunch Hour. Come back tonight for cocktails and swing,” said the cat and hurried off stage.
Rowlf opened up a menu. “Whoa! I don’t think I can afford to eat here. I’d better go,” he thought to himself.
He stood up to leave when he heard a voice from behind. “Why are you leaving? Did I do something to offend you?”
He turned around and saw the cat standing there.
“Oh, you’re a dog! Ok, ok, I get it, never mind!” said the cat and started to hurry away.
“Wait, miss, I’m not like that! I don’t eat cats, they’re my friends! Really!” exclaimed Rowlf and ran after her.
“Oh, ok, if you say so,” said the cat tentatively.
“I was just going to leave because, well, it’s a long story,” said Rowlf.
“I’ve got time,” said the cat, “you looked like you were lonely when I was up on stage.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of on a journey. I could really use some help,” said Rowlf.
“Ok, what’s your name?” asked the cat.
Commentary: Obviously we learn more about her later in the story and it sort of contradicts what goes on in this chapter, but I hope I explained it well enough when it gets to that point.
“Rowlf. What’s your name?” asked Rowlf.
“My name’s Wanda. As long as you don’t want to chase me or eat me, I’m happy to try and help you,” said Wanda.
She joined him at his table and listened to his story. She even got him some ham to eat for free.
“All right, you’re still quite a way from where you want to be, so here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll get you on a truck that’s going that direction,” explained Wanda.
“I don’t really have any money though,” said Rowlf.
“It’s all right, it’s our supply truck! You can just ride in the back! Now listen, it will be stopping at a grocery store right in the town you want to be in! It’ll take you about a half hour to get there. We’ve got to hurry though, it’s leaving soon!” exclaimed Wanda.
“Wow, thanks! I just have to ask before I go, where did you learn to sing like that?” said Rowlf.
“Years of practice. Now let’s hurry!” said Wanda.
She helped him climb in the back of the truck. They exchanged goodbyes.
“I wish I could’ve spent more time with you, you’re really lovely,” said Rowlf.
Commentary: I was trying to hint at a slight romantic connection even though I didn't know if her character was going to be in the rest of the story
“Well, you’re the nicest dog I’ve ever met. Uh-oh, speaking of dogs, I gotta go!” she exclaimed and ran away.
“Wait! Wanda!” said Rowlf calling after her. Then he saw the reason she ran away. A big, huge bulldog was coming down the alley.
“Hey you! You see a cat?” he asked.
“Nope. No cats around here! Just a dog!” said Rowlf. “A very domesticated dog” he thought to himself secretly afraid of the big dog.
“I thought I saw you talking to a cat! You’d better not be lying! No one lies to Crusher and gets away with it!” growled Crusher.
Commentary: I keep picturing the big mean cartoon bulldog in the Disney cartoons with Pluto, turn him into a Muppet and you've got Crusher
“Crusher?” thought Rowlf to himself.
“I’m not lying! Really!” exclaimed Rowlf. Suddenly the truck roared to life and started pulling away from the alley.
“If I were you I’d stay away from here!” yelled Crusher as the truck drove away.
“Believe me, I will. Poor Wanda,” thought Rowlf. Then he turned his thoughts back to the adventure at hand. He was on his way again.
Commentary: Again, I didn't know what to do with Wanda or Crusher really so I left it open that they could appear again if I wanted them to or I could've just left them in this chapter. I'm glad I used them more though, it really helped in the long run.
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