Chapter 23
The hole at the end of Pa Gorg’s rusting blunderbuss stared right through the rebellion started by Junior and the Fraggles.
Ma quickly came up behind Pa carrying, valiantly, a rake in her right hand. She’d sacrificed her perfect hairdo to put a protective pot atop her head.
The World’s Oldest Fraggle stood firm opposite the two Gorgs. He held his cane bravely as he stared down the two mammoth creatures. "Make yer move, Gorgs!" he shouted.
"You first, Fraggle," Pa hissed.
"I said, you, ya ninny!" World’s Oldest shouted back.
"I’m not doin’ anything until you do," Pa said dumbly.
The rest of the Fraggles along with the Doozers watched on carefully.
"Good grief," Boober said, "can’t they agree about anything?"
"Yeah, they’re almost as complete opposites as we are, Boober," Sidebottom said.
Red nodded. "Yeah, but somehow you two still manage to live together," she said.
Traveling Matt looked at Sidebottom with a strange glance. "Is this your roommate, Boober Fraggle?" Matt asked.
Boober looked at Sidebottom who was giggling to himself beneath his big hat. "You have no idea," Boober said.
"There must be some way we can make those two get along," Gobo said to Junior, still sitting in his palm.
Junior scratched his furry brown head with his free hand. "Well, it sure doesn’t seem like daddy wants to be fwiends with you Fwaggles anytime soon."
Gobo nodded. "The World’s Oldest Fraggle is the same way about you Gorgs," he said.
"But you two came together to free the Fraggles," Mokey said to Junior. "Don’t you think the World’s Oldest has any sympathy for Perfect Harmony?"
"Well whatever the case," Cotterpin Doozer said from far below everyone else, "we need to do something quickly, look!" she said, pointing over at the heated argument between Pa and World’s Oldest.
"She’s right!" Traveling Matt declared boldly. "I, being the bravest Fraggle in, or out, of Fraggle Rock, will go and settle this once and for all."
Red scoffed to herself and Wembley nudged her to keep quiet.
Matt took a few brave steps towards the heated battle of words. His eyes couldn’t stop focusing on Pa’s stubby purple finger wrapped tightly around the blunderbuss. He gulped, and then laughed to himself, turning around quickly. "On second thought," he said, "nephew Gobo, you ought to be the one to do this," he said. "Erm, you can prove yourself as a true brave explorer!"
Gobo gulped. "Right," he said softly. "Put me down, eh?" he asked Junior.
Junior shook his massive head. "No way Gobo," he said. "I’m goin’ with you!"
"Junior, don’t be silly," Gobo said.
"He’s not being silly," Red spoke up, "’cause I’m comin’ with you too!"
"Me too!" Wembley shouted bravely.
"Count me in," Cotterpin said loudly.
"Me too," Flange Doozer said, his wife, Wingnut Doozer nodded in agreement.
"All of us Doozers are going with you," said the Architect Doozer proudly.
"You’ve got me convinced," Convincing John said, his three
Fragglettes coming to his side instantly.
"I want to help too, Gobo," Large Marvin said.
"If Large Marvin’s going, you can bet I am too," Feeny said.
Boober cleared his throat. "Me too," he said with a shaken voice. "I guess."
"If Boober goes, well, then I have to go," Sidebottom said, laughing.
Traveling Matt watched as every Fraggle and every Doozer raised their hand and their voices in assistance to Gobo and Junior. His face practically screamed embarrassment.
Gobo looked down at his uncle after the Fraggles and Doozers had all rallied to Junior’s side. "Still think I should go alone Uncle Matt?" he asked with a smirk.
The head of every Fraggle, Doozer, and Junior Gorg turned to Traveling Matt. The valiant Fraggle explorer cleared his throat convincingly and let out a scoff of delight, "Ha! Of course not nephew Gobo," he said triumphantly, "I was just merely testing your people skills, and you’ve passed! I’ll of course be coming with you… along with all of the others I suppose." Traveling Matt waded through the crowds of Fraggles, trying not to step on any Doozers. "Though I may need a ride," he said, motioning in Junior’s direction.
Junior knelt down and held out his hand for Matt to climb on. Once the two Fraggles were set, Gobo looked around at his troupe of friends. "Alright guys," he said, "for Perfect Harmony!"
"Perfect Harmony!" shouted thousands of voices from the ground below.
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Doc smiled as he hung the phone up softly.
"Well Sprocket, Ms. Ardath said that she’d head over to the workshop right away," Doc said. Sprocket barked with delight. Doc nodded. "Yes, she said she never realized that there was an entire civilization living behind her walls. I told her that not many people do," he chuckled. "She got a kick out of that."
Sprocket rolled his eyes and shook his head. "But she’s going to bust the person trying to fumigate the Fraggles by telling him that she never authorized any fumigation on the premises," Doc said, "and she doesn’t even need to authorize fumigation!" Doc said excitedly. "She’s so clever."
Sprocket shook his head and then returned to his position in front of the Fraggle hole, barking the good news to Gobo and his friends, even if they couldn’t hear him.
Doc smiled and walked over to rub Sprocket’s head. "I’m sure everything will be fine now, Sprocket," Doc said.
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Pa was no longer staring down one angry old Fraggle.
He was now staring down hundreds of angry Fraggles, a countless amount of angry Doozers, and his angry son (who, by the way, was taller than him).
"Pa, ya gotta stop bein’ mean to the Fwaggles, what’d d’ey evah do to you?" Junior asked.
Pa grunted. "I’m not speakin’ to you," Pa said angrily, "ya traitor!"
"Your father means that in the nicest way, son," Ma told Junior.
Gobo took a stand, literally on Junior’s hand. "What do you Gorgs have against us Fraggles anyway?"
"Yeah," Boober said, "we may never stop singing and dancing and playing games, but other than that we’re a pretty tolerable group."
"You Fraggles are a nuisance to my land," Pa said, "yer always about runnin’ around and stealin’ my radishes!"
"That’s because we live on your radishes," Mokey chimed in. "Doozers mine your radishes from below to make the sticks to their Doozer towers, which we Fraggles eat."
Traveling Matt nodded. "It’s the circle of life, in a way," he said.
Pa scoffed. "Circle of life nothin’," he said. "The fact is that this is mah garden, not yours, and as the King of the Universe, I say you can’t be in it!"
"Oh yeah?" World’s Oldest asked, jumping out of the crowd. "And just who made you King of the Universe, anyway?"
Pa opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. He closed it and squinted, thinking about his answer. "Well now yer just callin’ our whole way of life into question!" he said eventually.
"We’re not asking you to change your way of life," Gobo said. "We just want you to quit trying to catch Fraggles—"
"—and Doozers!" shouted a group of Doozers from below.
"—and Doozers," Gobo agreed. "Can’t we all just live in—in—"
"Perfect Harmony!" Red shouted.
"Exactly," Gobo said.
"Perfect Harmony?" Pa asked. "What’re you Fraggles tryin’ to make me buy into?"
"They’ah not twying to twick you, Pa," Junior said to his father, "they just wanna be our fwiends!"
Junior’s comment was met with agreements from the Fraggles and Doozers at his feet. "We don’t mean any harm to you," Gobo said, "all we really want is a radish or two every once in awhile."
"Yeah," Red said, "and if ya ever want to play games, just give out a ‘Whoopie!’"
"A—and the Doozers can fix or build just about anything," Wembley said.
"It’s what we do," added Architect Doozer.
Ma pondered this from her post comfortably behind Pa. "I would love to learn a few exotic Fraggle recipes," she said finally.
"You cook?" Boober asked with a gasp of joy. "Cooking is only second to laundry in my life! Dear woman, I would be enthralled if you could teach me a few Gorgish spice tips!"
Ma blushed and waved her hand in Boober’s direction. "Oh Pa, let’s be friends with the Fraggles," she said giddily.
The Fraggles cheered wildly. "Friends—" Pa asked over the cheering. "W—with Fraggles? Ma, what’s gotten into ya?"
"Pretty soon it’ll be some homemade Fraggle radish dip and some of my famous rutabaga flambé!" said Boober with a grin.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Pa shouted, taking a step towards the group of Fraggles, his blunderbuss aimed at whichever one got in his way.
Boober ducked behind Mokey, who had taken a step towards the Gorg with Red and Wembley at her side. "Why can’t we just get along?" Wembley asked. "I mean, I’m not one to really make decisions," he said sheepishly, "but I’ve decided that being friends with Gorgs wouldn’t be that bad at all."
"And when Wembley makes a decision, ya know that it’s the right one," Red said with a stern look on her face.
"Then Wembley, tell me which one of you Fraggles I should take out first," Pa growled turning the nose of his blunderbuss to face Wembley’s protruding green nose.
Everyone gasped and Mokey and Red took a half-step back. Wembley began to shake slightly, but his face did not go soft. He looked the raving Gorg in the eyes and took a deep breath. "Me!" he said fearlessly.
Pa’s eyes turned from squinting anger to wide confusion. "Y—you?" he asked, completely perplexed.
"Yes, me," Wembley said, "I’m tired of seeing you push us around, so you may as well get rid of me first!" Wembley said, not moving from his firm stance. "I guess I don’t want to be around in a world where two people who have so much in common can’t see past their differences and be friends."
All eyes were focused on Wembley. The brave little Fraggle’s speech had brought tears to a few eyes. Gobo’s mouth was shut tightly as he watched his best friend stare down something Gobo himself found frightening.
Meanwhile, Junior’s free hand was tense and was wringing the bottom of his shirt in and out as he watched his stubborn father.
The World’s Oldest Fraggle no longer wanted to be involved in this war against Gorgs and silently resented ever bringing any of his Fraggle brothers and sisters out here to do participate. He realized now what Gobo and the others were trying to get across to him, he just hoped it didn’t cost him a friend in the process.
Suddenly, someone moved.
Mokey had grasped Wembley’s hand firmly within hers and held it tight. "You’ll have to take me with you, Wembley," she said. "I don’t want to be in that world either."
Wembley looked at Mokey with his mouth open, and suddenly felt someone grabbing his other hand. He looked over and saw Red staring angrily at Pa Gorg. "I don’t want to live in a world without Wembley or Mokey," she said, "so you can take me out of that world too."
Boober had gained enough courage to come out from behind Mokey and grabbed onto her hand. "The world’s gloomy enough as it is," he said, "I don’t see why you won’t make it a little bit brighter. Just take me too."
Sidebottom locked hands with Boober, Large Marvin with Red, Feeny with Large Marvin, Henchy with Sidebottom, World’s Oldest with Henchy, Murray the Minstrel with World’s Oldest, the rest of the Minstrels held onto Murray and each other, Rumple Fraggle grabbed Feeny’s hand, Storyteller Fraggle with Rumple, Uncle Matt hand jumped down and swiftly grabbed the Storyteller’s hand. Soon every Fraggle had locked hands with another and the Doozers had formed their own hand locking circle in front of the feet of the Fraggles.
Gobo jumped down from Junior’s hand and stood in the center of the two circles and turned to face Pa. "We just want to be your friends," Gobo said, smiling. "That’s all we’ve ever wanted."
Pa looked down at the Fraggles around him, he then looked at the Doozers, then at Ma, then at Junior, then at Wembley, and finally at Gobo. He dropped the blunderbuss and it fell with a thud in the silence.
Pa sniffed loudly. "That’s all I ever wanted too!" he cried, putting his hands to his eyes and starting to blubber like a baby.
The Fraggles watched as Pa cried, trying not to giggle.
Junior walked over and put his arm around his pa. "D’en it looks like all our pwoblems are solved," he said happily.
The Fraggles remained quiet, waiting. Gobo looked around at everyone. "Well," he said, "I guess there’s just one more thing to do."
Pa sniffed back his tears. "What’s that Fraggle?" he asked.
Gobo grinned. "We’re Fraggles," he said, "we only know one way to show our happiness."
Red ran forward and jumped into the air. "By dancing our cares away!" she shouted.
"And singing of course," Wembley added in.
Murray led the other Minstrels as they pulled out their various instruments. Murray began to strum on his guitar-like instrument and the Fraggles, Doozers, and Gorgs cheered.
Gobo picked up Cotterpin from the ground and put her on his shoulder as the little Doozer began to sing. "I felt so helpless, yes I felt so blue," she sang.
"I never dreamed that I’d see eye to eye with you
But hallelujah, we’ve made the whole thing new
I’m gonna see eye to eye to eye with you."
The music picked up tempo and the Fraggles began to dance. Gobo laughed happily and took the next verse. "Eye to eye, while the sky is blue and blue," he sang.
"Eye to eye, ‘cause I’m standin’ here with you!
I feel so—I feel so happy, ‘cause the sun is shinin’ through!
We’re gonna see eye to eye to eye with you
You betcha!" he shouted.
"Eye to eye to eye with you!" all of the Fraggles sang.
"Nothin’ will be different, everything’s the same," Pa sang, doing a little dance.
"We’ll join together and play those good ol’ games," Junior added in, joining his pa in their happy dance.
"Yes, and when danger threatens, we’ll do what we always do," sang the World’s Oldest Fraggle.
"And we’ll see eye to eye to eye with you," everyone sang.
"Eye to eye to eye with you!"
"Eye to eye," sang Red and Junior, "and the sky is blue and blue
Eye to eye, ‘cause I’m standin’ here with you."
"I feel so happy, now the sun is shinin’ through," Wembley sang.
"I’m gonna see—"
"Eye to eye to eye with you
Eye to eye to eye with you."
"And now’s the glory, everything is new," Uncle Matt sang.
"Nothin’ will be different—"
"The old ways still are true," Boober sang.
"And we’re together, ya know we’ll make it through."
"And we’ll see eye to eye to eye with you," Mokey sang.
"Eye to eye to eye with you
Eye to eye to eye with…"
"You!" Pa Gorg shouted happily. He laughed a hearty belly laugh and patted Junior on the back. "Junior, these Fraggles are good!"
"I told you, Pa!" Junior said, laughing as well.
The Fraggles cheered again, hoisting each other and Doozers onto their shoulders, continuing to sing and dance around.
Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red stood together and watched happily. "Well, we did it," Gobo said.
"Perfect Harmony," Mokey said with a happy sigh, "just how I thought it would look."
"Really?" Boober asked. "I think that everyone is too happy for it to be perfect."
"Oh c’mon Boober, ya old Doozer stick in the mud," Red said, "can’t you enjoy a little fun for once?"
"I know I can," Wembley said. "Wait… I know! I know things now!" he shouted happily, jumping up and down.
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Cantus and Marjory smiled at each other. Cantus, however, had a slight smirk to his smile. "I believe the bet was won on my part," he said.
Marjory muttered. "I don’t know how you did it," she said, "but somehow you knew they’d sing that song," she said. "I just don’t know how you did it."
Cantus chuckled. "And to think, you laughed when I told you I was going to become a minstrel."
"Yeah, yeah," Marjory said, "just don’t tell anyone d’at."
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"Well whadaya know," Philo said from atop the Rock.
"Yeah," Gunge said, "they actually did it."
Philo sighed happily. "Well… now what?"
"More singin’, I’m sure," Gunge said, rolling his eyes.
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