A Cup of Kindness

[TogetherAgain]

Ah, vielen dank, Ed.

I plan to spend today cozied up with my humidifier and my hot tea between loads of laundry... and hopefully finish this story by 2012 in my timezone. (That being Central.) ...Although, come to think of it, I seem to be channeling Boober today... huh. Odd.

Anyway... we'll see.

 

[The Count]

12 Central? That'd be 2 AM to me. Meh, it's never late for good fanfic. And this certainly is good fanfic. Now please post when possible.
*Goes to reload the penguin cannon trained on the prawn and muffin cannon aimed at the beef's stories respectively.

Beef?
Yeah, WGU. they use that stuff all the time on Iron Chef.
Ja! Iss der nummy nummy bëf fer stuus.
* looks forward to tomorrow's omelettes with eggs from .

Yeah, if you couldn't tell by now, me at the moment.
Post storee?

 

[Beauregard]

"loads of laundry"

I know you meant "washing machine loads" "of laundry", but I just read it as: "spending my day tucked up between loads of laundry". Just thought I'd share that thought.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Part Six

The festivities went long into the night. Robin had to be woken up to leave the milk and cookies for Santa before Kermit tucked him into bed, and it was still quite some time before the rest of the Muppets trickled off to sleep.

Scooter brought down a blanket and a pillow for Casey to sleep on the couch. “We could set up a real bed for you, if you’d like,” he said. “I mean, we have some spare cots…”

“No, this is fine. Thank you,” Casey said as she fluffed up the pillow. “You’ve all done too much already.”

“Well, we’re happy to help,” Scooter said. “Let me know if there’s anything you need.”

“Thank you,” Casey said quietly.

“Sleep well,” Scooter said as he went towards the stairs. “And Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas,” Casey said. She slid under the blanket and curled up with her head on the pillow.

It was hard not to think about home. She had missed sleeping in her own bed, by her husband’s side, the entire time she’d been away. On Christmas Eve, of all nights, to be so far away…

But the living room wasn’t still for long. One by one, each of the Muppets crept down the stairs to sneak more presents under the tree. Some were quieter than others, but Casey had always been a light sleeper, and she woke up nearly every time someone else reached the foot of the stairs.

It could have been annoying. Maybe she should have been annoyed at how little sleep she got. But instead, she found the disruptions comforting—a distraction from her own thoughts—and amusing, too.

It was entertaining to see Rizzo struggle under the weight of the gifts he’d come to place, nearly toppling a nearby stack of presents, and pause to seriously consider nibbling the cookies Robin had left for Santa before he shuffled back upstairs. It was comforting to see Rowlf pad down the stairs with a Santa hat on his head, mumbling a carol under his breath as he placed his presents near the train. And it was quite amusing to see Kermit hopping up the wall and grabbing onto the hooks the stockings hung on to put something in each and every one.

She didn’t see who ate the cookies.

But in spite of all the disruptions, Casey did sleep, and she woke up with the rest of the household at the first light of dawn when Robin shouted for all to hear, “IT’S CHRISTMAS!” and raced Animal to the tree.

“Santa came! Santa came! Look, he ate the cookies!” Robin shouted, waving the empty plate in the air. “Casey, did you SEE him?”

“SAN-TA?” Animal asked, jumping in front of her.

Casey shook her head as she rubbed her eyes. “No, I didn’t see Santa… but I do see lots of presents,” she said.

As the rest of the Muppets half-tumbled, half-paraded their way down the stairs, Casey hastily folded the blanket she had used and sat on top of it and her pillow, hoping to conserve space. Kermit started sorting and distributing the gifts, and Casey thought about slipping away from the chaos into the kitchen to call home while the Muppets opened their presents. How had Tasha reacted to her new dollhouse? And had Nick opened his new book yet, or was he waiting for her to come home?

But her small plans to sneak away were quickly foiled.

“Here’s one for Casey!” Kermit announced, producing a small red package with white ribbon.

Casey stared at the present, her jaw slack. “I… are you sure?”

“Yup. Casey Campton. That’s what it says on the tag,” Kermit said, handing her the gift.

“But… I…” She looked around. Who had given her a present? How could anyone here have given her a present? They didn’t even know her…

“Looks like it’s from Santa,” Rowlf said, pointing to the tag.

Sure enough, the tag said it was from Santa Claus. “Oh,” Casey whispered. “Well… thank you, Santa…”

But Santa wasn’t done yet. By the time all of the gifts were handed out, Casey had several presents in front of her, all labeled to have come from Santa.

“Santa… has lots of different styles of handwriting,” Casey observed, trying to keep an eye on all the Muppets and figure out who these were really from.

“Well, Santa probably doesn’t write all the gift tags,” Scooter reasoned. “His hand would get sore.”

“Yeah, he probably has Mrs. Claus help,” Gonzo agreed.

“And his elves!” Fozzie said.

“I guess so,” Casey said. She wiped something from her cheek.

“Okay, everybody! Have at it!” Kermit announced, and for a while all that could be heard was the tearing of wrapping paper. Then came the excited shouts and laughter as gifts were revealed—and soon after, in many cases, destroyed, intentionally or otherwise.

Casey unwrapped a “Mommy & Me” picture frame, a few books for her classroom, and an ornament that said “I survived Christmas with the Muppets” with the year emblazoned at the bottom—all small and light enough to be packed for her flight home.

When the wrapping paper was cleaned up and everyone was dressed for the day, a light breakfast—consisting mostly of Christmas cookies, it seemed—gave way to a long line of games.

First came Charades—“Well, we are actors,” Miss Piggy said with a toss of her hair. “Which makes you think we’d be better at it, of course…”

Then they played Twenty Questions—“It’s been a tradition ever since we did Christmas Carol,” Gonzo explained, which also explained why the first question was always “Is it Ebeneezer Scrooge?”

This was followed by a game of Pictionary—“Or, ‘Why We Don’t Design Our Own Sets’,” Kermit teased.

They played Risk until it was clear that Miss Piggy was going to dominate the world, and then Monopoly until Scooter owned half the board. “I don’t own it. My uncle does!” the go-fer teased, a joke that wouldn’t have been funny on any other day of the year, but was cause for a good laugh on Christmas.

They played Scrabble, assuring Casey that this was not the same set of letters that Animal had eaten two years ago, and then Telephone, and nearly every other game imaginable, including Duck-Duck-Goose, all broadly expanding Casey’s idea of what could be considered a spectator sport.

“It started about ten years ago when Kermit banned us from playin’ poker on Christmas,” Rizzo explained. “We started tryin’ ta figure out what we could play instead. And since d’ere aren’t a lot of games d’is many people can play… Well, everything’s a spectator sport, anyway.”

And so they knew all sorts of games to play all day long, until Christmas dinner was finally served. As the Muppets had predicted, it was delicious, and they praised the Swedish Chef profusely.

“Shame you can’t do this the rest of the year, too!” Floyd called out, and the Swedish Chef laughed along with everyone else at the comment.

And so it was that, much to her amazement, Casey Campton spent that Christmas away from home without really feeling very lonely at all—and in fact, feeling a warmth like none she had ever felt before.

“I don’t know how to thank all of you,” she said, hugging one Muppet after another before Kermit and Miss Piggy rode with her to the airport. “You’ve all been so wonderful. This has been wonderful.”

“You don’t have to thank us,” Fozzie assured her. “It’s Christmas!”

“Yeah, Merry Christmas, Casey,” Gonzo said. “Say hello to Nick and Tasha for us, too.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Merry Christmas, Casey!”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

“MERRY CHRIS-MAS!”

“Happy holidays!”

It was not until long after Casey had gone and Kermit and Miss Piggy had returned without her that the Muppets noticed the snow globe that had been added to their Christmas display. It depicted a wintery cottage, with a red sleigh pulled by eight reindeer resting on the roof. Beside the snow globe, there was a hand-written note:

For all of Santa’s helpers who live south of the North Pole
Thanks for everything!
C. C.

That was when they realized that they had no contact information for Casey, and no way to thank her for the gift. For years to come, they would wonder if the snow globe really had been from Casey Campton… or, perhaps, from Chris Cringle.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*​

Yes, there is a Santa Claus; he lives inside all of our hearts.​

 

[The Count]

Is dat it? The End? Cause you didn't say so. And when a fic doesn't say so clearly, at least with ju ju crazy Muppens fan, we think... Oo Pepe, perhaps de Lisas has more story.

But if this was the end, that was a nice ending. Casey got some gifts that hold meaning to her and she in turn helped deliver a present back to the Muppets.
*Laughs at the line of how presents were destroyed, either intentionally or eventually.
*Grins at Robin's enthusiasm over the holiday.
Snowglobes are magical things... Shake it and you summon Santa back to your house. Or you can use it in a manner similar to wishing you were never born/never been Santa, but we already learned that lesson from Kermit.
Rizzo was right, that was an educational movie after all.

Thank you Lisa, happy New Year's.

Now let's go nag Prawny to finish his fic!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Yes, that is, in fact, the end--delivered a full hour before my 2012! So I met my deadline. Or... my second deadline. Alright, my third deadline...

...Anyway. Happy holidays!

 

[The Count]

Robin: Yay! ! ! Lisa finished a fanfic!

Lisa finished a fanfic?

Sí sí, is true, mira.

Peace on Earth, gimme presents!

Thanks Toga. Have a great start to 2012, this will be added to your FLI entries.
*Hopes this gives Prawn and WGU the motivation to update theirs.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Aww such a sweet ending! I really enjoyed this Lisa - I hope to see more updates from you this coming year on your other works or on other new things!

 

[theprawncracker]

Beautiful. Perfect. Hilarious. Touching. I was freezing before I read this, I kid you not, but now that I finished, I feel so warm once again. What a brilliant little piece you've written here, Half. It's just charming, that's all there is to it. It isn't ambitious, it isn't over the top, and it never tires or has to be. It's perfect for what it is... a sweet, delightful, warming story that we should all read and enjoy. I have never before wanted to pop down on the couch next to Rowlf or Scooter or Rizzo and play a game of Risk... until now. Because I know we would all have a ton of fun grumbling about Piggy kicking our butts. I tried to imagine a good tasting Swedish Chef dinner... and I've decided he must have some restaurant carry out window on speed dial and it's his annual present to the Muppets. Anyway... I love this. Love that they didn't think to get Casey's contact information... it wasn't important on Christmas when she was so close already. We'll never see it again, but we'll always have this perfect memory of her Christmas With the Muppets, 2011 to cherish. Brilliance. Beautiful brilliance. A great gift to us all, truly.

 

[We Got Us]

Oh no....>buries her head under the covers< I can't believe I didn't see this last chapter!!! Apparently my watched threads have decided, you know, the heck to coming to my email like I set it up....Oh miss Lisa! I'm so sorry! This was sssssoooo brilliant! Brilliantly Muppety...you captured them in my favorite mode: as a crazy but close and loving family. Brilliantly Christmasy....oh...I can just smell cinnamon and taste peppermint, how I wish it wasn't over already! There were so many things I loved: my favorite has to be the 'I survived Christmas with the Muppets ornament', and the entire game-playing sequence. Plus Robin waking everyone up in the morning, Rizzo and the cookies, Rowlf and the carols, Kermit...hopping, Scooter being funny and helpful and caring....It's just SO exactly how I dream Christmas would be if I ever got to be there. Bravo, bravo, bravo!!! Encore!!

And a late Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy New Years to my favorite writer/mentor/fellow Muppet fan!