Chapter 6
The Fraggle From Outer Space
Chapter 6
It was a new day. Wembley and Boober were on their way to Goldie’s cave to make sure she’d fully recovered.
“Hey, Boober. There’s something I don’t get.”
“What’s that, Wembley?"
“You were the first fraggle Goldie met when she got to Fraggle Rock, right?"
“Right.”
“So if she’d actually had all those horrible germs like you said, wouldn’t you’ve been the first to catch them all?"
Boober stopped for a moment and slowly turned to Wembley.
“That’s a very frightening thought.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too.”
“That would mean my quarantine would’ve been pointless.”
“Well... Yeah, I guess it would.”
Boober paused for a moment, blinking his eyes repeatedly as these new discomforting thoughts entered his head. Wembley watched his frozen friend intently until he finally shook his head and spoke.
“Let’s not speak of this again, Wembley.”
“Okay.”
They then decided it was best to continue walking. Boober was still trying to shake off that last conversation when they bumped into Red and Mokey exiting their room.
“Oh! Hi, Boober," Mokey greeted, “Hi, Wembley. Going to check on Goldie?"
“Yup!" Wembley answered.
“So where’d Gobo run off to?" Red asked.
“He’s back home looking through all his maps. He said something about planning an exploration tour for Goldie.”
Red rolled her eyes.
“Of course he did. After all MY fun plans fail, he goes and starts making plans of his own. I see how it is.”
“Well, today she’s going to see the Storyteller," Mokey added, “That is if she’s well enough to get out of bed, anyway.”
Boober continued walking past the others.
“That’s why I’m here.”
The other three fraggles followed close behind him. They all walked in to find Goldie sitting up on her bed, stretching from having just awakened. The red spots were all gone from her face and she seemed just as lively as the day she arrived.
“Hey, good morning, everyone.”
Boober walked right up to her and placed his hand on her nose.
“Your fever’s gone, and your voice is back to normal.”
“I feel fine.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Now open your mouth and say ‘Ah’.”
“Aaaaaaaaahhh...”
“Yup, everything seems to be in order here. No more Pebble Pox.”
“So... Does this mean you’re over that whole ‘germs from Outer Space’ thing?"
“I’d rather not talk about that, if it’s alright with you. I think it’ll be best if we just pretend that whole thing never happened.”
“That’s fine by me.”
“Alright then.”
Boober backed up and turned to leave.
“She’s got a clean bill of health," he said to the others as he walked past them and out of the room, “She’s all yours, Mokey.”
“Thank you, Boober.”
“Hey, Boober! Wait for me!" Wembley called as he followed Boober out.
Goldie jumped up out of bed and over to her suitcase.
“So...” she started as she took out a hair brush and started brushing, “What surprises am I in for today?"
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Gobo was hard at work, planning and plotting the course he was to take. He had all his maps laid out on the floor and his uncle’s field guide open in his hands.
“Now, let’s see. I could show her Blossom Boulder. Hmm. Firefly Cavern’s pretty nice this time of year. The Whistling Tunnel’s pretty good, too. Oh! And the Cave of the Rumblebugs. I’m sure she’ll like that. And then at the end, we can just mess around in the Messin’ Around Cave. Heheh.”
He took note of all the places he suggested to himself, plotting his course of action.
“This is gonna be some tour. I’m really gonna have to prepare for this one. Of course, I can’t do all of them in one day. Hmm...”
“Hiya, Gobo!"
“Oh, hi, Wembley.”
Gobo waited as Wembley and Boober both walked past the window, through the doorway, and down the steps into the room, stopping just at the edge of Gobo’s giant mess of maps. Boober looked around at them and then pointed to them.
“Gobo, what’s all this?"
“I’m trying to think of places to take Goldie to on the tour I’m gonna give her.”
“Why do you have a map of the Terrible Tunnel out?"
“What? How’d that get there?"
Gobo picked that map up and rolled it up. He then proceeded to pick up maps of other horrible places to put them away, too. The last thing he wanted was to put Goldie through more danger than she already had. Wembley went down and helped.
“Boy, it’s a good thing Boober pointed that out, Gobo. Cuz if you’d accidently picked any of those maps for your tour, who knows what could happened?"
“You could end up trapped in a poison cackler’s nest," Boober suggested.
“Or tangled on some clinging creepers," Wembley added.
“Or falling down Echo Hole!"
“Or lost in the Caves of Boredom!"
“Okay, Okay! I get it!" Gobo retorted before they listed any more horrible fates. “I know what I’m doing. I’m not gonna put her in any danger.”
“And what if danger comes after you instead?"
“Yeah, Gobo. What if the danger goes to you?"
“Then we’ll just have to handle it. Don’t worry. Everything’ll be fine. You can even come along if it’ll make you feel better.”
Wembley bounced up and down with excitement.
“Sure! I’ll go with you, Gobo! It’ll be fun!"
Boober, however, wasn’t so enthusiastic.
“I’m going to have to pass. There’s laundry that needs done, and it’s not going to wash itself.”
“Alright, suit yerself.”
Gobo picked up the rest of his maps and started towards the doorway.
“Where’re you going, Gobo?" Wembley asked.
“To test my route. Gotta make sure I got everything right.”
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The three arrived at the Storyteller’s house. Mokey rang the doorbell.
“I hope she tells something short," Red said.
Mokey stepped back from the door and looked over to Red.
“But, Red. Short stories aren’t as much fun. They’re so..... short.”
The door opened, and an old lady fraggle of yellowy-beige fur and light pink hair stepped out from behind it. She wore a magenta sweater over a light blue shirt, a long dangly necklace, and a pair of thick, round, magenta eyeglasses.
As soon as she saw Goldie, her eyes went wide and she let out a gasp.
“Aw! I don’t believe it!"
“Don’t believe what, Madame Storyteller?" Mokey asked.
“She looks just like.... No, it couldn’t be. That’s simply impossible.”
“Who?" Goldie asked. “Who do I look like?"
“It’s not important. You’re here for a story, is that right? Well, I’m going to tell you one.”
“But now I’m curious. Who do you think I look like?"
The Storyteller stepped up to her and grasped her face with both hands. Turning it so she could see it more closely.
“You have her eyes," she said, “And his nose. And both his and her hair color... at the same time, no less. Simply amazing.”
Goldie grabbed the Storyteller’s wrists and pulled her hands off her face.
“Okay, lady, now you’re creeping me out. Who is it you think I look like?"
“Two fraggles I knew.... long ago.”
“What happened to them?"
“Oh, I know you didn’t come here to hear THAT story. There are plenty better ones I could tell. Like The Tale of the Famous Fedora Fraggle. Or the Ring of the Radish, if you wish? Or how about I recount to you one of the brilliant stories of the brave, strong, and dashing Matt Fraggle?"
“I’d like to hear what happened to those two fraggles you say I look like, if you don’t mind.”
“Well, I do mind! Pick something else!"
“Oh please, Madame Storyteller," Mokey insisted, “I want to hear this story, too. Please?"
“Yeah, me too," nodded Red.
The Storyteller hung her head and sighed as she resigned to their request.
“Alright. If that’s the one you want to hear.”
She cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses as she began to tell her story.
Young fraggles, come and listen well this story that I tell,
About a great disaster and the horror that befell,
These two unfort'nate fraggles, their struggle and their strain,
About the journey that they made through unexplored terrain.
About the caves to which they went and never came again.
About the caves to which they went and never came again.
Some years ago, before your time. Imagine if you dare.
The two young fraggles went to find a cave for them to share.
They tried so many places. It was driving them insane.
For every place they tried were such that they could not retain.
And we all thought that they would never find a home again.
We all had thought that they would never find a home again.
And then one day they finally had found a brand new cave.
Both beautiful and roomy. It was everything they craved.
It was a little drafty, though, but they did not complain.
The cave was still quite cozy, but alas, it was their bane.
Cuz little did they know that they would not come back again.
Oh, little did they know that they would not come back again.
Some time had passed in their new home, and they were feeling good.
But something on that fateful day just wasn’t as it should.
This windy little cave picked up the fury it restrained.
The wind kept picking up until the two were blown uh, away’n.
The cave had sucked them up, and they were never seen again.
The cave had sucked them up, and they were never seen again.
Before we knew what happened, all the Rock was in a craze.
The two unfort'nate fraggles had been missing now for days.
We searched around both high and low, but it was all in vain.
Because something had happened that no one could preordain.
The two young fraggles disappeared and never came again.
The two young fraggles disappeared and never came again.
The three of them stared as the Storyteller finished her story.
“Where do you think they went to?" asked Mokey.
“No one knows. It was rumored that the cave was actually a horrible monster that devoured them whole. Others say that they had found a portal and were sucked into another world. All I know is no one ever went near those caves again after that. And since then, its location has been forgotten.”
Goldie thought for a moment, and then decided to ask:
“Do you they might’ve ended up in Outer Space?"
“Hmm... I suppose it might be possible...... But not likely. I was always a believer of the monster theory.”
“And what were their names?"
“Their names were.... their names........ Huh, funny. I can’t remember.”
Red Rolled her eyes.
“Some help YOU are.”
“Well, that was a wonderful story, Madame Storyteller," Mokey said. “Thank you so much for telling it to us. I think we’ll be on our way now.”
“Yup. Games to play, songs to sing," Red added, “You know how it is.”
“Yes, yes. You young fraggles always have so much to do. Alright, then. If you ever need another story, you know where to find me.”
And with that, the three left the Storyteller’s home. She watched the three young fraggles as they disappeared down the tunnel and around the corner.
“It just isn’t possible," she mumbled to herself, “It couldn’t be.... could it?"
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“Wow, that story was amazing, wasn’t it?" Mokey asked as they walked.
“Well, if you ask me," Red replied, “It sounds a lot like the story of the Terrible Tunnel. It was even the exact same melody.”
“But, Red, in the story of the Terrible Tunnel, the hero, Sir Blunderbrain, saved everyone, remember? There wasn’t a hero in this story. They were just sucked up and never seen again.”
“Mokey, how many caves do YOU know that suck fraggles up and make them disappear? These two fraggles probably made the mistake of getting settled in the Terrible Tunnel.”
“I suppose that could be it.”
“I don’t know, you guys," Goldie said, “The way the Storyteller looked at me, I think it might’ve been something else.”
“You think so?" Mokey asked.
“Say, Goldie. How’d you wind up in Outer Space anyway?"
“I don’t really know. As far as I can remember, I’ve always been out there. I never knew my birth parents, or if I even HAD any. I didn’t even think there were any others of my kind until Traveling Matt found me.”
“Then who’s this family you mentioned before in the garden?"
“My grandma and grandpa. They took me in when I was just a baby.”
“You were raised by silly creatures?" Mokey asked.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“Hey," Red said, “Do you think the two fraggles in the story might’ve been your parents? That would explain the Storyteller’s reaction to you.”
“And maybe the place they disappeared to was somewhere in Outer Space, someplace far and frightening," added Mokey, clasping her hands together as she laid the drama before them. “And after being trapped for ages in this unknown world, without any hope of ever returning to Fraggle Rock, they settled down and parented a child, only to befall further tragedy, leaving the child alone and helpless, when two kind and caring silly creatures scoop up the child and raise her as their own! Oh, you poor thing!"
Red and Goldie stared at the overexcited lavender fraggle as she finished her rambling, and then they looked at each other.
“Is she alright?"
“Don’t worry. Sometimes Mokey gets carried away with things like this.”
“It would be scary if it was all true.”
The three fell into an awkward silence for a moment. None of them had anything to say after that. Goldie was inwardly excited to think that she may have learned a little bit about herself from all this, but she was also saddened to think what dangers her parents may have faced in Outer Space.... That is, if they were indeed the two fraggles the Storyteller spoke of.
Another moment later, Red perked up and looked over to Goldie and Mokey.
“Hey! I’ve got a great idea. Come with me.”
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I do so love the Trash Heap, as well as gorg fraggle interaction, and I'm sure there'll be more of that to come! Also, I wonder how Goldie would react to Cantus? I wonder if we'll find out?
