Chapter 16
The sun slowly crept through the dusty windows of the workshop. Traveling Matt hadn’t slept a wink; he was too scared that the hissing, furry creature would eat him in his sleep. (And he didn’t have his teddy bear.)
Matt was also dreading sleep because if he slept it meant that he’d wake up faster, which meant the exterminator would be arriving to wipe out all of Fraggle Rock.
But otherwise he would’ve slept just fine.
Traveling Matt heard footsteps leaving the bedroom. He did his best to hide himself underneath the desk.
"Where is my exterminator?" the silly creature shouted at no one. "You’re just lucky I need to go out and get my morning coffee, or else your heads would be rolling!"
"Who in the Rock could this silly creature be talking to?" Matt asked himself.
"Yes well, just make sure they’re here soon. I can’t have my dear, sweet Cogs subjected to horrible, disease ridden… creatures living inside this wall," the silly creature said. There was a noise as he shut something. "Come along Cogs," the silly creature called into the bedroom. "Time for num-nums and coffee."
The four-legged creature trotted along the floor up to the silly creature’s legs. The silly creature picked it up, and left the workshop.
Matt let out a sigh of relief. "I do hope that postcard gets to Gobo soon," he said.
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The sun was also trying to poke through Wembley’s closed eyes. It had no problem though, since Fraggles, being subterranean creatures, aren’t nearly adjusted to the light of the sun.
Wembley shot up and rubbed his eyes. "YOW!"
This shout woke up Gobo, Red, and Sprocket, who were all safely sleeping in the shade of the alley. "Wembley…" Gobo said, rubbing his eyes as well, but in a much calmer way. "What’s wrong?"
"That- that big burning b-ball!" Wembley stuttered. "It’s bright!"
"That’s why you sleep with your eyes closed, Wembley," Red said.
"But I—"
"Say, what’s that?" Gobo asked, pointing at something near Wembley’s feet.
"Huh," Wembley said. "I didn’t notice that. It looks like a postcard from Uncle Traveling Matt," Wembley said, picking up the postcard.
"Huh, musta fallen out of my sack," Gobo said.
"I don’t think so Gobo," Wembley said. "I’ve never seen this one before."
Gobo walked over to Wembley while Red remained leaning on Sprocket. "Do these dumb postcards confuse you as much as they do me?" she asked the dog. Sprocket shrugged and tried to go back to sleep.
Wembley handed Gobo the postcard and Gobo read it carefully. "W-Wembley, where did you get this?"
"I dunno Gobo," Wembley said. "It must of just been lyin’ on my stomach."
"Wembley this is a desperate cry for help!" Gobo said. "Matt says that everything within Fraggle Rock is about to be destroyed! He says we have to come to Doc’s old workshop, and fast!"
"That’s impossible," Red said. "How could a postcard saying that end up with us?"
"I don’t know Red, but you can read it for yourself if you don’t believe it," Gobo said. "All I know is, I’m heading back to save Fraggle Rock! Now who’s comin’ with me?"
"I am!" Wembley said immediately.
Sprocket perked up at the idea of going home, and barked his agreement.
Red sat in silence for a second. "C’mon Red," Gobo said. "We’re gonna need your help."
Red looked Gobo straight in the eyes. "Yeah, you will," she said. "What’re we waiting for?" she asked, hopping up for the ground. "We’ve got a Rock to save!"
"Alright!" Gobo said. "Now c’mon, let’s hurry!" Gobo started to run out of the alley, but was intercepted by Sprocket who grabbed Gobo by his shirt collar and tossed the Fraggle onto his back along with Red and Wembley. "Now you’re talkin’!" Gobo said. "C’mon Sprocket, let’s go!"
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"Uch, these caves are so filthy," Boober groaned. "Are we almost there Cotterpin?"
"Um, I think we should be," Cotterpin said. "All of these caves look the same."
"To a Doozer maybe," Feeny said.
"Feeny, Feeny, be nice to Miss Cotterpin!" Large Marvin said. "She thinks we’re smart, remember?"
"She also must’ve taken a few too many Doozer towers to the head." Boober muttered.
"Ooh, maybe I have too!" Feeny said. "I see a light up there!"
"What?" Boober asked.
"Yeah, a light at the end of the tunnel!" Feeny said, pointing ahead of him at a light seeping from a tunnel onto the cave floor.
"Oh good grief," Boober said. "That’s a light coming from that cave up there, you’re not—"
"A light!" Cotterpin shouted. "That must be it! C’mon Fraggles, forward!"
So the Fraggles ventured forward into the cavern whose entrance used to only be big enough for a Doozer, but was now blown wide enough for Fraggle entry too. The three Fraggles and their Doozer companion passed through what used to be a wall and stood in awe of the Gorg’s Garden in a place it definitely should not be.
"This… this is not good!" Boober said, visibly shaking. So much so, in fact, that Cotterpin fell right out of his hat.
She lifted herself up from the floor. "I told ya so," Cotterpin said. "Now do you think the other Fraggles will believe me?"
"Well they’ll have to!" Boober said. "You’ve got three Fraggle witnesses! Right Marvin, Feeny?"
"Large Marvin?" Cotterpin asked, looking around the cave, not seeing either Fraggle. "Feeny?"
"Where in the name of soap suds could they have gone?" Boober asked.
"We are down here!" Large Marvin’s voice called from far away.
"Down…" Cotterpin said. "Down where?"
"I don’t know, but it sure is bright!" Feeny said.
Boober and Cotterpin rushed to the edge of the hole. "Large Marvin, Feeny, what did you do?"
"Well…" Large Marvin said from his spot on the ground of the Gorg’s Garden. "I saw something that looked very yummy to eat… so I jumped out to get it. It turns out it was just a rock."
"Yeah, and I jumped after him because Large Marvin is the smartest Fraggle I know!" Feeny said.
"Well soon you’re going to be the two most captured Fraggles you know!" Boober said.
"You two have to get back up here!" Cotterpin shouted.
"But—but I saw radishes out there!" Large Marvin said, frantically pointing towards the front yard of the Gorg’s home.
"You nit-wit," Boober said, "get back up here before a Gorg finds you!"
"I think we’d better go back up Large Marvin," Feeny said.
"Silly Feeny," Large Marvin said, "who is the smarter Fraggle here?"
"Um, you are," Feeny said.
"Exactly, and who gets to decide where we go, hmm?"
"You do Large Marvin," Feeny said.
"Exactly!" Marvin said. "So I say we go get radishes!"
"You’ve got such good ideas, Large Marvin!" Feeny said.
"Wait! Feeny, Marvin, come back!" Cotterpin called after them.
It was too late, the two Fraggles had ventured out in to the Gorg’s radish patch.
"What do we do?" Boober asked is an extremely panicked tone.
"Well we’ve gotta go back and you’ve gotta tell the rest of the Fraggles!" Cotterpin said.
"Tell them what?" Boober asked. "That the Gorg’s are using Large Marvin as a pillow?"
"That would make me go save them," Cotterpin said.
Boober muddled things around in his mind as he tried to decide if the Fraggles would believe such a tale.
This is, of course, highly dangerous for Boober Fraggle. Because when Boober can’t make up his mind, well… another mind comes in to make it up for him.
Boober started to shake again.
"Boober? Boober are you alright?"
In common silly creature psychology, this would be called Dual Personality Disorder.
In Fraggle Rock, this is called Sidebottom.
Boober was looking himself in the lack-of-eyes when he came to, except this self was wearing bright colored clothes and a huge hat. But most defining of all was the huge grin on his face.
"Hey Boober old buddy, good to see ya!" Sidebottom said. "I was beginning to think you’d never let your fun side out again! Ha ha!"
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