Chapter 13
‘’You might want to give Kermit a call, P, we’re about 10 minutes away.’’ Braden smiled genuinely at her.
‘’Hmm yes, I guess I should,’’ she agreed with a half smile. Quickly, Piggy wheeled around to talk to Samantha, while Braden thought about how good it would be to see Kermit again. The two hadn’t seen each other in what seemed like an eternity to him, and it would be so much more than a good time to play catch up with him for a while. And Robin-oh, how he must’ve grown since he last saw him! Not to mention their seemingly ridiculous male bonding that only he and Kermit understood; their inside jokes and such. Seeing his oldest and best friend was always a joy for Braden, it made him feel like he wasn’t alone in the new things that he was experiencing in life. Kermit was just a hair older than Braden, and was always the first to give him good sound advice when he needed it in their college days. So for that, he always saw Kermit as somewhat of a brother and friend all in one. Plus, Braden never considered himself the type to settle down and be married, that is, at least until he met Samantha. This all on its own opened up a new line of communication, as this time when they saw each other, they could compare experiences as husbands. Though to say the least, Braden had had some more….interesting experiences so far.
‘’Samantha dear, could you hand me my phone, s’il vous plait? It’s in my purse.’’ The feeling of nostalgia and sanctity had been broken yet again. Oh well.
‘’Oh of course,’’ Samantha cooed, fishing through her purse. Actually though, it was more like a treasure chest than a purse to Samantha. In the purse, there were all kinds of makeup and perfumes not even open to the public; custom designed just for her basically. She was jealous of her. She loathed her. She, for a brief moment, considered swiping a few things from her, but after about 3 seconds came to her better judgment. Besides, pastel pink wasn’t her color anyway. Almost breathlessly and with a look of great envy on her face, Samantha handed Piggy a lavender phone with red kiss marks on the side. Samantha rolled her eyes in amusement. What else would she put on it?
‘’Merci, cheri,’’ Piggy said with a smile.
‘’Je vous en prie,cheri,’’ Samantha shot back, a smug grin on her face. The two girls ahred a small smile while Piggy wheeled around in shotgun, speed dialing number one-number one for her number one.
‘’Oh no, honey!’’ Samantha protested softly. ‘’Use the hands free system-Braden can’t concentrate if you use hands.’’
‘’It’s a tick I have,’’ Braden admitted shyly.
‘’Oh, of course,’’ Piggy said, a hint of discomfort in her voice. She handed her phone to Braden, who plugged it into the system for her, then dialed number one.
‘’Now we’re getting somewhere.
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Ring ring. Kermit looked down into his jacket pocket, trying not to acknowledge the noise emanating from it. He and Fozzie glanced at each other as they came down the stairs. To answer or not the answer, that was the question. Luckily, this question was answered by a hopeful Fozzie. ‘’ Maybe you should answer it, Kermit, it could be Robin.’’ Kermit nodded excitedly. ‘’You‘re right.’’ Hopeful, he pulled the phone from his pocket, glancing at the identification of the caller. A large gasp escaped Kermit‘s lips as he did so, as this was the last person he was expecting a call from. His eyes shot up in surprise staring in disbelief at the phone.
‘’What? What‘s wrong, Kermit? Who is it? ‘’ There on the screen, was a beating heart icon next to the name-the name which 9 times out of 10 brought him much joy and happiness, but this was that one time.- Piggy.
‘’It‘s Piggy!’’ Kermit gasped.
‘’Oh no! ‘’ Fozzie said frantically. ‘’What are we going to do?’’
‘’I, I don‘t know. I, I won‘t answer it! Yeah, I - I just.. Um.. We’ve got to get rid of it!’’ the two rushed down the stairs, searching for any possible place to hide the phone so as not to create a scene. Finally, they both trampled into the kitchen, and after pushing the Swedish Chef out of the way, Kermit chucked the phone into the refrigerator-while it was still ringing, no less. Kermit panted hard, leaning with one hand on the door, and trying to regain his composure.
‘’You think she’ll call back?’’ Fozzie asked innocently.
‘’Just try and get everyone’s attention, will you?’’ Kermit said, slightly annoyed.
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‘’Hmm, he’s not answering. Maybe he’s working late, Piggy thought. Somewhere in the back of her mind though, she knew this wasn’t so.
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‘’Ok, now can I have everyone’s attention, please? Kermit has an announcement to make!’’
As always, poor Fozzie’s pleas went unanswered. All around him, there was an entire swarm of Muppets, eating and laughing and talking and knocking down walls and chugging melted ice cream and assuring people that the food was only slightly burnt and hanging from chandeliers and throwing fish around, and well, muppet-like things. Then of course, there were those who were shaking their heads at it all; one particularly.
Fozzie and Kermit stood at the bottom of the staircase, with Fozzie pleasantly surprised at the turnout, yet overwhelmed at the same time, and Kermit slightly annoyed that they all weren’t quiet yet.
‘’Could everyone be quiet for just a moment please? Kermit has something he wants to say!’’ Nothing. Not even a stir from the crowd. Fozzie puffed out a sigh, and looked at Kermit in defeat. Kermit looked back at him with a little smile on his face. Inwardly, this caused the frazzled bear to groan a little bit, as this small smile meant ‘’try one more time.’’
‘’Could I PLEASE have your attention….please?’’ This time, a few people looked up, most laughed afterwards, but at least they looked up. This was the last straw for the self-conscious bear. He covered his face in embarrassment, hiding himself just slightly behind Kermit. Kermit gave him a tender, yet amused look, and patted him on the shoulder.
‘’That’s ok Fozzie,’’ he mused. ‘’You gave it your best shot. Let me try.’’ Kermit stood away a little bit from Fozzie, puffed out his chest, and shouted ‘’QUIIIIIIIIET!’’
Now this was the thing that got everyone’s attention, well, all except for one blonde valley girl..
‘’And I say, ‘Look Diddy, I don’t care how much you pay me, I’m not taking my clothes off for your music video, ok?’ I mean, like-oh,’’ as always, she hung her head in embarrassment.
‘’Wow, I guess I still got it,’’ Kermit observed with wide grin. ‘’Uh anyway, it’s lovely to see you all again, but I’m afraid I’ve got a bit of a confession to make.’’
‘’Jou mean, der won’t be any of de sexy ladies coming, after all, hokay?’’
Kermit shot Pepe a disgruntled look, but looked back to everyone with that same determination.
‘’Ok, TWO confessions to make. As I told you before, no, there are so sexy ladies coming.’’ This ‘’confession ‘’ was made directly to Pepe, who then left the room in a huff.
‘’Now then, the real confession I wanted to make, was to tell you why you’re all really here.’’
‘’What! You mean we’re not really here for a party?’’ demanded Rizzo.
‘’Well yes, yes, you are here for a party, but uh, but we’re celebrating something really special. See, this isn’t a party just to have a party. It’s a welcome back party. It’s a party to welcome back all of you guys.’’
‘’Oh, like, how sweet! Like Kermit, you really do like us!’’
‘’Well yes, of course I do,’’ Kermit chuckled, but just let me finish. He ushered his way through the crowd, flanked on either side by Fozzie and Scooter. The three of them sat on the couch closest to the center of the room as possible. Once there, Kermit, asserting himself as leader, sat on the edge of his cushion, and looked up at everyone. What happened next was rather unusual, as his face went from authoritative to soft and warm. Everyone looked at each other, wondering if he was going to cry or something.
‘’I-I’ve missed you guys. A lot. I really have. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my hands full with work and Piggy and Robin,-’’ speaking of Robin, Kermit looked down to check his watch. 7:04. Hm..Robin should have been home by now. He got off at 6:30 today-where was he? How strange…. ‘’But since we’ve gone our separate ways, things just haven’t been the same. Well, haven’t you felt the same?’’ A sea of nodding heads replied and reassured him that he was not alone in this.
‘’My jokes haven’t been as funny since we parted,’’ chimed in Fozzie.
‘’Your jokes were never funny,’’ Rizzo commented under his breath.
‘’I know what you mean. All my stunts have been small potatoes compared to the ones I used to do for the show.’’
‘’Yeah man, and we always played our best songs for the show,’’ added Floyd.
‘’Not to mention I used my best boomerang fish,’’ Lou commented sadly.
‘’Of course,’’ Kermit interrupted. ‘’And don’t you miss the way Piggy would sing? Don’t you miss how Robin would catch every single heart in the audience with the sound of his guitar? And his sweet voice? Don’t you miss all that? I know you do- and so do I. That’s why I brought you all here tonight.’’ Kermit swallowed hard and placed a nervous hand over his arm. The point of no return, no going back now.
‘’We’re bringing the Muppet Show back-the rights, the deed, the theatre, everything, it’s all ours again, guys. It’s our for the taking. We have a chance to make millions of people happy once more-but more importantly, we have a chance to make ourselves happy again. What do you say, guys? You with me?’’
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‘’Oh boy, this is going to be great! Uncle Kermit is going to be so confused! He won’t know what him..oh boy! It’s going to be so much fun! ‘’ For the most part, Robin was a very peaceable lad, but to some extent, he had a very devious side…. Robin stopped at the stop sign at the crossroads just in front of their house. While he waited for another car to pass, he tried his best to gather himself together and be sure not to give anything away. Time to put all those acting lessons into good use. He smiled at the driver passing, and accelerated his own car as fast as the speed limit would allow (which was only 15mph) until he pulled up in the driveway. He almost knocked the car door out as he got out of the car, rubbing his hands together all the way there into the house.
‘’So, you with me?’’
‘’Uncle Kermit!
‘’Robin?’’ said an excited Kermit. ‘’You’re just in time. C’mere, there’s something I want you to hear.’’
This was all the prompting Robin needed. He almost ran into the living room, where the sea of other muppets were.
‘’Robin,’’ Kermit placed a loving hand on Robin’s shoulder. “ I want you -’’
‘’To pay for your ticket! Absolutely, Uncle Kermit! I owe it to you, it’s the very least I could do.’’
‘’Um- ticket?’’
‘’Well, of course! Fozzie told me all about it this morning when he came to the shop. You guys are showing a movie tonight at the theatre, I believe that’s what he said.’’ That same devious twinkle shined in Robin’s eye as Kermit slapped his forehead in frustration.
‘’Fozzie!’’
‘’Wait, no! I got it right this time! I did! I practiced it all the way to the store! I-I got it right-right?’’
‘’Oh for goodness sake,’’ mumbled a very grumpy Kermit. ‘’Look, Fozzie made a mistake-what’s really happening here is-’’
‘’What’s happening is I’m ready to go now, so come on, let’s go everybody!’’
All the others looked around in confusion, not sure what to do, and Kermit, poor soul, was not far behind at all.
‘’Like, I though we were here for a party,’’ observed a confused Janice.
‘’I don’t know what’s going on here, but I say we blow this popsicle stand-all the good food’s gone,’’ retorted Rizzo.
‘’Poor planning skills-how shiftless and un-American,’’ declared Sam with a sour frown.
‘’No sport, you don’t understand-we’re having a party,’’ Kermit tried to explain, but to no avail.
‘’Well of course you are, now that I’m here. C’mon, I’ll get your coat for you.’’
Robin playfully pushed his uncle all the way to the door, with failed attempts to explain what was really going on all the way. However, when Robin opened up the door, all plans were foiled, and a new problem stand before them. A great big, gigantic problem-in three parts, one might say. Standing in the doorway and just about to ring the doorbell, was Braden, holding an umbrella above the two ladies. Braden and Samantha both held nervous smiles on their faces, while Piggy stood with a border-line look of anger on her face. She looked to her left, and onto her right, noting that her home was full of clowns and weirdoes-ones she’s hoped she’d never have to work with again in all her born days. And the fact that her husband, of all people, had invited these ‘’people’’ here, without her say in it….. All this added up to make on very, very unhappy Mrs. The Frog.
‘’Kermit, you had better have a good explanation for this.’’
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I'm a bit confused though... I thought Piggy and Samantha were good friends? Why then her sudden annoyance and appearent dislike?