Chapter ten
Evening in the swamp had always been Kermit’s favorite time. No one was exactly sure when it had started or who had started it, but it had somehow become a tradition that the evening was alone time for all the couples in the swamp. Each pair had their own special place to resign to, and they were only to be disturbed for emergencies. There was another spot where all the young children gathered to play games. When they got older, the boys and girls took to separate sides of the swamp.
When they had been young, Kermit, Goggles, and Croaker had spent many evenings together. At first they had talked about how much they didn’t want to be with the girls. Then they had talked about which girls they wanted to be with. As they had gotten older, one or two of them had occasionally spent the evening with a girl instead, and those evenings had become more and more frequent until it was rare for the three of them to be together.
Kermit’s first attempts at spending the evening with a girl had been more than a little awkward. But not too long after that, he had started to teach himself to play banjo. So instead of trying to talk to whoever his nervous counterpart had been, he had just played for her. Somehow it had seemed to take the pressure away. The problem was that when he played his banjo, everyone in the swamp could hear it, and therefore knew whether he was alone or not. He had been a very self-conscious young frog, and he had started playing every evening, whether he had a girl with him or not.
Of course, everyone in the swamp had seen right through it. But since they had liked listening, he had kept playing. Now it was part of the tradition. Whenever Kermit was there, he would spend the evening sitting on his favorite log, playing his banjo. Anyone who wanted to sit and talk with him was welcome to do so. Sometimes he would stop playing for a few minutes, and just listen to the surrounding sounds. It was a peaceful, calming time.
But when evening came that day, Kermit realized that he had left his banjo back at the boarding house. He sat down on his favorite log and looked around. He knew that Goggles was somewhere with his wife, Sally, and Blotch was off with Ann, his girlfriend for many years. Robin was playing somewhere at the far end of the pond with all his brothers, sisters, and cousins. Maggie and Croaker, of course, were snuggled between the marsh grasses and the old birch tree. Which all together left Kermit very much alone.
He looked up at the darkening sky, admiring how the sunlight played on the clouds. How was everyone at the boarding house doing? They were probably home by now... had there been any problems today? Anything they needed him for? What if- no, they were fine. They knew what they were doing. He had nothing to worry about. How bad could the theater possibly be? His friends would take care of everything. It wasn’t like anyone on the cast was particularly irresponsible or destructive... except, of course, for just about all of them... But Kermit knew that he wasn’t really worried about the theater as much as he just missed his friends. He sighed.
“It’s a lonely time for guys like us, isn’t it?” a gruff voice asked.
Kermit looked away from the sky to see who it was. “Oh. Hi Jimmy,” he said.
His brother sat next to him on the log. “Where’s the banjo, Kermit?” he asked.
Kermit shook his head. “I forgot it,” he said.
“Ah, that’s too bad,” Jimmy said. “Then you’re stuck doin’ what I do every evening.”
“What do you do?” Kermit asked.
Jimmy looked his brother in the eyes. “Pretend I’m not lonely.”
Kermit frowned. “Every night?”
Jimmy sighed. “Not every night,” he said. “Sometimes my little frogs will come talk to me, or ask me to referee whatever game they’re playing. But usually they keep that for daytime.” He shook his head and looked at his brother. “So, that reminds me. From you point of view- how’s Robin doin’ outta the swamp?”
Kermit smiled a little. “You’ve got every reason to be proud of him, Jimmy,” he said. “He’s doing well in school, he’s great in Frog Scouts, he has a lot of friends... and you’ve seen what he’s done on the show.” Kermit nodded. “Robin’s doing fine. He does notice when you don’t call, though.”
Jimmy nodded. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I’ve gotta work on that. I mean to call, it’s just...” he shook his head. “I dunno, Kermit. I think you’re more a dad to him than I am.”
“Now that’s just crazy,” Kermit said. “Jimmy, you are Robin’s father. He knows that. And he’s not about to forget it, either. Just call him some time. He loves hearing from you.”
Jimmy looked off towards the other end of the pond. “Alright, brother,” he said. “I’ll call.”
Kermit nodded.
They sat in the quiet evening as the sky faded from blue to black and the stars started shimmering down on them. Despite the sounds of the games of the young frogs, a strange silence seemed to surround them.
“Jimmy?” Kermit finally said. “What does Leaper do in the evenings?”
Jimmy sighed. “She’s in the marsh grasses somewhere,” he said. “We, uh- we still don’t talk as much, but... You know one thing she and I agree on now- evenings are for thinking.”
The silence started to settle again.
“You know Kermit, I’m a little surprised you’re sittin’ here tonight,” Jimmy said.
“Well where else would I sit, Jimmy?” Kermit asked. “I always sit here.”
Jimmy stood up. “Lemme show ya.”
Kermit followed his brother across several lily pads until he crouched down and pointed into the water.
There. The leaves of the under-water plants seemed to shimmer in a silvery white coat. But Kermit knew what it was from. The leaves were covered in frog eggs, thousands of frog eggs. Of course, not all of them would hatch, but...
“Leslie and Bob?” Kermit said softly.
“Yeah,” Jimmy whispered. “Who’d have thought, y’know?”
“Yeah,” Kermit said. “Y’know, I just can’t believe our sister’s finally having tadpoles.”
“What’s harder to believe is that, out of all of our siblings, you and Maggie are gonna be the only ones who don’t have tadpoles,” Jimmy said.
Kermit nodded. “Yeah. That won’t last, though,” he said. “I mean, you’ve seen her with Croaker.”
“And what about you, big brother?” Jimmy asked.
Kermit shook his head. “I don’t know,” he whispered. "Right now my only real shot is to have a bunch of pogs and figs running around. I don’t even know what that would look like. I’m not sure I want to.”
“Well can’t ya find someone else?” Jimmy asked.
Kermit scrunched his face up. “You mean without spending a year in the hospital?” he said. “It’s easier said than done. And besides, I don’t even know if I want tadpoles. I think I’m better at just being the uncle.”
“Well, suit yourself,” Jimmy said.
They were quiet again, listening to the young frogs giving out orders. Apparently one group was “attacking” the fort, and the other group was “defending” it.
“Hey Jimmy?” Kermit said. “Let’s go be little frogs again.”
Jimmy smiled. “Sounds good, brother,” he said as they stood up and crossed the lily pads back to the edge of the pond. They walked around until they could see the fort, and then they held very still. The fort itself was just a few rearranged rocks and logs on a large stretch of imagination. The attacking group had pulled back to establish a new plan.
Suddenly Kermit and Jimmy each felt four little hands on their arms. “Spies! We caught you!” a little voice shouted.
“Oh please don’t take us,” Jimmy said with a smile, immediately playing along.
“Please, we didn’t mean any harm,” Kermit added.
“Tell it to the General!” the little voice said. “Take them to the General!”
Kermit and Jimmy were immediately led by their captors into the fort.
“General Robin! We found some spies! We caught some spies!”
General Robin turned around to see who the spies were. “Dad! Uncle Kermit!” he shouted. “You’re on our side now!”
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Such a touching chapter! I loved it! It was wonderful! Kermit and Jimmy are such a great team! I love it love it love it!
