We need the old Kermit: Full Edition

Chapter 16

Robin came down the stairs that night, carrying the empty tray he had used to bring Kermit his dinner. He kept his eyes towards the floor as he brought the tray into the kitchen, where Scooter was drying the last few dishes.

Scooter noticed the forlorn look on the young frog’s face. “Robin?” he said, “Is something wrong?”

Robin sniffed and shook his head no. Then he wiped a tear and nodded.

Scooter put the towel down and put a hand on Robin’s back, leading him to the couch where Rowlf, Fozzie, Sweetums, and Beauregard were sitting. Sweetums pulled Robin into his lap, and Scooter sat next to them. “What happened?” he asked.

Robin wiped another tear. “It’s just... I mean... Uncle Kermit, he...” He shook his head, looking at his feet. Sweetums patted him on the back, and the others waited silently. Finally Robin took a deep breath and looked up at them. “It’s like he’s not even there,” he said. “It’s like... I try to talk to him, but he never answers me. He ignores me. I don’t understand it.” He looked back down. “I’m worried,” he said.

“It’ll be okay, Robin,” Rowlf said. “Your uncle is just, uh... well, he’s just a little depressed. He’ll be okay, though. Before you know it, it’ll be like nothing happened. He’ll be the same old Kermit the Frog we’ve always known.” He glanced around at the others. “Right?”

Scooter picked up on the hint. “Uh, right!” he said. “A- and in the mean time, he wouldn’t want us to worry. He wants us to, uh, to relax, and carry on like normal.”

Rowlf, Beauregard, and Sweetums nodded. “Right. He wants us to be happy,” Sweetums said.

“Exactly,” Scooter said. “So how about we all go outside and play some Frisbee.”

“Good idea,” Beauregard said.

“Uh, I’ll... take a rain check, guys,” Fozzie said. “I need to work on some of my material.”

“Okay,” Scooter said. “Come on, guys, I think the Frisbee is on the front porch.”

They started to get up and go outside. Rowlf stayed behind. “I’ll meet you out there in a minute,” he called after them. Then he turned to Fozzie. “We need to talk,” he said.

“It’s about Kermit, right?” Fozzie said. Rowlf nodded. Fozzie sighed. “I don’t know, Rowlf,” he said. “Kermit’s been in his room ever since he and Miss Piggy had that fight. I haven’t even seen him since Wednesday night.”

“Did you mean for that to rhyme?” Rowlf asked. “But seriously, Fozzie, none of us have seen him. Except for Robin. And every time he comes out of Kermit’s room, he’s either crying or close to it. I don’t know what to do, but we’ve gotta do something. We need our frog back.”

Fozzie nodded. “I know. But Rowlf, what are we gonna do?”

“Well, you know him as well as anybody,” Rowlf said. “Why don’t you go talk to him?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Fozzie said. “I mean what if... what if... what if he... um... what if he...”

“What if he gets mad at you?” Rowlf said. “What if he fires you? What if he vows never to speak to you again? Listen Fozzie.” He put a hand on the bear’s back. “If Kermit doesn’t snap out of this soon, we could all be out of a job. At this point, we’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. This may be our only option.”

Fozzie had taken his hat off, and he was fumbling with it. “Yeah but, but what about the letter?” he whined.

“What about the letter,” Rowlf said. “That’s what’s been bothering me, Fozzie, with the letter comes money, and the old Kermit never cared as much about money as he did about making his dreams come true.”

“Well now you’re talking about him like he’s already dead,” Fozzie said.

“Fozzie?” Rowlf said. “Just go talk to him.”

Fozzie sighed. “Well... alright...” He put his hat back on his head. “Here goes...” He started to walk towards the stairs.

“Good luck,” Rowlf said, and he went outside to find the others.

A few moments later, Fozzie found himself standing in front of Kermit’s door. He took a deep breath and pushed it open. There was the frog, sitting on his bed, looking out his window, paying no attention to the world around him.

Fozzie walked a few steps into the room and stopped. “We miss you, Kermit,” he said. The frog turned and looked at him. “We miss you,” Fozzie repeated. He came and stood at the foot of the bed. “Now look, I know... I know that you’re depressed, and that you don’t really want to talk to anyone right now, but... but we still need you. And you... we haven’t even seen you for days, Kermit. No one has seen you except for Robin, and you’re ignoring him. Kermit, your nephew, Robin, was just down stairs crying. He was crying, Kermit. And you know who made him cry, Kermit? Do ya? Huh?” He felt himself getting worked up. He pointed at the frog. “You made him cry, Kermit. You made your nephew cry. Because you’ve been ignoring him, and he’s just been trying to help you. And that’s all that any of us want to do, is to help you, because we know that you’re upset. But you won’t let us. And we... we need you, Kermit. We’ve been falling apart without you.” He stepped a little closer, and spoke a little calmer. “I know you’re upset, Kermit. But, please... don’t forget about us.” 

The frog stared at him blankly for a moment. “Fozzie?” he finally said. “Leave me alone.”

Fozzie sighed. He looked down at his feet, took his hat off, slowly turned around and started to walk back to the door. The frog looked back at the window. Fozzie stopped in the middle of the room and turned back around, suddenly determined. “No,” he said. He put his hat back on and walked quickly around the bed and sat down in the chair next to Kermit’s bed, looking the frog straight in the eye. “I’m not leaving this room until you do, Kermit,” he said. 

The frog stared at him. “Fozzie...”

“Kermit...” Fozzie said, imitating the frog. The frog folded his arms across his chest, and Fozzie did the same. 

The frog and the bear sat in silence for a long time, just staring each other in the eyes. Neither one looked away for even a moment. Neither one moved at all. The light from the window was starting to fade. They could hear some of the Muppets walking by in the hallway, complaining about the line to the bathroom. Still they sat there, staring each other in the eyes.

Finally the frog sighed. “Oh what the hey,” he said grouchily as he stood up. He walked out of the bedroom. 

Fozzie ran to the door and watched him walk down the hall. “Well, he still isn’t the same old Kermit,” the bear said to himself. “But maybe it helped, just a little.”