"Thank you, Jim."

                                              May 19th, 1990

Kermit laid in his bed, face twisted in thought. It was a quiet night, 3 nights after his creator and friend, Jim, had passed away. The frog’s mind was busy, set on one particular thing; he had no voice.

He had tried speaking, of course, but no words had come out. Fozzie had suggested that maybe it was the sadness getting to him, but he didn’t think that was the case. Jim had been his voice since the beginning, and now that he wasn’t there, he couldn’t speak.

Suddenly, Kermit heard a tap on his window. His eyes narrowed. Who would visit at this hour, especially at my bedroom window? But, eventually, his curiosity got to him, so he walked over to open the curtain. The frog’s eyes widened at the sight of Jim’s face.

“Hey, Kermit,” He greeted, smiling. “Mind if I come in for a minute?” Kermit, genuinely confused and a little concerned about the possibility of hallucination, didn’t know what to do. But, instead of closing the curtain and hopping back into bed, he nodded, opening the window so Jim could get inside.

When the man was seated on the rocking chair in the corner of the room, Kermit motioned to his throat. Jim nodded.

“That’s exactly why I came to visit you.” He said. He patted his knee, looking at the frog with questioning eyes. Kermit thought for a moment, then smiled, getting off of his bed and seating himself in his creator’s lap. It was definitely the real Jim. The man put an arm around Kermit.

“Now that I’m gone, you’ve noticed you don't have a voice,” Jim spoke. Kermit nodded. “But don’t worry; I’m going to help you get a new one.” The frog tilted his head in confusion. “You know Steve; he does Rizzo, Wembley, Bean Bunny?” Jim asked. Kermit nodded once again. “Well, he’s going to take my place as your voice.”

The frog rubbed his chin slowly. Steve as my voice? Will I sound like Rizzo? His face scrunched. Jim, apparently a mind reader, laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I think that he’s a good choice for you,” He said. “You might not sound the exact same, but I think you’ll like his portrayal.” Kermit took that into consideration. I’ll give it a shot, he thought, smiling at Jim.

“Attaboy!” The man exclaimed, pulling the frog into a hug. Kermit held onto his creator, eyes welling up with emotion. “I’m here if you ever need to talk, I promise.”

As they pulled away, Jim held out a pinky. Kermit grinned, wrapping his own pinky around Jim’s. The frog received one last smile before everything faded to black.

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Slowly, Kermit opened his eyes. He was still in his room, and his window was still open, but he was snug under his covers, and Jim was no longer there. Was that a dream?

“What the-?” The frog wondered aloud, all before clasping his hands over his mouth. “I can talk again!” His face broke out into a grin, one that reached his eyes. Quickly, he grabbed the telephone off of his bedside table, dialing Fozzie’s number to tell him the good news.

“That’s terrific, Kermit!” The bear exclaimed. “You gotta tell the others!” So, Kermit dialed the numbers of each and every one of his coworkers and told them about how he could speak again, but he never mentioned Jim.

That night, just as he was drifting off to sleep, he muttered something, hoping that his creator could hear it: “Thank you, Jim.”

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I cant believe I actually started an finished a fic in a day!!! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this short, but very sweet fic I wrote while sick on the couch!

-CC