Chapter Text
“Come on, Frank! It’ll be fun!”
“For the last time, Julie,” Frank groaned for what must have been the fifteenth time in the last half hour, “I am not going to do a triple-backwards-cartwheel while holding a bowl of spicy macaroni with my feet. I can’t even do one cartwheel!”
“That’s because you always overthink it!” Julie giggled, playfully booping Frank on the nose, “Sometimes you think so hard it makes your head spin! It’s like I always tell you: Don’t think, just do!”
With a cheer, Julie bounced away on her toes, twirling and doing a full string of cartwheels all around the grass. Frank watched her with tired, half-lidded eyes. Even after knowing the rainbow monster for so long, he still didn’t know how she had so much energy.
He was thankful for it though; it meant that she was coming back to being her cheerful self. Since convincing her siblings to bring the season in early, Julie had started acting strangely. Her smile never quite reached her eyes, she was constantly mumbling to herself, and she always looked out into the forest with a distant expression.
Frank theorized that her weird behavior was connected to that strange black flower they found. The one that refused to bloom. Julie used to go to it occasionally and talk to it, trying to get it to open up. Frank wondered if it ever did. He also wondered why it wouldn’t open. If Julie was responsible for making the flowers bloom, then why wouldn’t that particular one open for her? Was it being rude? Could it simply not hear her? How?
She tried to hide it, but Frank could see that Julie was torn up about it. Neither of them had told the other neighbors about the strange flower, and in the grand scheme of things, that might have been for the best.
Looking at her now, jumping and bouncing all across the grass, twirling around the blooming flowers and cartwheeling circles around him, Frank couldn’t help but smile. He was still worried of course, but for now let the mysterious flower be. If it didn’t want to bloom, then so be it. But he was still cross with the bud over making his best friend cry. And if the day came where it finally did bloom, Frank was going to give that bud a piece of his mind!
The gray muppet came back to the present as Julie did seven cartwheels in a row before hopping back to her feet with effortless grace.
“See? Easy peasy, lemon-squeezie in the breezie!”
Frank rolled his eyes.
“Easy for you to say when you can just bounce off walls like they’re trampolines. The last time I tried a cartwheel I landed in a rosebush.”
He could still feel the ghostly pricks of all those thorns. It took him, Julie, Poppy, and Eddie hours to get them all out. By the end of that ordeal his sweater was a wreck!
“Ah yes!” Julie chirped, coming to a stop beside her friend, “You gave those roses quite a scare that day! Luckily they were nice enough not to hold a grudge!”
“Yes. Joy…”
“Hey, joy is my thing, you silly-billy!”
“I know it is, Julie…” Frank sighed heavily, “I know…”
While he was thankful those roses were not angry with him, Frank still wished he hadn’t crashed into them to begin with. Then he wouldn’t have lost his sweater, or inconvenienced everyone’s day by helping him.
Or given Barnaby something to taunt him with.
Frank grumbled at the thought of that overgrown clown. Every time he was around and something rose-related came up, the dog would always find a way to sneak in a jab towards that fateful day. Frank honestly wished it was him who fell into the bush. Let him be the butt of a joke for once. And he was still convinced that that shade of blue wasn’t their natural color!
The gray muppet took a deep breath, carefully folding those thoughts up and storing them away in the special part of his brain that was purely dedicated to hating that clown of a beagle.
Once they were packed away, Frank pulled himself back to the present again. He and Julie were walking down their usual forest path.
Flowers of every shape, color, and aroma dotted the sides of the path, their petals swaying delicately in the light morning breeze. Insects flew from bud to bud, enjoying the flowers’ sweet nectar or simply using them as a cushion. Frank took note of the many species out that day. There were beetles, bumblebees, butterflies, and even a few grasshoppers. One hopped in front of them, disappearing into the grass as quickly as it had appeared.
They came upon a large red rose, where Frank spotted a bright yellow Boggle floating above. He stopped with a gasp.
“Julie! Julie, look at this!”
Julie -who had been singing and skipping down the path without a care in the world- stopped and turned her head. She came over to Frank’s side with a joyful leap.
“What is it? What is it?”
“Look!”
Frank gestured to the big round insect. It sniffed along the flower’s center, much like a dog, circling it twice before nestling all six of its little stubby legs down for a rest. Upon noticing the two muppets leaning down to watch it, it tilted its head upwards with a slow blink.
“I’ve never seen a Boggle of this color before!” Frank gushed, “they only come out during the spring and summer months, but I rarely get to see one out in the open like this! And it’s a big one too! Very unusual for those of its species. Isn’t this exciting Julie?”
Frank looked over at his friend eagerly, but paused when he saw her face.
Julie was frowning down at the little critter, her mouth pressed into a thin line while her hands tugged at her hair. She stared at it with a hard, almost terrified expression; a very un-Julie-like expression, Frank would like to add.
“...Julie?”
Julie snapped out of whatever thoughts she was having. That expression on her face was quickly buried behind a much-too-chipper smile.
“Huh? Oh, sorry Frank! I guess I… zoned out a bit thinking about a new game we could play with our new Boggle friend!”
“Friend?” Frank gawked, “Julie, we just met the little one. We’re still strangers! We can’t just call each other friends right away!”
“Not yet we can’t!” Julie countered cheerfully, “But what better way to make friends then by playing a game with them?”
The rainbow monster leapt back to her feet and started to pace, rubbing her hands together eagerly.
“For this one, we’ll need a bowling ball, a box of sparkles, three sets of fireworks, some paint cans, a plate of spaghetti, your butterfly net collection, and a few turkey feathers! But if we can’t find any, I think we can ask Poppy for some of her molted ones…”
Frank inwardly sighed, but kept a close eye on his rainbow monster friend. Why was she looking at the Boggle like that? Julie was never afraid of bugs before; why, she was just as friendly to them as she was to flowers! In fact, Frank hadn’t seen her look that frazzled since…
The flower.
…
Hold on…
Were they… connected somehow?
An uneasy feeling settled in Frank’s gut at the thought. He didn’t know why. The Boggle continued staring up at him with its big, curious eyes.
Frank shook his head. He took note of the strange event and filed it away in his mind for later. He decided to pay closer attention to what new game Julie was concocting… that apparently needed his butterfly net collection…?
A rustling from the bushes cut Julie off mid-sentence. Frank paused, eyes darting towards the forest. He thought he recognized this area as where that late bloomer was located.
Curious.
The Boggle turned towards the strange noise too. With a tilt of its head, it flew up from its spot on the rose and into the trees. Its bright yellow body disappeared amongst all the green and brown of the foliage.
“Wait!” Frank cried, “Come back!”
He didn’t know why he expected it to listen. The gray muppet sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. Of all the times for him to not bring his notebook…
Another loud rustling caught Frank’s attention. Julie squeaked, partially hiding herself behind him.
“W-What was that?” she whispered.
The bushes rustled again, causing Julie to squeak again and wrap her arms around Frank’s left one.
Frank narrowed his eyes. A heavy, anxious feeling settled itself in his gut.
“Barnaby, that better not be you trying to prank us!” he called out, forcing his voice not to waver.
I’ll give you a piece of my mind if it is you, you piece of-
The rustling grew louder. Closer. Julie gulped.
“I-Is that you, Barnaby…?”
Seconds ticked by. The rustling continued, growing in volume until it reached the edge of the treeline. For once, Frank hoped it was that damn beagle fooling around.
A shadow slowly started to emerge beneath the sunlight. It slinked across the grass towards the two friends with slow, purposeful grace. Julie shrieked, screwing her eyes shut. Frank initially braced himself for a big blue buffoon to jump out, or… or worse…
Then he saw what that tiny shadow really was.
Standing before them now was not a big blue monster, or a mystery creature with no face, but a small black cat. It looked a little on the scrawny side, with twigs and leaves clinging to its short fur. Bright blue eyes studied the two curiously, its head tilting to one side. The strangest feature of all was the six flower petals that seemed to be… growing around its neck. They were a vibrant shade of purple and lightly curled at the ends.
It wasn’t just the unexplained flower petals (lilies or hibiscus most likely, if Frank’s memory was correct) that were odd. The way this cat stared at them felt… odd. Frank couldn’t explain it, but he felt like he was being… studied somehow. Scrutinized even. Or maybe ‘judged’ was a better word…
Julie finally cracked open her eyes, nervously peeking around Frank’s body to see who the mysterious creature was. Upon spotting the cat, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Oh my! What a cute little kitty!”
She ran around Frank in an instant, kneeling before the small black creature.
“Hello there!” the rainbow monster sang, “Springtime salutations little one!”
The cat turned its full attention onto Julie. It tilted its head again.
“Where did you come from? Are you lost? Oh, you do look a little messy there.”
Julie reached out her hand but froze when she saw the cat flinch slightly, its ears pulling back.
“Don’t be afraid! You’re best pal Julie Joyful is here to help! That’s me, in case you didn’t know.”
Frank yelped as he was suddenly pulled to the ground by Julie’s side.
“And this is my best friend, Frank Frankly! Say ‘hi’ Frank!”
“U-Um… Hello there,” Frank greeted cordially, giving a short if awkward wave.
The cat slowly blinked, the tip of its furry tail flicking ever so slightly.
“Are you lost?” Julie asked.
The cat blinked again, not responding. Bits of dirt and leaves flew out of its fur when it gave itself a quick shake. Frank yelped as a small twig hit him in the face while Julie cooed, clasping her hands together.
“Aww, the poor thing’s so dirty! Let’s take them back to the neighborhood, Frank! We can give them a warm bath, some food, and play dress up-!”
“N-Now now, Julie,” the gray muppet halted, holding his hands out towards his overly excited friend, “let’s not get ahead of ourselves! We don’t know how long this cat’s been wandering out in the forest. They could have germs we don’t know about.”
“All the more reason to take them back with us and give them a bath!” Julie refuted effortlessly, “Frank, we can’t just leave the poor thing out here! All alone with no one to love and care for them! Why, I’m tearing up just thinking about it!”
To prove her point, the rainbow monster sniffed, wiping away a stray tear from the corner of her eye.
“Well, what if they have an owner?” Frank argued.
“Then we’ll spread the word! If the whole neighborhood works together, I’m sure we can find their owner in no time. And if they don’t have one, then we’ll just keep them!”
Frank thought about it for a moment. He didn’t like the idea of leaving a lonely kitty out in the woods all by itself. Taking care of it until they found its home was the least they could do.
Just as he was making up his mind, he looked over and saw Julie clasping her hands together, giving him the biggest, saddest pleading eyes he had ever seen.
“Pleeeeaaaase Frank…! It’s the neighborly thing to do…!”
Frank cringed. He hated it when Julie used that look on him; curse that darn beagle for teaching her the concept of ‘puppy eyes!’
“...Oh… Alright, fine! I was going to say ‘yes’ anyway…”
“Yay!”
Julie jumped into the air with a cheer. For a moment Frank was worried that she would scare the poor cat away, but when he looked over he noticed it was still watching them with that same… odd look as before.
His friend didn’t notice the expression, too excited as she knelt down and held her hands out to the cat.
“Come on little one! We’ll take you back to the neighborhood and get you all cleaned up!”
Frank noticed the way the cat’s pupils shrank to thin slits as the rainbow monster’s hands quickly approached. He held her back with his arm, moving his legs to stand up.
“Julie, don’t rush. This cat has clearly been on its own for a long time, so it might not trust people right away.”
“Oh! Right! Sorry!”
Julie grinned sheepishly as she stepped back, keeping her hands to herself. Frank gave her a tiny smile before turning back to the cat. He held his hand out, slowly, allowing the cat to inspect him at its own pace. It leaned forward, sniffing the knuckles of his hand before moving to inspect the rest of it. Those bright blue eyes of theirs scanned over his entire hand, studying every single piece of felt and cloth that held him together. Frank found such a stare both fascinating, and a little intimidating.
At last the cat stood up and nuzzled its head against the palm of Frank’s hand. Its purr sounded like wind chimes, echoing around the inside of the gray muppet’s ears. It made him feel… relaxed, in a sense. The cat’s fur was soft, like velvet, and smoother than silk. Sally would sometimes use the materials for her costumes, hence how Frank even knew of the fabrics’ texture.
Though frankly he preferred wool or cotton, the material that composed a majority of his own wardrobe.
Snapping himself out of the tangent in his mind, Frank gave the purring cat a scritch under the chin before carefully moving his hands to grab them around the middle.
“Alright, here we go…” he whispered softly, “nice and easy…”
The cat didn’t struggle as Frank held them in his arms and stood up. In fact, they started to purr even louder, laying its head on the crook of his arm.
Julie cooed at the sight.
“Aww! I think she likes you!”
“‘She?’” Frank echoed, briefly pushing aside how comfortable this cat was with him, “How can you tell this is a ‘she?’”
“It’s a rainbow monster’s intuition! Or in this case, a Julie Joyful intuition! Besides, look at her! Those big bluebell eyes, those perfectly purple petals! You can’t tell me that this beautiful little creature isn’t anything but a ‘she!’”
Frank sighed tiredly, fondly rolling his eyes.
“Whatever you say, Julie… Either way, we’ll find out what they are when we get back.”
“Then let’s not waste time dottling! Come on, come on, come on!”
Julie grabbed Frank’s forearm and dragged him down the dirt path back to the neighborhood. Frank stumbled with a yelp, instinctively tightening his hold on the cat so they wouldn’t fall.
“Not so fast Julie! JULIE!”
As they ran, the cat’s purrs rang melodiously into the wind, weaving itself through the grass, flowers, trees, and wildlife that surrounded them.