A silly little story that came to me as I started thinking about planning my troop's activities for the next year.
I do not own these characters.
"What's with the uniform, Miko?" asked Bulkhead as she climbed into him after school.
"Host mom signed me up for girl scouts. Thinks it'll help me 'fit in' and 'make new friends.' I think she just wants a built in source of cookies." She had not been happy that morning, when her host mother had handed her a tan vest with some random number patches and a handful of pins on it. She had been even less happy with the bubbly group of girls she met after school, all wearing the same vest but with more things on them - earned badges on the front, fun patches on the back, she had learned. They recited something much too long to memorize, happily did a craft together, discussed something called a "take-action project" they were all participating in to earn some type of special award, and sang a silly song about circles and friends.
"Cookies?"
"Girl Scouts sell cookies for a few weeks a year. That's the only time you can get them. And if someone doesn't know the right person, and never happens on a cookie booth, it might be over before they even know it started." Miko was not looking forward to her host mother dragging her door to door through their neighborhood, or sitting outside a store for hours hoping that the shoppers wanted cookies.
Agent Fowler noticed her vest as soon as they entered the base. "Are you a girl scout now, Miko?"
"Host mom insisted."
"Got any cookies?"
"Not yet, Agent Fowler. Sometime in January, I think."
Several months passed. A few badges appeared on the front of Miko's vest; a few patches appeared on the back. She learned the words to the girl scout law - many of them seemed to fit the autobots too. She wasn't really feeling the bubbly girls, and she had no interest in their "bronze award" project, but she liked how her troop leader encouraged her to be herself, unlike her host mother (and her real mother) who wanted her to fit in.
"Yo, Agent Fowler," she said one day, "you still want to order some cookies."
"Absolutely. You got an order form I can take with me?"
"Sure. Need it back tomorrow though - host mom wants to take it work."
"Got it."
"I had to make a few copies of the order form" said Agent Fowler as he handed a Miko a stack of papers and an envelope full of cash.
She looked at him with wide eyes, speechless for probably the first time in her life. "Seriously?" she finally said.
"Soldiers love cookies" he replied with a smile.
The Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be
Honest & Fair
Friendly & Helpful
Considerate & Caring
Courageous & Strong
and
Responsible for what I say & do
And to
Respect myself & others
Respect authority
Use resources wisely
Make the world a better place
And be a sister to every girl scout.
The Friendship Circle song
Make new friends
but keep the old
one is silver and the other's gold
A circle is round
it has no end
That's how long I want to be your friend
I have a girl like Miko in my troop. She is a challenge (to put it mildly), but I know she will grow up to do great things one day. She is fearless. I'm certain she would sneak through the groundbridge after Bulkhead; not so certain she'd be able to keep the secret though!