Where Have All the Singers Gone?

9:30 PM

Jimmy's Ice Cream Diner

"Please Larry? Can you do the song?" Archibald pleaded once more.

"I'm sorry Archie, I don't want to." Larry denied once again, and scooped more vanilla ice cream into his mouth. The two co-workers were at Jimmy's Ice Cream Diner, eating ice cream and talking about the next song segment in the upcoming episode.

"Well why can't you do the Obscure Broadway Show Tunes?" Archibald questioned, still confused.

"Cause I don't think I should." Larry stated, and ate another scoop of ice cream out of the bowl. The diner was not busy in the nighttime, making the diner the best place to hold this conversation.

"I don't understand," Archibald said puzzled, "you've done the Silly Songs, what's wrong with doing this?" Just then, Jimmy in his chef outfit came over to their table, drying off a bowl with a towel.

"Hey guys, I hate to tell you this, but my Diner closes in 30 minutes." Jimmy reminded them politely.

"Don't worry Jimmy, we're almost done here." Larry told him, trying to hide his discomfort about the conversation.

"What's the matter this time?" Jimmy asked, and leaned on the table.

"He doesn't want to do the 'Obscured Broadway Show Tunes'." Archibald informed. Larry just sulked in his booth seat, and stared at the empty ice cream bowl on the table.

"Wha? Larry the Cucumber not wanting to do a song?" Jimmy wondered a bit taken back.

"No it's just..." Larry tried to explain his predicament, but couldn't find anything to say.

"Is the song too silly for you?" Jimmy asked.

"Of course not! I've done sillier songs that this one!"

"You don't like the song's choice of theme?" Archibald put in.

"No Archie, I'm fine doing a song about office supplies."

"You want a raise?" Jimmy asked. Archibald and Larry stared at him. "What? I know some people..."

"It's not that," Larry said, getting back on the subject, "I just don't...think..." he was jumbled in his words again.

"Don't think you should do it?" Archibald filled in, figuring it out. Larry gave a nod.

"Well why not?" Jimmy asked, "You will be part of another song, you get to use your lips and voice to sing, and you will be doing a duet with Petunia!"

"That's the point!" Larry exclaimed, realizing why he didn't want to perform.

"Oh, you don't want to sing with Petunia?" Archibald questioned.

"Well-"

"Larry, you and Petunia have such great voices! Plus you are one of the most experienced singers in Veggie Tales! Why wouldn't you want to do a duet with her?" Jimmy immediately bombarded Larry with his words.

"No, I want to!" Larry defended himself, "I just think...someone else should do it."

"Who did you think should do it?" Jimmy questioned, hoping to hear who was better than Larry, which he had doubted.

"I don't know...just someone better than me." Larry sighed, and leaned against the glass window.

"So," Archibald started to piece together, "you rather not perform the duet with Petunia, because you think she should be partnered up with a better performer rather than you?"

"Yeah...I guess." Larry mumbled, sitting back up in his seat instead of slouching on the window.

"Why?" Jimmy asked, collecting Larry's ice cream bowl.

"I just think since this is her first song segment," Larry explained sincerely, "she should sing it with someone better than me."

"Oh I see." Jimmy realized along with Archibald.

"You don't think you're not that 'someone'?" Archibald asked.

"I know I am not that 'someone'." Larry stated stubbornly.

"And you're sure this is the reason why you don't want to sing with Petunia?"

Larry nodded his head.

"I better finish cleaning up," Jimmy said, and went off with the ice cream bowl, collecting other ice cream bowls and malts that were left on once crowded tables. "Ya know, Larry, I think you are the best singer we have."

"Awe, thanks Jimmy." Larry said, a bit cheered up.

"Yeah, and you are the most experience singer that everyone loves!" Jimmy called out as he entered into the back kitchen to clean up the glasses and bowls.

"Now he's just saying that." Larry remarked to himself, flattered. Archibald removed his monocle from his eye, and started to clean it with a napkin.

"You do know she had a choice for picking her singing partner, right?" Archibald questioned. This question caught Larry off guard.

"She did? How do you know Archie?" Larry asked, curious about what Archibald had said.

"I was with the producers when they came to ask her about the choice of singers," Archibald shared his story, still thoroughly cleaning his monocle,
"They gave her a bunch of choices, including some of those hit singers."

"Who?"

"I think their names were Britney Spears, Lita Ford, Katy Perry, and I think a singer from American Idol," Archibald explained, "plus they offered the choice of Mr. Lunt and Jimmy."

"Really? How did the producers managed to pull that off with those celebrities?"

"I have no idea, dear boy, no idea what so ever." Archibald sighed. "Getting to the point, she thought it over after awhile, and she finally made her decision."

"Who did she pick?" Larry asked, leaning over the table towards the British asparagus.

"She picked you." Archibald stated. Larry jerked backwards with his jaw open in shock.

"Me?" Larry asked in surprise, "Are you sure Archie?"

"If my ears weren't deceiving me, I could have sworn I heard Petunia say "I want Larry to sing with me"."

"When's the last time you had your ears checked?" Larry asked, trying to find anyway to deny what he heard from Archibald.

"Just before I had to go with the producers to ask her, Larry." Archibald said flatly, also giving him a look of disbelief.

"She wanted me to sing with her?" Larry repeated again, making sure he was hearing clearly himself.

"Yes she wanted you to sing with her!" Archibald repeated himself as he placed his monocle back on his eye. Larry was lost in a trace as his mind processed the information.
Archibald waited patiently for Larry to reply. Finally after a minute, Larry snapped out of his trance, and looked at Archibald.

"Alright Archie, I'll do the song." Larry finally answered.

"What made you change you mind dear boy?" Archibald asked interested.

"If Petunia chose me over all those other singers like you said, then there has gotta be a reason why she wanted me with her." Larry expressed openly, unaware of how that sounded.

"Indeed." Archibald concluded as he slid out of the booth seat. Larry followed suit, and stood beside his friend.

Jimmy exited the kitchen without his diner outfit, and locked up the kitchen door.

"Well, I guess we should get going now." Jimmy declared as he went for the light switch near the front door.

"Thanks for convincing me, Archie." Larry said as they went over to Jimmy.

"Oh, anytime Larry." Archibald replied cheerfully.

"Oh, did you hear the about Extreme Re-Do is going to be remodeling the kitchen?" Jimmy asked as he gathered his stuff.

"Oh yeah! Qwerty is gonna get new upgrades!" Larry exclaimed happily. "Qwerty is gonna be so happy."

"Don't tell Bob about it though." Archibald warned.

"Oh yeah, it's a surprise for Bob." Larry remembered. Jimmy flicked the switch off to the lights inside Jimmy's Ice Cream Diner.
The three vegetables exited the diner, and Jimmy locked the main doors once he was out.

"Khalil was so happy when they told him that he was gonna get a role in Pistachio." Larry remarked.

"I heard that the whale flipped out when they said they were going to film him in another story." Jimmy added.

"He did flip," Archibald put in, "I was the one who had to tell him."

On their way home, the three friend co-workers chatted as they went. Even though the matter was settled, Larry still had one unanswered question in his head that kept on nagging in his mind.

Why did Petunia pick him over everyone else?

Author's Notes: Happy Thanksgiving season whoever is reading this. Thanks for reading and leave a review if you want.