91.) December 6, 2009: "The Scone Secret" [1J]

"Private, these are really good," Skipper remarked as he held up one of the baked goods that Private had made for the team. "But you'll have to remind me what they're called."

"It's a scone, sir," Private replied.

"Ah, a 'scone,'" Skipper said. "And let me guess, your secret ingredient is love?"

"Um, well, you see–" Private began.

"Come on, spit it out, soldier!" Skipper declared. "Your secret's safe with your commanding officer."

"OK," Private said. "While I did put love into my baking, the secret ingredient is actually–"

"Joy? Peace? Pride?" Skipper called out.

"No," Private stated. "It's salt."

92.) December 7, 2009: "The Tree Lighting"

"Kowalski, light this candle – er – tree!" Skipper declared at the stroke of 1830 as a group of zoo animals watched the annual Christmas tree lighting next to the penguins' habitat.

Kowalski flicked the switch to light the tree, but it remained dark.

"What's the word, Kowalski?" Skipper inquired.

"There's probably a fuse blown somewhere," Kowalski stated. "Keep the crowd entertained while I go find it."

"OK," Skipper said. "We'll sing 'The Twelve Days of Christmas.'"

"Skipper, I don't know how long it's going to take to fix the problem," Kowalski stated. "You'd better make it 'The Sixty-Two Days of Christmas.'"

93.) December 8, 2009: "The Thermometer"

"Achoo!" Skipper sneezed one morning.

"You don't look so good," Private stated as he looked at Skipper. "I'll get you a thermometer."

Private then went to Rico, who regurgitated a new sterile thermometer.

"Here you go," Private said as he handed it to Skipper. "Just a few minutes in the bum and you can see if you're sick."

"What?!" Skipper exclaimed. "That's disgusting!"

"The vets do it all the time to find animals' temperatures," Private stated.

"Well, the vets are sick and twisted," Skipper declared as he placed the thermometer in his bill. "I'll take my temperature the normal way."

94.) December 9, 2009: "Re-Gifting"

"Smart penguin," Julien walked over to Kowalski and said, "tell me what your sweater size is."

"I don't wear sweaters; I have feathers," Kowalski replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Does a king need a reason?" Julien inquired.

"Well, if penguins had sizes, I guess I'd be a medium-tall," Kowalski stated.

"Great," Julien smiled as he pulled a sweater out from behind his back. "Try this on."

Julien watched as Kowalski stared at the sweater, red with a penguin on the front.

"Eh, it was a gift from my mother," Julien commented. "It's a bit too snug and not my style."

95.) December 10, 2009: "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Julianuary" [2J]

As the penguins enjoyed a relaxing evening at the HQ, the peace was suddenly broken when the lemurs barged in to sing Christmas carols. Sort of.

Julien then walked up to Skipper, cleared his throat, and began to sing.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Julianuary
"Presents for the kingly me
"Bananas lined up in a row, tied up with a bow
"Now Mort, don't you touch the royal feet!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Julianuary
"Plenty of corn for popping
"Now listen to my advice, don't make me say it twice
"Shut up and start shopping!"

96.) December 11, 2009: "Popcorn Pilferer" [3J]

"Did you hear that, boys?" Skipper asked his team as he woke them up in the middle of the night. "It sounded like crunching."

Rico regurgitated a flashlight and handed it to Skipper. All of the penguins then climbed out of their bunks to investigate the sound Skipper had heard. It didn't take them long to find the source.

"Well, you're a hungry little otter, aren't you?" Skipper chuckled as he discovered Marlene eating from the penguins' popcorn reserves.

"I'm sorry, Skipper," Marlene apologized. "You guys may be sick of popcorn by now, but I still can't live without it!"

97.) December 12, 2009: "To Keep Warm"

"Kowalski, how soon can you fix the heater?" Skipper asked one chilly night at the HQ. "I'm freezing my tailfeathers off!"

"At best, hours," Kowalski replied as he continued tinkering with the unit. "At worst, never."

"Well, Skipper," Private then spoke up, "we could all huddle together to keep warm for now. The penguins do it all the time in Antarctica."

"While I can see how that might be essential there to survive the harsh climate, it ain't gonna fly here," Skipper stated as he turned to Rico. "Rico: Hand warmers!"

"Huh?" Rico wondered.

"Make that flipper warmers," Skipper corrected.

98.) December 13, 2009: "Risk of Electrical Shock"

"Maurice, my royal fur is now squeaky clean," Julien stated as he stood in his bathtub after a bath. "Now bring me my hairdryer!"

"OK, your majesty," Maurice said as he carried it over, "but you can't use it in the tub."

"What?!" Julien questioned. "Gimmie – I command you!"

"No, you could get electrocuted," Maurice declared. "It's on the label."

"That label is for commoners!" Julien yelled as he snatched it from Maurice. "I am royalty!"

"This ain't gonna end well," Maurice sighed to himself as he then headed for the door. "I'd better go put the penguins on alert."

99.) December 14, 2009: "Tossing and Turning"

Marlene tossed and turned in her bed, but sleep just wouldn't come. She figured it had to be because of her pillow, which was lumpy and in need of replacement.

An idea then struck her, so she climbed out of bed and strolled over to see the penguins.

"Sorry to come this late," Marlene apologized as Skipper came to the HQ's door, "but I can't seem to sleep without a nice soft pillow."

"And this affects us how?" Skipper wondered.

"Well, since you guys are birds, I was hoping I could get some feathers to stuff my pillow," Marlene requested.

100.) December 15, 2009: "Taking the Plunge?"

After reading – at least as good as he could read – about an upcoming event in the newspaper, Private set it down and excitedly waddled over to Skipper.

"Skipper, I know how we could have a whole lot of fun on New Year's Day," he chirped to his commandeer. "There are these things called polar bear plunges all across the country – you jump into the chilly winter water!"

Skipper shook his head.

"Private, what species are you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Penguin, sir," Private replied.

"Then why so excited about swimming around in cold water?" Skipper asked. "We already do that everyday."

* * *

Drabble Notes

1J: This drabble was inspired by "love" having been Private's secret ingredient in the sardine smoothies he had made for the team in the "Gone in a Flash" episode.

2J: The song Julien sang in this drabble is a parody of the first two verses of Meredith Willson's classic Christmas song, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." The "Julianuary" part stems from the December holiday Julien invented to honor himself in the 2009 NBC TV special "Merry Madagascar," while the "Shut up and start shopping" line comes from Julien having said it in the "Happy King Julien Day!" episode.

3J: Since the penguins now had a huge pile of popcorn, Skipper commented that he was "pretty darn sick of popcorn" at the end of the "Popcorn Panic" episode. Apparently, as this drabble tells it, the penguins later put the surplus in a reserve, and Marlene, still with a popcorn craving, got caught attempting to raid it one night.

Final Thoughts: Reaching Day 100

Well, there you have it. The 100 days are now over, and I have, on my honor, followed all the rules I had imposed on day one; I have thus met my own challenge. I thank all of you who have enjoyed reading my drabbles throughout the process, especially the 16 people who have submitted a total of 36 (so far) reviews on my project. Specifically, these individuals are (in order of their first review): weirdgirl332, Porsche101, peaches2217, Gewlicious, Smilesas, dragongirlj, Kevin-Cross, knockknocktimerico, Skullshovel, ponytail30527, halfhuman123, Soothesayer16, LarkroseLukos, tripenguinman, Skullcemetery, and Skoolgrl09.

Reaching this 100th day is bittersweet to me, in that I am no longer obligated to come up with fresh drabble ideas daily, but yet I will still miss the fun and thrill of writing them each day. I have thus decided that there will be a sequel to this project in the future in which I write double-drabbles (200-word stories) for 100 days. I will be taking a break from drabbling now, but look for the sequel to come out in February 2010.

GrandOldPenguin
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
4:09 a.m. Eastern Standard Time