It was special time, the 'sleeping hour' in the gorgs' garden.
That magical time after the first elephant like snore of the ruler of universe as he turned over in bed ,followed with the elegance and grace of his son and heir, who could clearly be heard doing a nose drive into the soft ashes of the fire place. (Where every fraggle worth their doozer sticks knew he always propped up 'standing guard'.)
The sleeping hour (being a fraggle hour) was of course far too sort for the single fraggle entrusted with gathering radishes from the frozen earth, but was just right for the once a year harvest of the annual pumpkin. Being a gorg pumpkin, it was easy to see why the job needed the help of all the rocks' older fraggles.
This year, much to Harriet's surprise as she hid in the shadow of a leaf as big as her story room, that number was close to eighty.
Normally, this party would have been like all the rest for the storyteller: Sixteen glasses of cranberry juice and a date people watching with her trusty notebook. But not this year...
Not if Fredrick had anything to do with it, at least.
All her best friends, save Merri, were at the moment clustered around the ghost knight like baby fraggles at the radish bar makers. Along with, much to their mates' annoyance, most of the other female fraggles of the rock.
Four or five young fraggles, clearly having escaped from bedtime under the not so watchful eyes of their parents, were sandwiched into the mob as well, their eyes full of awe at the strangers words.
"You really and truly battled a poison cackler?" Indigo asked, her normally high voice ending with an even higher note of excitement that could almost deafen a living fraggle at close range.
Fredrick nodded, a tiny moment so slow and refined that it sent the crowd of fraggles around him into oohs and giggles.
"And a chimera, two dragons, and one particularly grumpy griffin who had not yet had his morning tea...Is it truly that wondrous?"
Fredrick looked surprised when a sea of nods and 'yes's answered back to him, while Harriet's two friends drifted back to her spot in the shadow of the three fraggle high pumpkin.
"Ooooh Harriet, where in the rock did you dig him up?" Indigo asked with a dreamy glaze to her voice.
Harriet chewed on her muzzle, looking everywhere but in her friends' eyes.
"Oh..he was..just standing around on a hill..very lonely and.. um..he hadn't been back in fraggle rock for a..ah..long time."
Merri just rolled her eyes as Indigo when back to grinning broadly over her light blue nose at the distant Fredrick, now being assaulted by the energetic questions of a tiny eighteen year old named Felix.
"Why just being around that makes me want to bake a lifetime supply of snickerdoodles and set up camp in the attic."
Indigo mumbled, not hearing a word of Harriets' explanation as her voice drew down into a scheming whisper.
"..Everet and the children would never find us..there are only seven of them after all, and the secret crawl cave..."
The miniature hill of moving heavy woolen blankets, four scarves and an oversized winter pompom socking cap beside the three gave a few weak sounds of interjection, hoping up and down.
Merri reached over to untuck the wrappings part way, letting the small fraggle out of her protective cocoon enough to gasp in a breath of the nights' fresh air.
"You mumbled incoherently, Constance dear?"
The yellow fraggle resumed hopping, cheerfully grabbing onto Harrets' arm.
"Oh Ety, Fredrick is the ghost knight isn't he? Oh, I knew you could do it!" Constances' grin faded as her voice ended in another cough.
Indigo flashed her with a piercing look, quickly warping the sickly member of their group back into her warm confines.
"Constance, that's just silly, why, everyone knows ghosts are see-through! You shouldn't be talking about Freddy that way!" Indigo yelled at her friend cowered.
"Agreed, although he is a bit.. eccentric, he is our guest and..." Merri began one of her famous filibusters, no noticing the approaching shadow of a fraggle in back of them.
"What is it you are speaking of my love?" Fredrick asked, leaning his head next to the Harriet's ear.
The storyteller shivered from head to tail where she stood.
"Nothing..." she answered in a small voice.
Across from her, the over-warped Constance was beginning to shake as well at the sight of the new fraggle being so near.
"Is something amiss?" He asked, the youthful tone in his voice becoming clear again.
Constance pulled down a tiny part of the scarves covering her mouth slowly with a shaking hand.
"...Hi."
"A pleasure to meet you." He answered with a smile as the gaping yellow fraggle was suddenly pulled, blanket collection and all, away to the other side of the pumpkin by her mate.
The red skinned green haired male grumbled a string of not so nice things under his breath as their voices faded around the bend, Constances' cheerful small voice laced with coughing.
"Did you see? Did you see Razz? I actually talked to him!"
Merri stepped forward with an elegant flare of the turquoise silk robe she was wearing to pat Fredrick on the hand with a tender glance.
"There, there. I'm so sorry you had to be exposed to that sort of foolishness. She is no more than a child really, with a much too active imagination."
"Actually I..." Fredrick begin, stopping and looking a bit helpless in Harriet's direction as Merri continued on without noticing.
"To throw such a wild accusation at such a great explorer as yourself is unforgivable..."
"Great explorer?" A voice asked.
"Why yes!" Merri said with renewed enthusiasm, turning toward the the mystery fraggle slowly as she wagged a finger. "Why, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best explorer in the history of...the...rock...Oh...h..hello Matt."
Merri edged away to the side sheepishly as the Storyteller felt her heart fall into her tail.
The sad, slow, bobbing walk of a mud-stained, and once renowned tan pit helmet was followed just as sadly by its' owner, his eyes downcast over his wispy mustache, as one of his untied shoelaces landed the pitiful figure squarely on his muzzle beside Harriet's feet.
"Oh..Matt! W..what are you doing here?"
She felt her face growing a bright shade of radish red suddenly at the reality of Fredrick standing so near, taking a tiny step to the other side.
"Well..after a short walk though the more perilous areas of the Trail of Autumn Enlightenment it came to my attention that perhaps there was something to be discover in the Gorgs' garden after all..." Traveling Matt said with a serious sniff.
"Oh, you came! You came after all just for..."
Harriet's words stopped as cold as the hug she was just about to run and give her hero as he seemed to see Fredrick for the first time.
"And who is this, here?"
Indigo bit down on her muzzle nervously and Merri shook her head in agreement as the two darted away to the other side of the pumpkin.
The storyteller looked for Matt to Fredrick, biting down on her nails.
"Um..Mattykins..this is Fredrick..my...date."
"Mattykins?" Fredrick mimicked with a puzzled look before looking the other fraggle in the eye.
The two pit-helmeted, mustached, and hiking booted fraggles circled each other. Apart from Fredrick's darker skin and armor Harriet realized suddenly; They looked exactly alike!
Had her wishes really made that happen?
"I can see why, he is a handsome fellow, isn't he?" Matt said at last, patting the stranger on the back.
"Why, thank you." Fredrick replied, bowing to him in return.
The storyteller started to let out a bottled up breath she did not even know she had been holding when Matt spoke up again.
"By the by, what is this I here about you being the rocks' greatest explorer?"
Fredrick cocked his head to the side matter of factly.
"They are merely speaking the truth, I have traveled far..."
The tan fraggles' bushy eyebrows drew down ever so slightly.
"I would have to disagree, you're new here so you may not know, but I am the greatest explorer in fraggle rock."Matt said, settling into his trademarked pose.
"Um, boys there's no need to fi..." Harriet began, but was cut short in surprise.
"I would have to respectfully disagree with your disagreement, dear sir." Fredrick said as he posed himself, hoping up on a giant radish to pose even more gallantly. "There is no where I have not gone..."
"All right, everyone, everyone, it's time to harvest the pumpkin!" The world's oldest fraggle yelled with a cheerful smile though his lackeys blow-horn, and was met by cheers from all but a certain three fraggles.
"The Singing Caverns?" Traveling Matt asked with a glare as they each took their places at opposite sides of the squash, the storyteller trying her best to peek around the middle edge to keep an eye on both at the same time.
"Of course." The knight answered with a glare of his own.
"Okay everyone, heave..." The distant booming oldest fraggles' voice began.
"HO!" The whole crowd around the three replied energetically, lifting the the years supply of food over their heads in one mighty group effort.
"Chimney Hole Cavern?" Traveling Matt continued, his voice strained under the great weight as the whole gathering made a mad dash for fraggle rock together like a troop of multicolored ants.
"Frequently." Fredrick replied, not sounding the least bit affected by the burden at all.
"The Great Outer Maze?" Matt growled, barely able to talk as the entrance came into sight at last.
" Surely you jest, that is my summer cave." Fredrick yawned, letting go of the pumpkin and reappearing, as bold as brass, to the side of the struggling Matt.
The whole pumpkin dipped and weaved dangerously at the sudden loss of a much needed helping hand.
"Well, Sir." The tan fraggle began, walking out from the pumpkin as well to meet his orange doppelgänger as casually as ridding himself of gloves. " You may be well traveled but no one in all the rock can be as brave as the great Traveling Matt!"
In the background the pumpkin now weaved sharply the other direction, doing a dizzy spin.
"Oh brave are you?"
"Yes!"
"And great you say?
"Without a doubt!"
"We've all going to die!" Came the shrill cry of Indigo's as the pumpkin traveled the other way again.
"Then why have you not slew a dragon?"
"I've never met one, but I'm sure I could manage easily..."
"Whata way to go, killed by pie filling..." Indigo's voice came again.
By this time both traveling fraggles were red with rage, even if one was by all accounts, an illusion.
The crowd of pumpkin toting fraggles breathed as huge sigh of relief as the vegetables large woody stem caught on the upper rocks of the entrance, steadying it.
"If you are so brave and worthy why is it you have not yet lifemated Harriet?" The ghost knight spat, jabbing a finger into the a bit to round midsection of Traveling Matts' safari outfit.
For a moment the explorer said nothing, quaking with raw fury as he twisted down his nose.
It was a short moment.
"You, you little batworm! I'll have you know that if we were old and grey and still unwed I would be more than brave enough to..That is...I mean..." He looked over ever so slowly to the side.
The Storyteller stepped forward, her eyes wide behind their silver framed glasses, trails of tears upon her cheeks catching the moonlight.
Over her shoulder the entire adult population of fraggledom let out a trailing scream as they tumbled into fraggle rock, pumpkin first.
"Oh Matt, you do care!" Harriet exclaimed, zipping other to hug his side.
"Now, wait, he tricked me into saying." Matt began, and sputtered. "..That is Harriet it's not that I..."
But he was too late. His oldest fan in true hugging mode was already miles away atop a nearby cloud.