Friday, June 4, 2021 Fig Newton Part 3

I have left you hanging for a long time, waiting for the next installment in Fig Newton’s adventures. The day has come – we simply must know what happened next in the life of our intrepid frog. I’ll copy the last paragraph of Part 2 below, as a reminder of where we were.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
All this thinking made him hungry. He pulled his boat over to a round, flat stone off the river a ways. It was nice that his boat was so small and he was so strong. He felt a little puffed up about that. He did some hunting and found an assortment of tasty spiders and a few little butterflies for dessert. He sat by the boat supremely relaxed and closed his froggy eyes for a little rest. Ahh, this was the life.

“What have we here?” A loud, deep voice woke him up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fig startled awake with a nimble jump, an advantage of being a frog that he’d always appreciated. Danger would not find him flat footed! He’d landed behind the rock and peered cautiously around it to see what it was that had so rudely interrupted his siesta. He was a little unsettled to see a rather large bear standing there, also peering around to see what had happened to him. In short, a lot of peering was going on.

“Where are you, little froggie?” the bear called out. “I’m not going to hurt you!”

Sure, thought Fig. And then he heard the voice of little girl. “Turn around, Grimpus. He’ll never come out if all he sees is you.”

The bear turned around slowly and Fig saw that the bear was carrying a papoose on his back, and in it was a girl who looked to be Lucy’s age. This boded well, as Fig deduced from this that A) The bear was probably a nice sort of bear, not inclined toward eating friendly frogs, and B) the girl was brave and kind, the best combination of traits to find in a new acquaintance.

Fig hated timidity of all kinds, so he jumped out boldly toward them, plucking his hat off mid-jump and sweeping it before him as he bowed in noble fashion, saying, “I am most pleased to meet you, fellow travelers. You have had the good fortune to meet Fig Newton, the frog with wanderlust and a sturdy boat to carry him toward adventure.” Fig had thought out this introduction beforehand, on the chance that he might meet others and on the whole approved of how it sounded now that he’d said it out loud.

The bear grumbled at this flowery speech, but the girl laughed and clapped, saying “Well, done and well met! And you, good sir, have met Miss Agra Glendalough and Mr. Grimpus Leatherfoot, at your service.” Grimpus grumbled again, not necessarily on board with the idea of being at this frog’s service. But Fig was right, he was a nice sort of bear and generally went along with Agra’s cheerful and friendly ways. It made their travels easy and his load light.

Not to be outdone in courtesy, Fig asked, “How may I be of service to you both?” Agra replied, “We saw your handsome boat and wondered if we might take a turn in it to do some fishing. Grimpus doesn’t really need a boat and fishing pole, of course, but it’s the only way I can do it. I usually cast my line from the shore, but sometimes I think the best fish are just out of my reach.”

Fig was dubious about this proposal. The Lucky Lucy was not designed for three, and definitely not if one of the three is a bear. “Well, er…um…you see…” Oh dear, he was stammering, absolutely ruining the good impression he’d made with his dashing introduction. He abandoned the wishy-washy approach and said, “Why don’t you get in and see how you fit?” This would certainly make his argument for him.

It did. “Oh,” said Agra after they’d squeezed their way onto the Lucky Lucy. “I see what you mean,” which was kind since he’d been evasive in his stutterings. It’s always nice when someone knows just what you mean anyway. He was definitely getting fond of Miss Agra. And Grimpus? Well, as long as the bear didn’t eat him, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

*******************************************

And there you have it. I’d love to have some cute illustrations to go along with this, but I’m just using photos of the felt creatures I’ve made. “Agra Glendalough” means “love between two lakes,” if I got the Irish right. We went to Glendalough State Park recently and I became quite enamored with the word. Let me know what you think of Fig and his latest adventure!

Fig Newton Part 1
Fig Newton Part 2
Fig Newton Part 4

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, between two lakes, dreaming Figgy thoughts.