Friday, October 22, 2021 Fig Newton Part 6

Synopsis of the story thus far: Our frog hero, Fig Newton, met a little girl on the river named Lucy, who knitted him a scarf, made him a sailor’s hat, made him a little boat and reluctantly said goodbye to him so he could go see the world. Along the way, Fig was thinking through his trip when he ran across a bear carrying another girl. The bear was Grimpus Leatherfoot and the girl, Miss Agra Glendalough. They decided to travel along with him, walking by the riverside since his boat was too small for them. He spent some time thinking about what he’d want to do and see before returning home. In the last part, he was singing in the boat by himself and was accosted by a fox named Phineas who stole his boat, leaving Figgy sitting on the riverbank, bereft.

Part 6
Fig was still sitting on the riverbank, froggy head in his froggy hands, when Miss Agra and Grimpus returned from their foray into the woods for nuts and berries.

“Fig! What’s wrong? Where is the Lucky Lucy?” Miss Agra cried out when she saw him.

“She’s gone,” he answered dully. “Stolen. By a fox. I never saw him coming. I was careless, singing as if nothing could ever happen to me. I’ll never see that boat again. Everything’s gone wrong. What a calamity. There’s no recovery from this. I expect I’ll be stuck here the rest of my days.” He might have gone in that vein for quite a while longer, but Miss Agra interrupted his sad soliloquy.

“Piffle!” she said firmly.

“Piffle?” Fig lifted his head in surprise at this. “What do you mean, ‘piffle?’” He had expected comments to be more on the order of sympathetic murmurings and a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

“Nonsense! Fiddlesticks! Balderdash! Poppycock! Codswallop!” Miss Agra went on, as if holding a thesaurus in her hand. Fig couldn’t help admiring her command of the language, even if he was a bit insulted by this completely unsympathetic response to his plight. “If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s self-pity! Stop it right now. I distinctly remember you telling us that everything happens for a purpose. Did you believe it or were you just blathering to hear yourself talk?”

Well! This was a fine howdy-do! The worst thing in the world had just happened to him and he couldn’t get even a syllable of consolation! But Fig was not a fool, or at least not a complete fool. He held his peace, they held their peace, and in the resulting silence, he came to his senses.

“Of course, you’re right,” he said at last. “I’ve been stewing in self-pity instead of taking stock of the situation in a more positive light. The loss of my boat grieves me, but I’d much rather lose my boat than lose my friends.”

For this, his reward was a rather enthusiastic hug and kiss on his cheek from Miss Agra and an awkward “There now,” from Grimpus. Fig felt much better already.

“I’m glad we’ve gotten that out of the way,” Miss Agra said with all the sympathy that Fig could have wanted. “Now we can figure out what to do next.”

Grimpus asked Fig to describe the villainous thief and when he heard the name “Phineas Fox,” he said, “Say no more. I’ve heard of this troublemaker. He’s got the polished manners of a gentleman, but his deeds don’t match the manner. We mustn’t wait a moment longer. I’ll carry Miss Agra and you, my fine fellow, can use those springy legs you’ve got. Let’s give chase!”

And off they went, following the curve of the river, with determination, merry hearts and hopeful spirits. Oh, Phineas Fox, beware!

Maybe we all need someone to say “Piffle!” to us occasionally when we’re feeling sorry for ourselves. 🙂

Fig Newton Part 1
Fig Newton Part 2
Fig Newton Part 3
Fig Newton Part 7

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, following the curve of the river…