A postcard hung in a cozy spot on a cave wall, long papered many times over with drawings and Polaroid snapshots.

The cards' travel beaten edges framed words written with a steady, well practiced hand in small green ink lettering :

Dear Mokey, Boober, and Little Nippers,

The other day we finally finished our journey on another floating cave across the Great Pond to more of the many Silly Creature islands. Red was grumpy at first because we didn't land on the 'right' one

with our favorite Singing Place, but then everyone was happy with what we did find: A festival celebrating fish!

Once a year silly creatures sew and sell Flying Fish socks and set them high up on poles to catch the wind with their mouths. I guess you can catch more wind with socks than real fish eh?

It really is something to see, and the little silly creatures seemed especially happy. They laughed a lot when Red tried to climb up one of the poles in her fish outfit to go fishing.

We hope this card finds you okay, we will be going to our Singing Place island tomorrow and will meet you before 3rd snack at the sixty-forth east cave in Uncle Matts' room from there…

Love Always,

Gobo, Red, and Wembley

P.S. Oh I just remembered , it's a tree tunnel, so you might want to bring your splinter needle again Boober. What's travel if you don't lose a little skin eh?

If you are confused, check with the sun

Carry a compass to help you along...

It was a wonderful place to feel alive.

The club was a spinning hopping collection of fresh faces and school uniforms, their cell phone and glow stick carrying handing dancing upward to the beat of deafening bass notes

So stand

Stand!

Now face North

Think about direction

Wonder why you haven't

The performer on the stage sweep a hand through his hair, its' neon orange, white and green locks shining with the gloss of sweat that caught the weaving overhead lights.

Now stand

Stand!

Now face West

Think about the place where you live

Wonder why you haven't

His tail tuff, equally dyed to earthy rainbow perfection swayed forward, making a girl in the front row faint dead away.

Stand in the place where you live

Now face North!

Think about direction

Wonder why you haven't before

The stars' hands traveled like musical lightning up and down the strings of his glistening cherry red guitar as a shadowed drummer and bass player tried pitifully to keep up.

Now stand in the place where you work

Now face West

Think about the place where you live

Wonder why you haven't before

They finally gave up, collapsing into ruined heaps overcome by their leaders pure talent-ousity.

Stand in the place where you are

Stand in the place where you are

The crowd erupted into clapping, starting up a chant that made the whole club ring like the roar of a poison cackler.

Your feet are going to be on the ground

Your head is there to move you around, so stand!

"Wembley, Wembley, Wembley!"

"'Thank you Kyoto'!" The green fraggle yelled in his most rockstar-ish voice as he was lifted up onto the sea of humanity, laughing and smiling. "Thank you..thank you…"

"Oh no, he's got that look again." A far away voice drifted in from somewhere far away.

"Aw no, we gotta go soon..do you think?" Another voice added, cutting in line in front of the screams of his biggest fans.

"I don't think, I know, there's nothing for it but the ice water."

"Ice water?" The startled star exclaimed as two very mean musclebound bouncers came out of nowhere with a giant barrel of what looked like fizzy water.

"Argh!"

The surrounding scene melted away in a slash of icy fizz that tasted nothing like strawberries and everything like crushed cherry colored guitar dreams.

"You with us again pal?" Gobo asked, as Wembley's vision came back into focus, to be greeted by the worried steady look of his long time best friend over his orange muzzle.

Wembley rubbed his eyes, drops of the icy attack dripping from his mop of dyed hair and down his long nose as he turned toward the sight of Red still holding an empty cup.

"This isn't going to be one of those two cup daydreams is it?"

"No..I'm..I'm okay Red. Gosh, did you have to make it so cold though?" Wembley said with a shiver.

The small karaoke bar stood nearly empty in its' off hours, its' well kept stage and miniature tables filled with only a few stray business men in work worn suits and what looked like a high schooler, elbow deep in a difficult looking textbook.

All and all, the three fraggles were far away from the neon bathed place of Wembley's fantasy.

The owner of the shop, a tall gentle looking silly creature in his early sixties, came over to the groups table without a word with a towel that the smaller fraggle grabbed gratefully with a small nodding bow. "'Thank you Mr. Watanabe , you're the best.'"

"Wembley, you know I don't want to do it, but you get this way every time we go to a singing place, off a thousand miles away with that silly grin of yours…”

The yellow fraggle shook her head, her ginger pigtails swaying. “And not silly good, silly crazy! A splash is the only thing for it…"

"You gotta admit Wembley, that bad habit of yours' might be trouble..” Gobo added in as Red leaned on his shoulder where she sat, sucking on a leftover ice cube.

“What if you start getting all dreamy someday when we're crossing a street?"

"I'm sorry..But you know Gobo.. if I only.. had a guitar." Wembley looked down at his hands.

"Oh no, not the guitar again." Red groaned, chewing on another ice cube with a noisy crunch.

"…If I only had a guitar I bet I would be extra great." He said looking up with bright hopefully eyes.

"Wembley we've been over and over this, silly creature guitars aren't for fraggles. We don't need them." Gobo sighed, reaching to pat him on the shoulder.

"But Gobo…"

"..and even if they were you'd have to pay money for one, and I know you wouldn't want to give it up..” Gobo's voice fell into a serious tone. “You remember the rule we all agreed on…"

"Don't buy anything unless you can pass it on.." Wembley recited faintly.

"And it's a good rule to…" Gobo nodded.

"..a good silly one…" Red added, looking away quickly to whistle where she now sat in an adjoining chair, her legs crossed over on Gobo's lap.

"Aw Red, this isn't going to be about that World In A Box I made you pass on again is it?" Gobo sighed. “The little silly creature was so happy..."

"Twenty-two million five ..something...thousand points Gobo!" Red yelled with a crazed look, leaning forward and grabbing his shirt sleeve. “I almost had a world record.."

Gobo grinned, suddenly tickling the bare feet before him and sending the yellow fraggle onto the floor in an attack of surprised giggles.

"What you almost had was two weeks without a bath." He chuckled.

"Maybe you guys are right, maybe..maybe not even a guitar would make me great…" Wembley said, his suddenly sad voice braking up their playful teasing quicker than any water.

"Wembley…" Gobo began, stopping mid-tickle.

"We never said anything like that…" Red blurted out, catching the cutting edge of her taken a back-ness as best as she could as she got up.

Wembley turned from his friends, exchanging mellow words with the shop owner and bowing as the two other fraggles followed his lead.

The mood was still heavy and silent when they made their way though the swinging doors and onto the city streets,

filled even at this hour with groups of tourists (dressed completely out of season, as was their custom) on their way to Kyoto's many temples.

"What did he say Wembley?" Red asked gently to the furry back walking slowly in front of them, dragging a neon green backpack covered with band buttons along the sidewalk with heavy footsteps.

"He said we're more that welcome to stay at their house again anytime, and to be careful..and, and he said to study hard on our exams."

Red sighed "Why doesn't anyone ever listen when we say we're not in Middle, High, Sideways or Upside Down school? For creatures that spend..."

She shuttered from head to tail. "...years in school you'd think they'd be smarter."

Gobo laughed "Now Red, you know that's just Mr. Watanabe way of wishing us good luck."

Gobo smiled, trotting to catch up to Wembley. "You see? We wouldn't get anywhere without your translating Wembley, we're no good at it."

"Sure, but you could learn easy Gobo, you're smart." Wembley said, not looking up.

"Hey!" Red grumbled in pretend anger behind them, trying without much luck to stuff two large fish shaped wind-socks into her small bundle.

"You too Red. The..only reason I'm okay at ten different languages is 'cause I'm not good at anything…any one thing. Besides singing, but everybody can do that."

Red fell silent as she finally picked up a long stick from the side of the road, pretending to be preoccupied with stinging her souvenirs like a pretend fisherman.

"Even..even..if I had a shiny guitar…"

"Wembley you know you're always…" Gobo began but was cut short by the growing temper under the younger fraggles words,

an odd mixture of anger and sadness that was once so rare to fraggle kind it had even frightened the experienced explorer the first time he heard it.

"You know everything Gobo, Red's strong and sure, Mokey's good at stories and magic things, and Boober takes care of everybody..what do I do, what do I do?"

Wembley lifted his head at last, giving Gobo a glare that was bordered with tears and suddenly bolting off without another word. His friends had to admit that for all the things he had said he was awful at,

running was not one of them.

"Wembley!" Gobo shouted, running forward with a dash he was getting better and better at lately . He just caught the strap of the maddened fraggles' pack a moment before Wembley wiggled free of it in one skillfully motion, sending him tumbling forward.

"Oh…" Gobo groaned, trying his best to hide the pain of a skinned knee as Red rushed to look at it. "I just don't know anymore Red, it..it was suppose to stop years ago."

"Outer Space is seriously weird about everything I guess.." Red said softly as she kneed beside Gobo, looking up to watch the small green fraggle dart into the surrounding crowd. "I..I hope he'll be okay..."