Africa's Descendant: Anakin & Kermit's Sand Debate

**Hey, Anakin.**

Anakin Skydancer stood up at the sound of his name. His blue eyes scanned the crowd, but he didn't see anyone calling him, except for a few people in the audience who looked like they might be waving at him.

"I'm over here." The voice sounded in his head.

Anakin turned around, and saw an old man with a long white beard sitting on the ground in front of him, eating an ice cream cone. "Who are you?" he asked, after looking around and realizing nobody was there to witness this strange event.

"This is my true form," the old man said. "I can take any shape I want... but I usually prefer this one."

"How did you find me?" Anakin asked. He noticed that all the people were still staring at him. Some of them seemed angry, and others were whispering to each other. He would have liked to listen in on their conversations, but he couldn't hear anything above the pounding of his own heart.

"Oh, well, it wasn't hard," the old man said between mouthfuls of ice cream. He gestured with his free hand at the swirling sandstorm that surrounded them and continued talking as if nothing unusual was happening. "I've been watching you for a long time now... *you* especially, Anakin Skydancer." He seemed to notice Anakin's concerned expression, because he added reassuringly "Don't worry, it's not like some creepy stalker thing or anything like that. I just find what you do very interesting."

"Why did you bring me out here?" Anakin asked cautiously. The wind was picking up strength and he could tell that it would only get worse before it got better. "Is there something I can do to help you? Or someone else? And while we're at it... why are we out here in this place?" A sudden gust blew sand into his eyes and he brushed it away angrily, then cursed under his breath when everyone heard him again. He fixed them with his best scowl until they went back to ignoring him again.

The old man smiled at him and Anakin wondered how someone so old could have such perfect teeth and a smile that looked more like a small child's than an adult's face. "You can help me by being yourself," he answered simply. "And let me introduce myself... I'm Kermit the Frog."

Anakin had never heard of anyone called Kermit before, but he certainly knew who The Muppets were; as a matter of fact, he had been quite fond of them as a child growing up on Tatooine ("They're green creatures! Just like my people!"). As soon as he realized that was who this strange stranger really was, however, everything fell into place almost instantly: "Oh... You're Jim Henson? Wow! This is amazing! You don't know how much your work means to me!" It was typical of Anakin's exuberance that he would change from being terrified (and also simultaneously angry) to being excited within a few seconds' span without showing any intermediate emotions along the way. But then again, since neither anger nor fear ever lasted long with him anyway, they tended to blend together into one big blur most of the time anyways... especially when there was so much excitement involved too! In truth, Anakin had always been more excited about meeting Jim Henson than about any specific movie or TV show that Henson had made; although each one meant something special to him too!

"It's an honor for me too," Kermit replied graciously -- even though from his perspective it wasn't even close to being an honor! Not only did no one have any idea who Kermit was (except for those who actually *had* watched The Muppet Show), but unlike Anakin himself (who could easily blend in among other humans despite his blue skin), no one would ever mistake Kermit for anything other than what he really was: A frog-like creature who stood upright on two legs and wore clothes! But seeing Anakin so happy made him think of all those years when he had thought humans hated frogs just because they looked different; so maybe there was something good about meeting them after all, even if this wasn't exactly how he had envisioned it happening...