“Gather round, now.  Form a ring.

Promenade your sweet darling!

Kimberly Mae just did her best!

She cleaned a gosh-awful mess!

“Do-si-do now, move your feet!

There’s lots of M&Ms to eat!

Give thanks for the good she brings!

Give a tribute to your king!”

Then Kimberly Mae noticed, King Fibble was missing.  His throne was in its usual place, but it was empty.  So she asked Daddy, “Where’s the king?”

“He got a slight cold, Kimberly Mae.  He’s in my bedroom, sleeping in my bed.”

Chapter 14

Kimberly Mae went to Daddy’s bedroom to see if she could help in any way.  “That poor Fibble Wibble!  He should be having fun, not being sick!” she told herself.  She knocked on the door and heard a tiny voice, “Come in.”  There, in the bed, was the king and Obie Wibble who was taking care of him.

“Are you feeling better, my king?” Obie asked.

“Yes, Obie.  I just seem to feel a little clogged in the head.”

When Kimberly Mae came closer, the king said, “Hello, Kimberly Mae.  It is an honor to see the heroine of the day!  Your presence brightens me up!  Thank you for coming to my sick bed!”

“You’re welcome, my king,” she said.

Then the king sneezed, “Awwwww, awwww, awww CHOOOOOO!”  He had the biggest sneeze Kimberly Mae had ever seen from such a small person.  Something bounded from his nose and landed on the blanket.  She didn’t look at it because it was green and probably gross.  Obie came and picked it up with a shovel and chucked it into a large pale at the side of the bed.  When he did, Kimberly Mae heard it hit the bucket with a loud, “dink.”

“Dink?”  She thought.  He must have sneezed out something quite hard to make that sound.  What kind of a sneeze goes ‘dink?’  She was curious, but not curious enough to look.  Then she saw Obie come to the king with tweezers.  “Please, dear king, let me unclog your ears!”

“Very well, Obie.  That will make me feel better!”   She thought he would hand the king a Q-Tip, but she saw that was not needed.  Obie reached in with tongs and pulled out something red!  It was a red pebble!  It looked so big she wondered how it got into such a tiny ear!  It was shiny, and glowed.

“That feels much better!” said the king.  “Those earbrackas are painful!”

“Now let me get the other ear!” Obie said.  And when he did, he pulled out something that looked clear and shiny.  “It’s an earcrask,” he said.

“Earcrasks and earbrackas!  I am sicker than I thought!  And did you see the size of that green nosebultz?  Disgusting!” the king said.

“I’ve never seen this before!” Kimberly Mae said.  “Does this happen a lot?”

“You’ve never seen nosebultz before?  Or earbrackas and earcrasks?” he said, quite amazed.  “You haven’t missed anything.  Kimberly Mae, you don’t have to be here to witness this.  A sick Fibble Wibble can make dozens of those things every hour.  Things of one sort of another will come popping out of me every few minutes.  You shouldn’t have to see this.”

“It’s okay, my king.  I don’t mind.  It doesn’t look gross to me.”

That made the king pause for a second.  Then he said slowly, “For people who like gorka, I’m not surprised!  If you aren’t grossed out by it, hmmmmm.”  The king took a moment to think.  “Maybe you can do me a favor, then.”

“I am at your command, my king,” she said.

“Would you grab that bucket at the side of the bed and show it to your Daddy for me?!”

“Yes, sir, your majesty,” she responded.  She got the bucket and bowed to the king.  As she was leaving, she noticed what was in the bucket.  “Oh, pretty!” she said.  “They are rocks!  Not like gorka, but shiny, pretty rocks.  I’ve got to show Daddy this,” she said to herself.  So she walked up to Daddy, who was in the middle of eating a sandwich at the picnic table, showed him the bucket and said, “Daddy, what are these?”

Daddy looked at the bucket.  He grabbed some of the rocks.  “Kimberly Mae?  Where did you get these?”

“Tell me what they are first,” she said.

He held them up to the light.  “The clear ones look like diamonds, the green ones are emeralds, and the red ones are rubies.  Kimberly Mae, this is worth a fortune!  Tell me, where did you get these?”

Kimberly Mae couldn’t answer right away.  She was thinking how much fun the king would have mocking humans for valuing Fibble Wibble sneezes.

“Kimberly Mae, answer me!  Where did you get this?” Daddy asked again.

Just then, they heard a song from the nearby Fibble Wibble performer:

“Gather round you biggie friends!

To you our Fibble thanks ascends!

What joyous folk we find you are!

You’re the biggie-best, by far!

Now I’ll tell you what we’ll do!

For our favorite guest - Ahhhhh Chooooooooooooooo!”

                The Fibble Wibble didn’t mean to, but at that moment, he let out a whopper of a sneeze!  It was ten times larger than any sneeze Kimberly Mae had ever known!  And an emerald, ten times larger than Daddy and Kimberly Mae had ever seen came flying out his nose and landed squarely onto Daddy’s lap!  He just looked at it for a second, with his eyes wide open.  “Did you see that?  Kimberly Mae!  Did you just see that?  An emerald!  Is that where the things in this bucket came, from King Fibble’s sick room?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she said, now the secret was out.

“Holy smoke!  What an interesting turn of events,” Daddy said.

Now the music was stopped.  The singer sneezed again and another emerald popped out.  Then the other band members started to sneeze!  Then a few Fibble Wibbles in the audience started to look sick and sneeze.

“Oh no!” Daddy said.  “It looks like an epidemic!  The whole Fibble Wibble colony looks like it’s getting sick!”

And sure enough, one Fibble Wibble after another started to sneeze!  They started to hear so many Ahhhhh Choooos, the sound filled the air!  So many gems were shooting by, they looked like hot popcorn flying from an open pan.  The gems started to bounce and dance on the ground like millions of hail balls that fall from the sky during a winter storm.  To walk amidst the chaos was as difficult as if hundreds of ge,s were strewn throughout a hardwood floor.  Every step they took was slippery and a potential fall.

“Daddy!” She called.  “Help me!  Fibble Wibble sneeze is getting in my hair!  And in my dress!  And in my shoes!  And in my nose and mouth!”

“Remember, Kimberly Mae!  It isn’t gross.  These are gems!  Try not to swallow any!  They’re worth a fortune!”

“Well then I must be really rich because I’m being buried in it!”

Daddy looked down and noticed that the gems were beginning to accumulate around Kimberly Mae’s feet.

“What’s that?” Kimberly Mae shouted.  “It sounds like someone just stepped on an accordian!”

“That’s not an accordian,” Daddy said.  “It’s the Zonker Honkers!  They’re beginning  to sneeze!”

 They heard loud, discordant honks as the Zonker Honkers, too, succumbed to the illness.  Out of their nose horns came silver dust that started to coat everything it fell on.  The Didly Squats sneezed, and out came sapphires and opals.  The yodel beasts sneezed out onyx and topaz!

“These guys are sneezing up a fortune!”  Daddy said.  “I don’t know what to do!”

“Get them a doctor!”  Kimberly Mae said,  “And quickly!”

Daddy got on the phone and called 911.  “Emergency!” he said.  “The critters on the Doobebe farm are sick!  Send doctors!  Send veterinarians!  Send help!  -- Well I don’t know what’s wrong with them!  Just send someone over!”

Within minutes, ambulances came by the dozens with sirens sounding.  Paramedics came out with stethoscopes and blood pressure gauges.”

“Who’s sick?” the chief paramedic asked.

“It’s the critters,” Daddy said.  “Can’t you hear them sneeze?”

“I’m sorry,” he said.  “We have no means of helping critters of this size.  We don’t even have tools that are small enough to work for them.”

“Can’t you do anything at all?  What about some nose medicine?”  Daddy asked.

“That’s for people, Mr. Doobebe.  We don’t know what effect it would have on a Fibble Wibble.  It could make them better, or it could kill them.  We can’t tell.”

“I understand.  I guess you shouldn’t do anything at all, then,” Daddy said.

“I’m glad you understand,” the medic said.  “Let’s go, people,” he called to the other medics.  “There’s nothing we can do here.” 

After the last ambulance left, Daddy sat down on the front porch and almost started to cry.  But then, out of the silver-dust fog, appeared a man!  He was dressed in a doctor’s smock and had on a surgical mask!  “I’ll help you!” he said, in his very deep, resonant voice.

“Who are you?”  Daddy asked.”

  “My name is Dr. Smock!” came the reply.

Something about his voice made him sound familiar to Kimberly Mae.  “Where did you come from?” she asked.

“Never mind, Kimberly Mae,” Daddy said. “ Never look a gift Doctor in the mouth.”

Chapter 15

Dr. Smock

“Tell me, Mr. Doobebe,” the doctor said.  “How long have these creatures been sneezing like this?”

“Only for a short while.  They seemed quite healthy a half of an hour ago.  Do you know what’s wrong with them?”

“Yes, I do.  I am an expert in Fibble Wibble diseases.”

“What’s wrong with them?”   Daddy asked.

“They have a disease that usually follows a Goshawful attack.  Fiblous Gunkosis.   It has to do with the fearful dirt and filthiness of the Goshawfuls.  It’s bound to make the critters sick.”

“Humm.  Fiblous Gunkosis.  That makes sense,” Daddy said.  “I wonder how the Goshawfuls knew the Fibble Wibbles were away to begin with.”

“You know the Fibble Wibbles have many human enemies,” he said.  “Maybe one of them went to the dump and tipped the Goshawfuls off that the Fibble Wibbles left.”

“Maybe,” Daddy said. “I suppose you are right.  Not everyone thinks the Fibble Wibbles’ antics are cute.  Some even wanted do them harm.   Tell me. How do we cure them?”

“It really is quite simple,” the doctor said.  “All you have to do is to give them all sleeping pills.  Then have them all lie out in the open field under a new moon.  After a single night of this they will all be cured.”

 Daddy rubbed his chin with his right hand.  “I don’t know.  That doesn’t sound very scientific.”

 Dr. Smock hesitated for a moment to think, then replied, “Fibble Wibble and other critters aren’t like you and me.  They don’t respond to people medicine.  They need special care fit for them!  Trust me.  It will work.”

“Okay, doc, I’ll talk it over with the king and we’ll see.”

“You do that,” he said.  Then he walked off, disappearing into the mist of silver dust and falling gems.

So Daddy went inside, took a shower, and changed clothes.  Then he went into the king’s sick room.  “Oh my king,” he said softly.

“Yes, my subject,” he whispered.

“I found a doctor that says he can cure you.”

“There’s no need for a people doctor to help us.  I’ve already taken care of that.  I had Musty Wibble contact the land of Fibbledom using your radio.  They’re mixing up a batch of Mommy’s Kiss right now!”

“What’s Mommy’s Kiss?” Daddy asked.

“It’s the best medicine on Earth!  It heals all illnesses instantly, whether it is skinned knees or colds.”

“That sounds like a miracle!” Daddy said.  “How do you make it?”

“It’s not all that complicated,” the king began.  “All the mommies in Fibbledom are asked to kiss a giant sponge.   They each kiss it one thousand times!  The kisses are all absorbed into it.  Then, we boil and boil that sponge in a giant vat for three days, until the water is white like mothers’ milk.  Then we distill it further until it is thick, like syrup.  Sometimes, when we need it, we make hundreds of gallons.  Then we get watering cans.  One little sprinkle of Mommy’s Kiss and everyone feels better!  It works every time!”

“You mean, they sprinkle that stuff on you?” Kimberly Mae asked.  “Isn’t that yucky?”

“Oh, no,” said the king.  “I’ve had it done to me many times.  It’s sticky at first, but then it absorbs into your body.  It heals all illness.  Also, as a side benefit, after Mommy’s Kiss has been given to naughty Fibble Wibbles, they have been known to become well behaved and generally become fine Fibble Wibbles!  Don’t worry.  The cure is on its way!”

“Hmmmm,” Daddy went, “concentrated Mommy’s Kiss.  Now, why didn’t I think of that? It makes a lot of sense.  I know I always felt better after my mommy kissed me.  But getting it here from Fibbledom could take a long time!”

“No, it won’t,” he said.  “You’d be surprised how little time it takes.  There’s always plenty stored up in large vats in Fibbledom.  It’s sent by air!  The cure will be on its way soon!”

“Why don’t the Fibble Wibble mommies just make it here?” Kimberly Mae asked.

“Most mommies here are sick, themselves!” he said.  “The well mommies here are quite busy kissing their children already!  It will take supplies from Fibbledom to have enough Mommy’s Kiss to do the job.  The only problem is that it may take two days to reach us.”

“That’s all we need, Daddy!” Kimberly Mae said.  “A hail storm of gems is falling on our farmyard like rice at a church wedding, and piling up like Autumn leaves. Before you know it, we’ll be up to our ears in diamonds, rubies, and other gems!  We can’t have that!”

“No, we can’t, Kimberly Mae,” Daddy replied.  Then he said to the king.  “King Fibble, would you please let us try the doctor’s cure first?  It would help us to avoid having to clean up even more of that mess.”

Just then they noticed that the sun coming through the bedroom window was no longer shining as brightly.  “Look Daddy!” Kimberly Mae said.  “The silver dust and gems are starting to mount up over the window sill!  The poor Fibble Wibble might be buried!”

So Daddy took a closer look.  “No, it’s just a mound created by the wind blowing the dust up against the house.”

That was enough for the king.  “I can’t stomach the thought of all that sneezum from the Zonker Honkers covering every Fibble Wibble in the land!  That does it!  If the doctor is able to cure us tonight, so be it!”

Daddy went to the phone and immediately called the doctor, inviting him to come.`

That night, Dr. Smock came by with barrels and barrels of medicine marked, “Sleeping Pills.”  And all the critters on the farm lined up by the tens of thousands to take their doses.  Within two hours, the medicine was all distributed, and every creature of every kind was sleeping right out in the open under the full moon!

Chapter 16

Daddy and the rest of the family were in bed too.  None of them could sleep because of the snores of tens of thousands of critters.  Kimberly Mae and Christopher were in their bunk beds.  “Christopher!” Kimberly Mae said.  “Can you help me?”

“Go to sleep, Kimberly Mae!” he said from the top bunk.

“I tried to sleep, honest!  But my water on the night table vibrated off and wet my mattress!”

“You think you got problems?  The ceiling is coming apart and pieces of this and that are conking me on the forehead!” Christopher replied.

“We’ve got to do something or we’ll never get to sleep!” Kimberly Mae said.

“Tommy is sleeping.  Maybe it’s because he snores too.  Maybe we should turn him over on his side.”  Said Christopher.

“We can try to turn the snoring Fibble Wibbles over on their sides.  That works with people, maybe it’ll work with Fibble Wibbles too!” Kimberly Mae said.

“Turn over tens of thousands of Fibble Wibbles on their sides?  That’s crazy!  It would take all night!”  said her brother.

“Well maybe they aren’t all snoring!  And the ones that are, are on the ground and easy to get to.  And maybe we can use spatulas from the kitchen!” she replied.

“That’s silly, Kimberly Mae!”  Then another piece of ceiling shook loose and konked him on the forehead.  “Oh, all right!  I guess anything is better than nothing!”  her brother replied.

So they got spatulas and flashlights from the kitchen and started out the door.

“Here, Kimberly Mae.  You roll over those over there, and I’ll do these over here.”

They rolled one Fibble Wibble after another onto its side.  Immediately, they stopped snoring.  “It’s working!” he said.

“Yeah!  And it’s going faster than I thought it would. Hey, Christopher, do you see something over there?” She pointed off toward the center of the farm yard.

“Shhhhh!” he said.  “It looks like we might have an intruder!”

Then they sneaked toward the figure in the darkness.  It was Dr. Smock!  And he had two big bags with him.  “What’s he doing here?” Kimberly Mae asked Christopher.       

“I don’t know!  Let’s watch!”

They sneaked up closer and heard him talking to himself.

“Ha - ha - ha!  I am laughing the last laugh!  You Fibble Wibbles are all asleep and the moon gives her light!  First I stole a million dollars in gems and gold, and now I am going to get my revenge!”  Then Dr. Smock took out a big mallet!  He continued to laugh so hard that his surgeon’s mask fell off.

“Look!  It isn’t Dr. Smock at all!” Kimberly Mae declared.

“It’s John Jenkins!” Christopher replied.  “And he’s going to make pancakes out of the Fibble Wibbles! What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know!”

“Should we wake the others?”