Free Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins

swings her door open, and since the house is empty, he climbs out. TukTuk remains in an exhausted heap with the Girl-clothes.
    “We all wished and hoped that you’d be okay,” Lumphy tells the Dryer. “We were so worried.”
    “
I
was so worried,” puts in Frank. “With you pulled out from the wall like that—you can’t even imagine. Sometimes I thought that workman didn’t know what he was doing. I thought you were never going to tumble dry again. I thought you were leaving me.” Frank sobs. “I was so lonely. I didn’t know what to do!”
    “There, there, love,” says the Dryer. “I know. I know. But it’s all right now.”
    . . . . .
    Late at night, when the people are sound asleep, Lumphy creeps upstairs and gets Plastic, Sheep, StingRay, Spark, Bonkers, Millie, Brownie, and Rocky. They bring down jingle sticks, finger cymbals, a maraca, some silver confetti, and several orange and yellow balloons found in the bottom of the toy box. When they get to the basement, they sprinkle the floor with silver, then wake up Frank, the Dryer, TukTuk, and the purple towels. Spark, who is hollow, blows up the balloons.
    Dance party!
    Frank starts off with “Love Train” and the towels join in, providing backbeat and harmonies. Rocky and Millie bounce on the towels, and Lumphy bangs the cymbals. StingRay taps her tail and, as the beat gets her going, begins hopping up and down with her flippers and leaping into the air.
    “The party is for you, not just the Dryer,” Lumphy tells TukTuk. “I won’t forget to invite you again.”
    Frank overhears and interrupts “Love Train” to boom, “Shall I sing something for the little lady?”
    “Yes, please,” says Lumphy. “Because she is my particular towel friend.” He rubs his buffalo nose against TukTuk’s warm folds, and Frank improvises:
    “Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Yellow like a yellow duck
    Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Boom! (hey!)
    Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Yellow like a chicken cluck
    Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Boom!”
    The song is so good, they sing it six times.
    “Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Yellow like a corn shuck
    Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Boom! (hey!)
    TukTuk is yellow
    Like a Caterpillar dump truck
    Tuk-itty TukTuk
    Boom!”
    TukTuk, seated on top of the Dryer and singing backup with some other towels, isn’t angry with Lumphy anymore. The music is loud. Plastic bounces and spins. Spark rears onto her tail and waggles a jingle stick ferociously, and StingRay is flapping and clapping. Lumphy is going to town with the cymbals. Bonkers and Brownie are wiggling themselves so hysterically, they keep falling over their tails, which sends them into fits of giggles, while the Dryer swings her front door open and shut and blinks all her lights on and off. She is dancing!
    “Sweetheart,” says Frank when the TukTuk song is over. “This next one’s for you. Towels, back me up some more. Here we go!”
    “She’s our Dryer! La da dee dah!
    And she’s healthy! Deedle dee bah!
    We love that Dryer!
    (Shake, shake, and shake)
    ’Cause she’s our Dryer!
    (Shake, shake, and shake)

    If you’re damp, she’ll dry you out,
    If you’re cold, she’ll warm you up.
    She makes a lovely rumble sound.
    We’re glad our Dryer’s still around!
    (Everybody now!)
    She’s our Dryer! La da dee dah!
    And she’s healthy! Deedle dee bah!
    We love that Dryer!
    (Shake, shake, and shake)
    ’Cause she’s our Dryer!
    (Shake, shake, and shake)
    Oooooooooh, yeah!”

CHAPTER SIX
 
 Let’s Do Our Nails
    P lastic and Spark are in the bathtub. It is bouncy to have a friend to float with, and Plastic is boinging herself against the tiled wall and dropping back into the water with a big splash. Spark is swimming in circles with only her fin above the water. It is a Saturday afternoon in late spring. Honey has a soccer game, and the family is out of the house.
    Lumphy watches Plastic and Spark from atop the closed toilet seat, and StingRay is looking at the pretty colors of nail polish lined up at the back of the sink. Purple, red,