Free Gabby Duran and the Unsittables by Elise Allen

seat and onto the floor. She wanted to look Wutt in the eye and apologize to her directly, but she wasn’t sure
which part of the pillow was the girl’s face. Or even her head. She opted for an area near the corner Edwina had patted and leaned in close.
    “Hi, Wutt. I’m Gabby. I’m so sorry I scared you. I didn’t even realize you were here, and then you popped out and screamed like that…I guess it kind of took me by
surprise.”
    “Took you by surprise?” Edwina sniffed. “Of course she screamed. You might scream, too, if someone hollered your name into your face.”
    “Hollered her…?” Gabby replayed the moment in her mind and realized she’d done just that. Her face grew even redder until it matched Wutt’s curls. Or what would have
been Wutt’s curls if the girl weren’t currently slipcovered.
    “Can we start over?” Gabby asked the pillow. “I’m Gabby Duran, and I’m really happy to meet you. I even have something you might like. Want to see?”
    The pillow didn’t respond, but Gabby pulled over her purple knapsack anyway and dug around for one of the tiny treasures she always kept on hand, just in case. She found a pink pencil-top
eraser decorated to look like a puppy.
    “See?” Gabby showed the pillow. “It’s an eraser, but I glued on little google eyes and a tiny bead nose and little felt ears. He can still rub away pencil marks, but
he’s also a pet, and
also
…” She slipped the eraser on the tip of her pinkie. She waggled the finger as she continued in a deep doggy voice, “I’m a happy puppy
puppet! I’m lots of things—kinda like you!”
    Giggles erupted as the pillow unfolded itself back into a little girl. Wutt still hid behind Edwina’s bag, but she was smiling now, and her large eyes danced.
    “Hi, Wutt,” Gabby said in her regular voice.
    “What?”
    “I said…Oh, wait—you were just repeating your name, weren’t you?”
    “Wutt,” the little girl said happily. She climbed into Gabby’s lap, then took the eraser pet off Gabby’s pinkie tip and slipped it onto her own. It rode halfway down her
finger.
    Gabby was entranced watching Wutt play. The little girl was no bigger than a lawn gnome. Her red curls flowed all the way down to her rear end. The eyes Gabby thought earlier had popped wide in
surprise really did take up half her face. Their long ovals were filled with endless shiny blackness. Her nose was tiny, barely more than twin paper cuts. Her skin was blue, with thin, darker blue
lips that smiled happily as she played with the makeshift finger puppet. Her turquoise gums were unmarred by a single tooth.
    She was adorable.
    “So, Wutt,” Gabby said gently, “you know how I said your name really, really loud before? That was just because I thought Edwina said I was babysitting you
today
. But I
must have just misunderstood her. You see, she once told me she knows my schedule, which means she knows I’m way too busy to babysit today.”
    “Did you know, Wutt, that one of the surest signs of an underdeveloped civilization is when its members pretend to talk to one creature when their message is pointedly designed for
another?” Edwina asked.
    Gabby blushed yet again, then looked directly at Edwina. “I can’t babysit Wutt today,” she said. “I’m too bu—”
    “Repeating yourself is just a waste of energy,” Edwina said. “I
did
hear you.” She consulted her tablet and swiped a few screens. “It’s nine forty-five
now, but we’ll start your clock at nine A . M . You’ll keep Wutt until midnight.”
    “Wha—?!”
Gabby nearly exploded, but caught herself when the girl gave her a furrowed-brow look. Instead she smiled at the child and waved, then scooched along the car
floor closer to Edwina and hissed up at her, “My bedtime’s eleven on Friday nights.”
    “We’ll pick her up, you won’t need to worry about that….”
    “I’m in school all day. I have class. I should be in class
right now
.”
    “Have her eat when