LOUNGING IN THE SUNSHINE for much of the afternoon, this creature possesses large white glass eyes that shake in a manner at once fearsome and friendly when Greta’s hand is put inside him. Croc chats and jokes with the other creatures, but if they come too close he snaps his teeth. Although his teeth are made of felt, the other creatures try to keep their distance.
Monkey is the oldest creature but not the most familiar. The origins of Monkey are uncertain to Greta. Monkey seems to have always just been there. Monkey is very friendly, but he is not the friendliest of the creatures. As Monkey chatters, Greta senses something distant in Monkey, something almost sad. “Where did you come from, Monkey?” Greta sometimes asks. But Monkey pretends not to hear. Greta thinks that one day Monkey will tell his story, and she is quite happy to wait. As with Croc, Greta’s hand can be put inside. However, Greta does not do this with Monkey as often as she does with Croc, and Monkey’s vitality does not seem to depend as much on it.
Sandra is a small, stout bear who cares deeply for the other creatures. Her long fur is very soft and obscures her black eyes. The way her fur obscures her eyes plays a part in the way that Sandra cares deeply for the others.
A small, slim bear, whose fur is much shorter than Sandra’s, Teddo has large eyes and a white belly. Teddo is fun and friendly and well liked by all. However, Greta contains one inner location in which Teddo does not matter as much as the other creatures.
Greta’s Mom is a shadow.
Carved from wood and adorned on six sides with a red number 4, Billy Block hops rapidly up and down, wishing to speak but unable to do so. Billy Block’s parents and siblings—each painted on six sides with a number of his or her own—live in a forest, Greta knows. Do they haves mouths with which to speak? Was it only Billy who was forgotten when a woodsman carved their facial features? Or do they communicate with each other through their numbers or by hopping up and down, having no need for mouths—meaning that it is not the case that Billy Block cannot speak but rather that Greta either cannot understand or cannot speak correctly?
Billy Block might not look like much, but he has the heart of a kangaroo.
Even though Juniper is a small cotton pig, his name is not Pigly. That is the name of a different creature. Juniper was once a girl but is now a boy. He likes to eat slops and sleep in the mud produced by taking the folded blanket at the foot of the bed and reorganizing it in the crack where the side of the bed meets the wall. However, Juniper is not strictly lazy. He likes to dance (especially with Percilily) and amble through low, green hills and pick wildflowers with the other creatures. Greta predicts that Juniper will marry Sandra. She also predicts that Juniper will one day be a girl again.
Greta’s door is very tall. The door opens and a long shadow enters.
Percilily is a beautiful hippopotamus. She wears a tutu and enjoys swimming in the blue waterways that crisscross Greta’s bed. Percilily has very long eyelashes. We estimate, through data obtained from Greta, that the eyelashes are as long as the hair of a human princess. Croc harbors romantic affection for Percilily—as do Teddo, Juniper, and, perhaps, My Bird. However, we are able to estimate that Percilily harbors romantic affection exclusively for Juniper, and, perhaps, My Bird.
Gray #2 is a brave, handsome dog, sporting a fine, short, gray coat that, despite its shortness, keeps him warm through the winter. Gray #2 is a guardian but not the main guardian. He can smell anything and so detect intruders. He likes to eat sausages and porridge with syrup and sliced bananas. Sometimes, if the others have not bathed or accidentally emit gas, Gray #2’s nose twitches and he becomes annoyed.
Gray #2 came after Gray. Gray was a wise gray owl who disappeared. Greta has made inquiries into the disappearance of this creature, but these inquiries were met only with a denial that such a creature ever existed and with the appearance of Gray #2.
He runs into Greta’s room and bounces on her bed, disturbing the pile of creatures convening there. Gray #2 sniffs and growls, Croc snaps at his bottom, and Monkey bonks his head, so Greta’s Brother—after a final bounce—runs screaming out of her room.
Pigly is a tiny, brown, furry creature—perhaps a small rodent. Greta has not yet determined its species or dwelt on the matter at length. Pigly hides in a log and makes a high-pitched sound. Greta does not know whether Pigly is a boy or a girl. To Greta, Pigly matters even less than Teddo.
Greta’s Dad is composed of three elements: a. The Face, b. The Ground, c. The Laugh.
a. The Face is the largest face in the world. It contains a red complexion and a very wide smile.
b. When Greta elevates, she no longer sees The Face. Instead she sees The Ground far below. She holds on tight and hollers loudly. It is now that she hears c. The Laugh.
Suzy is the small three-dimensional likeness of a human female. Suzy does not sit on Greta’s bed with the creatures but lives instead in the back corner of Greta’s closet. At one point Suzy could speak, but she can no longer do so. Greta does not think about Suzy, except in rare moments when she wakes from sleep and remembers, with a cold, nauseous sensation, that Suzy still lives in her closet.
Flopsam is zany and fun! While his physiology might not appear amenable to vigorous activity, Flopsam is perhaps the most energetic of the creatures. His flat, square, floppy body is ideal for sailing through the air, like a kite, only faster. And despite the small, floppy arms that sprout from his corners, Flopsam has no difficulty racing through the low, green hills with Juniper, hopping rapidly up and down with Billy Block, playing tug-of-war with Monkey, and even, on two occasions, spanking Croc for misbehaving. When Flopsam needs to relax, he floats down from the sky like a parachute. But Flopsam rarely needs to relax.
Greta remembers how she found Flopsam on the ground outside, just lying there without a home. She remembers holding him tightly in her bed and crying as voices argued outside her door, an angry woman’s voice saying loudly, Another one, garbage, and then Flopsam’s name.
The best and favorite of the creatures, My Bird has been saved for last. My Bird bears a physical resemblance to a large bird on television; however, My Bird is not that bird. My Bird is the Guardian of Greta and occupies a place of distinction among the creatures. When at night Greta sleeps under the covers with Croc, Monkey, Sandra, Teddo, Billy Block, Juniper, Percilily, Gray #2, Pigly, and Flopsam piled on top of her, My Bird lies at Greta’s side, his beak facing out to peck away any monsters or bad things that might come in the night. Greta holds tightly My Bird’s long, floppy neck, which has grown threadbare from Younger Chewing that Greta does not recall. At the back of My Bird there is a string that can be pulled to make him speak, but Greta is also able to make him speak without using the string. My Bird is separate from the other creatures, but he loves them and they love him.
Two long, shadowy arms push forth the small three-dimensional likeness of a female.
“Here you go—a lovely dolly.”
One day something terrible happened. Something terribly large fell on Pigly and crushed the life out of it. None of the other creatures saw this happen or could figure out what fell. Greta and her creatures attended a funeral presided over by a somber Croc. The one time that Croc told a joke, Monkey bonked his head as a reminder to be somber. Greta felt strange.
The creatures have become suspicious. How did Pigly really die? Did someone kill it? The creatures begin fighting and some are seriously injured.
Everything has gone wrong.
After consulting with My Bird and Greta, Croc and Monkey decide to go on an adventure in order to locate the Amber Potion and use it to bring Pigly back to life.
Croc swims through the river, carrying Monkey on his back. Croc eats fish and Monkey picks bananas and coconuts from the branches that hang low over the water.
Finally they come to a cave, but there is something horrible inside. However, they are brave; they enter the darkness despite the danger. They feel as though they are being watched. They move quickly deep into the cave until they discover the Amber Potion shining like treasure. They take the potion and run as quickly as they can. They feel something following them. Something horrible happens in the cave. But they manage to escape and return with the Amber Potion.
As the other creatures gather around, Sandra takes the potion from Monkey and pours it into Pigly’s small mouth.
Pigly comes back to life. Everyone cheers and celebrates. Now there is no more fighting.
However, something strange occurs. Almost as soon as they begin to celebrate and dance, the creatures realize that they didn’t really miss Pigly after all. Pigly makes its high-pitched sound and scurries away to the log that it hides in.
The next day, Pigly is found killed again.
After dancing, Juniper pulls Percilily behind a pillow and they kiss romantically.
But something is wrong.
Sandra has seen them. She saw them dancing together and followed as Juniper pulled Percilily away from the celebration in case he was going to beat her up. But when she saw them kiss, Sandra became jealous and let out a cry.
“It’s OK,” Juniper says. “Kisses can be shared.”
“That’s silly,” Sandra says, but she is amazed to see the kiss float up from between Juniper and Percilily like a beautiful pink butterfly. The Kisserfly (as it’s called) floats over to Sandra and lands on her lips romantically, and she knows that one day things will be different and she and Juniper will be married.
A long shadow pushes forth two dresses. One is large and one is small, one for Greta and one for her dolly.
“You’re a big girl now. You don’t need to play with all those silly things anymore. Be a good girl. Be a doll for mommy.”
Once the shadow has gone away, Greta pushes the dresses into the corner of her closet.
On a fine summer’s day, Teddo and Gray #2 are walking by the river, discussing the finer points of growing cabbages for making into ice cream, when suddenly something terrible happens. Croc, being tickled by Monkey, leaps up into the air with laughter and accidentally lands on Teddo. Earlier that morning Croc had a large breakfast of fish and snails, making him heavier than usual, so now when he lands on Teddo he crushes the life out of him.
Everyone is very upset. And since all the Amber Potion was used up on Pigly, there is none left for bringing Teddo back to life. Gray #2 barks angrily at Croc for being so careless. Monkey steps in front of Croc and says, “It was an accident.”
“It didn’t look like one to me,” says Flopsam, coming to Gray #2’s side, his small floppy hands curled into fists.
“Not so fast,” Monkey says, holding his banana like a pistol. Flopsam takes a floppy piece of string and whips the banana out of Monkey’s hand.
“Why you!” Croc says and snaps at Flopsam very hard.
Other creatures come running to see what all the commotion is about, and very soon there is a War.
Croc has bitten onto Flopsam’s floppy leg and is spinning him in the air like a helicopter. Billy Block, hopping mad, bounces onto Monkey’s head. Juniper throws slops over Billy Block so that the latter’s painted numbers are obscured. Sandra feels sorry for Billy Block, but she wants to help Juniper, so she kicks Billy Block into the river. Gray #2 bites Sandra’s neck. The tall door opens and a long shadow peeks in. Percilily does an elegant belly flop onto Gray #2 in order to break his bones. Croc has begun to make explosions with powder he has dug up from under the pillow. The creatures are badly hurt—missing teeth, eyes oozing black goo, skin fluffing and peeling away—but they continue to fight and bite and blow up and hit one another until Monkey, who is old and wise, crawls away from the War to look for My Bird and ask for help.
“It has to stop,” My Bird agrees, and together My Bird and Monkey go on a journey to look for Greta.
Together, My Bird, Monkey, and Greta agree that the creatures will continue to fight and argue until Teddo is brought back to life, so Greta journeys to the Battleground. When she arrives, big as a giant, My Bird and Monkey on either side, the creatures stop fighting and fall silent. They feel very ashamed, and they move aside so that Greta can inspect Teddo’s body. She lifts it up and feels that it is dead. There is no Amber Potion, the creatures say, but Greta hushes them. She takes Teddo in her arms like a baby and breathes into his mouth. He is alive, the creatures can see. Her breath has brought him back to life. The creatures cheer. The long shadow shuts the door.
Greta is playing. She is making Teddo and Percilily go ice-skating together. There is, however, a spot on the river where the ice is broken. Teddo loses his grip on Percilily’s hand and goes flying toward the broken ice. He cannot stop. He looks behind with wet, pleading eyes, but something is pushing him forward—he is going too fast and cannot stop. He falls through the broken ice and the water is so cold that he cannot swim properly. Percilily tries to skate over to help him, but she trips on something and it is too late, too late. Teddo has drowned in the cold water.
Greta reaches down and pulls him out. She takes him in her arms like a baby and tries to bring him back to life with her breath. But it doesn’t work anymore; it only worked once. Teddo is dead for good, she decides, her eyes wet and her throat painful. It is so sad: He is really dead.
He runs into Greta’s room and bounces on her bed. He has made a bow and arrow and asks her if she wants to play. But Greta is sad. Teddo is dead and won’t ever come back again. Greta’s Brother offers to kill her so that it won’t matter. My Bird kindly pecks his eyes, and he runs off to go live with the Indians.
Now there are Indians all over the place, riding horses and shooting buffalo. They disturb the creatures with their noise and their dancing. One falls off his horse and tries to hitch a ride on Flopsam. Another uses his feather to tickle Sandra, who hates to be tickled.
Monkey has an idea. He puts banana peels on the ground in places where the Indians, riding their horses, are likely to slip and die.
Monkey is a hero. The Indians are gone and things are back to normal.
However, one banana peel has been forgotten, and on the way to the ceremony where Monkey will receive his Hero’s Cape, Juniper slips and breaks his neck. Greta tries to fix him, but it too late; he is dead and she can’t bring him back. Who will Sandra marry now?
The creatures are now very sad. They pull each other’s hair and say evil words to one another. Gray #2 becomes very angry and foam fizzes from his mouth. He is no longer a guardian. He runs around and barks and bites. Percilily tries to stop him, so he eats her face off. She runs and screams, without her face, and drowns herself in the river. Sandra is so angry at Gray #2 that she grabs him by the tail and turns him inside out. Inside out, Gray #2 can no longer breathe the air that he requires, and so he slowly suffocates. Flopsam and Billy Block cannot believe that Sandra has killed Gray #2. They find a pair of scissors and cut her into many pieces.
Greta needs to scold the creatures so that they will learn to behave. She takes Flopsam aside and tells him that he is bad. Flopsam feels so ashamed that he runs away to the place on the ground outside where Greta found him, and there he sets himself on fire.
Greta cannot believe what is happening. She cannot believe that the creatures are dying. Her face is very red and wet. The door keeps opening, but Greta doesn’t care.
Billy Block pushes Monkey, so Monkey throws Billy Block against the closet door. There is a loud bang and a crack, and Billy Block’s brains spill out and he falls to the floor and can no longer hop up and down and will never get to go on a journey into the forest to find his parents and siblings. Croc loves Monkey very much. However, Croc cannot forgive him for throwing Billy Block against the closet door.
“But you killed Teddo,” Monkey says.
“That was different,” says Croc. “That was an accident. And besides, Teddo wasn’t as important.”
Monkey puts a stick in Croc’s mouth to keep his jaws pried open so that Croc can’t kill him. But Croc crawls forward and grabs Monkey’s neck and strangles him, both of them making gurgling sounds. Now Greta will never know where Monkey came from. She is making loud noises. She watches two white shaking hands take Croc by the jaws and pull them apart until there is a cracking sound.
Greta, eyes and nose leaking great quantities of fluid, takes My Bird into her lap and holds him very tightly. She pulls the string at the back and My Bird says that he hopes they will remain friends forever. She pulls the string again and My Bird says he wants to die.
“I’ll never kill you, My Bird.” But My Bird insists, and, with stinging eyes and a terrible pain in the muscles of her face, Greta holds tightly his long, floppy neck and snaps it. Soon the sun goes away and everything is covered in shadow.
On the following day the creatures have all come back to life. Even though they were permanently dead, Greta has made them alive again. She plays with them and has fun. But there is something different now, some new thing inside her, because even though the creatures move and speak, Greta cannot forget that they are really dead. Greta plays and no one bothers her, except for the bones that are buried beneath her, and Suzy, who waits in the corner of the closet.