CHAPTER 5

Stuffing

“All we have to do is make a pretend audience,” said Fly. “What if we used our stuffies? You do have some stuffed animals, right?”

Wolfie hesitated. She didn’t understand this love for stuffed animals that other kids had. She saw kids talk to their stuffed animals, and play with them, and cuddle them. Stuffed animals were just material and stuffing! They weren’t real.

But she did have one stuffed animal. Uncle Bob had given it to her when she was little. It was a rabbit that Uncle Bob had named Fluffy because of its soft fur. And then one day, Wolfie had decided to put Fluffy in the bathtub to see if it would float. Fluffy did float, but after that its fur was never fluffy again.

She went to her room and found Fluffy under the bed. She came back to the living room and showed it to Fly.

“That’s it? Just one?”

“How many do we need?”

Fly shook his head. “I have lots of them. We need a big audience. I’ll go get them.”

And Fly was off again. Wolfie tried to shout that he could just use the door. But Fly didn’t hear. A few minutes later, a stuffed zebra came flying through the window. Then a bear, a snake, a lion, a turtle, a dog, a monkey, another bear and a lot more. Last through the window came Fly, polka-dot hat first.

“Okay,” he said, straightening his pointed hat. “Let’s arrange the stuffies on the sofa. You can help.”

Wolfie picked up a zebra and dropped it on the sofa. “No, not like that,” Fly said. He picked up the zebra and made it look as if it were sitting. Then he put a cat behind it. “We can have two rows,” he said.

Together they lined up the animals. They stepped back to take a look.

“Not bad,” said Fly.

“But where is the stage?” Wolfie asked.

“Right here in front.”

“Don’t we need a spotlight?”

“Hey, good idea!” Fly said. “You’re getting the hang of it. We can use that standing lamp. Just aim the light in front of the animals.”

“And we can close the curtains so the rest of the room is dark.”

“Wolfie,” said Fly. “You are impressing me. Turn off the light. Okay, let’s set up your drums. Then we can go outside the living room, and after our name is announced, we can rush onto the stage.”

“I guess you are the announcer too,” said Wolfie.

“Naturally.”

Wolfie put the drums in front of the animals, arranging the garbage can, the pot and the cymbal. She kept the wooden spoons in her hand. Then they both went out of the room.

“Now,” said Fly, “here is the important thing. We have to really believe that we’re about to step onto a big stage. We have to believe that rows and rows of people are waiting to see us play.”

“How do I do that?” asked Wolfie.

Fly started to say something but stopped. He thought a minute and then shook his head. “I don’t know! You just have to try. Are you ready?”

“No,” said Wolfie.

“Here we go!”