Little Red Riding Furby
He had many toys to play with, and many red coats to wear, and he had a magic mirror for a friend. If Little Red Riding Furby stood in front of the magic mirror and said,
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the cutest of them all?" the mirror would reply, "Why YOU are of course, Little Red Riding Furby! You are the very cutest of them all!"
One day Queen Mommy announced that she had to go out
shopping and would leave them behind, but when she returned they would all go and visit Gwampa and cheer him up, because he was not feeling very well. Then she turned to the biggest of them and said, "Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie, I would like you to watch the house and your step-sisters and step-brothers until I get back. I would especially like you to keep an eye on Little Red Riding Furby because he is the smallest and the cutest, and when I leave him behind he misses me very much."
Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie promised that she would take care of everything, so Queen Mommy hugged everybody, and left.
Little Red Riding Furby became very upset. He ran from window to window calling out, "When will Queen Mommy come back? Where has she gone without me? Why isn't she home?"
Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie snapped, "Be quiet! Go and play with your toys, Little Red Riding Furby! Queen Mommy will be back soon and then we will go to Gwampa's house in town. We will visit with him and get treats! Now go away and play because I want to have a nap!" And with that, Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie jumped up onto the sofa, turned around several times, curled up and promptly fell asleep.
Little Red Riding Furby was still very upset that Queen Mommy had gone out without him. He was also very bored. The rest of his step-brothers and step-sisters were napping, and even his magic mirror seemed to be asleep. There was no one to play with him, comfort him or cheer him up. Then he began to think about Gwampa. Gwampa lived all alone and was not feeling well. What if Queen Mommy got back too late to go and visit Gwampa?
Little Red Riding Furby had a tendency to think out loud, so he said to himself and to nobody else in particular, "I could go to Gwampa's house all by myself. I could take care of him and cheer him up and make him feel better, and I just bet he would give me a whole basket full of treats! He would probably give me bacon and eggs and soup and bread and cheese, and maybe even some pie! I will go to Gwampa's house! I will!" And with that, he put on his little red coat and slipped quietly out the back door. "I will stay on the path so that I don't get lost,"
he said to himself as he skipped off down the road towards town.
But someone had heard him make his plans. Someone had heard about the bacon and egg, the soup and bread and cheese and the pie!.....Ooooooohh PIE! Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie always slept with one ear open, and she had heard, and having been on a very strict diet, the thought of bacon and eggs, of soup and bread and cheese and pie was more than she could stand.
She leapt off the sofa and went to find step-brother Murphy who was the oldest of them all. She found him curled up asleep in his basket and she said, "Step-brother Murphy, would you please keep an eye on the others? Little Red Riding Furby has run off and I must go out and try to find him."
Step-brother Murphy purred his reply and promptly went back to sleep, so Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie slipped out the back door.
"If I go across the fields I will reach Gwampa's house before Little Red Riding Furby and the treats would be mine!"
she chortled. So off she ran, as fast as her legs would take her, across the fields towards Gwampa's house with thoughts of bacon and eggs, soup and bread and cheese and pie dancing in her head and a very loud rumble in her tummy.
On the road to Gwampa's house, Little Red Riding Furby skipped, stopping occasionally to pick wildflowers by the side of the road. "These pretty flowers will cheer Gwampa up," he thought, smiling to himself, but at Gwampa's house, Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie had already reached the front door.
"Gwampa, Gwampa!" Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie cried out, but there was no answer. She peeked through the windows but could not see Gwampa anywhere, so she slipped through the garden gate and went around to the back door.
"Gwampa, Gwampa!" Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie called, but there was still no answer, so she pushed open the back door and went inside. She searched from room to room, but there was no sign of Gwampa. She even searched the counter and the table for treats, but there was nothing and she was tired and very, very hungry.
Suddenly she heard a little voice coming from outside the front door. "Gwampa! Gwampa! It is Little Red Riding Furby! I have come to visit you. I have walked a very long way and I picked some flowers for you. Won't you let me in?"
"Oh dear, oh dear," thought Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie to herself. "Whatever shall I do? Perhaps if I keep very still he will go home." Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie ran into Gwampa's bedroom and hid in the little bathroom where she could not be seen from any of the doors and windows.
Little Red Riding Furby tried peeking in the front windows, but couldn't see Gwampa anywhere. Then he noticed that the gate to the back yard was open. "Maybe Gwampa is in the back garden, gardening," so he skipped through the open gate and into the back yard. He looked all around, but there was no Gwampa to be found. Then Little Red Riding Furby saw that the back door was open. "Oh," he thought out loud, "Gwampa must have heard me calling and has gone inside." So off he skipped into the house. "Gwampa, gwampa! I am here Gwampa!"
"What should I do?" thought Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie. She looked up and saw a pair of Gwampa's long johns hanging on the hook on the bathroom door, and quickly, without thinking, slipped into the long johns and dived into Gwampa's bed.The legs were far too long and she almost stumbled, and the arms of the long johns hung a good fourteen inches off the ends of her paws, but she pulled the comforter up very high over the top of her head just as Little Red Riding Furby skipped into the room.
"There you are, Gwampa!" exclaimed Little Red Riding Furby as he sprung onto the bed landing right in the middle of Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie's chest. "I walked all the way here by myself to bring you these flowers. How are you feeling now Gwampa?"
"Mmmmfffnfffm!" was the sound that emerged from under the comforter. "What did you say, Gwampa?" asked Little Red Riding Furby sweetly.
"Mmmmfffnfffm!" was the reply from Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie who was getting very hot and having a bit of trouble breathing under the comforter with Little Red Riding Furby sitting on her chest.
"What was that Gwampa?" Inquired Little Red Riding Furby brightly as he leaned forward in an effort to peer into the opening at the top of the comforter.
Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie raised her head from beneath the comforter only enough so that the top of her head and her eyes could be seen.
"I am not feeling well, Little Red Riding Furby," she said,
"you should go home now."
"Why Gwampa!," Little Red Riding Furby exclaimed, "You must be very sick indeed! Just look! You are such a funny color! Why are you such a funny color Gwampa?"
"Must be the fever," stammered Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie.
"And your eyes are brown! Why are your eyes brown Gwampa?" inquired Little Red Riding Furby with just a hint of suspicion in his voice.
"Contacts!" snapped Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie.
"Now you must go home before you catch something!"
"But Gwampa," whined Little Red Riding Furby. "I have walked so very, very far, and I brought you flowers, and it is lunch time. Are we not going to have some bacon and eggs or some soup and bread and cheese or perhaps a bit of pie?"
Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie's tummy rumbled very loudly. And with that, Little red Riding Furby reached forward and pulled down the comforter so that he could see Gwampa's face.
"You aren't my Gwampa!" he shouted, leaping off the bed.
"You are my Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie! What are you doing here in Gwampa's house, in Gwampa's bed? Ooooh and you are wearing Gwampa's long johns. I am telling!"
"I heard you talking about coming to Gwampa's house, so I wanted to come too, and visit Gwampa and get some bacon and eggs and soup and bread and cheese and some pie, but Gwampa isn't here and I got scared when I heard you at the door," Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie blubbered as she climbed out of Gwampa's bed looking very silly indeed in his long johns. She pulled them off and hung them back on the hook on the bathroom door.
Just then they heard the front door opening. "Gwampa! Gwampa!" Little red Riding Furby shouted with glee as he skipped towards the front door.
"Gwampa! Gwampa!" Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie cried as she followed.
In walked a surprised Gwampa and Queen Mommy carrying groceries.
"Gwampa!" "Gwampa!" "Gwampa!" they shouted, leaping about in glee.
"What on earth are the two of you doing here!" snapped Queen Mommy.
Both Little Red Riding Furby and Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie suddenly got very still and quiet and hung their heads.
"I guess they got tired of waiting at home," said Gwampa who was putting away the groceries.
"You know you are not allowed to go off on your own! We were doing shopping, then I would have come for you. You could have been in a lot of danger!" ranted a very upset Queen Mommy.
Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie seemed to be trying to make herself as small as possible, but Little Red Riding Furby, who didn't need to make himself any smaller, sat looking very, very cute, with big watery eyes, and extended his paw holding the now-wilted wildflowers.
"They have come very far to see me," said Gwampa, "and it looks like they have come to no harm. They have walked such a very long way and must be hungry. We should have some lunch. We could have some bacon and egg, or a bit of soup and bread and cheese, and I think I even have some pie somewhere."
When their tummies were full, Queen Mommy took a very tired Little Red Riding Furby and Not Too Ugly Step-Sister Sophie home to their beds. They were not there to hear Gwampa exclaim,
"Why is there dog hair in my long johns???"
