The Puppets Take a Bath

 
by David Michael
 
Three year old Serene put down her spoon and her right hand became a puppet. With her fingers together and her thumb working as the lower jaw and tongue, the puppet could talk.
 
"I want oatmeal," the puppet said in his squeaky voice. "I'm hungry."
 
"Me too!" said the puppet her left hand had become. Her voice was squeaky too.
 
"Try to be neat," Serene told them, as Mom had told her a few minutes earlier when putting the bowl of oatmeal on the table in front of her. Mom wasn't in the kitchen now.
 
The puppets dived into the bowl and began eating the oatmeal. They weren't at all neat, and the puppets got oatmeal all over their faces. Then the food fight started and Serene burst out laughing.
 
Mom walked in. "Serene!" Mom said. "What are you doing?"
 
"It's the puppets," Serene replied. The puppets pulled their faces out of the bowl and faced Mom. "They were hungry." The puppets nodded. A bit of oatmeal dripped from the left hand puppet's face onto the table.
 
Mom's face struggled, resisting a smile, then she saw that oatmeal had been splattered all over the table and onto the floor. "Serene," Mom said again, less surprised and more irritated, no hint of a smile. Mom sighed. "Come on. You have to take a bath now."
 
Serene and the puppets exchanged looks of dismay. "You mean the puppets," Serene said. "They need the bath." The puppets opened their mouths in shocked betrayal.
 
"No," Mom said. "I mean you, Serene. And the puppets," she added. She pointed to the bathroom. "Go get undressed."
 
"But I took a bath last morning," Serene protested.
 
"And you're taking one today too," Mom replied. "Come on."
 
Serene pouted, but she slipped out of the chair and she and the puppets followed Mom to the bathroom.
 
"Take your clothes off," Mom said and turned on the water in the tub.
 
The puppets helped Serene undress. At first. Then the right puppet nibbled on her shirt when he found some oatmeal stuck on it. The left puppet became jealous and she tried to get a bite too. They struggled to pull the shirt from each other.
 
"You're not undressed yet?" Mom asked.
 
"The puppets were helping me."
 
"They don't seem to have to been much help," Mom said. She leaned over Serene, pulled the shirt up and off and tossed it into a corner. Then she helped Serene take off the rest of her clothes.
 
"Cold cold coooold," Serene said. The puppets snuggled against her body to keep warm while she hopped from foot to foot.
 
Mom picked up Serene and placed her in the water.
 
"Ahhhh! It's too hot."
 
"No, it's not too hot," Mom said, but checked it again with one hand to be sure. "You just need to get used to it."
 
Serene wasn't convinced, but after a few seconds the water did seem to cool a bit, so she sat down. The right puppet, always the braver of the two, dove into the water to test it for himself.
 
The right puppet poked his head out of the water. "It's not too hot," he said.
 
The left puppet looked at him dubiously. She made no move to get into the water. The right puppet splashed her with water, and Serene laughed. "You got me wet," the left puppet said. The right puppet splashed her again.
 
Mom slid the shower door closed as the left puppet dived into the water and began splashing back. Serene laughed some more.
 
The puppets had stopped splashing each other a few minutes later, and were re-enacting the most recent episode of The Fairly Odd Parents when Mom opened the shower door again. The right puppet played the role of Timmy Turner. "I wish I had a new babysitter," he said.
 
"Ha ha ha," said the left puppet, acting as Vicki, the evil babysitter. "Your Mom and Dad left me in charge."
 
"Noooo," said right hand-Timmy.
 
The rest of the episode played out while Mom used a washcloth on Serene's face (the dialogue got a little muffled), arms and hands (the puppets nipped at the washcloth until Mom told them to stop), body, legs and feet.
 
"OK," Mom said. "You need to lie back so I can wash your hair."
 
"The puppets don't want you to wash my hair," Serene said. "The shampoo stings their eyes."
 
"The puppets don't have eyes," Mom said.
 
"Yes we do," the puppets said, and posed so Mom could see their eyes.
 
"If you lie back and keep your face still," Mom said, "you won't get any shampoo in your eyes."
 
"No," said the right puppet, looking firm.
 
"The puppets are about to get Serene in a lot of trouble," Mom said.
 
Serene and the puppets made noises of dissent in their throats.
 
"Lie back," Mom said, putting her hand on Serene's shoulder. "Now."
 
Serene laid back, but the puppets kept their heads above the water, burbling along with her as Mom washed her hair. She sat up as quick as Mom would let her.
 
Mom flipped the lever that controlled the drain. With a loud cha-chunk, bubbles came out of the drain and the water started out of the tub.
 
"Stand up," Mom said, holding a towel.
 
"It'll be too cold," Serene said. The puppets nodded their agreement.
 
"Stand up," Mom said again, "and I'll wrap your towel around you. You won't be cold that way."
 
Serene stood and Mom wrapped her in the towel. As Mom picked her up, the puppets became hands again, and Serene hugged Mom around the neck.