Grubby Gabby

by Toddy Laydon
(Brisbane, Qld, Australia)

On a very nice street, stood a very nice house,
always remarkably clean.
In this house lived a family who worked very hard,
to keep their home pristine.

In this family lived a very nice girl,
who was always a TERRIBLE mess!
This made her family very annoyed
and caused them enourmous stress.

But this little girl was no ordinary girl-
no tiara's or fairy wings please!
She much preferred to play in the mud,
catch tadpoles and climb tall trees.

Her two big brothers picked on her,
they called her 'Grubby Gabby';
because her hair and clothes were messy
and her knees were dirty and scabby.

But Gabby was happy being a grub.
She liked to take handfuls of dirt
and rub it all over her hair and face,
then wipe her hands on her shirt.

She purposely wore odd shoes on her feet
with socks that never did match.
Gabby wore pants two sizes too big,
held up with her bike chain and latch.

Gabby's most favourite thing to do
was catch tadpoles down by the creek.
But there one day, Gabby was washed away
after it flooded from raining all week!

Afloat on her back, with arms outstretched
she let the creek wash her away.
The ride was bumpy and very fast,
it was the most fun she'd had all day!

It was exciting, until she realised
she had been washed right out of town!
She frantically grabbed a branch on the bank
where she pulled herself out and sat down.

On the bank, alone in the late afternoon
shivering and soaked to the bone,
Gabby began to wonder;
just how would she ever get home?

Meanwhile, her family was searching,
they knew Gabby had gone to the creek.
They knew it was dangerous to go down there
after it had rained all week.

They slipped and stumbled along the bank,
their clothes got covered in mud.
They tore their pants and grazed their knees
in their search for Gabby the grub.

Finally they found her at the end of town,
when she saw them, she beamed a big smile.
But they didn't recognise her at first-
she was the cleanest she'd been in a while!

Her hair was washed and shiny,
her clothes looked white and clean,
her odd shoes had been washed away
and not a spec of dirt on her knees.

After many hugs and kisses,
there was a giggle from Gabby the grub.
"Has anyone else here noticed,
I'm the only one NOT covered in mud?"

Her parents couldn't wait to get showered.
Her brothers couldn't wait to get clean.
And Gabby couldn't wait to get grubby,
so she wiped some mud on her knee!