but grown-up-oriented program, but as he created new puppets and roped Jeremy into working with him, he realized that entertaining Gretel was far more satisfying than entertaining adults could ever be. For starters, Gretel was an unflinchingly honest critic. If she didn’t like something, she gave it a raspberry or simply toddled away and started doing something else. Children couldn’t lie to preserve someone else’s dignity the way adults did, and that authenticity pushed Everett to work harder.
But as it turned out, it wasn’t just the jokes and silliness that he loved about performing—what really mattered was helping Gretel process her emotions. And as a toddler, she had a lot of them. She constantly screeched in joy or yelled in frustration, and Everett understood. How bewildering it must have been to feel so out of control, so unable to understand the world around you. But with puppets, he and Jeremy could talk through what was happening and help Gretel accept whatever emotions she had.
If Jeremy thought it was weird to spend his free time at his friend’s house putting on puppet shows for his friend’s young sister, he didn’t say so, and soon Everett and he were working out a way to expand their audience beyond one child. The very first episode of Everett’s Place (Jeremy was more than fine with Everett’s name being in the title, as he preferred to appear on-screen only when it was absolutely necessary and even then required bribery in the form of food and beer) was filmed in Everett’s house, in his turret bedroom. Everett made his own music and built his own puppets, while Jeremy filmed, did some puppetry, and occasionally gave Everett input on design.
They put the show up on YouTube and didn’t expect much. But as parents discovered it and their small children became obsessed with it, their following grew. And by the time they graduated from CCAD, they had an offer from a local television station—suddenly, they had a real set to construct, professional equipment, and, most important, a much larger audience.
Ever since then, Everett had been doing the same thing five episodes a week: talking to children about their feelings, helping them work through family drama or friendship issues. And he loved it. Because while Gretel, as a twelve-going-on-forty-year-old, didn’t share her emotions with Everett anymore, he still had that knack for talking to kids, for getting on their level and relating to them in a way that most adults simply couldn’t.
Everett felt a responsibility to the kids he spoke to—he never wanted to let them down or phone it in, not when they trusted him to be honest in their conversations. That was how he thought of each episode—like a conversation with a kid on a topic like anger, or fear, or death, or jealousy. Childhood was a confusing and often overwhelming landscape, and although he couldn’t fix all of the problems his viewers brought to him, he always wanted at least to provide a map to figure the way out.
Which was why this new puppet was a massive pain in the ass. Someone needed to give him a map to figure it out, but unfortunately, no one had volunteered.
Everett was spending yet another night on his living room floor, alone, thinking. It wasn’t that he didn’t like working by himself, but sometimes he wanted someone to bounce an idea off of. He could call Jeremy, he realized, and Jeremy would tell him what to do.
The phone rang a few times before Jeremy picked up. “Everett?” he asked, the sound of voices and glasses clinking in the background.
“Is this a bad time?” Everett asked.
“Well, Tess and I are at dinner,” Jeremy said, not unpleasantly.
“Oh, shit.” Everett glanced at his watch. “Sorry. I had no idea it was dinnertime.”
“Is everything okay?” Jeremy asked.
Everett sighed. “I’m thinking about the new puppet, and I wondered if you had any thoughts—”
“Everett,” Jeremy said gently, “I’m out on a date night with my wife and I’ve had exactly two beers and I’m trying very hard not to have thoughts on anything except what we’re going to do tonight while our kids are at their grandparents’. I’m definitely not thinking about work.”
“Right, right.” Everett ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry I called.”
Jeremy laughed. “Don’t be sorry! But why don’t you go out? See some friends? Not me, no offense. I already told you what tonight is about.”
“Yep, not interested in cockblocking your date with your wife,” Everett said with a sigh.
“At least