Finding Your Purpose

 A few years ago,, when Bella, who lives with The Writer's granddaughter was visiting, Billy took some photos of Bella with Mandy, because they are the same doll, at least on the outside, like twins.

Billy would like to take more photos. He needed a camera of his own, one he could use all the time. He looked for one online, but he is small. The cameras he saw are all too big for him and cost more than what he had saved up. Billy had an idea. He asked for the use of a discarded phone that takes photos but can't be used to make calls anymore. He asked nicely and had good reasons for wanting the phone, so The Writer gave it to him. He can use it to take photos and send them to the computer.

The first thing he did was take photos of his dog, Freckles, on the dog bed.

Then he took photos of his sisters doing things and posing for him. He took this one of Mandy and Veronika planning a tea party.

He took this photo of Mandy and Jolena looking at a photograph album.

Because he didn't have to pay for a camera, he used his savings to buy a tripod. That's a kind of stand that will hold a camera or a phone so it doesn't jiggle when you take a photo.

Now he can take photos without holding the phone. He can even take photos of himself, like this one, using the timer on the phone. He set up the phone on the tripod and aimed the phone so that where he planned to sit was on the screen. He set the timer for ten seconds. Then he ran and climbed up on the window sill. The phone took his photo when the ten seconds were up.

He took lots and lots of photos and then sent them to the computer. Some were good and some were not so good. Sometimes he found mistakes in the photos only after he saw them on the computer. He has learned that you have to pay attention to what might be behind dolls when you take photos of them, like these cooking spoons sticking out of a jug on the bench behind Charlotte. It made him laugh, but he thought it took the attention away from his sister.

Billy has learned that you have to notice where the light is coming from, so you can see the doll whose photo you are taking. It was hard to see Mariah's face when the light came from behind her. He wanted Mariah's face to show, because she's pretty and nice to look at.

He has taught himself how to pick the best photos and how to use the computer to fix them so they look even better. 

One day, Billy asked Veronika and Mandy if he could take their picture some nice clothes. They thought it was a fun idea, so they looked through the clothes together to decide what to wear. 

Veronika and Mandy washed their faces and put on the outfits they had chosen. Then they brushed their hair. Well, they brushed Mandy's hair. Veronika's hair doesn't need much care.

When the girls were ready, Billy found a place for them to stand where there wouldn't be anything else to see, so the photo would only be about the two dolls. There were no cooking spoons sticking up. The light was good. Billy told Veronika and Mandy where to stand. 

Billy talked to the girls while he took photos. He made little jokes that made them giggle, so he could get them to smile. (It isn't easy for them to smile, you know, because their mouths don't move.)

When he decided he had taken enough photos, Billy sent them to the computer. He chose the photo he liked best and cropped it. That means he cut off some of the outside edges of the photo. He lightened up the picture a bit, so their beautiful faces were clear. He used the computer to make the edges and corners fuzzy just because he thought it was pretty that way.

While Billy was working on the photo he had chosen, Veronika climbed up to see what he was doing with the computer. "Wow, Billy!" she said, looking at the photo on the screen. "You're good at this!"

"Do you think so?" Billy asked. "I thought I was only good at using my sled and throwing a ball."

"You do many things well, Billy," Veronika pointed out. "You are fun to be with, and you listen to what other dolls are saying. You know how to put things together, how to play games and how to take turns. You can solve problems. You know how to work with other dolls, too, and you are good at being kind."

Jolena heard Billy's and Veronika's voices from the next room. She came to find out what they were doing. She climbed up to where Billy was working, so she could see the picture on the computer screen.

"Where did you find that photo, Billy?" Jolena asked.
"I took a lot of photos with the phone," he explained. "Then I sent them to the computer and looked at them. I thought this one was the best, so I fixed it to make it look even better."

"It must have taken a lot of work to learn how to do this," Jolena said.
"It isn't work," Billy replied. "It's fun!"

"Work can be fun," Veronika explained. "Just because you're doing something useful or learning how to do something that's hard, doesn't mean it can't be fun."

"That's how cooking is for me," Jolena agreed. "Cooking is useful, so you could call it work, but to me it's fun, and I'm good at it. It's my superpower. Billy, I think taking photos, choosing the best ones and making them even better is your superpower!"

"I have been worried that I would never find anything useful I could do well, but this is easy, and it's something I like to do," Billy told them. "I hope it's useful, too."

"This is useful! Now you can take photos for our stories!" exclaimed Veronika.

Billy was very still for a while. Then he took a big breath and looked up at the ceiling. Veronika thought he was trying to think how to say something very important.

"You have made me feel much better," Billy said. "When I came here, I didn't think I could be really good at anything useful. I think it's a big responsibility, being in stories that teach children about how the world works and how to be kind to each other, and how to feel good about who they are. I didn't think I would be good enough."
"Billy, you wouldn't have been called to do this if you couldn't do it," Veronika pointed out. "When you're called to do something important and good, you should trust that it's because you're the right one for the job."

"Yes," agreed Jolena. "The writer chose you because you were the right one for the stories. All of us were very carefully chosen because we were needed," she added. "It's just like when you choose the photos that work best for what you want from all the ones you've taken."

"I thought I was picked because I was a boy," Billy said.

"Well, that's true, too," Veronika agreed. "We needed a boy. All boys and girls are special, but you're the boy we needed."

That made Billy very happy. He knew his sisters were honest. They would never lie, even to make him feel better, so it must be true. He thought about that, and it made him smile.

"I have an idea," Billy said, "Let's take a group photo with all the dolls together. I can set the timer on my camera, so I can be in the photo, too." 

Billy called all his sisters to come. He arranged them on the steps, because he said it's easier to get them all in the photo if the dolls in front are lower than the dolls in back. That way, no one's face is hidden behind someone else's. Then he set up his tripod. He had to make the legs of the tripod longer, so his phone camera would be high enough to take the photo he wanted, but they are easy to adjust.

The dolls posed. Billy set the timer. Then he ran and sat down in front of his sisters. He took several photos, but not because someone blinked. (These dolls don't blink, you know, because their eyes don't close.) No, he had to take a few photos before the girls stopped being silly. He wanted them to look happy, but not silly. He checked each photo on the screen. When he was sure he had some good ones, Billy sent the photos to the computer. He chose the one he liked best. It was a photo where no one was being silly. Then he fixed it and made it even better. This is the photo Billy chose after he made it look its best.

Billy is smiling in the photo. He is happy because he has found something to do that is fun and useful. 

The next Christmas Billy got a real camera just his size, so he can take it outdoors and photograph all the beautiful things in nature.

Cast--
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Mandy and Bella: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook and More Classic Tales Untold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2019, 2025 by Peggy Stuart

Lost in the Forest

Once upon a time, on the edge of a big juniper forest there lived two dolls.

One doll was a boy. 

The other doll was a girl.

(We won't tell you their names, because this story is very scary, and you might become attached to these dolls if you knew their names. Now, you may be frightened when you read this story, but don't close your eyes! After all, the dolls can't close their eyes, so it wouldn't be fair, would it?)

Now, back to the story:

The two dolls liked to go into the juniper forest to play whenever the weather was nice enough.

One day, while the boy and the girl were playing in the forest, they saw a rabbit running by. "Oh, look!" the girl doll exclaimed. It's a bunny!"

Excitedly, the boy suggested, "Let's follow the rabbit and see where it goes!" 

The two dolls followed the rabbit, running to try to keep up, but the rabbit ran very fast. It got smaller and further away as it ran. Sometimes it disappeared behind rocks or trees, and then would appear again, even further away. Eventually the dolls could not see the rabbit anymore. It was gone.

"That's too bad," said the boy doll sadly. "I really wanted to see what kind of house the rabbit lives in." The girl doll nodded. It would have been interesting.

Then the girl doll looked around. "You know," she said, "I don't think we've played in this part of the forest before. Do you know where we are?"

The boy looked around, too. "There are the same kind of trees as usual," he pointed out, "but everything looks sort of different."

"Which way is home?" the girl doll asked in distress. "Which way did we come when we were chasing the rabbit. I'm all turned around! Are we lost?" 

The boy doll said nothing. He could only think about how chasing that rabbit had been a dumb idea.

The two dolls walked around, looking for something they knew. Eventually they saw a street with some houses right on the edge of the juniper forest.

They didn't recognize these houses, but they knew that human people live in houses. The human people they knew had always treated them kindly, so maybe there would be someone who could help them. They walked up to the front door of the first house they came to and knocked on it.

The dolls heard noises from inside the house, as if someone were walking slowly toward the door. Then the door opened very slowly, wider and wider, making a creaking sound as it did so. The two dolls looked up into the face of a very old human woman, who looked down at them through thick, smudged glasses.

"Well, hello, my sweets!" the old woman croaked as she peered at them through her glasses. She ran her tongue around the edges of her lips as she looked at the boy. "Yum," she said then. Then she sort of...cackled, like a chicken!

She made a smacking sound with her mouth as she looked at the girl doll. "Sweet," she said.  

"Tasty," the old woman added, as she opened the door even wider to let them in. "You two must be hungry," she added with a warm smile. "I'll make you some tea and some bread-and-butter sandwiches."

The dolls looked around as they entered the house.

The mention of food made the boy doll and the girl doll realize that they were starting to pretend to get very hungry, so they followed the old person into what she told them was her "sitting room." To the dolls, it looked like a living room.

The old human woman invited the two dolls to make themselves comfortable on the sofa while she made their tea.

"Maybe," the girl doll said, taking off her bonnet, "after we have pretended to eat, we can ask this human person to take us home."

Eventually, the old human person brought the dolls some pretend tea and some bread-and-butter sandwiches. While the dolls pretended to eat, she sat at the table nearby, looking at a sheet of paper and writing things down on a smaller piece of paper. 

When the dolls were almost done pretending to eat, the old woman got up. "I need to go out for a bit," she told them. "You stay right here until I get back. Please clean the oven for me, and mop the floor. It's the least you can do for me after I fed you." With that, she was out the door and gone. The dolls watched from the window as she left. They heard a car door close, then an engine starting. Then they heard the sound of the car driving off and sounding further and further away. She was gone!

The girl doll cleaned the oven.

The boy doll found a doll-size mop, and mopped the floor.

Then they sat down to wait.

"I wonder what the old woman was writing," the girl doll said eventually.

"Whatever it was," the boy replied, "she took it with her."

"She left something on the table, though," the girl said. "Let's go look."

"Isn't that nosy?" the boy wanted to know.

"Maybe it is, but who is going to know?" the girl suggested.

"The children reading this story will know," the boy replied solemnly.

"Maybe so," the girl doll agreed, "but I'm sure they will understand and forgive us by the time they have finished this story and know what becomes of us, don't you think? Come on, let's go look!"

The boy nodded, and the two dolls climbed down from the sofa. They went to the table where the old lady had been writing. There was a big piece of printed paper on the table. They looked at the paper. It was sort of mussed, as if someone had used it before many times. It had spots of stuff spilled on it. They read what was on the paper.

"It's a recipe!" the boy exclaimed, "and one of the ingredients is dolls!"

"Yes," agreed the girl. "She plans to eat us for dinner! The old woman must have been making a shopping list to get these other things!"

The two dolls looked at each other and at the paper again. "We need to get out of here," the boy doll said, and the girl doll agreed.

"We're still lost, though," she said. "We don't know where to go."

"Let's see if the old woman has a phone," the boy suggested. "We can call home. Maybe our people can come and get us, but we'd better hurry!"

The two dolls looked quickly around the house. Eventually, they found a cell phone on the table next to the bed. 

They were very lucky the old woman hadn't taken the phone with her and that it was charged up! They placed the call as quickly as they could and put it on speaker, so they both could talk and listen at the same time.

"Where are you?" asked the voice on the phone after the dolls had explained their predicament. 

The girl doll remembered the name on the street sign. "It's a funny name," she said into the phone. "It was something like 'Sinister Way,' I think," she said. "We're in the last house on the left at the end of the street, right next to the juniper forest!"

"I know right where that is," the voice said. "It's just around the corner from here. Leave the house and go out to the street. I'll be there in about five minutes."

"What if the old woman comes back?" the boy doll asked the phone.

"She will have to catch you before she can cook you," the voice replied. "Find a place to hide where you can see the street. I'll be right there!"

The dolls turned off the phone and the girl doll carefully put it back on the table.

The girl doll got her bonnet and put it back on, because she didn't want to lose it. Also, it was a sunny day, and she didn't want her vinyl to get sunburned. Then they quickly made their way to the front door and opened it. 

The two dolls hurried down the front step to the street and looked around for a place to wait for their ride. They noticed the trash and recycling cans outside the house. That would be a perfect place to hide while they waited. They had a good view of the street.

"Maybe we should have left a note," the boy doll said after they felt they were well-hidden from view.

"We are not going back in there," the girl doll replied firmly.

The boy doll was quiet as he thought about that. "You're right." he replied eventually. "The tea was cold, the bread-and-butter sandwiches were very dry, and she made us work!"

The girl doll had been thinking. "You know," she told the boy, "that recipe has been used before!"

Maybe all the children reading this story should go and count their dolls. Are they all there? Be sure to keep them safe!

Question for readers: Was the word eventually new to you? If it was, could you figure out what it means?

Cast--
Girl doll: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Boy doll: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Photo of rabbit: Jason Leung on Unsplash

Students of fairy tales may recognize some aspects of Hänsel und Gretel. The rabbit was inspired by his relative from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. (Our own fan of Alice, Pippa, suggested adding that part.)

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble,  BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart