The Birthday Gift

"I know you dolls are talking about my birthday!" It was Mandy's voice from the hall. The dolls all looked at each other. How did she know? Did she read their minds?

Of course Mandy read their minds, because that's how dolls talk to each other. They do that because their mouths don't move.

Mandy's head poked through the door to the workroom. "I thought I should help you decide how to celebrate, since it's my birthday," she told them.

Mandy climbed up on the big work table to where the other dolls were.
"You didn't even get a party last year, Mandy," Veronika said. "We thought you should have one this year."
"It would be fun to have a party," Mandy agreed, "but I've been thinking about how I liked Veronika's party this year. I have everything I need, but some real people don't."

"You mean," asked Charlotte, "that we should make another package of food for homeless people?"
"That's a nice thing to do," Mandy agreed, "but I have another idea."
"Tell us your idea, Mandy," Veronika said.
"Well," Mandy began, pulling the iPad over to where the other dolls could see and sitting down. "You know how after each story we ask our readers to donate to help children who are sick?" Mandy showed them where it said that. "How about we do that ourselves?"

"We have our allowances," Jolena said, "but doll money won't help them."
"Maybe," Billy began, "we could climb back into The Writer's purse and use her credit card."

"No, Billy," Mariah said, "we would have to ask permission, and then it would be from The Writer, not from us."

The dolls tried to think of a way they could get some money to donate to help sick children.
"We could look for money under the couch cushions," Mariah suggested. "There's usually some money down in there."

"That would belong to the people who live here," Veronika pointed out. "It wouldn't be from us. We should find a way to earn some money."

"If it would stop raining, we could have a lemonade stand and sell lemonade to real people," Jolena said, "but the weather report says it will rain all week!"

"I have an idea!" Charlotte cried. "There are bottles in the glass recycling that have 'Refund 5¢' written on them. There are plastic bottles in the plastic recycling that have 'Refund 10¢' on them. Doesn't that mean they give you money if you return the bottles? Maybe we could take them in and get the money for them."

"I like that idea," Mandy agreed, "but we would still need to get permission. We need to be sure it's OK to do that. The bottles belong to the people in the house, even if they plan to throw them away."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "The 5¢ refund means they had to pay 5¢ for each bottle when they bought the drinks. That isn't a lot in people money, but it adds up to a lot for all those bottles."
"But maybe if we do all the work," Jolena said, "it will be like getting paid to return the bottles at the store for them. I heard The Writer say she was going to the store. We could take care of the bottles while she's shopping!"

The dolls decided it was a good idea, so they all went to look for The Writer to ask if it was OK. Mandy checked in the study.

Charlotte looked into the downstairs hall.

Veronika rapped politely on the bathroom door.

Mariah came running back to the other dolls. She had found The Writer in the kitchen and explained what they wanted to do. "The Writer likes the idea," she said. "She said she would add to the donation, too, as a birthday present to Mandy."

The dolls were happy to learn that The Writer thought it was a great idea, and that she would even add a donation to the money they got from returning the bottles.

The dolls went through the glass and plastic recycling and pulled out all the bottles that had "5¢" or "10¢" on the label. They put them into two shopping bags and took them to the car.

When they got to the store, the dolls found the place were all the bottle and can recycling machines were. There were machines for glass bottles, for plastic bottles and for cans made of aluminum. They only had plastic and glass bottles. They started with the machine that took plastic bottles.

They worked together to pass the bottles up to Jolena who was putting them into the machine.

Then Billy had a turn feeding the machine. It was fun.

When they ran out of plastic bottles, they pushed a button, and the machine gave them a piece of paper. On it was the amount of money the store would give them for the bottles. They did the same thing with the glass bottles, and the glass machine gave them another piece of paper.

The dolls decided that Jolena should be the one to give the person the pieces of paper and get the money, because she is a good climber. They helped her get into the shopping cart. Jolena had never been in a shopping cart before. It felt strange, even though the cart had a place for her to sit. 

Billy the cart was also called a trolley. How did he know to call it that? Billy doesn't know. Sometimes we know things but can't remember where we learned them.

The dolls pushed the cart to a part of the store where there was a sign that said, "Customer Service." That's where people who return bottles and cans can take their pieces of paper to exchange for people money. There was a long line of people, so they had to wait their turn.

When it was their turn, Jolena climbed out of the cart and up onto the counter. The other dolls passed the two pieces of paper to her, one at a time. A man who worked in "Customer Service" took each piece of paper and gave Jolena the amount of money the machine had written on them.

Jolena thanked him. The man thanked Jolena.

When they got home, they put the money into an envelope.  The Writer gave them a check to put into the envelope, and a little card that explained about the stories. Mariah wrote out the address on the envelope and showed it to Mandy, so she could read it and make sure it was correct.

They put a stamp on the envelope. The dolls let Mandy take the envelope with the money to the mailbox, because it was her birthday present, but they went along to help. When they got to the mail box, they saw the mail slot was very high up.

The other dolls had to help Mandy up, so she could drop the envelope into the slot for the mailman to pick up.

On Wednesday, they had a party for Mandy. It was a fun party, and the dolls were very happy that they had done something to help real children. Helping real children is what makes dolls happy.
"This has been a wonderful birthday," Mandy said.

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

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation
"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 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

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Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart