Gossip

Jolena and Billy came looking for Veronika. They found her sitting in the living room, working on a very large quilt. She has been working on it for a very long time.

"Is everything OK?" Veronika asked. "You two look upset."
"I'm so angry!" Billy cried. "I wanted to hit that doll, but I know I'm not supposed to hit anyone."
"I'm angry, too," Jolena said. "I'm even more angry, because it isn't about me, it's about you, Veronika!"
"Yes," agreed Billy, "and it isn't even true!"

Veronika put aside her quilting. "Tell me about it," she said.

"Well," Jolena began, "You know Lucy, one of the girls in our class. She has been telling everyone that you used to belong to another person."

"She said that the other person sold you because you were naughty!" Billy added.
Veronika thought for a moment. "That's gossip," she said, "but it's partly true."

Billy and Jolena stared at Veronika. They couldn't believe the story was true.
"But you're never naughty!" Billy cried.

"You're the one who shows us how to be good dolls!" Jolena exclaimed.

"This," began Veronika, "is why gossip is so bad. Someone hears something that might be true. Then that doll tells another doll, but he or she might not remember it exactly the way it was told, or might misunderstand it, so the story changes a bit."

"I know a game that shows how this happens. Let's go get the other dolls, and we can play the game," Veronika suggested.

The three dolls went off into other parts of the house to find the other dolls. Each doll came back with a doll. That meant they had six dolls to play the game.

"We're going to play a game called Gossip," Veronika explained to them. "Everyone sit down."

The dolls sat in a row on the couch. 
"Now," said Veronika, "here's how we play the game. I'm going to whisper something in Billy's ear. Billy will listen carefully and whisper what I said in Jolena's ear. Jolena will whisper it to Mandy, and so on, until the message gets to Mariah. Mariah will tell us what she heard." Veronika looked around at the other dolls. "Any questions?"

"So we just whisper, so no one can hear except the person we're whispering to?" Charlotte asked.

Veronika nodded. "That's right," she agreed.

The dolls were ready to play the game. Veronika whispered in Billy's ear. "The weather will be nice today," she whispered.

Billy turned and whispered in Jolena's ear. He whispered exactly what he heard from Veronika.

Jolena whispered what she heard to Mandy.

Then Mandy whispered what she heard to Charlotte.

Charlotte whispered it to Mariah.

"OK, Mariah," Veronika said then, "what was the message? Tell us what you heard."

"I heard that we will have snow and ice today," Mariah answered. "It sure doesn't look like it to me, though. The sun is out, and it's warm!"

"That's because it isn't what I said. I said, 'The weather will be nice today,' but the message changed a little bit with each doll. Sometimes it's because we don't hear something quite the way it was said, or maybe we were expecting something a little different."

"Now I understand how a story changes," Billy said. "You said part of the story Lucy was telling is true, Veronika," Billy said. "So does that mean that someone heard that part and misunderstood the other part?" he asked.

"I don't know for sure, but here's the true story," Veronika explained. "I used to belong to a very nice man. He had several dolls. He made pretty things for us to wear and we modeled them. We wore the dresses and sweaters, and he took photos of us."

"It was a hobby," Veronika went on. "After a while, he decided his dolls weren't getting enough attention, so he sold all of the dolls except one. I was one of the ones he sold. He knew The Writer wanted me, so he sent me to the live with her."

"So it wasn't because you were naughty!" Jolena exclaimed.

"I may have been naughty at some time," Veronika explained, "but he was never angry with me, and that wasn't why I was sold."
Billy was thinking. "I can see how Lucy could get the story mixed up, but I don't understand why she has been telling that story to everyone. It seems like she wants to make you look bad," he said.

"People are like quilts," Veronika said, picking up her very large quilt. "You can see what's on the outside, but not what's inside." 

Veronika pulled up the cloth at the edge of the quilt where it wasn't sewn down yet, so they could see what was inside. It was filled with some white, fluffy stuff.

"I know what's inside the quilt," Veronika explained, "because I put it there. It's cotton batting, and it's made to go inside a quilt, but I didn't make Lucy, so I don't know what's inside her. I only know what I see on the outside. Maybe she's unhappy with who she is. Maybe she thinks she's bad and wants to think other dolls are bad, too, or maybe she did it to get attention from the other dolls."

"What are you going to do about it," Charlotte asked.

"I think," Veronika said slowly, "I'll talk to Lucy when we're alone. I'll explain what actually happened to me. Then I'm going to forgive her."

"She's a doll like me," Veronika explained, "and I would want to be forgiven if I had said bad things about her. If I hate her for what she did, it would hurt me more than what she said could hurt me. Having hate in your heart hurts you."
"Dolls have hearts?" Billy asked.
"Of course dolls have hearts, Billy," Veronika exclaimed. "If you take a doll apart, you may not be able to find a heart, but it's there."
"So you do you just forget about what Lucy did?" Mariah wanted to know.

"No, you can't make yourself forget. Forgiving isn't the same as forgetting, but forgiving can take a lot of work. I will just think about how Lucy is like a quilt, and that there might be something inside her, that I can't see, that makes her the way she is. Then I will try to set a good example for her."

"It's important," Billy agreed, "for dolls to be good examples for each other, so they can be good examples for children."

"So will you tell her you forgive her?" Jolena wanted to know.
"No," Veronika answered, "not unless she asks me to. Telling her would be like saying I know she was naughty. It could make things worse. Forgiving isn't for the person who hurt you. Forgiving is something you do for yourself, so you can be nice to the person you forgive, and it makes you feel ever so much better!"

All the dolls thought about it and agreed that Veronika made sense.

"One way we can set a good example," Jolena said, "is not to gossip...ever!"

They all agreed with that, too. If you gossip, you can hurt others, even if you don't mean to.


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.

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

Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart