The boys had a nice ride home from their adventures. They had ridden on the trail on the bicycles.
They had sat on the old log.
They had climbed on the rocks.
They had returned home on the bicycles.
They had talked about Billy's question. Why would Marty say he was good at something if he wasn't? It was puzzling. They wanted to talk with Veronika about it.
"She's in the living room," Emil told Billy after they came inside.
Veronika and Pippa were reading.
"Veronika," Billy said, "I need your help to understand something."
Veronika closed her book.
"I want to know, too," Emil said.
Veronika patted the couch next to her. She wanted them to come up and sit with her. Pippa closed her book and patted the couch next to her, too.
Billy and Emil climbed up to sit between the two girls. Billy explained the whole thing, the way he had explained it to Emil. Everyone listened while Billy was talking.
"What I want to know," Billy said when he had finished, "is why Marty said he was good at science if he wasn't."
All Pippa could see was the back of Emil's head. She sometimes wished she were taller.
"Well," Veronika said, "I don't know Marty, and I don't know Adam, but dolls who are good at things usually don't feel the need to prove they are."
"Dolls who brag a lot," Veronika went on, "those dolls do it, I think, because they are trying to convince themselves that they are better than they think they are."
Pippa leaned forward. Now she could see better.
"I think maybe it's because they really feel bad about themselves," Veronika said.
This was a new idea to Emil and Billy. How could you feel bad about yourself. Sure, you could feel bad about something you did, but you knew, deep down, you just needed to learn more.
"Dolls are good at pretending," Veronika pointed out. "They are good at making others believe in what they are pretending, but maybe Marty's child criticizes and scolds Marty too much, so Marty feels bad about himself. Maybe Marty's child doesn't hold him and tell him how wonderful he is. What do you think?"
"I don't know the child Marty lives with," Billy replied, "but if Marty has to lie to feel better about himself, he must have a sad life."
"Maybe his child has a sad life," Veronika pointed out. "Maybe Marty's child feels bad about himself. Maybe Marty needs to know that he is helping his child deal with some unpleasant things. Maybe he is doing something very important to help, and he doesn't know it."
"I wonder if he would feel better about himself," Emil suggested, leaning forward, "if he knew it."
Again Pippa wished she could see better. It's difficult to be very small, sometimes.
"You don't have to be good at science to help someone feel better," Billy pointed out.
"Let's try to figure out a way to help Marty realize what an important doll he is," Emil suggested, "but we need to do it in a way that doesn't hurt his feelings."
Veronika nodded. "That's a good idea," she said, "and maybe if you ignore him when he brags, he won't do it so much."
"Maybe we can get him to talk about what's happening at home," Billy said. "Maybe that way we can show him how important he is."
They all thought that was a good idea. They also thought about how the person who brags about how he's the best at something may not really be the person who is.
"Being short," said Pippa, "isn't as bad as feeling bad about yourself. If I had to pick, I'd rather be short."
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"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.
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