Veronika and Mandy were sitting outside on the deck. Mandy was knitting, of course. Veronika was looking at a catalog with quilting fabrics. They both heard the pet door when it closed closed behind Pippa and her friend.
"These are my sisters, Veronika and Mandy," Pippa said to her friend as the two dolls walked across the deck. "I've told them all about you!"
"This is my friend, Polly," Pippa told her sisters.
"Hi, Veronika and Mandy," said Pippa's friend.
Veronika looked at Mandy, who was moving her glasses to the top of her head. Mandy looked at Veronika. This was Polly?
"Polly, how do you spell your name?" Mandy asked Pippa's friend.
"P-A-U-L-Y," Pippa's friend replied.
Pippa was surprised. "I thought it was P-O-L-L-Y!" she exclaimed.
"No," said Pippa's friend. "It's P-A-U-L-Y. P-O-L-L-Y is a girl's name!"
"You're a boy!" Pippa cried, and Pauly nodded.
Pippa had to take that in. She had to think about it. "I've been spelling your name wrong every time I told my family about you," she said.
"That's OK," said Pauly. It's an easy mistake to make. Polly and Pauly sound the same, they just look different."
"Like boy dolls and girl dolls," Veronika pointed out.
"Um..." said Pippa, "can we still be friends, since we aren't both girls?" she asked the two older dolls.
Pippa and Pauly both looked at the older dolls. This was a very important issue. They wanted to know!
"Of course you can still be friends!" Mandy exclaimed.
"Boy human children and girl human children can be friends," Veronika pointed out, "so boy dolls and girl dolls can be friends, too. We're supposed to be like real human children, after all."
"Well, that's a relief!" Pippa exclaimed. "Finally there's a doll like me, only he's a boy, so not really like me."
"Pippa," said Veronika with her little almost-smile, "there's no one quite like you. There's no one exactly like any of us. We're all different from each other in some way. That means we're unique (yoo-NEEK), and not just because we have dark hair or light hair, or because we're different sizes, or because we're boys or girls."
"That's a good thing," Mandy added. "Wouldn't it be boring if we were all just alike, inside and out? What if we all had the same ideas or dreams or knowledge! What could we talk about?"
Just then, the Billy and Emil came out through the dog door.
"We heard that Pippa's new friend was here," Billy told them excitedly after he was on his feet. "Mariah told us."
"Yes," Emil said. "Pippa doesn't often have a friend to visit, so we wanted to come and say hello."
"These are my brothers, Billy and Emil," Pippa told Pauly. Then she spoke to her brothers. "Pauly is my new friend at school. He's just my size!"
"I really like your pants, Pauly," Emil said.
"Yes," Billy agreed. "They're really cool! Where did you get them?"
"They dressed me at the factory," Pauly replied. "I was wearing these pants and shoes in my box, but my shirt is new."
"They didn't put you in a dress?" Billy asked. "They made me wear a dress, and they gave me long hair. They thought I was a girl. I know there's nothing wrong with being a girl doll, but it wasn't who I really am," he added. It still made him feel embarrassed to remember it, even though the other dolls had assured him they knew he was a boy, and it was OK.
"I had a dress and long hair, too, at first," Emil said. "I guess it didn't bother me too much, because I had other problems, like not being able to see much or hear at all until I got my special glasses. They seem to put most dolls in girls' clothes at the factory."
"Yes," Mandy put in. "Some people seem to think that only girl children like to have dolls, so the company mostly makes girl dolls. Some of the boys who get made are given long hair and girls' clothes to wear, by mistake, because the people in the factory are so busy making dolls, they don't notice that some of them are boys. Some of the boys get boys' clothes and hair or purpose, though, because some children like to have boy dolls, especially boy children."
Then all the dolls looked at Pauly. "The human child I live with is a boy," he told them. "His name is Jeffy."
"Everyone knew Pauly was a boy but me!" Pippa told her brothers. "But we can still be friends, though," she added. "I'm glad!"
"I can be your friend, too, if you like," Pauly said to the boys. "So far, Pippa is my only friend," he added. "My Friend List has lots of room on it."
"Come on," Pippa said to Pauly. "The boys and I will show you around. We have lots of interesting stuff in the house."
"For instance, we have a kitty and a fish," Pippa said as they walked toward the dog door. "Marmalade and Cleo."
"We have two dogs," Billy said, after they got inside and were climbing the stairs. "Charlotte and I walk our dogs every day. You can go with us sometime if you like."
"That sounds like fun," Pauly agreed. "Jeffy has a real dog, but I don't get to help walk him."
"That's not all," Emil added. "We have a horse! Her name is Brownie. She lives in the house with us, but we can ride her outside!"
After they had gone inside, Veronika looked at Mandy. "I didn't know there was such a thing as a Friend List," she said. "I wonder if it's like a Dance Card?"
Mandy would have shrugged her shoulders, but she had already picked up her knitting again. She didn't want to drop a stitch. She hadn't ever heard of a Friend List, either.
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
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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Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart
So cut! Boys and girls, and the mystery of life and love that continues!
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