"Hey," said Billy from the doorway. "The Writer sent me in to ask everyone to talk a little more quietly."
Charlotte put down her violin. "Are we making too much noise?" she asked.
"No," said Billy, as he climbed up on the table next to Charlotte, "and she specifically said to tell you to keep playing. Music doesn't disturb her, unless someone sings along. It's the words that distract her."
"She and I," Billy went on proudly, "are working on the cover for the new book. She says she needs to concentrate, because the software is very complicated. Talking distracts her brain, so she can't think."
"She can hear us talk?" asked Pauly, incredulous. He knew many children can hear their dolls talk, although he wasn't sure that Jeffy heard him. He hadn't been living with Jeffy long, so maybe it takes a while, but he didn't think grownups ever heard dolls talking.
Billy laughed, as he rubbed behind Pierre's ears. "She says that sometimes she wishes she didn't, but then she thinks about the stories. She couldn't write them if we didn't talk to her."
"And do things," Mandy put in, as she checked the fit of the sweater she was making for Pippa.
"We definitely do things," Veronika agreed. She was at the sewing machine, working on a quilt for The Writer's husband.
"We're always busy," Jolena agreed.
"You're even busier than the rest of us," Mariah told her.
The two girls were sitting at the work table. Jolena was looking up recipes for what to cook for supper, while Mariah worked on a poem she was writing.
"If you're not cooking something," Mariah pointed out, "you're off at dance lessons or ski instruction, or flying through the air on your skis."
"She even supervises us," Emil put in, "when we wash the dishes! He was brushing Marmalade to help Mandy, so she could get finished with Pippa's sweater.
"I've never seen the rest of you with nothing to do," Jolena pointed out.
"We're supposed to be quiet for a while, though," Emil said. "Shhhh!" he added.
That reminded the other dolls that they needed to talk more softly.
They looked at each other and said, "Shhhhh!" They said it more to themselves than to each other.
Billy climbed down from the table. "I'll get back to helping," he said softly, pausing at the door. Then he left the room.
Even though the dolls talk with their minds, because their mouths don't move, they can make their voices softer.
"Let's pretend we're at the library when we talk," Pippa suggested softly, as she slipped off the new sweater. Pippa knows it's important to be quiet at the library, because some people like to read there, and loud talking can be distracting.
So they did. When they had to talk, they did it very quietly.
Veronika didn't worry that the sound of the sewing machine would bother The Writer. If music without words didn't bother her, the whirring sound the machine makes wouldn't bother her, either.
Mandy didn't worry that the sound of her knitting needles would bother The Writer. They just make a soft clicking sound as she works.
Pippa and Pauly didn't worry that using their crayons to color would disturb The Writer. Crayons on paper make hardly any sound at all! Coloring with crayons isn't like talking out loud.
Mariah didn't worry that the sound of her pencil, or even the sound of the eraser, on the paper would distract The Writer as she wrote her poem.
Jolena didn't worry that the sound of turning the pages in the cookbook would interfere with The Writer's concentration.
Emil didn't worry that The Writer would be disturbed by the sound of the brush going through Marmalade's fur or the purring sound Marmalade made when he was being brushed.
Sometimes Marmalade talked to Emil, but The Writer wouldn't hear that, even if Marmalade used his loudest voice. Emil was the only one who could hear the animals talk.
The other dolls could hear Marmalade purr. They could hear him say "meow," but they couldn't hear him talk about watching the birds in the tree outside or how much he liked to smell and even pretend to eat catnip.
The dolls continued with what they were doing before but remembering now to talk to each other with hushed tones, while Charlotte practiced playing her violin.
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
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
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