We've Got Email!

Billy was in the living room reading to Pauly and Pippa when they heard Charlotte call out to them. (They are both good readers, but there's something special about reading a story together with people you care about.)

"We're having a meeting upstairs!" Charlotte called out to them. "I came to get you! It's important!"

Soon the dolls were climbing the stairs...all except for Pauly, who still stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Pippa turned around and called to him, "Pauly, come on! It always takes us longer to get up the stairs!"

"But it's a family meeting!" Pauly answered back. "It's just for all of you, isn't it?"

By then, Charlotte was almost at the top of the stairs. "You can come, too, Pauly! It isn't private or anything, and this way you'll be the first to know." It was obvious that Charlotte knew something about what the meeting was for.

Pauly started up the stairs a bit hesitantly. "But what if Jeffy needs me?" he asked. "He'll be home from school in a little while."

"The meeting won't take that long," Charlotte reassured him, "and Veronika told me you should come."

"Jeffy can call us," Billy called down to Pauly. "He has our number now, and he'll know you're here if you aren't home! If you're really worried, you can use our phone to call him."

Because he got off to a late start up the stairs, Pauly was the last one to join the dolls seated at the big work table. He really did want to know what the meeting was all about; he just didn't want to be pushy. He climbed up on the tall stool to sit next to Pippa.

Veronika and Mandy were ready to begin. Veronika waited for Pauly to get settled, and then she cleared her throat––well, she cleared the inside of her neck, where her throat would be––and began. "Everyone is here except for Jolena," she said, "and we can explain all this to her when she gets home from her ballet lesson. She should be here soon. The Writer has asked Mandy and me to share this with all of you." Veronika then looked at Mandy.

"We now have something very few dolls have," Mandy began, as Veronika helped her lift a big sheet of paper from behind them on their seat.

They held up the sheet of paper. "We," Mandy said proudly, "now have our own email address!" On the sheet of paper the dolls could see "thedollsstorybook@icloud.com."

"Wow!" Billy exclaimed. "That's huge!"

Mariah had been thinking. "I have a question," she said. "Why do we need an email address? We're dolls. Dolls don't usually have email addresses."

"Most dolls don't, that's true," Veronika replied, "but we're a little different, because we're in stories and now books."

"You see," Mandy began, "people sometimes have difficulty leaving comments on the story blog, and The Writer has a lot of trouble answering the comments when she sees them, even if Billy helps. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

"And there's no way for people to comment on the books," Veronika pointed out. "They can write the publisher or comment wherever they bought the book, but that's what we call cumbersome (KUM-ber-sum). That means it's a lot of trouble to do and it doesn't work very well."

"If it's too much trouble," she said, "some human people don't bother. They may have more important things to do."

"People comment on Facebook sometimes," Mandy added, "and that's nice, but The Writer has to see the comments, and then she responds to the comment, and if it's something for one of us, she tells us about it. This way, though, we can answer the emails ourselves, too, without bothering The Writer. Besides, someone may have a comment or question they don't want the whole world to know about, like what Billy wants for his birthday, and they want it to be a surprise. If you want something to be secret, you don't talk about it on Facebook!"

"Will people be able to use the email address to order our books?" Pippa asked.

"That's a very smart question, Pippa!" Veronika exclaimed, "As a matter of fact, they will. Of course, the books are for sale in book stores, but if someone wants a signed copy, they have to get it from The Writer, and they can use this email for that."

"However," Mandy broke in, "we have another plan for this email. I mean, it will be good for more than just getting comments on the stories and selling the books."

"Yes," Veronika agreed. "We want our readers to use it to ask questions that they want us to answer. Maybe some of the questions will end up in stories."

While the dolls were still thinking about that, Jolena appeared in the doorway. "Sorry I'm late for the meeting," she said. "What did I miss?"

As Jolena climbed up next to Emil, all the dolls started talking at once.

All, that is, except for Mandy and Veronika, who just folded their hands in front of themselves and waited. They could correct anything the others got wrong. It's good for dolls to tell others about something they had just learned, and this was also a way for the two older dolls to find out if there was anything someone didn't understand.

Many dolls might be confused with everyone talking at one time, but not Jolena. She was used to being in a large group of dolls all talking at once when she traveled with the Doll Ski Team. Her little doll brain picked out each thing that was said and organized it into something that made sense.

Pippa and Pauly have higher voices, so they were easy to pick out.

When the dolls had all reached the part of the story where Veronika had said, "Maybe some of the questions will end up in stories," Jolena was caught up. 

"So someone's question might be an idea for a new story?" Emil asked when they were ready to go on. "Someone might send us an email asking why Brownie hasn't been in a story lately, for instance?"

Mandy nodded. "Yes, and that's a great idea!" she agreed. "They might have a question about science or nature we can help them with."

"Someone might want to know how you learn to be a writer," Mariah suggested.

"Maybe someone wants to know how to bake a cake!" Jolena exclaimed.

"Or what's the most fun about playing the violin!" Charlotte joined in.

"Or how to take good photos," Billy added.

"Or how to stay out of trouble," said Pauly, giving Billy a meaningful look.

Billy tried very hard to wink at Pauly, but all he could do was pretend, because his eyes don't close.

Mandy laughed. "That's too complicated for one story," she said. Each situation is different. Dolls can get into trouble in lots of different ways. It's a great idea, though. Each one could be a story."

"Wow!" Pauly almost shouted. "Jeffy might be in college by the time we finish them!"

"So," said Veronika, trying to bring the meeting to a close, "we want to ask our readers to let us know if they have any questions for us, or if there's something they want us to know. They should just email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com. We promise not to share their email address with anyone."

"Pinky swear!" Pippa exclaimed, grabbing Pauly's pinky finger with her own.

"Pinky swear!" Pauly responded. Pippa had taught him this little ritual. Jeffy may be the center of his life, but he was happy to be included with this group of friends. Who knew being a doll could be so much fun!

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
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us here: thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"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.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude.

Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available (not featured in every story).

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Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart

Staying After

Billy and Pauly closed the front door to Billy's house. "I should call Jeffy, Pauly said. "He must be worried about me."

"You can use our phone," Billy told him, taking Pauly's jacket from him. "The one the dolls use is usually in the kitchen, on the counter next to the refrigerator."

"Thanks," said Pauly as he ran off down the hall to the kitchen. He was familiar with the house now, because he spends most of his time there when Jeffy is not at home. He likes to be home when Jeffy is, because Jeffy needs him!

"You're pretty late coming home," Mariah said when Billy came into in the living room.

Emil hadn't mentioned to Mariah that Billy would be late. He thought it was better to let Billy explain when he got home.

"Yes," Billy said as he walked himself slowly toward them. "Well, you see some of us got into trouble and had to stay after school."

Billy heaved himself and the jackets up onto the big hassock in front of the couch. Mariah just looked at Billy. She wondered what he would have done to have to stay after.

Billy could tell Mariah really wanted to know more, so he began his story. She would find out anyway.

"You see," he said, "Pauly, Parker, Jackson and I were playing soccer in the school yard during recess. Well, actually, we were just practicing. I was showing them some moves I had learned. Then everyone tried it."

"When it was Parker's turn, he accidentally kicked the ball over the fence," Billy said. "His knees don't bend, and he hit it really hard. He didn't mean to. It's just what happens when you're learning something. Your aim is off."

Mariah nodded. She knew that was true.

"Pauly and I got to the fence first," Billy explained. "We could see the ball, but we couldn't reach it!"

"So there was the ball, on the other side of the fence," Billy went on with the story. "Recess was almost over, and the ball belongs to the school. We had to get it."

"You couldn't just leave it there," Emil agreed.

"So you found a teacher," Mariah suggested, "who could watch you get it or go with you to get it."

"We tried to," Billy explained, but all of the teachers who were out there were busy helping other dolls with things."

Mariah thought she could see where this was going. She knew there was a very strict rule that you didn't leave the school yard until school was over. A human person might see you there and pick you up, thinking you didn't belong to anyone. They might take you home and keep you. They might never know they were dollnapping, because you would be where you didn't belong. They wouldn't know that you got there on your own, because many human people don't see dolls move around and do things. "You didn't go outside the school yard to get the ball!" she exclaimed. 

Billy looked a little sheepish. "We decided to risk it," he said. "We didn't want the ball to get lost, so the four of us went out of the yard and got the ball. We thought it would be safe, because we were all together."

"When we were coming back with the ball," he went on, "one of the teachers caught us. She was very upset with us. She had seen us go outside the fence."

Emil had seen this part, so he just nodded.

"I can imagine!" Mariah exclaimed. "What did she do?" (She was sure he was going to tell them.)

"She told us we all had to come to her classroom after school," Billy replied. "She said we were going to be punished for breaking the rules."

Billy remembered how the four of them had worried about what the punishment was going to be. It was hard to think about anything else for the rest of the school day.

"So she made you stay after," Mariah suggested. Now she knew as much as Emil did.

"Well," Billy said, "there was more than that. She showed us the whiteboards in her room. There are four of them. She assigned each of us one of the whiteboards. She told us we had to write, 'I will not break the rules again' until our whiteboard was filled up."

"That teacher must be very old," Mariah suggested. "I didn't think they did that anymore."

"That must have been a lot of work," Emil said.

"It was," Billy agreed, "but it was a lot harder for Pauly, because he couldn't reach very high and he writes smaller than the rest of us. He really struggled with it. I had to stand on a chair to reach the top of it, but Pauly had to pile some books on his chair and still couldn't reach very high up, so he started from the bottom."

"Then what did he do?" Mariah asked. Now she was very concerned for Pauly, because she knows he tries hard to do everything the others do, but like Pippa, he's very short.

"He did his best," Billy said, "but when the rest of us had finished, he was still only about a quarter done and was looking around in the teacher's cupboard to find more books to stand on."

"After a while, the teacher started looking at the clock on the wall," Billy said. "That made Pauly nervous, so it was harder for him to write."

Mariah glanced toward the kitchen. She was't sure if Pauly could hear or not. She wasn't sure how he would feel about being talked about when he wasn't there.

"The teacher said she had to leave," Billy continued. "She said Pauly could stop writing and we could all go home. Pauly didn't have to finish."

"So that's when you came home," Emil suggested.

"Sort of," Billy said, "but there's more. Parker and Jackson didn't like it that Pauly didn't have to finish the punishment," he told them. "They started complaining that he should have to come back the next day to finish, because they had finished theirs, and it wasn't fair to them if he got off only doing part of it."

"I wanted to punch them both," Billy admitted, "but I remembered when I had gotten into a fight at school. Veronika told me I should never hit another doll, no matter what."

Mariah remembered that. "You were defending me," she said. "Veronika is right, but I was glad you stuck up for me. We just need to find better ways to stick up for someone than fighting."

Billy was glad Mariah had appreciated his support. "I remembered that Veronika said we should try to understand why someone does something we think is wrong or unfair," he said, "so I thought about how they had finished the punishment but Pauly hadn't. I thought about how the only dolls they live with are about their size. It made me realize that they didn't really understand how hard some things are for smaller dolls like Pauly and Pippa. Sometimes they need help!"

"So instead of hitting them," Billy went on, "I explained how difficult it was for Pauly to reach the white board. They must not have noticed, because they were working hard, but it was really a lot more work for Pauly than it was for them."

"I told them," Billy continued, "that just because someone else gets a break that you didn't get doesn't take anything away from you. You should be happy for them. Besides, Pauly wasn't the one who kicked the ball over the fence!"

"What did they do?" Emil asked.

"Jackson was still upset with Pauly," Billy replied, "but Parker apologized to him. Maybe Jackson will think about it and change his mind. I hope so."

"Then," Billy continued, "when we were leaving, the teacher did something odd, I think. She has sleeping eyes. You know, the kind that close when you lie down? I don't know how she did it, but she looked at me and closed one of her eyes. It was strange!"

"She winked at you!" Mariah exclaimed. "I know what that means! It means she thought you had done something good by trying to explain to Jackson and Parker."

This surprised Billy. He had only thought about how the teacher had been upset with him for breaking a very important rule. Maybe a teacher can be angry with you about something you did wrong and then pleased with you if you do something they like.

Just then, Pauly came back into the room. "Jeffy was glad I called," he told them. "I told him what happened, the whole story. He says to stay here, and he will come to get me. He doesn't want me to walk home alone when it's this late."

"We could have walked you home," Billy told him. He wondered why Jeffy hadn't thought about that.

"I think Jeffy wanted to come get Pauly," Mariah said. "Sometimes human people have to do something about their worry once it's over. It makes them feel better."

"Jeffy is a very special boy," Pauly told them. "I'm lucky to belong to a boy who doesn't just stand me on a shelf like something to look at!"

"You're lucky for lots of things," Mariah said, glancing at Billy. "You're a very lucky doll! We all are!"

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

Old teacher: Madame Alexander Madeline ~1950

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment.

"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.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble,  BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude.

Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.

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

Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart