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?"
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!
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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