Going Hungry

Mariah and Jolena were going for a bike ride. The dolls have three bicycles, so they can go for rides two or three at a time, which is more fun than riding alone. They also have three bicycle helmets, so they can ride safely. They put their helmets on before getting on the bicycles.

"This bicycle has a basket," Jolena said. "I can take your water bottle for you."
"I'm not taking a water bottle," Mariah said.
"What if you get thirsty?" Jolena asked.

"I will just be thirsty, then." Mariah replied as they rode to the trail. The dolls stayed on the sidewalks until they reached the trail, where cars are not allowed.
"It's because of Ramadan," Mariah explained as they rode along under the trees. (She said it 'Rah-mah-dahn.') "People and dolls of my faith fast during Ramadan. That means we go without food or water." Mariah explained.

"But you'll have to pretend to be hungry!" Jolena exclaimed, "and human people need water even more than they need food!"

Mariah laughed. "We can pretend to eat and drink," she said, "just not during the day."

"I got up at five o'clock this morning to pretend to eat and drink before sunrise," Mariah explained. "I can pretend to eat and drink again after seven-thirty tonight, after sunset. Then I will be very hungry, so I can pretend to eat a lot! I will have a very big dinner."

"Why do you do that?" Jolena wanted to know. "I mean, why do you fast?"
"It helps us feel closer to Allah," (AH-lah) Mariah said. "Allah is our name for God," Mariah explained. "Fasting also reminds us of what it's like to go hungry, the way some human people have to do because they don't have enough to eat. It makes us grateful for what we have."

"Doesn't it make you have to pretend to feel sick or weak?" asked Jolena.
"Sometimes," Mariah agreed, "but people who are already sick or old don't have to fast. Little children don't have to, either," she continued, "but children often start fasting during Ramadan when they are about six years old just to learn how. It teaches us that we don't have to have everything our bodies want."

"Mandy and I both gave up chocolate for Lent," Jolena said. "We went 46 days without pretending to eat chocolate!"

"That's the same idea, I think," Mariah agreed. "Ramadan lasts 30 days, but we can pretend to eat and drink as much as we want each night and before the sun comes up in the morning. It's like having a special dinner every night."

"During Lent," Jolena said, "our church wants us to be good and to do kind things for others."
"We do that too during Ramadan," Mariah said, "and we raise money to help people and dolls in need."

"Lent is over when Easter comes," Jolena said. "Then we hunt for Easter eggs and have a big dinner to pretend to eat."
Mariah nodded. "Hunting for Easter eggs was fun," she said. "Families of my faith have a big party for three days after the end of Ramadan."

"We should have a big party, too," Jolena suggested. "We're your family, so we should celebrate together."
"That would be fun," Mariah agreed, "and very nice, too."

The dolls stopped for a moment so Jolena could pretend to drink some water.

"I wonder if it's harder to go 46 days without chocolate," Mariah said, "or not to be able to eat or drink all day and then eat what you want at night."

Jolena laughed. "Since dolls only pretend to eat and drink," she said, "it probably doesn't make any difference, but I sure like to pretend to eat chocolate!"

Both dolls thought about what it must be like to eat for real, and not just pretend. They also thought about what it must be like to need to eat for real but have to go hungry.

They rode the rest of the way home without saying anything, while they thought about real children who had no food at all and were not dolls.


Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

Find out about Eid al-Fitr or the celebration at the end of Ramadan here.

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 at 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, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook and More Classic Tales Untold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) 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 charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2019, 2025 by Peggy Stuart

Taking Off

"Come on, Emil!" Billy said to his brother excitedly. "We have to go watch them take off this morning!" 

Emil looked up from his book. Billy was dressed to go out. Suddenly, Emil remembered that today was the big day!

"I can't believe I forgot!" Emil exclaimed, "I can hardly wait!" 

Billy handed him his jacket to wear, because it was cool outdoors.

The boys arrived downstairs to find Jolena waiting for them by the front door.

"Let's go," Jolena said. "We don't want to be late!"

The three dolls let themselves out through the big front door. 

Jolena had already taken the bicycles and helmets out of the store room, so they were ready to go. All the dolls needed to do was put on their helmets to protect the air inside their heads. (That air is where pretend doll brains are!)

The dolls rode along the trail that led to the park in the woods. 

Soon their destination––a human-person-size bench facing a long strip of paved open space––was in sight.

They left their bicycles leaning against the bench and took off their helmets. 

Then they climbed up onto the bench and looked at the strip of paved open space. That strip of paved open space was an airstrip, the runway for the small airport near them. Small planes could take off and land there. (They are called "small," but they are big enough to carry real human people.)

The Writer had told them that she had found out some real human neighbors who had a plane in a hangar (or a plane garage) in this airport would be using the runway to take off this morning. They finally had a chance to see it happen! 

The dolls had seen the planes fly right over their street before, on the way to land at the small airport 

They had seen the planes fly over their street just after taking off.

It didn't happen often, but when they heard a small plane coming close, they always ran out to watch. They had seen the small planes up close, flying over, but they had never seen a plane actually take off or land. This was their chance!

When all three dolls were seated facing the runway, Jolena offered the two boys some doll-size mini donuts to pretend to eat while they waited. She had brought three.

"I found these in a box in the cereal cabinet," Jolena said after they had finished pretending to eat the little donuts. "It's nice to have doll-size donuts, but I don't understand why they come in such huge boxes. There are enough donuts in each box for our whole school to pretend to eat!"

Suddenly they heard something that sounded like an engine starting. It was far away, but the sound definitely came from the direction of the opposite end of the runway. They cocked their heads and tried to listen.

Jolena and Billy listened with their doll ears. Emil used his special glasses to listen. They knew that you can hear the plane before you can see it. That's how they always knew when a plane was going over the house. They were excited. They were so glad their eyes don't close, because they didn't want to miss it!

The engine seemed to be running for a few minutes, but it sounded just as far away, and there was nothing to see. They waited.

"I think they're checking to be sure everything is ready for takeoff," Billy guessed. "They don't want to get up in the air and discover they forgot something."

"Like not having enough fuel," Emil agreed.

"Listen!" Jolena exclaimed. "I think they're moving! It sounds like they're getting closer!"

The dolls listened. It did sound as though the engine was getting louder. 

Soon they could see the plane coming their way. It rolled along the ground toward them.

"You can see it now!" Billy exclaimed.

"It's picking up speed!" he shouted. (He had to shout, because the plane's engine was getting very loud, and doll voices are heard in your head, so they aren't very loud unless the doll shouts.)

"It has to go really fast," Emil shouted, "or it will stay on the ground and crash through the fence!" He was almost afraid to look...but he couldn't NOT look.

The dolls watched as the plane came closer and closer. Would it make it into the air before it reached the fence? Would it roll through the fence and roll right over the bench they were on?

Then suddenly, the plane left the ground. It flew over the fence at the end of the runway. It flew over their heads.

The dolls looked up and watched the plane. 

Then they jumped up and turned around on the bench to watch the plane fly away. When it got high up, it went around in a circle. When it did, one wing tipped lower than the other. They watched until the plane disappeared over the trees and was gone. Billy waved to the plane. He didn't think the human people in the plane could see him, but it made him feel good to wave at them.

"That was fun," Billy said.

"Yes," Emil agreed. "Too bad we don't know when another plane will take off or land."

They all thought that it was indeed too bad. They would have liked to see it again.

"Planes don't flap their wings, the way birds do," said Billy, "I wonder how planes can fly without flapping their wings."

"I'll bet it has something to do with how I can guide my landings when I'm doing aerials," said Jolena, who is on the Doll Ski Team and does tricks when she flies through the air on her skis.

She was remembering her last training session, in the summer, when she and her teammates used the ski jump to ski down, do their tricks in the air and then land in the pool at the base of the ski jump. She knew she used the air and the wind, and she could do it, but she didn't understand exactly how that worked.

All three dolls wondered about that how the plane could fly.

"Let's ask Mandy!" they all exclaimed at once.

The dolls could hardly wait until they got home, so they could ask Mandy. Mandy would know.

Cast--
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Photo of plane flying over the dolls by Cody Fitzgerald on Unsplash

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 at 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.

Do you like our stories? Some of them are available in print:

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties and Distraction.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Our book of poems, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook includes Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Available now from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook. The Stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer's author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find our books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your library to get them for you.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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Copyright © 2021, 2024, 2026 by Peggy Stuart