"I hope you are enjoying your new home, too," Emil wrote. "Your friend, Emil." Emil put down the pen and looked at the letter.
He was just starting to read it through, when Pippa came in.
"Whatcha doing?" Pippa asked.
"I was just finishing this letter to my friend Holly," Emil replied. "We were together in the doll hospital at the factory before I came here. We both had things that went wrong when we were put together."
"I know you can't hear or see without your special glasses," Pippa said. "Why was Holly in the doll hospital?"
"Holly's legs were made wrong," Emil explained.
"She can't walk," Emil said. "They tried to fix her legs, but it didn't work out, so they gave her a wheelchair."
"What's a wheelchair?" Pippa asked.
"It's a chair with wheels that a doll can sit in," Emil said. "The doll can make the chair roll to where they want to go. It's really kind of cool, and it made Holly happy to be able to go places, even though it still isn't as easy as walking or running is for us."
"It was good, though," Emil continued, "because she went to live with a real human girl who also has to use a wheelchair to get around. It made the girl happy to have a doll who was like her."
"Was the human girl made wrong in the factory, too?" Pippa wanted to know.
"I don't know," Emil said. "Maybe I can ask Holly."
"Why don't you read me your letter," Pippa suggested. "I'm interested to know what you had to say. If it isn't too private," she added.
Emil nodded. "There's nothing private in it," he said. "I'll read it to you."
Emil began reading.
Dear Holly,
It has been more than a year since we went to our new homes, and a lot has happened. I thought I would write to you and let you know I am doing well and tell a bit about what I've been up to.
Everyone here has been very nice to me. My problem with seeing and hearing hasn't caused too many problems for me. One time my special glasses didn't charge because the cat knocked them out of the charger, but Billy (that's my brother) found them under the bed and helped me get them back into the charger.
Another time, the smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night, and I didn't hear it, but Billy did, and he woke me up. It was a false alarm, but it was good practice for all of us.
Billy didn't like his hair. He thought it looked like a girl with hair cut off, so he decided to get a wig. I thought it was a good idea, so we both have wigs now. We think it makes us look more like real boys.
I have six sisters now. When I came, there were just five of them and Billy, but Pippa came last month, so now there are eight of us.
My sisters and Billy are all the same kind of dolls, but we're different from each other, and that makes things interesting.
We live in a big house with two old people. They are The Writer, who writes these stories, and her husband. They let us do what we want, as long as it is safe, but we try to be good. When they leave to go somewhere, though, we sometimes explore places they don't take us. Sometimes we go out the dog door to the backyard to play.
We like to ride bicycles along the trail near the house.
The girls like to try on The Writer's clothes sometimes.
Sometimes we help the old people by cleaning the house or doing the dishes. My favorite thing is making the robot vacuum cleaner clean the floor.
Of course, we go to school with other dolls. Sometimes some of the other dolls are not as easy to get along with as my brother and sisters, but we talk things over at home, so we can learn to get along with them.
I found out that I can hear and understand the thoughts of animals. One of my sisters says I probably developed that ability because I couldn't see or hear in the beginning, and the part of my brain mostly used for seeing and hearing started being used for that.
The most important thing about my family is that we are very different from most doll families. Most dolls go to live with children to help teach them to take care of someone besides themselves, or to have adventures using their imaginations. Some go to live with older people who like to dress them and admire them. Those dolls may have lots and lots of sisters and maybe a brother or two. Our doll family is different, though. We get to be in stories for human children and grown-ups to read.
This makes me feel very important, Holly. It's even a good thing that I wasn't made perfectly, because there are some children who have problems like mine, just as there are some real children who have problems like yours. They need to know that they can have adventures, too, I think.
Please write me, if it isn't too much trouble. I would like to know how you are doing and what you're up to. I hope you have friends and that you're having adventures. I hope you are enjoying your new home, too.
Your friend,
Emil
Emil put the letter down and looked at Pippa.
"It's a good letter, I think," Pippa said. "I could see everything in my head when you were reading it. It was interesting."
"That's good," Emil said. "Maybe Holly will find it interesting, too. Now I just need to address the envelope and find a stamp," he added.
Pippa was staring off into space. Well, she was actually staring at the light in the laundry room, but she was thinking, so what she was looking at was not important. It did not reach her brain. "You know," she began, "I'm a little bit like you and Holly."
"Well," Emil replied, "you're a doll, too."
"I mean," she said, "I'm different in a way that gives me problems. Because I'm so small, some things are hard for me to do. I'm not getting any bigger, either. Dolls don't grow, you know."
Emil thought he knew what she meant. "I wonder if there are real children who will always be small, too," he suggested.
The two dolls thought about that.
"I think maybe you have a special purpose, Pippa," Emil said.
"Veronika told me that we all have a special purpose," Pippa said, "but maybe I just found mine.
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
"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.
