When Dolls Sleep

Billy woke with a start! He could hear crying. 

"Help!" came a cry he heard in his head. 

"It's Pippa!" he thought. 

Billy jumped out of bed. He grabbed a knitting needle from the workroom and ran to Pippa's bed. 

There was a full moon, and even in the dark, Billy could see Pippa sitting up in bed. She had taken off her sleep mask and was holding the covers up. 

"What is it?" he asked. 

"A monster is trying to get me!" she cried, putting her hands over her eyes.

Billy looked around. "I don't see a monster," he said. It was dark, but he was sure if the monster had frightened Pippa, it could be seen.

"Maybe the monster is under the bed!" Pippa said.

Billy held the knitting needle ready, like a sword, and looked under the bed. He looked under one side, then the end and then the other side.

"Your bed goes all the way down to the floor, Pippa," Billy pointed out. "There can't be a monster under your bed. Not even dust bunnies would fit there."

"Maybe it's in the closet!" Pippa suggested.

Billy opened the closet and looked in, holding the knitting needle ready. "There's no monster in the closet," he said, lowering his sword.

Just then, the rest of the dolls showed up. 

Emil was last, still adjusting his special glasses. Even though he woke up when Billy got out of bed, it took him awhile to find them.

"What's up?" Mandy asked, looking around.

"I guess the whole family is up, now," Billy replied.

Pippa started to cry again. "It's a monster!" she cried. "It was trying to get me!"

The other dolls looked around the room. 

Charlotte tried to look under the bed. There was no monster. Nothing would fit.

The dolls looked behind other things in the room. Mariah looked behind the table. Billy was ready with his sword, just in case. It was dark behind the table, but there was no monster.

Emil looked in the closet. Again. There was not even a monster suit, hanging on a coat hanger.

Jolena looked behind the pillow. She carefully put her hand in there, ready to pull it out again if something tried to bite. There was not even a tiny monster there.

The dolls did not find a monster anywhere.

While the other dolls were still looking, Veronika got up on Pippa's bed and put her arm around the smaller doll. "Why don't you tell me what happened," she suggested.

"The monster was chasing me!" Pippa exclaimed. "It was big and hairy."

Then Pippa thought for a moment. "No," she said then, "it was more like covered with petals, like a flower. It was big and yellow, and it yelled at me."

"Where were you?" Veronika asked.

Pippa had to think. "I think I was outdoors," she said, "but I don't remember going outdoors, and it was daytime, I think, but it's dark outside now."

"I know what happened," Veronika said. "You had a bad dream."

"What's a dream?" Pippa asked.

"It's something your doll brain does to help it rest," Veronika explained. "We don't always remember our dreams, but we all have them."

The other dolls all nodded their heads, or murmured their agreement.

"We dream when we're in our boxes," Veronika continued, "before someone unties all the fasteners that keep us from rolling around in our boxes and getting damaged. Dreaming gets our doll brains ready to start learning new things."

"I think I remember that," Pippa said, thinking back to when she was in her box.

"We dream every night," Veronika went on. "Dreaming helps our doll brains deal with new things we've learned during the day, or worries that we have. Sometimes the dreams might be scary, especially if we're worried about something."

"I had a bad dream once," Jolena remembered, coming to sit on the bed. "I dreamed I did a flip on my skis, but I messed up the landing and landed on my head instead of my skis. My head came off and rolled away, still in my helmet. Lots of dolls were watching. I was so embarrassed!"

"I had a bad dream, too," Billy added. "I dreamed that someone was washing my hair and got water in my eyes. I was afraid mold was going to grow inside my head. A sword doesn't help with mold."

"The thing to remember," Veronika said, "is that what happens in your dreams isn't real. If you dream about a monster, it can't hurt you."

Pippa had been thinking. "I think the monster was really a big, angry flower," she decided. 

"I cut one of the yellow flowers in the yard yesterday," Pippa confessed.  "I brought it inside. Then I worried that I had hurt the plant."

"You can't hurt the plant by picking flowers," Mandy said. "Flowers like to come indoors and be with us. They like to have us enjoy them. It doesn't hurt the plant as long as we don't take them all." 

"We need to leave some outdoors to feed the bees and hummingbirds," Mandy explained, "and the plants need to keep some of their flowers, but they don't need them all, and they don't get angry if you pick a few."

"I feel better now," Pippa said. 

"Would you like me to sleep with you tonight?" Veronika asked. 

Pippa nodded.

"Scoot over. I'll climb in next to you," Veronika said as she got under the covers.

Pippa put her sleep mask back on and settled down on the pillow. Veronika put the covers over them both.

Mandy handed Veronika her own sleep mask, because Veronika had left hers on her bed, and then she left with the other dolls to go back to bed. In just a few minutes, Veronika could tell that Pippa was asleep. She smiled. Well, she felt a smile in her doll brain. She was glad little Pippa was calm again.

"Tomorrow," she told herself, "I'll have to ask Jolena how she got her head and her body back together in her dream. I think there's a story there." Veronika loves stories.

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

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 and Our Favorite Verses: Poems 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 © 2021, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

What Dreams May Come

Veronika looked up from the book she was reading in bed to see Billy at the door to the room where she sleeps.
"Veronika, may I come in?" Billy asked.

"Sure, Billy," Veronika replied, "you can come in, but I thought you were asleep."

"I was asleep," Billy said, climbing up on the bed with Veronika. "I had a bad dream. I don't think I dare go back to sleep again."

Veronika closed her book and patted the bed to invite Billy to sit next to her.
"Do you remember your dream, Billy?" she asked.
"Yes, I do," he replied. "That's why I'm afraid to go to sleep."

"Maybe it will help you if you tell me about your dream," Veronika suggested.

"Well," Billy began, "in the dream a monster came out of the laptop and chased me around. I ran and ran, but it kept getting closer. Then I was falling. Falling doesn't usually scare me, because I know my vinyl is sturdy, but I kept falling and never hit the floor. Then I woke up. I was afraid the monster would be hiding somewhere in the bedroom."

"You know dreams aren't real, don't you Billy?" Veronika asked. "It's just something your doll brain does when you're asleep."
"This sure seemed real," he said. "I remember it as if it really happened."
"Well," said Veronika, "dolls are made to be like people, so our brains work the same way. I read that people who study how people's brains work have been trying for a long time to understand dreams. They think there is a purpose to them, like if you are learning lots of new things during the day, you will dream a lot more at night. Maybe it's the brain's way to organize and store what it has taken in all day."

Billy thought about that. "I guess I am learning a lot now," he said. "Before I came out of my box, I dreamed, but I don't remember much of what I dreamed about, just that it was sometimes interesting and never scary."

"Dolls sleep most of the time that they are in their boxes, so they have lots of dreams," Veronika explained. "That dreaming is what dolls do to get ready for the lives they will lead when they come out of their boxes. It helps teach them how to be companions to the children they will belong to. A companion is like a friend who is always there for you, who keeps you company. We dolls do that."
"But this dream was scary," Billy said.

"It's called a nightmare," Veronika explained. "It's normal to dream. Even dogs and cats dream. Sometimes you can see their legs move as if they are chasing something or running from something."
"I have seen Freckles and Pierre do that," Billy agreed. "Does that mean they are having scary dreams? Nightmares?"

"I don't know for sure," Veronika replied. "It probably means they are dreaming, but it could be a happy dream. The people who study dreams haven't figured out what dreams are for, only that there must be some purpose for them. If there is, it seems to be something animals need, too, so they dream."
"So that means sometimes children have nightmares?" Billy asked.
"Yes, they do," Veronika said, "and because children have nightmares, we have to understand what it's like, so we can comfort them."

"Children and dolls can have nightmares," Veronika went on, "especially after something scares them, like a scary movie. Maybe something happened that scared you, Billy." Then she remembered how Billy said that the dream monster came out of the computer. "Did something on the computer scare you?" she asked.
Billy thought for a long time. Then he seemed to have an idea. "I was playing a game on the computer and having a good time in the afternoon," he said.

"A picture of a strange person came on the screen," Billy went on. "Well, it looked almost like a person, but not quite. It was like a monster person. This thing told me I had to do what it told me to do, or it would hurt me. It was never there when I played that game before." Billy shivered as he talked about it. "It really scared me!"

Veronika considered what Billy had told her.

"I think there's a good chance that your brain was working through that fright," she suggested. "There are some bad people in the world who want to use our computers to hurt us, but they can't really hurt us if we don't tell them who we are or where we live, and they can't make you do something you don't want to do."

"I think I knew that. It sure scared me, though," Billy said, clearly relieved.
"If it happens again, come and get one of us older dolls," Veronika told him. "Maybe we can fix the computer so the bad person can't get through to your game."
Billy got up. "Thanks, Veronika," he said. "I think I can go to sleep now."
"I'm glad to help," Veronika replied. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Billy said.

Billy went back to the bedroom where he sleeps. He looked into the closet. There was some stuff there, but no monster.

He looked under the bed. There was some stuff there, but no monster.

He checked the whole room. There was no monster anywhere. With a sigh he climbed into bed and turned out the light. "Make me do something I don't want to do! I don't think so!" he said to himself. 

Then Billy pulled on his sleep mask and went to sleep. This time he had a happy dream. In this dream he was using the computer to make his photos better. It was fun. Billy smiled in his sleep.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

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 © 2019, 2026 by Peggy Stuart