“I think you should talk to Veronika,” Pauly told Nico. He could tell that his new friend was worried.
“I hate to bother her, though,” Nico replied. “I mean, she has so many responsibilities.”
“This is the kind of thing she does,” Pauly pointed out. “Listening to other dolls or human people when they have a problem is one of her responsibilities.”
Pauly helped Nico climb up to ring the doorbell this time, partly because Nico’s taller, but Pauly also wanted to let his friend feel useful. He knew Nico felt different because he didn't have elbows and knees that bend, but he worked hard to try to do some of the things the other dolls did.
Pauly and Nico live in other homes in the same neighborhood as The Writer and the other dolls from The Doll’s Storybook. Nico only arrived a few weeks ago, so Pauly is trying to help his new friend settle in and get comfortable in his new home. Pauly likes how it makes him feel important, and he’s glad he isn’t the new doll anymore. Pauly remembered to thank Nico for ringing the doorbell, and told him it was good that he did it, because he’s taller.
Pippa was the first one to reach the door when the bell rang. She was almost sure it was Pauly, and Pippa considers Pauly to be her own special friend, because they are the only two dolls who are so small. It’s nice to have a friend you have something in common with, especially when that thing is something that makes you very different from almost everyone else.
“Hi, Pauly! Hi, Nico!” Pippa exclaimed. “Come on in! We’re working on the puzzle in the dining room, and you can help.”
“Yes,” Mariah called from the dining room, “Come join us! It's fun!”
“That sounds great,” Pauly replied, “but Nico has a problem he needs to talk over with Veronika first.”
Nico nodded.
Pippa had noticed that Nico didn’t talk much, but maybe that was just because he was new. Maybe he still had a lot to take in and would talk when he felt ready. Maybe he would talk to Veronika. “Veronika’s in the workroom, sorting the quilt blocks for the quilt she and The Writer are making together,” Pippa said.
Nico thought that working on a puzzle with the other dolls sounded so much like fun, he almost said so. He just nodded instead.
Then Pauly asked Pippa to help him get Nico up the stairs. It would be easier with two. Nico needed help climbing, because his elbows and knees don’t bend.
It took a few minutes to get up the stairs. Pauly and Pippa have done this before. They know that it is easier when you work together.
Things like dressing, eating and climbing stairs are difficult for Nico, and it’s faster if he has help. Lots of dolls have this problem. It’s one reason they like to live with real children or with grownups who collect dolls. Human people can help you with the buttons and ties, as well as other things.
Veronika was sitting on the daybed in the workroom, looking at some pieces of fabric that had been sewn together to make parts of a quilt. Later, she and The Writer would sew these blocks together to make the top for the quilt. Veronika was deciding which block would go where, so it would be pretty. She looked up from her work when the three dolls came in.
“Hi, Nico!” she said when she saw that the new boy doll was with Pippa and Pauly.
The two smaller dolls helped Nico climb up onto the day bed.
Nico greeted Veronika with a wave of his hand...or his whole arm, actually.
“Nico wants to talk to you,” Pippa told Veronika.
“Nico needs to talk to you,” Pauly corrected. “He’s worried about something, and I told him he should talk with you about it. It’s sort of a secret, so he didn’t even tell me, but I told him he could trust you with it, and you wouldn’t tell anyone else.”
“Sure,” Veronika agreed, moving the quilt blocks aside and inviting Nico to sit down next to her. “I listen to other dolls and human people, and I’m not allowed to tell anyone what we said unless they say it’s OK. The Writer made me promise that when I came to live with her. She said it was part of my job.”
“Come, Pippa,” Pauly said. “Let’s just go downstairs and help with the puzzle. Nico can call us when he’s through talking with Veronika. Then we can come back up and help him down the stairs.”
Pippa was curious to know what Nico’s secret was, but she thought it was better not to ask. Curiosity could be a nuisance sometimes!
After the two smaller dolls had closed the door and gone, Veronika turned to Nico. “Now, Nico, tell me what it is that has you worried,” she urged
“Well,” Nico began, “I know I’m supposed to help Frankie when he’s upset. I’m supposed to comfort him when he has a problem. I’m supposed to listen to him and help him figure out what to do, but he has a very big problem. It’s a problem for his whole family, and I don’t know how to help.”
“Can you tell me what the problem is?” Veronika asked. “I mean, I know you said it was secret, but I’m good at keeping secrets, if it helps you to tell someone.”
Nico thought for a moment. He knew they were alone. The door was closed. The other dolls were all busy somewhere else. Maybe it would be OK to tell one other doll. After all, Frankie had told him the secret. Nico hadn’t known Veronika long, but he already knew that he could count on her to live up to her promises. If she said she was good at keeping secrets, she wouldn’t tell anyone.
“It’s a really big deal,” Nico said when he had finally made up his mind that it was OK to tell Veronika. “I don’t really understand it, but it’s something that has the whole family upset.”
Veronika nodded. Then she waited for Nico to organize his thoughts.
“Frankie told me that his family came here from another country years ago,” Nico began. “He doesn’t remember it, though, because it was before he was born. Being born is something like when I came out of my box, I think.”
Veronika nodded and agreed that it was a lot like that.
“I didn’t understand,” Nico continued, “why coming from another country was a problem, because I came from another country.”
“So did I,” Veronika agreed. “A lot of dolls do. Most of us were made in factories in countries a long way away and sent here to live with human people.”
“Frankie told me that it had to do with something called papers,” Nico explained. “He said that these papers gave his parents permission to live here.”
“Frankie’s father is sort of a gardener,” Nico said, continuing his story as Veronika listened. “He used to work for a company that took care of people’s yards and gardens. I found out they call that landscaping. In the warm months, they plant and care for bushes and trees, pull weeds and mow lawns.”
“In the winter they remove the snow from walkways and driveways for people,” he said, wondering what it was like to play in the snow, as he had never seen it.
“Frankie’s father is really good at picking the right plants and planting them where they will look good. He’s so good at it,” Nico continued, “that after a couple of years working at that company, he started a landscaping company of his own.”
“Frankie’s mother runs the office of their landscaping company,” he added, “and she often helps with the gardening, too.”
“They were able to buy their house and a few nice things for Frankie and his sister. That’s how I got to come here.”
So far, Veronika didn’t hear a problem. It sounded as if everything was going well for Nico’s family, so she said so.
“That’s where the secret comes in,” Nico said. “Remember I mentioned the papers?”
Veronika nodded.
“Well, it turns out,” Nico continued, “the papers were only good for a few years. Frankie said it was like when you check a book out of the library, you can only have it for a couple of weeks, and then you have to take it back or get it renewed (ree-NYEWD). If you get it renewed, you get another couple of weeks to keep the book.”
“Frankie said he thinks the papers were like that, only they couldn’t get them renewed,” Nico explained. “He said it wasn’t because they had done anything wrong. It had something to do with the office that works with these kinds of papers.”
“I understand,” Veronika said. “Frankie’s parents are supposed to have the papers renewed to stay, and they don’t want to break the law by staying here, but they also don’t want to leave their home and their business.”
“Frankie’s father has ten people working for him,” Nico pointed out. “He’s worried about all of them, too, and their families, and they have a lot of customers. What will they do? There aren’t enough landscapers in town to take care of all the people who need them, which is why he was able to start his own company. Many of his customers are older people who can’t do their own gardening or shovel their own snow.”
“So they––Frankie's parents––aren’t telling anyone,” Veronika concluded. “That’s why it’s a secret. They don’t want to get into trouble, but they feel responsible for all these other human people.”
“What worries me,” Nico said, “is what can I do to help? When I came here, I thought my job would be something like helping Frankie pick out which shirt to wear to school or help make him feel better after his soccer team lost a game. I don’t know how to help with this!”
Veronika thought for a moment. Then she said, “Nico, I think you’re already doing all you can. Human people can sometimes have very big problems. All we can do is listen to their problems and be there to cheer them up when they’re sad or worried.”
Nico thought about that.
“It’s actually a big thing we do,” Veronika added. “Frankie is lucky to have a doll who wants to do more, but we’re not magicians. Even dolls who are supposed to be magicians can’t fix human people’s problems, but imagination is our superpower, and we can do a lot with it. Sometimes people who talk to us start to use their own imaginations and figure out things they can do they hadn’t thought of before talking to us.”
Nico thought about that. Maybe he could learn to listen the way Veronika does. He would try. Maybe Frankie's parents would find a way to solve their problem. Maybe they could share the secret with someone who could help, someone they could trust.
“Thanks, Veronika,” Nico said finally. “I’m still new at this, and I want to do my job well. I was afraid I wasn’t. I feel better now.” Then he remembered the other dolls working on the puzzle downstairs. “I guess I’ll call Pauly and Pippa to help me get down the stairs now. I’d like to learn how to put together a puzzle!”
“Your family’s secret is safe with me, Nico,” the older doll said. Veronika would have winked at him, but her eyes don’t close. (Who knew that Nico would turn out to be so talkative after all, she thought.)
The next thing Veronika knew, there was a “thump,” and Nico had disappeared. She looked over the side of the daybed.
“Um,” Nico said from where he was, lying on the floor, “If you help me get up, I think I’ve figured out how to get down the stairs without help.”
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
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