A ruined plan - a Dolly story

"Und dieser Traum war alles, was mir blieb in all der Zeit"

Literally: And this dream was all that was left to me all this time

from The Count of Monte Cristo by Frank Wildhorn

As you may guess I was very excited about the party and looking forward to it. I was jumping about a just little more and was just a little less careful then usually. That is the only explanation I can give.

Just the day of the dance, in the morning I was on my way down from the shelf to talk about some thing or other concerning the dancefloor to Meritre. I'm not sure what happened, perhaps my foot hit the chair or one of the drawers weren't properly closed and my foot hit and slipped on the knob? I really don't know what happened.  I hit something and landed not very elegantly on the floor with burning pain in both of my ankles.

I'm soooooo good at this. It happens. I didn't think it was very serious and hoped that it would be better in a few minutes as so many times before and I can go on. I managed to get into a somewhat upright position, too. Now standing up can be a little tricky.

Luckily the others were out and preparing things for the party in the other room or they would have made a fuss. I thought nobody saw me but I was wrong. Of all dolls the doctor was the first to come, she saw what happened and came to check if I needed help. You can count on Sorghoktani, no matter what.
I must have looked quite miserable with my ankles still hurting very badly as she guessed that this was a case for her.

"No need to talk, I saw what happened. I'll help you so you can sit down over there." she said.
You could possibly try telling your sister everything's all right (although I doubt she would have believed it) but it was impossible to say the same to the doctor.

Especially when you're hissing because of the pain while she helps you up and leads you to a pile of books where you can sit down.
She then asked me to pulled my skirt a little up so she could have a proper look.

'You have probably hurt your ankle. Both your ankles." she said after a quick look. 'I'll have to set them. Both.'
I tried to get a glimpse of my ankles myself. It looked quite bad.Ok, I mean my boots. But it still looked bad.

And on top of that, my sister appeared out of nowhere. As if she somehow knew that something has happened. She wanted to know what's going on and Sorghoktani filled her in while went on and examined my feet through the boot very carefully.

'Badly strained ankles. You need to rest.' she announced finally.
'But it will be all right until the evening, right?' I asked. I was still hopeful.
'Dancing? I doubt you'll be able to walk. I'm sorry, sis, but looks like you have to stay at home. No worries, I'll be there for you.' my sister said.
'No need to do so' I tried to convince her that there was no need to sit around me and she should go and enjoy herself.
'No, I'm staying with you. There'll be more than enough ladies there.'
We discussed the matter thoroughly once more and Sorghi took advantage of my beeing distracted to set my ankles. It did hurt but not as much as before.
'Now the other one. You go on talking.' she said.

But I wasn't really distracted anymore and the second ankle setting was much more painful than the first. I was amazed by her skills nevertheless.
'You were able to do it without takin off my boots. Pracically blindly. But why didn't you take them off?'
'That would have made your injury much worse. All that pulling wouldn't have done your ankle any good, no matter how careful we would have been. Better this way.'
'Thank you, Sorghi. Now getting some rest.' I stood up, thinking I'd be able to get to my usual spot with my ankles set. I was never so wrong in my life. I wasn't able to do one step and would have fallen if Sorghoktani wouldn't have caught me.

What a big fool I am, I thought. Now it hurt so much I could hardly hold back my tears.
'It's my fault, I forgot to tell you not to move.' she said.
'Well, talking about getting some rest and getting up doesn't really match.' That was my sisters opinion.And she was right as almost always.
Sorghoktani lowered me on the books once more.

'I think it would be best if you just stayed here. No standing up, no moving the legs.' she said.
'Now we need to find a way to get her somewhere nice and quiet.'
'Yes. She'll need lots of sleep to heal faster. I'll give her somethingto make her sleepy.' the doctor promised. Kiki made a surprised face. The doctor explained a moment later.
'It's very painful for poor Dolly, with the setting and all. She couldn't sleep although she needs it badly. The faster the pain is gone, the better. And even better if she isn't awake to feel that pain.'
They went and told Meritre about the misfortune that happened, while I  sat on the books waiting.

So Meritre, again, set up a resting place for me and Sorghoktani prepared the sleeping stuff. She also got a pack of paper handkerchieves to put it under my ankles. A soft yet stable support is what they need now, she claimed.
I was more concerned about the medicine, I didn't like the idea of taking sleeping pills but soon I had to realise that the doctor was right. I could only focus on my ankles, they hurt so much.

'I'm not happy about it, either but there is nothing better to be done. Drink that and you'll sleep soundly till morning. Then it'll be much better.'
'I'll stay here with you' Kiki said.
And we started again. But this time, I won with Sorghi unknowingly helping me.
'I couldn't have fun knowing you're miserable.' my sister said.
'And I couldn't sit still knowing you miss the fun because of me.' I answered of course 'Maybe I'll even sleepwalk!'
'Actually, the more dolls are around, the more noise is ther and that could wake her.'
'Ok, ok, I get it, sis. I'll go.' Kiki said.
'And you go too, Sorghoktani.'

She could hardly take back what she said about noisy nurses so she reluctanty agreed after things were arranged so everybody was satisfyed. We agreed that Flit, Sorghoktanis pet bird is going to stay with me and report every hour to the doctor.
Now I ruined my own plan since I can't go to the dance. I wouldn't want them to put it off just because of me but I'm still not happy that I have to stay behind. They are all so sweet, can you imagine, they are already planning the next one that 'll be held as soon as I'm ready to go. I have the best friends in the world.

I drank that strange liquid  that was  to make me sleepy and my head became heavy quite quickly. I remember hearing some music and laughing while beeing half asleep.
It's so typical. Why is it always me who needs tha docor? If there is a fever to catch, I always do so. If there is dollfluenza going around, I'm sure to come down with it. Even if nobody else gets it. And if there is absolutely no illness roaming among the dolls then  I find other ways to hurt myself, however careful I try to be.


Note by Sorghoktani: Dorothea fell asleep within a few minutes.

I watched her for a little while before leaving for the dance. Oh right, Flit must be sent over first.

Note by Kiki:
She most likely doesn't know but Dolly didn't only ruin her own plans. I have to think of a new plan myself. And Vester who could be called the dancing king (if Dolly is the dancing queen ;) was busy teaching dancing all the dolls. (Meritre asked him to do that, othervise he wouldn't have dreamed to do it) I have to say he wasn't as enthusiastic as he was when he had just one pupil. His mood  wasn't lifted when he accidentally overheard the girls that Dolly definitely won't came.

In fact, he couldn't be more disappointed.
I have an idea. Dolly will surely want to hear what was the party like, if something interesting happened  and so on. I'll bring her a visitor to tell her evereything ;)
No, I'm not mean. I just want them to talk a little.

And so it goes on and on - a Dolly story

"One of us is lonely"

 Song: One of us by ABBA. I guess it could be called a song from the musical Mamma Mia as well.(Stage version, this song vasn't included in the movie)

Dolly: Here I am, once more, to tell you some fairytales!
Kiki: More like a never ending soap opera. I've got a feeling this is going to be really loooooooooong.
Dolly: Maybe. Where was I?
Kiki: Sitting in that cozy corner, overthinking the whole.
Dolly: Oh yes. So I was confused and sat and thought some more.

But I could not sit there forever. I had to make up my mind. I decided to drop the matter for now and get back to it a few days later. A long walk in the house will help thinking over the situation once more. It was quite long, it took three whole days.

When I got back into our room, and closed the door behind me. The easiest way to do it is to push it with my back. Deep breath. Okay, Dolly, you can do this. You just go there and say you are sorry and didn't mean to be rude, just felt shy and unconfortable. Easy, I said to myself, starting to walk towards the desk that stands under the dollshelf. Then I looked up and I saw someting that surprised me a lot.

Vester was talking to somebody.

And not just anybody, he was talking to the holiday Frozen sisters. Why shouldn't he? It is really stupid, of course, but I couldn't help it and felt dizzy and upset.

So I sat down where I was to collect and compose myself. (Luckily, they couldn't see me when I sat down and  I could no longer see them, either) My head was going round and it took much longer than I thought to recover. What 's going on?

Maybe I have dollfluenza? (For my non-plastic readers: dollfluenza is a common illnes among dolls, but a few days rest and some tea cures it. But if neglected it can have serious consequences) I have to talk to Meritre, she'll set up a sickroom for me if needed. But after sitting for a while and relaxing I felt better and decided to go on and go back on the shelf and get that apology behind me. The more I waited, the worse it will be. As soon as I was up on my feet again Hannah and Valancy appeared out of nowhere. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I did not notice them coming. Or was it because I stil felt kind of dizzy? They looked rueful and poured out their hearts at once.

'Dolly, we are so sorry, we didn't mean to upset you.' Hannah said.
'The two of us came in the name of us all to offer an apology.' Valancy added.
I was confused.
'Y-you? But... it is I who should apologize. I lost my temper and I'm really sorry for that.'
'But we should have listened to what you were saying.'

'That's okay, you need not worry about that. I must beg your pardon for beeing so insufferable.'
That went on a while, since both parties thought they are the ones who should apologize.

'Are you all right?' Hannah suddenly asked 'You look quite pale.'
'Oh, I'm always this pale.' I assured her. My sister and I are the palest in the group so no wonder they think we are sick. But I could finally convince them that  everything was all right and I promised to come up and speak to the others myself in the evening. They wandered off and I went to look for my sister. I didn't tell her that I'll be away for three whole days so she certeinly would like know where I have been. It was so much harder to look for her than usually. My head felt so heavy I could hardly walk.

I thought I saw the shimmering edge of a cape.
'Kiki! Wait!' I called.
'I'm not your sister' a voice replied.
'Of course you are! Why are you so mean to me, sis?'
The next thing I remember is waking up in a bed, Kikis face above me. I couldn't see very clear first.

'You all right?'
'Of course. Why did you say you were not my sister?' I asked, while moving myself to a siting position and then trying to get up. That bugged me very much.
'No, no, don't even think about that.' Kiki said 'You have the dollfluenza so no getting up for a few days.' She gently pushed me back and that wasn't even a hard job since I still felt quite faint and obeyed gladly.
'And that cape wasn't me but our new friend from the Holiday set.' she continued 'So naturally her first reaction was that you are not her sister. But she called me and reported to Meritre that you were not feeling well.'

'And I was rude to her' I sighed.
'No need to worry, you were sick.'
'Thank you for setting up that bed for me.'
'Oh, that wasn't me alone, it was mainly Meritre of course but the others helped a lot as well. Elena Valancy hunted down a comfy cushion for you.'

I sighed.
'I assume you did not speak to him yet.'
I just nodded.
'Don't worry, Dolly, there is plenty of time to do that. Now try and get some sleep, I'll see if Meritre has some tea for you.'

Meritre presently broght me something to drink. I think I heard her complaining about dolls wandering off for three whole days and then beeing surprised that they became ill under her breath.
So that's how it ended... at least the offending friends problem was taken care of. Sort of... But this didn't turn out like I hoped. I'm still confused and have an unconfortable feeling about the whole affair and I can't do anything about it for now because of my illness. That's even worse than listening to the others making wedding plans for me. (Believe it or not, they actually did it.)

PS. by Kiki: And you thought she was lovesick? Nah. She says she's convinced he's a villain and yet, she is the one who spent some time with him. But who knows? He asks quite often how my sister is doing  so... ;) I'm convinced if it wouldn't be winter he would bring her flowers from the garden. He has it quite bad. Now I have to go and bring Dolly some tea. Bye!