It"s party time - part 4

"Szívből üdvözlök itt minden testvért"

from Dance of the Vampires by Jim Steinman & Michael Kunze, Krolock welcomes his guests to his ball

So we thought Dolly would love to hear what was the party like. But who was to tell and what to tell? Everybody had something personal to share. And we agreed she'd be happiest if everybody told her own story about the ball. But so many guest would be a bit to much, especially when everybody is excited to tell about what happened and and talks at the same time.  So we decided that we all post about it and she can read everything. The boys weren't interested in writing so it's just the ladies, but each and every girl will write a post about the ball. As for the order, we threw some pieces of paper with numbers on them in a bag and everybody drew one. We thought we may need them again so we kept them. And all of us listed the party, evening activity that she thinks perfect. We are gathering ideas. ;)
 This little intro will be posted before everybodys post about the ball, so feel free to skip it if you've already read it and know what's going on. We wrote this one together, all of us who are going to tell about the dance.

4. Valancy Elena - a pool party with lots of ice-cream!

Hi! This is Valancy! I'm so so excited to tell about everyting! Sorry if it seems a bit like a mess but this blogging thing is quite new to me. Just think we all get to post about the dance! I was as excited attending it as I am now posting about it! In one word? Unbelievable! It was even better than I expected, we had so much fun! And the best thing is, I think it strenghtened the friendship between us all! Where should I start? Oh yes before the party we organised a dance course for ourselves. It was fun, I knew from the very start that I would love it. The only downside was that Dolly hurt herself just before it and neither her, nor her sister were going to attend. We even had a teacher but he was... not in a bad mood, he was kind and patient but not a bundle of joy, either. (Vester as a bundle of joy would be a very strange thing anyway) But you get it. I bet he overheard us talking about the news that Dolly wouldn't come. I think he has a crush on her. :} They'd make such a lovely couple! No wonder he didn't like what he heard from our excited chat. But he helped us a great deal, without him, there wouldn't have been any ball. A ball without dancing is anything but a ball. So he taught us dancing and I think not only that!
Sue made great progress with controlling her legs.

She asked me if she could use my arm if she feels like she's falling Of course I said yes! Kuei-Lan helped her, too. We laughed a lot!
I choose lively songs, they were great for dancing alone, too. You know, we have this small problem with four times as many girls as boys. But we solved it beautifully! The girls without a partner danced by themselves or tried an invented dance based on dance moves from a movie. From the second movie of Pocahontsa, to be exact.

We were off of the blue part, so we wasn't in the way ad had enough space to do our thing.
Ned was my partner when it was my turn to dance. He said he always gets the best partners. Well, he danced with Aurenna before me and she is grace in person. But we all enjoyed it and that was the most important! Well, I guess Vester did not enjoy it as much as he thought beforehand - Dolly couldn't come, as already mentioned. But we already have a plan - there will be another party soon! And we'll get out Axel for that one, too! Oh, Axel is the Aladdin doll still sitting in his box. I bet he is heartily tired beeing stuck in there, he'll be so happy to get out!
While waiting for our next turn, Kuei-Lan and I invented some funny new solo dance moves. It must have been the music, I just couldn't be still, not even for a moment.

It was even more fun than doing it alone! :)
I got Ned again as my second partner. I just love dancing so much! And guess what, I wittnessed no less than two budding romances! Two fairytales in real life! Okay, not that but still. One of them is going to be complicated, not like one from a book. Margaret has clearly developed feelings for Vester but he had this Dolly-thing going on in his head. During the dance he was really attentive and particularly nice to her and they talked a lot. Maybe he started to return Meg's feelings? Funny, they adopted each other as brother and sister when Megs sister Lizzy left. But with dolls, anything is possible. He looked quite grim when Victoria appeared on the scene - she was to dance with him. She was wearing this gourgeous blue dress! She looked so beautiful!

I wonder... but all the girls are so pretty! All girls would make a nice couple with him. I wonder how I could help him. Planning another party seems a great idea. While I was making those plans Kiki disappeared. I was so surprised! She went back to check on her sister but came back after a while. Besides, she was the one lucky girl who actually could dance even before Vester appeared. She just doesn't really care for it, dressed in a gown with a long cape as she is most of the time and all.
Anyway, Dolly or not Dolly I simply must help him! Everybody was having fun except him. I'm sure anybody could grow to like him! But mostly Dolly. Or Margaret. I can't wait to see their story unfold! Romantic storeies are my weekness especially real life ones. :)
That's why I went and asked Vester whom he actually likes and why. He didn't look very pleased.
'Because Meg seemed to like you. And you were forever talking to Kiki.'
'Hard to talk to someone who's asleep'.
I wished him a good night and left him alone. But I got the information I wanted. Dolly is the girl he wants.
I was the last one to stop dancing. I had a great time and I'm so so happy that the next one is just around the corner! It'll be even better than this one!

It"s party time - part 3

"Szívből üdvözlök itt minden testvért"

from Dance of the Vampires by Jim Steinman & Michael Kunze, Krolock welcomes his guests to his ball

So we thought Dolly would love to hear what was the party like. But who was to tell and what to tell? Everybody had something personal to share. And we agreed she'd be happiest if everybody told her own story about the ball. But so many guest would be a bit to much, especially when everybody is excited to tell about what happened and and talks at the same time.  So we decided that we all post about it and she can read everything. The boys weren't interested in writing so it's just the ladies, but each and every girl will write a post about the ball. As for the order, we threw some pieces of paper with numbers on them in a bag and everybody drew one. We thought we may need them again so we kept them. And all of us listed the party, evening activity that she thinks perfect. We are gathering ideas. ;)
 This little intro will be posted before everybodys post about the ball, so feel free to skip it if you've already read it and know what's going on. We wrote this one together, all of us who are going to tell about the dance.

3. Margaret Anna - umm... simply a party? Maybe a birthday party? With chocolate :)

The girls were really sweet and Brother, too. He didn't even mind my being very bad at the dancefloor. I stepped quite a few times on his boots to be honest. And not only while we were learning it. But after a while - it must have been a  miracle, I thought first - it didn't happen anymore, well, only very rarely. It turned out he memorized my mistakes and took care not to put his boots in the way of my boots. :)
I did not dare to dance with anybody else for fear of being laughed at or worse, pitied. Brother handled the whole thing as if it was a completely natural thing. Sadly,  I was really nervous all the same. Then I realised that he was talking to me.

'Just don't think about it.'
'Huh?'
'Too much thinking. Let it go. Sister says so, too.'
'I'm trying.. oops, sorry... I'm concentrating but... sorry...'
'Told you you think too much about your feet. Don't.'
I did my best to appear happy but apparently my best afforts were not enough because a little later, he spoke again.
'You know what. Need a new sister.'
'Oh, I'm perfectly fine. Sis is well too. She befriended some other Elsa dolls.'
'Lots of girls here. Pick one.' he insisted.
'It doesn't really work like that. They are nice and all but not my sisters.'
'Can't help if you refuse to be helped.' 
'Elsa is so special. I do not know, why but it's a huge difference if Elsa and Anna dolls are sisters or Belle and Mulan dolls.'
'Wouldn't think they look like sisters.'
'Oh, then Aurora and Rapunzel. Elsa and Anna simply work as sisters. Like they have some special sister magic.'
'There is an Elsa in the house.' he pointed out.
'Rrrriiiight. But she already has a sister.'

'Picky about the numbers?' he wasn't annoyed, he simply wanted to know if that was the problem.
'It's not that' I sighed 'It's that, Dolly... Dolly is... you know.'
I could'n say that aloud... I can't even write it down. :(  Maybe I'm jelaous. Meanwhile he thought the whole thing over.
'Ask Meritre to get another Elsa.' he suggested 'It'll take a while. But she'll get you one.' he smiled encouragingly.
'Thank you.' I smiled back.
I wanted to sit down and think, but alone so I picked some other corner, not Sorghoktanis bench. Daphne wondered for sure what I was doing there, I noticed she kept looking at me. But I had to think it over. Get a new sister? Treat them like a toothbrush, old one's not here, let's get a new one? That just doesn't work like that! But the more I thought the worse it seemed. Left all alone... no Meg, don't think like that. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Maybe this unknown Elsa wouldn't like to have a sister. But maybe she would love to have one. By the time Vester turned up again I felt that maybe asking Meritre a few careful questions can't hurt. But it turned out I didn't need to ask.

'Meritre would love to add a coronation Elsa to her collection.' Vester told me. He didn't tell me though where he picked up that information and I just assumed he talked directly to Meritre. Just like him, trying everything to make others around him happy. After that I felt like walking on clouds. Or more like dancing on clouds.

'Told you it'd be better if you don't think about it.'
He was right, I did much better during this dance round. 
He didn't mention the sister thing after that but I couldn't get the idea out of my had.
After all, Victoria is not Dollys first sister, either and she's from a set, too. (Meritre: for details, see Sister story) And who knows, dolls change, maybe... maybe... I mean, miracles do happen, don't they?

Well, one miracle did happen. Mireben's moving out and she gave me the little bearbrother she came with. Not the miracle I was hoping for but he's definetely cute and keeps me busy.

It"s party time - part 2

"Szívből üdvözlök itt minden testvért"

from Dance of the Vampires by Jim Steinman & Michael Kunze, Krolock welcomes his guests to his ball

So we thought Dolly would love to hear what the party was like. But who was to tell and what to tell? Everybody had something personal to share. And we agreed she'd be happiest if everybody told her own story about the ball. But so many guest would be a bit to much, especially when everybody is excited to tell about what happened and and talks at the same time.  So we decided that we all post about it and she can read everything. The boys weren't interested in writing so it's just the ladies, but each and every girl will write a post about the ball. As for the order, we threw some pieces of paper with numbers on them in a bag and everybody drew one. We thought we may need them again so we kept them. And all of us listed the party, evening activity that she thinks perfect. We are gathering ideas. ;)
 This little intro will be posted before everybodys post about the ball, so feel free to skip it if you've already read it and know what's going on. We wrote this one together, all of us who are going to tell about the dance.
2. Daphne Belle - a grill-party in the garden with friends.
Take it with a pinch of salt - there is a portion of sarcasm in it here and there. ;) A good example that we are not exactly like our movie counterparts. :)

The ball was great fun but so was planning and organizing it. The idea came from Dolly and she couldn't come, poor girl. You'd think we are or at least are modelled after princesses and special people and can dance like we can sing. Yes, singing is as natural to us as walking. As none of us could dance, we were given a dancing lesson and Valancy just brought the news that Dolly won’t come just before it was to start. This of course had to be discussed quite loud. Judging by the look on his face, Vester heard that, too. He wasn’t too enthusiastic to start with and getting such “great” news didn’t do anything to improve it.

I think he planned to ask Dolly to help demonstrate how it is done. It is sure a joy to teach a hoard of girls elegant moves. He managed pretty well alone but didn't smile although we girls weren't... ehm, very good at dancing. It must have been a funny sight. Kuei-Lan almost automatically reached for my arm whenever I was about to fall, at the same time she kept looking at her neighbours, Susanne and Valancy. Sue could walk well enough by now but this was a real challenge for her feet. Well, if dolls with feet from the start have difficulties, what do you expect from a mermaid?

Well, kind of, her feet were tied together by that fin imitating piece so no wonder she needed help. I wondered how Kuei-Lan managed to look out for both her and me. Well she herself kept tripping over her skirt, just like I did (And mine is shorter than hers) I felt as graceful as a seasick camel walking around. Our dance teacher was patient nevertheless and didn't let his annoyance show. Neither when he was teaching, nor at the ball. He took a turn with each one of us. Must have been fun, judging by the amount of footprints on his boots. No wonder poor Prince Charming was still quite unhappy. He wanted his princess :)(Dolly:What is that supposed to mean, Daphne!?)  

Aurenna and Valancy did pretty well, they learned the steps quickly and had a natural talent for dancing. They both dance as a princess should. (I have to admit, I regretted a bit that I turned down his offer to teach me a few weeks ago - but our goal was to force him to ask Dolly. It did not help but that's another story.) But he encouraged all of us with telling that we just needed a little practice. Well, with patience, even a parrot can be taught to speak and even a doll can be taught to dance. And if Vester is anything, he's patient. 
He turned us all into decent dancers until it was time for the last preparations. (He spent the whole morning and a decent portion of the afternoon with us) The dancefloor was made up of beautiful blue pieces of carpet. We borrowed the big table from the Minis to use as a bench, so those who wanted to rest and Sorghoktani had a place to sit down. It had to be placed out of the way but still so that the doctor could watch us. I thought she could at least have fun seeing our funny movements. But it worked out better than I thought, at least for me.

The music adds so much to it, it's easier to do the steps correctly. The unfortunate thing was that I knew absolutely nothing about my parter, Charles,  as he was deboxed just a day before the party. I had no idea what to say. So it was mostly polite conversation about the weather and such. I told him that there is a nice garden with lots of trees and other interesting things to explore.
'Well, uhm, unfortunately, I'm uhm... not really good at climbing trees.'
Great, Daphne, I told myself, just the thing for him.
'But we can do anything we like' I said, hoping to save the situation.
He forced a smile.

'I beg your pardon, Mademoiselle.'
It took me a while to realise why he was behaving so odd but after a while it became clear to me that he probably hurt himself somehow and had considerable pain in one of his arms. He reluctantly admitted it but didn't want to ruin the ball. So I pretended to be tired and whispered to him that he should go to the girl sitting on the other side of the dancefloor. He didn't really understand why I wanted that but he obeyed.  I watched the others and took part in some of the girl group dances while he was gone. When he came back later on, he seemed much happier.
Margaret, unknowingly, created another spectacle. She only dared to dance with Vester since she knew that she simply couldn't move without stepping on her partners feet. But that wasn't a problem for Vester. Somehow he always knew, when she was about to step on his feet and kept them beautifully out of her way. Now, that was a sight. Well, he's an expert.

I'm worried a bit, thought, brother or not brother, she seems to like him a bit too much. A broken heart is just what she needs now, missing her big sister and all. I wonder if I could take the role of a big sister?
Later I saw her sitting in a dark corner by herself and she didn't look too happy. I wanted to go and sit with her after my turn with partner was over but by that time Vester took care of her and danced another round with her. And she was so much better, with a cheerful smile on her face.
So it was actually a happy evening for everybody. We were all exhaustedI'm looking forward to the next one.

The sister story - part 2

"Bringt der Himmel heut' nur Tränen oder helles Sonnenlicht 

(...)
Der Regenbogen zeigt einen Weg, der uns in fremde Welten führt
Und du gehst Hand in Hand mit mir
Denn nur Sonnenschein und Regen bau'n die Brücke zu Dir"

 

Literally: Brings the sky only tears today or bright sunshine?(...)/The rainbow shows a way that leads to foreign worlds/and you go hand in hand with me/for only sunshine and rain build the bridge to you

Our new dresses

I thought that this someone crying in the box next to me would feel better if I talked to her. She gave no reply. Well I have to make her think of something else than her sorrow. I didn’t succeed till we arrived. I was taken out of my box, too and it turned out that we, Anna and Elsa, were the only classic dolls in the house. Our new owner, Meritre, seemed friendly and as soon as she saw Anna, she decided that she needed a new dress and bestowed some extra names on us. Dorothea Anna and Victoria Elsa. She gave us nicknames, too. Dolly and Kiki. It seemed odd to me back than but now I’m fine with it. I didn’t care for it back then as my most important goal to find the other doll and see if she could be my sister. She didn’t want to talk. ‘Probably a shock.’ Meritre said. ‘Just leave her alone for a little while and everything will be fine.’ I looked a bit doubtful at her and then at Anna. I trusted Meritre from the start while Dolly stared at both of us distrustfully. But I finally got a few words out of her and even a smile. A few weeks later she was wearing a green dress. I tried on a similar pink dress but I soon put back on my ice dress. It looked better than the light pink and light green dresses. (Alas, I’m too pale for those dresses) But I thought it would be really nice if I gave my dress to Dolly. She cried. I hoped to dry her tears like sunshine does but whatever I did to cheer her up ended as a disaster. A fine sunshine I was. (Dolly: It’s kind of funny that an ice queen thinks of herself as sunshine) As a last resort I asked Meritre what to do. ‘She just cries. And I can’t manage to be sunshine.’ She already knew about my idea of being sunshine. ‘Come and listen to this one.’ she replied. And the song was – the one that was quoted at the post start of the post. Primary colors. She marked some lines that would be important for me at the moment.

"Bringt der Himmel heut' nur Tränen oder helles Sonnenlicht

(...)

Der Regenbogen zeigt einen Weg, der uns in fremde Welten führt

Und du gehst Hand in Hand mit mir

Denn nur Sonnenschein und Regen bau'n die Brücke zu Dir"

‘It works wonderfully for your situation. Only sunshine and rain together will build a rainbow, a road, a way so you can understand each other. Rain and sunshine together make a rainbow. It’s very natural that there are tears as well. I think a little time will help her find that rainbowroad, too.‘ It sounded like a poem but I just had to giggle, I had no idea why. But Meritre was right, after the rain, sunshine came and the rainbowroad appeared. Well, in a way.

Our new owner seemed to be overjoyed to have us. But I simply felt numb and couldn’t help crying. Like a watering pot. It must have been really annoying. I didn’t think about that at all. I said mean things to her. I mean to the other doll that travelled with me. That blue little witch kept talking to me, too, and that made me feel even worse. Why can’t she just leave me alone? After a while she finally did so. She went and talked to our human. She did that quite often. A new thought entered my head. Maybe I could try that, too? Maybe she has some answers for me and can help me stop feeling so miserable. Oh, my sister what happened to you? I went and asked Meritre. She didn’t know but promised to look into the matter. ‘I can contact her, it’s no trouble at all’ she said. And with ‘her’ she meant the artist who sent us to her. She talked for quite a while but I didn’t really understand what she was saying. I was so exhausted. So when Meritre was gone, I picked a nice and comfortable spot and fall asleep. I awoke much refreshed, feeling full of energy. I noticed at once that the computer was on. Was Meritre already back? Have I slept that much? I looked around but no sign of our human. Instead it was the snowqueen dancing about on the keyboard. What on earth was she doing? ‘Looking for your sister.’ she replied after a few moments of silence. I saw it cost her a lot of effort to control herself. ‘And did you find her?’ She noticed for sure how eager I was to get news of her. ‘Maybe. I’m not sure if this is her but have a look.’ There was a breathtakingly beautiful Elsa on the screen, an elegant lady and not a big sister. But I was really touched. This other doll did everything in her power to cheer me up. And all she wished for was a friend. I was ashamed of my behavior. What have I done? I have to make up for it, I have to speak to her! Then I realized that I didn’t even know her name. She on the opposite side knew already mine. I had to say something nevertheless. ‘Elsa, I… I’m so sorry!’ She smiled and said ‘Rainbow. My name is Victoria. And it’s all right.’ By the time Meritre was back we were best buddies. She investigated as she promised and even told us that the answer to the question Kiki posted was yes. ‘Lilly says hi to you all and asks you not to worry about her and hopes you are all right.’ I asked Meritre to return her good wishes and write everything that needed to be written. That everything was fine. And to say goodbye.

It happened like this: I accidentally heard Dolly speaking to Meritre. Her sister from the box was missing. That wasn’t really encouraging. She already has a sister and doesn’t need me. ’Could you please find her?‘ I heard her ask. Meritre said it was no trouble at all. She explained about the artist, who sent us to her. She even mentioned her name. But she had to go and promised to be back in the evening and take care of it. Dolly was looking much happier. Suddenly I had an idea. What if I would look for her sister Lilly? It would sure make her happy and we could be friends. It was a bit boring to be alone. So I boldly climbed on the desk and turned on the computer. Meritre had already showed me how to use it several times. First I looked up the artist’s name. It didn’t take long to find her gallery full of breathtakingly beautiful photos. For a minute I forgot that I was looking for something and just stared at those amazing looking dolls. One of the newest ones was an Elsa with beautiful makeup and with real eyelashes. She was stunning. And most important, she was wearing the greenish blue dress from Frozen Fever. I knew Dolly-Anna came from the Frozen Fever set so this could be her sister, Lilly. She stayed there as Meritre did not need two Elsas and she preferred the blue dress on Elsa. Originally she wanted a winter Anna but that one was sold out so she got the Frozen Fever girl. She was grateful she was able to get both girls in dollform. She already told me the whole story.

I looked at the picture. Maybe I could post a comment? It was a hard struggle but I could convince myself that this was the best thing to do and started to type. It was harder than it looked. Especially with my long cape. But I discovered that stepping on the keys works just as well as pressing them with my hands. One more fight with myself before posting and I sent it. All I had to do was to wait for an answer and that could take a while. ‘What are you doing here?’ I suddenly heard behind my back. It was Dolly of course. Well, the computer is easily noticeable especially when it’s up and running. No wonder it woke up Dolly.

I needed a few seconds to catch myself before replying. ‘Looking for your sister.’ She was of course eager to know if I found her. I could only share my supposition that the lady in the picture could be Lilly. Observing her face was enough to know what she was thinking. She looked unbelievingly at the photo. Then she turned red and opened her mouth but no sound came out. ‘Elsa I… I’m so sorry!’ she finally stammered. She looked as if she was ashamed of herself. Must be her not knowing my name. And Meritre was right. In the end, the rainbowroad was there. ‘Rainbow. My name is Victoria. And it’s all right.’ I uttered without thinking. What was I saying? But she smiled. We actually talked about stuff for the first time. Time went by so fast that we didn’t even notice at once that Meritre was back. I left her and Dolly alone to take care of some last loose ends. After that she actually came and asked me to be her sister. When I expressed my worries about Lilly her reply was ‘The past is in the past.’ ‘That’s Elsas line isn’t it?’ We laughed. We’ll have great adventures together. Maybe I can convince Meritre to add some male dolls to her collections so Dolly can have a beau. She laughed at the idea but turned slightly pink. ‘I’ll ask her to get one for you instead!’ she said.

Sisters are treasures.

 

Victoria was really discreet and withdrew to the shelf. Now it was time to make everything right. When I found her is asked her to be my new sister. ‘And Lilly?’ she asked. ‘The past is in the past.’ I answered. It was true now and I owed her that much. And it’s wonderful to have a sister. I was anxious if she would accept. After all I was quite troublesome so far, not the most sought after kind of companion to say the least. But she was fine with it. And she is a great sister. I even told her that my legs were green. ‘Green is a pretty color.’ was her reaction. 

Sisters are treasures.

Dolly:We thought it would be nice to post a picture of my first sister Lilly. Here she is:https://verirrtesirrlicht.deviantart.com/art/repainted-ooak-frozen-fever-elsa-doll-554284674
This picture is NOT made by me, it belongs to Verirrtes Irrlicht! She is a talented artist and you can look at her work here:

https://verirrtesirrlicht.deviantart.com/gallery/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/verirrtes_irrlicht/

By the time we finished, Margeret composed herself and dried her cheeks.
"You know what? We can adopt you as a sister as well. Then there will be three sisters."
"And look, her is a stylish paper boa!"

Fooling around with that papersnake proved to be a good idea. Margaret laughed with us. Lizzy, too.
Lizzy was very grateful that we would look after her sister. She worried a lot what would become of her all alone.
"No need to worry, there is lots of girls to choose a sister from." I joked. "Or you can choose a brother as well."

Ps by Kiki: Don't think sis is a watering pot, a troublesome, spoiled brat and all. She's actually mischevious and fun to have around, although it's not that side of her you got to see so far. But trust me, I know her well.

The sister story - part 1

"Bringt der Himmel heut' nur Tränen oder helles Sonnenlicht 

(...)
Der Regenbogen zeigt einen Weg, der uns in fremde Welten führt
Und du gehst Hand in Hand mit mir
Denn nur Sonnenschein und Regen bau'n die Brücke zu Dir"
 

Literally: Brings the sky only tears today or bright sunshine?(...)The rainbow shows a way that leads to foreign worlds/and you go hand in hand with me/for only sunshine and rain build the bridge to you

Kiki: Today we are sharing a very special story. But first, some technical information: parts of the story are memories from long ago and were written in a word doc when my sister and I first came here. The idea was that my sister writes using green and I write using blue as the font color and the two storyes, well, actually the same story form two different points of view flow right next to each other in two columns, Dollys part on the right, my part on the left. This didn't work for this blog, although it took a lot of time to arrange the text like that. So we decided to put it up in sections, keeping the colors. After all they were even memories when they were written. But here is a pic how it looked as a doc :

the original storybook

Dolly: But first we have to tell how this came up. Right. One morning, on my way down from the shelf I heart someone sobbing. And of course I had to find out who it was. It didn' take long to do so. The younger of the Frozen Holiday sisters, Anna, aka Margaret was crying inconsolably and her sister was trying to comfort her.

 Meritre just told them that they were not to stay together, Elsa (she is Lizzy for us but her new owner is likely to give her a new name) was to travel to a friend of hers far, far away.

I was as much struck as Valancy, who turned up right next to me, followed by Kiki. I assured her that I was very sorry for her and felt her sorrow.
"Much you know." I had to forgive her those bitter words. Losing a sister is very though.
"Well, I actually do know it. In fact, I lost a sister myself."
"Impossible! You have Victoria!"she sobbed.
"Yes, now she has me." Kiki stepped in. "But did you know how we started off?"
"Weren't you from the same set like we?"
We both shook our heads.
"You weren't?" uttered Valancy in surprise.
"No" Kiki said.
"But you are from a set for sure" Margaret pointed at me.
"Yes, I am. That was the problem. But let's start at the very beginning"

Remember, blue is Kiki, green is Dolly

I wasn’t one of the dolls who spent their time in a store and learnt almost everything about their movie. As far as I can remember I spent my days in a warehouse. It wasn’t really exciting, sometimes it was rather scary because it was dark and we heard strange sounds. I’m saying „we” because there were other dolls there, too. Mainly girls with pretty dresses but there were some male dolls, too and some of the girls wore more practical, everyday outfits. We talked a lot since we had nothing else to do. Some girls were taken away and new girls were brought. I mostly talked to other Elsa dolls since they were close enough to hear my voice. One of them was taken away but later she came back. The order was cancelled she said but we other Elsas just stared at her we didn’t understand a word. „It means they didn’t want me after all” She sounded really sad. I impulsively answered „I’m sure someone will want to own you quite soon.” „It’s very kind of you to say that. But I have no reason to complain. I saw so much I learned so many new things that all in all, I’m thankful for this experience.”

I started my life as part of a dollset, consisting of me and another really, really, pretty doll. Big blue eyes, long braided lightblond hair, soft, smiling, pink lips and a magnificent gown decorated with flowers. And, what was much more important, she was really kind and sweet. At first we only exchanged polite nothings. I was afraid of her and of what this beauty will think of me if she finds out… about my legs. Well, I was kind of ashamed of them since they were – green. Usually they are the same color as the rest of the dolls body. But mine were green and I didn’t really understand, why. But I was sure it was just me who had those in my opinion ugly green legs. Since our storeroom wasn1t the best lit place I had every hope of passing unnoticed. A long skirt helped a lot as well. But I wore simple black flats while the Annas who shared their boxes with no one, had boots. The other girl in the box of course had beautiful high heels, which were graceful and elegant just like their owner. I must admit I was a bit jealous. She seemed to notice that I was somehow uncomfortable since she started to talk to me in the most friendly way. „I hope we will be released soon” she said. „That flower in my hair is quite itchy and I would love to move it a bit” I didn’t really understand and just blinked. „And of course it would be much more interesting to walk around a little and chat with others than being stuck in a box don’t you think?” „Y-y-yees, S-s-s-suu - ure” I stammered. Was that beautiful hair ornament really that uncomfortable? Maybe it’s not that bad to have simpler clothes? She smiled and continued talking to me. And I slowly changed my mind, I didn’t wish any longer to be alone in my box, on the contrary, I thought myself lucky. I wasn’t lonely like most of the other dolls. Lilly – that’s what she asked me to call her, although she knew perfectly well that she was an Elsa doll and I was an Anna doll – was just perfect: kind and smart and pretty. I have no idea where she picked up her knowledge but she seemed to have information about everything: ranking from the fears and hopes I had to the smallest details of the new and old Disney movies. A few weeks passed before I dared to ask her. She smiled but so sadly! I suddenly wished that I had hold my tongue. She of course knew what I was thinking. „No, no, there is nothing wrong with your question, it’s quite natural and to tell the truth I expected you to ask sooner.” „How did yyyou…?” I couldn’t finish the sentence but that wasn’t necessary. „It was practically written on your face. I shall tell you my secret. I know you have been wondering how I know all these things. Well I started earlier as a regular Snow Queen Elsa doll. I was among the very first Elsa dolls that went out in the world.” she started „but quite soon I had to return. You know I was a broken doll and nobody wanted a broken doll.” She sounded sad. „But you are all right now” I said, half asking, half stating. „Yes, thankfully my legs could be replaced, everything is fine now and besides I collected lots of useful experience.” she smiled. „You… you got your legs replaced? Is this possible?” She nodded cautiously. Possibly she already had an idea why this was important to me. „I would like to have my legs replaced, too! What do I have to do?” She tilted her head to one side. „Why would you want that? Do they hurt? Or you detected a crack?” I blushed. „Oh, no, just… they are not like I want them to be.” „You want klick knees?” she asked „They are the other kind of legs dolls get.” she added when she saw my expression „Nnnno, just…” I didn’t know, what to say. I didn’t want her to know about my green legs. I hated them. I was called Frog and Frogleg because of them. Lilly did not understand it then or I thought so. But she already knew. „Is it… because they are painted green?” I was startled. „How… how do you know?” „I’ve seen pictures and heard them calling you Frogleg.” I swallowed. „You… knew all this time… and you don’t think me…” I was searching for a word negative enough to express how scared I was of being laughed at, being hated and poked fun at. „I don’t think you anything. You are my sister and my best friend.” „But they are so… ugly. Why are they green in the first place? The other Annas have normal legs.” She had the answer, like always. „They are supposed to represent the green tights that are worn with this outfit.” „Bad idea.” „Well, it’s not like it is unhealthy or anything like that. In fact I think they are a very pretty shade of green that goes perfectly with your red hair.” She kept talking to me in this encouraging way until we left the warehouse. The trip was long and dull and dark so I went to sleep. When I woke up it wasn’t dark anymore but my sister was gone. I also discovered that I wasn’t in the box anymore. But where was Lilly? I had to find her. But right after I got up and started to look around she turned up. “Looks like we landed at a really nice place,” she said. And it seemed she was right. We had lots of freedom and wandered about a lot. There was another Disney box lying around but that one wasn’t opened. I was a little sorry for whoever was inside but very soon forgot about it altogether. There was so much to discover!

We of course wanted to know what she saw out there and asked her to tell. She didn’t need much asking, she was eager to talk about her adventures. She got to watch her movie, Frozen, and we spent hours discussing the movie character Elsa. We also learned that Elsa had a sister in the movie and how wonderful it is to have a sister. From that point many Elsas started to dream of a dollsister. (Well, as we are dolls, we can only adopt each other as sisters and this is often done, especially if the original characters are siblings, too – like in Annas and Elsas case.) A few of them were doubtful but I was one of the girls who wished for a sister and best friend. Wandering Elsa – that’s the nickname we gave the returned Elsa doll – also told us about other Disney movies. She didn’t get to see the whole movies but that didn’t bother us at all. Storytelling was a great way to pass time as we couldn’t do much, imprisoned in our boxes as we were. Wandering Elsa left us after a few days, but there were some other random princesses who were returned and accidentally or just because of carelessness landed among the Elsa dolls. A Belle, a Mulan and a lady with long blond curls were all our guests for a few days. But you shouldn’t think that the group of Elsas didn’t change! Almost every day one or two of them were taken by those big mysterious being who came into our room. I soon learned that these are so called humans and these special humans we saw were the ones who sent us dolls on their way to our new homes. Adults are said to be more careful with dolls but kids almost never leave one in the box what adult collectors often do. I didn’t really care if my human is going to be an adult or a kid I just wanted a loving home which is essential for a happy long doll life. I must admit I got curiouser and curiouser after hearing so much about the outside world from other dolls. I couldn’t wait leaving this boring place. Well, it became quite boring, since I longed to see the world and find my sister. I believed that every Elsa and every Anna had their perfect sister somewhere in the world and it’s up to them to find that sister. Uh a quite unreal thought. But who knows? I was still lost in my dreamworld when I was finally chosen to leave. I was glad since the newer Elsas had a bit different hairstyles and called mine messy. But what could I do about it? I was still trapped in my box. And it got worse. I landed in a bigger box and in complete darkness for I don’t know how long. But all long journeys end and mine ended, too. The big box was opened and I was looking at a human. She had a kind face and I decided that I liked her. But she didn’t seem to like me since she didn’t remove the rest of the packaging. Will I have to… return to the warehouse? This was the first time I started to ask myself that question. A few days later another box with both sisters appeared. This is another sign, I thought, that I will have to return. Lucky you, I thought, you at least have each other and most likely a nice home. She deboxed of course the other two. I saw them wandering around when no human could see them. But one day the Elsa disappeared and later I was put in again in a box next to something wrapped in this funny thing with bubble like things. Yes, yes it’s called bubble wrap or something like that. I was swallowed by darkness once more. I expected this to be my journey back to the others and wasn’t really looking forward to it. My first trip wasn’t a pleasure but this one was even worse. Sometimes I thought I heard someone softly crying and sniffing.

When humans came we went back and spent most of the time we couldn’t use for exploring for sleeping. And one afternoon when I woke up, my sister was not there. I wasn’t much alarmed as this had happened before. I wondered around a bit in the room, looking for her. I couldn’t find her. I called out but no answer came. Then I started to get alarmed. Where did she go? The door was closed she couldn’t possibly have left it. I started to look for her in every nook and every corner of the room. Everywhere. And I finally found her. But she wasn’t herself anymore. Her face, somehow, disappeared. Well, I could see where her eyes were supposed to be but it was all fleshcoloured, like the rest of her face. No eyebrows and her lips were also colorless. I was horrified. What happened to my dear sister Elsa? Having a sister is great. But the more this sister is loved the more painful it is to lose her forever.

The next thing I remember I was redressed and my flats were taken off and I got the winter boots I’ve always wanted, the winter boots the other Anna dolls I saw had but I couldn’t care less. I simply felt… broken on the inside.

I was wrapped up and packed away into a dark box again. Sad and lonely, I simply could not hold my tears back. There must have been someone else in this shipping box since she kept talking to me. The trip was long and unpleasant and her chit-chat made it even worse but it finally ended.