Elena photoshoot

"Und der Wind singt lalala"

from an opening song of Detective Conan aka Case Closed, because this is my mini Elena dolls favouirte song and it's cheerful

Another quick post, I found an old Barbie outfit from my childhood and immediately thought that this dress is made for Elena, I mean my Elena doll, Valancy. Here are some photos for you to enjoy with Elena wearing that colorful dress. I dont have the shoues that went with these originally (they were spimple purple high heels) but Elenas shoes are perfect, I think.

It actually looks a tiny bit a dress she wears in the show. Or maybe it's just me thinking that colorful dresses suit her. Not everybody can pull that off. :)

Full body.

With belt.

With the top part.

Top part tied.

Top part tucked in.

Valancy Elena.

Bonus picture with her in that famous blue dress. :)

It"s party time - part 6

"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.

6. Susanne Ariel - a party with lots of dancing and games related to dancing
For me, this party was a great opportunity to see how far I got. I mean with having legs and walking and generally using them. But when it was first announced, I was scared. How could I attend, still in the "walking phase", I can hardly walk, I can't dance - that was my first thought. But the others couldn't, either and organised everything so we all could learn it. They were all so kind, helping me while minding their own steps. Valancy allowed me to use her arm whenever I tripped over my own feet, Kuei-Lan catched me more then once by holding my elbow.
By the end I was so exhausted! The other girls were just fine chatting about the evening. I felt a little ashamed. 

But I did my best.
Suddenly  they turned to me.
'Come, Sue, there is something for you!' 
The something turned out to be a magnificent blue balldress.
'It matches beautifully the color of your eyes!' 
'Your red hair will look gorgeous with it!'
I hesitated. It was beautiful. But it had a long, tight skirt.
'It's.. really kind of you. Really. I appreciate it but I'm not that good. I can walk but the party would end as a disaster if I'd go in that dress.' 
'Why, you did quite well. You dance beautifully!' Hannah said and she, along the others, believed it.
'I... I need to see my legs to have them under control.' 
There was a general murmur as they expressed their understanding.
'But one of you could wear it.' I offered.
'We'll find someone for sure.' Valancy replied cheerfully 'But you could at least try it on. As a first step.' 
Just putting it on to see how it looks can't hurt and thoughts were followed by acts.

'It's gorgeous! Are you sure you don't want to wear it?' Hannah asked.
I did a few steps while she spoke and just when she finished, like an answer, I tripped and fell over.
'Uh, I see, I'm sorry.' She hold out a hand to help me up.
'It's nothing, really.'
'Let's practice some more!'
Some of the girls wandered off, others stayed to dance a bit more and I joined that group, after changing back of course. 
They showed me some of the group dances they planned to do. And we actually did them during the party, too. 

It was my favourite part, it was the dance I could do best. 
I was actually more excited about the practicing part.
The dance itself made me so nervous that my legs were even shaking a bit.

But my partner always helped me and told me to follow his lead - it'll make it much easier. He was right. But I enjoyed the games more.
By the end I felt dizzy 

At the end, Edward said
'See? You mastered that step - dancing is no problem.'
It made me so happy :}
Sorry for the few pictures, I din't really care for showing myself on the ground after a fall.

It"s party time - part 5

"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.

5. Kuei-Lan Mulan - a quiet evening with reading aloud

I... don't really have much to tell. I choose my favorite songs for the playlist and made suggestions where the dancefloor and the seats should be located, like everybody else. I thought tht this simple hard piece of wood (actually a drawing board) would be perfect for dancing.

Hannah thought it did not look like a dancefloor should.
'It should match the beauty of the dances.' she said.
Then it was time for our dance lesson. It was mostly tripping over our own feet and catching each other. Valancy and Aurenna didn't need any catching, both girls are born dancers. So elegant and graceful... Watching their moves was dangerous, since then we didn't pay attention to our own moves and if one of us tripped, we all fell like dominos. It was a miracle the teacher managed to teach us how to do it. He made it look so easy.
He gave us two very sensible pieces of advice. One, practice helps to improve. Two, we should enjoy it, that's more important than doing everything perfectly. A party is for having fun. I have to keep that in mind.

I stayed close to Valancy, she's such a great dancer. She invented some solo dance moves while she was waiting for a partner and we were having a converstion.

I wish... I can't help but wish I could do it like her. You can't learn dancing gracefully from a book. (Although I did try) *sigh* But Eric Charles was really nice about my clumsiness. 

Oh I shouldn't be talking about myself! Let's see, what could be interesting for Dolly? Her sister Victoria looked so beautiful in that blue dress. 
Blue is really her color. 

Susannes red hair looked gorgeous with that dress, too. Maybe we could ask people who in their opinion looks best in that certain gown?
And I think we could improve our dancefloor if we put something hard under the blue rugs. Having two soft layers didn't exactly made things easier for us beginners, especially becaused  during practice, we just had one, the carpeted floor. The blue extra carpet looked nice for sure but I think it was a bit soft. 
Maybe a few decorations would be a nice addition, too. Hannah is so great at making them, maybe she can do something for the next party.

Talking of the next party, Valancy hopes to bring our missing princess and Vester together. I can't help feeling like this is no one of her best ideas. Maybe we should just... let happen what happens and she where those two get? Then again, I'm not a love expert, Valancy knows much more about such matters. Maybe they really need a little help. I don't know.
Oh, I keep wandering off. Back to the party. I got to dance with Charles again. 

I dont think this valtz dance thing is going to be my favourite. The partners are far to close to each other to be confortable. At least, I prefer to have my personal space. Maybe that is why it didn't work very well. 
It was nice and interesting to experience something new but I think I still prefer a reading-chatting evening. But only a few times a year, this could be something special. Well, the next one is just around the corner...

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 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.

A splendid plan - Kiki tells a Dolly story

"I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering splendid"

from Disney's Aladdin

"A party?" Meritre was surprised.
"With dancing and decorations and music and all."
"But you are a dozen girls and there are only two guys, how did you think it will work?"

"They'll hand out numbers to the girls." said Daphne humorously.
Dolly looked away probably so she wouldn't laugh out loud. Looking away she looked as if she was uninterested but the party was her idea in the first place.

I was standing at my usual spot, a little further away, listening to this new idea.
"Why, there are three, if only you would let out Aladdin and Eric." she threw in.
"So Vester still doesn't count? But he's pretty much the only one in the group who can dance."
"Okay, let's say four. That's enough, isn't it?"
"Three girls for each one of them."

 "I won't dance so you need not count me." said Sorghoktani. " Besides, I don't have anything to wear."
"Oh, that doesn't matter, we're all going in our usual clothes." Valancy replied cheerfully.
"My leg wouldn't let me dance anyway."
"But we need our dolldoctor. What if someone twists an ankle while dancing?"
Sorghoktani smiled but said nothing.
"Hold on, I didn't say anything about agreeing to a big, noisy party, very likely messing up the whole house. Why do you want a ball anyway?"
"Because it would be something new and fun for us."
"It would be so wonderful to spend such a nice evening with everybody beeing there."
"And we won't make a mess and everything will be cleaned up." Daphne promised.

Meritre seemed to think it over. Dolly had to look away once more because Meritre made such a funny face. Then she smiled. I'm sure she thought that a party is a great opportunity for matchmaking. But Dolly can't stand if she's forced to something. Like those matchmaking schemes. I afraid I messed already too much and instead of helping, I made things worse. Maybe I should take my own advice and just... let it go?
"Well... if you can organise it, you can have your party next Saturday. You'll have all the bedrooms for yourself. And a computer or CD player or something, for music. You just go on and do whatever you want done. Let me know if you need any help."
And so we started planning and preparing. The exact place had to be chosen, seats had to be set up for those who were not dancing, the playlist had to be made and so much more. We were all very excited. We decided against decoration since it would only add to the mess and we had lots of other, more important things to attend to.
"You can't dance with that cape" Dolly told me.

"No. But I didn't plan to dance anyway."
"You should put on the new outfit that came recently."
"But of course, pink trousers are just the thing for a ball. Seriuosly, Dollly, no, I won't."
"Pah, I wasn't talking about that, you know that. Just wait till you see the dress." She danced out of the room to put on that pretty blue dress.

"Tadaaam, sis!"
I was holding the blouse and the trousers that came together with the dress.
"Very pretty, you should go to the dance wearing that."
"No, no, no, it's for you!"She looked at the clothes I was holding, almost like as if she was frozen. "You're not wearing those to the ball, are you?"

I laughed.
"No, of course not. I'm just bringing them to Hannah. She's to modell this outfit. Pink and purple are her colors."

She was looking as if she didn't really believe what I told her. I could see she was thinking hard, she was still holding up one arm like when she presented the dress. She told me everything she could think of to persuade me to take the dress.
I think I know someone who would agree with me that Dolly should wear that blue dress to the dance. ;)

Note by Dolly:
All my attempts to persuade Kiki to try any of the clothes on herself were in vain. She kept telling me that there were too many girls even without her. Well, she was actually right. And we were busy preparing and having fun. We all agreed that it was a good thing to take over ideas from other dolls we happen to meet in the great blogging world.


Note by Meritre: My dolls were busy reading the blog Likeness of life and as soon they saw that the dolls there had dances, they wanted to do the same. Because it was fun and interesting things happened during dances.

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.