Once upon a time...
May. 3rd, 2010 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lesmisloonyOnce there was a magical land where toys were secretly alive and could play together all day long. There was one particular room which was happier than all the others, where the dolls and the stuffed animals put on shows and sang together and dressed up in silly costumes made of dust bunnies and tissues. Everything was wonderful there.
One day, though, a new doll came into the room. She seemed a little different, but the others were always happy to have a new playmate. They invited her to join them, and before long, it was like she had always been there.
The new doll was good at playing with everybody, but it immediately became clear that she liked playing with the other dolls more than the stuffed animals. In fact, when the stuffed animals went under the bed to find more scraps for their costumes, the new doll would whisper funny things about them. As time went on, the other dolls began to laugh with less and less reserve. Soon they were making fun of the stuffed animals too.
Then the new doll began making up all the games for them to play. They never played dress up or sang anymore: instead all they did was talk. They talked about fun things they would do some day if they ever got out of this cramped little room. They talked about how much fun it would be to have a room that was only for dolls, where they never had to deal with the silly stuffed animals again. The stuffed animals would still stop by occasionally, but now that all the dolls were mean to them and thought they were dumb, it wasn't fun anymore. Soon the stuffed animals just stayed under the bed.
One day, the new doll had an idea. She had found some string, which she tied to all the other dolls' wrists. Now she could put on puppet shows with her friends! The new doll made up all sorts of shows about how stupid the stuffed animals were. All of the dolls laughed as she jerked them around and made them act out her opinions. The new doll had become a puppeteer.
But one of the dolls, a fashion doll with prettier hair than all the other dolls, really missed her stuffed animal friends. The puppeteer had tied on this doll's strings first, so they were the loosest. She had gotten better at trapping people with each doll she tied up. Sometimes when the puppeteer wasn't looking, the fashion doll would pull her hands free of the strings and sneak under the bed, where she would cuddle with the stuffed animals. She had so much more fun with the stuffed animals because they only wanted to play happy things. They never said anything bad about anyone.
One day the other dolls realised what the fashion doll was doing. They said she wasn't even a real doll. They said she was a traitor and she wasn't good at being one of them. The fashion doll pulled free of her strings and ran under the bed.
Now the puppet show changed: the fashion doll was the main subject of the other dolls' criticism. The puppeteer sat happily above them all, watching as they began to perform her show without her help. Sometimes she would bring one of her puppets close to her and whisper cruel things about the other dolls into its ear, just to see what would happen. Soon the dolls didn't even like each other, but since they didn't have any other friends, they had to pretend everything was okay.
The plushie doll was the saddest of all of the remaining puppets. She had once been best friends with the fashion doll, but now she wasn't allowed to talk to her. She missed the songs and the dress-up parties and the shows that the dolls had put on with the stuffed animals in the enchanted days before the puppeteer arrived. Her other best friend was a clay doll, but the clay doll had listened to the puppeteer's meanest words and had become a bully. The plushie doll stayed up late at night, after the other dolls and the puppeteer had gone to sleep, and cried quietly to herself.
One day, while she was supposed to be performing the puppeteer's show about how terrible the magic room was and how much she hated spending time with the stuffed animals and the fashion doll, the plushie stopped. She sat down in the middle of the puppet show and began to sing one of her old songs from the days before the puppeteer had arrived. The other dolls rolled their eyes and called her stupid and immature, and the puppeteer was furious, but from across the room the plushie doll heard another voice singing along with her. It was the fashion doll! She had come out from under the bed and was holding her arms out for the plushie, even after all of the horrible things the plushie and the other dolls had said about her.
That was when the plushie knew enough was enough. She tried to slip her arms out of the puppeteer's strings, but they were too tight and, unlike the fashion doll, her skin was too soft for her to escape so easily. She could hear the puppeteer and the other dolls mocking her and she could hear the timid, happy singing from under the bed where her old friend the fashion doll was waiting. The plushie knew she had no choice: she tore the strings away from her wrists, ripping giant holes in both of her hands, and ran into the fashion doll's arms.
Once she was under the bed, the plushie was reunited with her stuffed animal friends. All of them were nice to her even though she had said so many mean things about them when she had been in the puppet show. The stuffed animals forgave her, and now that they were all safe together, far from the puppeteer's reach, they slowly remembered their old songs and began to rebuild their old costumes.
They could watch the puppet show from under the bed, and it looked like things were getting worse. The puppeteer had completely remolded the shape of the clay doll, and now their old friend looked exactly like a smaller, weaker version of the puppeteer. The clay doll's wrists were tied with rope instead of string. She was completely lost to her old friends.
The last doll under the puppeteer's control was the vintage doll. The vintage doll was older than all of the other toys. The vintage doll had been great friends with the fashion doll and the plushie doll before the puppeteer arrived. Sometimes at night the fashion doll and the plushie would wish that they could bring the vintage doll into the happiness that they had found under the bed. They decided that the best plan was to continue to be nice to her and to hope that someday she could see how much better it was to be free than to be in the puppeteer's control. They continued to play as they had done before, but the plushie's arms were wounded and the fashion doll spent a lot of time gazing sadly at the remains of the puppet show, missing her old friends.
But then, one morning, the toys under the bed awoke to see that the vintage doll had joined them! Everyone was very happy to see her and immediately cast her in their newest show. Though she was usually too shy to join in when they sang, the toys learned that the vintage doll was very good and controlling the little radio, so she began to supply the music when the other dolls wanted to dance and sing.
The only problem was that the vintage doll sneaked out from underneath the bed every night and went back to the puppeteer and the clay doll, where she would willingly slip her arms into the strings and whisper mean things about the toys she had spent the day playing with. The fashion doll and the plushie would watch her leave every night, sad that she constantly betrayed them, but they welcomed her back every morning because they loved her. They thought that she would come around someday, especially since she was older than the other dolls--even the puppeteer!--and should have been wiser than them.
The toys under the bed went on living in happiness, but the puppeteer was growing dissatisfied at all the noise from their games. She told her clay puppet that they were all immature, especially the plushie and the fashion doll. She promised the clay puppet that the two of them would move to a different room one day where they would never have to listen to the other, lesser toys have fun again. The clay doll nodded her head, which was slowly rearranging itself to look like the puppeteer's. That night, though, the puppeteer slipped down off her pedestal and tiptoed over to the bed. She smiled at the toys when they regarded her suspiciously and she ran a hand through the fashion doll's pretty hair. She took a step toward the plushie, but the plushie's wounds were still leaking bits of cotton batting everywhere and the plushie backed away. The puppeteer saw this and narrowed her eyes for a brief moment before putting her artificial smile back in place. She told the other toys, especially the fashion doll, that she was worried she was going to lose her friends and she didn't want that. She told them that she wanted them to trust her and hang out with her. Then she went back to her pedestal and took her place next to her clay puppet. The vintage doll followed her happily. The stuffed Geisha toy even started to follow, but the bunny pulled her back at the last minute.
The other toys suddenly realised that as long as they shared a room with the puppeteer they could never be completely happy and they would never be entirely safe. They knew that she could trap any of them with her strings and force them to do her dance the way she had trapped the clay doll and, now, the vintage doll. They knew that the only way to get out was to leave their beloved magical room and get as far away from the puppeteer and her clay doll as they could.
So the toy bunny took the stuffed Geisha and moved into a room upstairs. The puppy and the fashion doll decided to try to rescue the vintage doll from the puppeteer, so they brought her with them as they left the room. The plushie doll bid a loving farewell to all her friends, packed her bags, and went to Paris.
The story ends here, though we can only hope that the clay doll and the puppeteer never bothered the other toys again.
One day, though, a new doll came into the room. She seemed a little different, but the others were always happy to have a new playmate. They invited her to join them, and before long, it was like she had always been there.
The new doll was good at playing with everybody, but it immediately became clear that she liked playing with the other dolls more than the stuffed animals. In fact, when the stuffed animals went under the bed to find more scraps for their costumes, the new doll would whisper funny things about them. As time went on, the other dolls began to laugh with less and less reserve. Soon they were making fun of the stuffed animals too.
Then the new doll began making up all the games for them to play. They never played dress up or sang anymore: instead all they did was talk. They talked about fun things they would do some day if they ever got out of this cramped little room. They talked about how much fun it would be to have a room that was only for dolls, where they never had to deal with the silly stuffed animals again. The stuffed animals would still stop by occasionally, but now that all the dolls were mean to them and thought they were dumb, it wasn't fun anymore. Soon the stuffed animals just stayed under the bed.
One day, the new doll had an idea. She had found some string, which she tied to all the other dolls' wrists. Now she could put on puppet shows with her friends! The new doll made up all sorts of shows about how stupid the stuffed animals were. All of the dolls laughed as she jerked them around and made them act out her opinions. The new doll had become a puppeteer.
But one of the dolls, a fashion doll with prettier hair than all the other dolls, really missed her stuffed animal friends. The puppeteer had tied on this doll's strings first, so they were the loosest. She had gotten better at trapping people with each doll she tied up. Sometimes when the puppeteer wasn't looking, the fashion doll would pull her hands free of the strings and sneak under the bed, where she would cuddle with the stuffed animals. She had so much more fun with the stuffed animals because they only wanted to play happy things. They never said anything bad about anyone.
One day the other dolls realised what the fashion doll was doing. They said she wasn't even a real doll. They said she was a traitor and she wasn't good at being one of them. The fashion doll pulled free of her strings and ran under the bed.
Now the puppet show changed: the fashion doll was the main subject of the other dolls' criticism. The puppeteer sat happily above them all, watching as they began to perform her show without her help. Sometimes she would bring one of her puppets close to her and whisper cruel things about the other dolls into its ear, just to see what would happen. Soon the dolls didn't even like each other, but since they didn't have any other friends, they had to pretend everything was okay.
The plushie doll was the saddest of all of the remaining puppets. She had once been best friends with the fashion doll, but now she wasn't allowed to talk to her. She missed the songs and the dress-up parties and the shows that the dolls had put on with the stuffed animals in the enchanted days before the puppeteer arrived. Her other best friend was a clay doll, but the clay doll had listened to the puppeteer's meanest words and had become a bully. The plushie doll stayed up late at night, after the other dolls and the puppeteer had gone to sleep, and cried quietly to herself.
One day, while she was supposed to be performing the puppeteer's show about how terrible the magic room was and how much she hated spending time with the stuffed animals and the fashion doll, the plushie stopped. She sat down in the middle of the puppet show and began to sing one of her old songs from the days before the puppeteer had arrived. The other dolls rolled their eyes and called her stupid and immature, and the puppeteer was furious, but from across the room the plushie doll heard another voice singing along with her. It was the fashion doll! She had come out from under the bed and was holding her arms out for the plushie, even after all of the horrible things the plushie and the other dolls had said about her.
That was when the plushie knew enough was enough. She tried to slip her arms out of the puppeteer's strings, but they were too tight and, unlike the fashion doll, her skin was too soft for her to escape so easily. She could hear the puppeteer and the other dolls mocking her and she could hear the timid, happy singing from under the bed where her old friend the fashion doll was waiting. The plushie knew she had no choice: she tore the strings away from her wrists, ripping giant holes in both of her hands, and ran into the fashion doll's arms.
Once she was under the bed, the plushie was reunited with her stuffed animal friends. All of them were nice to her even though she had said so many mean things about them when she had been in the puppet show. The stuffed animals forgave her, and now that they were all safe together, far from the puppeteer's reach, they slowly remembered their old songs and began to rebuild their old costumes.
They could watch the puppet show from under the bed, and it looked like things were getting worse. The puppeteer had completely remolded the shape of the clay doll, and now their old friend looked exactly like a smaller, weaker version of the puppeteer. The clay doll's wrists were tied with rope instead of string. She was completely lost to her old friends.
The last doll under the puppeteer's control was the vintage doll. The vintage doll was older than all of the other toys. The vintage doll had been great friends with the fashion doll and the plushie doll before the puppeteer arrived. Sometimes at night the fashion doll and the plushie would wish that they could bring the vintage doll into the happiness that they had found under the bed. They decided that the best plan was to continue to be nice to her and to hope that someday she could see how much better it was to be free than to be in the puppeteer's control. They continued to play as they had done before, but the plushie's arms were wounded and the fashion doll spent a lot of time gazing sadly at the remains of the puppet show, missing her old friends.
But then, one morning, the toys under the bed awoke to see that the vintage doll had joined them! Everyone was very happy to see her and immediately cast her in their newest show. Though she was usually too shy to join in when they sang, the toys learned that the vintage doll was very good and controlling the little radio, so she began to supply the music when the other dolls wanted to dance and sing.
The only problem was that the vintage doll sneaked out from underneath the bed every night and went back to the puppeteer and the clay doll, where she would willingly slip her arms into the strings and whisper mean things about the toys she had spent the day playing with. The fashion doll and the plushie would watch her leave every night, sad that she constantly betrayed them, but they welcomed her back every morning because they loved her. They thought that she would come around someday, especially since she was older than the other dolls--even the puppeteer!--and should have been wiser than them.
The toys under the bed went on living in happiness, but the puppeteer was growing dissatisfied at all the noise from their games. She told her clay puppet that they were all immature, especially the plushie and the fashion doll. She promised the clay puppet that the two of them would move to a different room one day where they would never have to listen to the other, lesser toys have fun again. The clay doll nodded her head, which was slowly rearranging itself to look like the puppeteer's. That night, though, the puppeteer slipped down off her pedestal and tiptoed over to the bed. She smiled at the toys when they regarded her suspiciously and she ran a hand through the fashion doll's pretty hair. She took a step toward the plushie, but the plushie's wounds were still leaking bits of cotton batting everywhere and the plushie backed away. The puppeteer saw this and narrowed her eyes for a brief moment before putting her artificial smile back in place. She told the other toys, especially the fashion doll, that she was worried she was going to lose her friends and she didn't want that. She told them that she wanted them to trust her and hang out with her. Then she went back to her pedestal and took her place next to her clay puppet. The vintage doll followed her happily. The stuffed Geisha toy even started to follow, but the bunny pulled her back at the last minute.
The other toys suddenly realised that as long as they shared a room with the puppeteer they could never be completely happy and they would never be entirely safe. They knew that she could trap any of them with her strings and force them to do her dance the way she had trapped the clay doll and, now, the vintage doll. They knew that the only way to get out was to leave their beloved magical room and get as far away from the puppeteer and her clay doll as they could.
So the toy bunny took the stuffed Geisha and moved into a room upstairs. The puppy and the fashion doll decided to try to rescue the vintage doll from the puppeteer, so they brought her with them as they left the room. The plushie doll bid a loving farewell to all her friends, packed her bags, and went to Paris.
The story ends here, though we can only hope that the clay doll and the puppeteer never bothered the other toys again.
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-03 05:52 pm (UTC)You know, it would make an excellent fairytale... definitely the scary kind of fairytale that gives little kids nightmares.
Or big kids.
Or young adults.
I'm sad that the plushie doll had to move all the way to Paris... Maybe the fashion doll can come visit her sometime? And they can sing all their old songs together?
That would be nice.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-03 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 04:15 am (UTC)I really like this story.. like Katherine said, your writing is amazing. i love it, and i love you.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 07:36 pm (UTC)Sadly, sometimes these things aren't salvageable. Hopefully in Paris the plushie will find more like-minded playmates :)