Post by MadHatter :D on Jun 25, 2009 13:30:38 GMT -5
I woke up in an orphanage, surrounded by children of various ages and races. They were staring at me. I glanced down to see if there was anything unusual about me; nothing at all that I could see, except me being a ragdoll.
“W-Where am I?” I asked softly, praying they didn’t scream or start to freak out. As a 10 year old ragdoll, I was used to such things. Whispers suddenly filled my cloth ears, and a boy, who I presumed to be the leader, stepped up to me.
“You can talk? Well, never mind that. I’m Elijah.” he spat on his hand and held it out for me to shake. EW…
“Uh…Dolly. Dolly Ann Robb. But you can call me Rag Dolly.” I said, shivering as I shook his hand and felt his spit ooze through my cotton fingers. I was still unsure of where I was.
“Elijah! What are you all doing, crowding this little girl?” I heard a gentle woman’s voice across the room. Elijah stepped away, gesturing for the other kids to back off.
“Sorry, ma’am…” they all said in unison, completely apologetic. Elijah gave me a small, shy little smile and faced the woman.
She pushed her way through the crowd of children. A small, round woman with brown hair pulled into a tight bun was suddenly in front of me. “You’ll have to pardon the children, dear. They’ve never seen a living ragdoll before, no offense, and they’re excited. Now, tell me your name, your age, and how you got to be at Madame Rosalita’s orphanage.”
“M-My name is Dolly…Dolly Robb, but I like to be called Rag Dolly, for obvious reasons. I’m 10 years old, and I just…woke up here. No clue how I got here.” I stammered; nervousness making me tongue-tied.
“Ah. Well, welcome to my orphanage. I’m Madame Rosalita, but everyone here refers to me as ma’am. You’ve met Elijah, so I’ll leave you to meet the others.” I nodded and blinked, but when my eye opened, she had vanished.
“So, like I said, I’m Elijah, this here’s my little sister Marie…” Elijah told me, putting his hand on an 8 year old girl who had dark brown skin exactly like Elijah’s, and coarse, pitch-black curls. “Here’s Marie’s little friend, Anna, and her big brother Marco…” A Hispanic girl around Marie’s age frowned at me while an older boy, who I guessed was Marco, glared.
“Living ragdoll…” I heard him mumble. “What’ll Elijah pick up next? A bird girl?” Ouch. Like that was the first time I’d heard that. I tugged on Elijah’s hand.
“Elijah…did you see a ragdoll boy about my age with brown yarn hair and bottle caps for eyes?” I asked, worried about my brother. Rag Boy was one who got lost often. And trampled on, and nearly killed. I heaved a heavy sigh, the kind people only sigh when they’re really depressed or trying to get attention.
“Uhhhh……no? Oh, wait, yes I did! He ran away from me! I told him I was there to take both of you to a safe, warm place, but he just looked at me with those bottle caps and ran.” Elijah looked at me with those big brown eyes of his sadly. “Why?” he asked.
“That boy…is my brother. If I don’t find him, Rag Boy will be killed.” I said, biting my lip. “Oops!” I jumped when my button eye fell off. “Oh no! My lucky button!” I heard it roll under something. Bending down and crawling around, I started searching for my button.
Elijah knelt next to me and began helping me search. “What’s so important about a silly old button? We have plenty here.” he told me, unawareness in his voice. “We should be focusing on bigger things, like getting your brother back.”
“It’s not just a silly old button! It’s my eye, and my good luck charm, and my first mistress put it on me. I can’t lose that button! Besides, my brother won’t recognize me without it. He’s only got bottle caps for eyes, and those are difficult to see out of.” I snapped, crawling under a bed.
Elijah was soon next to me, reaching under and pulling various buttons out from under the bed. “They all fall under here. Trust me; we lost lots of jacket buttons under here.” He pulled a bright, neon blue button out and started tossing it when I reached out and snatched it away.
“My button!! Thank you so much, Elijah!” I pulled a needle out from my arm and giggled as his face took on a disgusted look. Carefully pulling thread from my raggedy, ruined dress, I threaded the needle. I placed the button exactly where my eye should go, and started stitching my button on.
“That’s disgusting. You’re disgusting!” I heard Marco behind me. What a jerk. Couldn’t a girl get some time to stitch her button back on without someone calling her names? I heard a small giggle behind me, and looked up to see Anna laughing.
“Disgusting Dolly…” she whispered to Marie, and Marie frowned. “She’s not even a pretty dolly, either.” Anna said.
I bit my lip. Sure, I wasn’t pretty but…I was a ragdoll. We aren’t supposed to be pretty. Marie crawled over to a bed that had a pillow with “Marie” stitched onto it. She pulled a beautiful ragdoll out from under her covers.
“This is Ari. You guys are gonna be great friends.” Marie told me, and I felt a small tear roll down from my good eye. “Oh, please don’t cry, Dolly. Anna and Marco are mean. You should ignore them, like ‘Lijah does.”
Ari’s golden yarn hair and bright blue eyes made my orange yarn and button look…hideous. To add insult to injury, a piece of my yarn fell from my head. Another tear rolled down my cheek, and Marie looked heartbroken.
“Rag Dolly? Did…what’s wrong?” Marie asked, her face crumpled in disappointment. She wrapped her skinny arms around me, and hugged me gently.
I hugged her back. She smelled of cinnamon and…something sweet. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but there was something sweet about her. “Nothing’s wrong, Marie…it’s just…the only other ragdoll I’ve ever been friends with is my brother. And Ari’s so beautiful…” A stitch on my arm came loose. The corner of the pale green fabric that made up various parts of my skin started coming off, and my stuffing fell out.
Marie let go of me, and knelt to pick up the stuffing. Gently, she put it back in my arm and took the needle and thread. My eye widened as she stitched my arm back together. “There.” she mumbled to herself.
Anna was staring at Marie. “Why would you hug such a hideous…THING?” she inquired. “It’s falling apart, and looks like it should be burnt.” She sneered. “Disgusting Dolly. That’s her new name.”
“Her name is Rag Dolly! Don’t even try and make fun of her! She’s my friend.” Marie said defensively, her body tensing up.
Chapter 2
I bit my lip and looked worriedly over at Elijah. He shrugged, as if to say “I never get involved with them.” Rolling my eye, I returned my focus to Marie and Anna. Anna and Marie had started arguing loudly.
“She’s not a thing, she’s a person! Just like you and me!” I heard Marie shout. My button popped off again. I sighed.
Anna picked up my button. “What’s this? The rag’s eye?” she scoffed, throwing my button out the window. Crying out, I rushed to the window and watched in agony as my button landed in the sewers.
“Anna! What did you do that for? Now she only has one eye!” Marie scolded. Tears were flowing freely down my cheek, and I slid down the wall.
“M-My button…”I mumbled, curling up into a ball. “She tossed my button……” This was the worst day ever. First, I’m brought to this strange orphanage. Then I lose my brother.
And now? Now a mean 8 year old tossed my lucky button into the sewer. I was never going to find my brother now. Elijah and Marie knelt next to me, and pulled me into a tight hug. “Don’t cry, Dolly…I’ve gotten lots of stuff out of the sewers. We’ll get your button back. Promise.” Elijah whispered, trying his hardest to soothe me.
Marie wiped my tears off with her sleeve. “There, there, Rag Dolly… ‘Lijah’s good at getting stuff out of the sewer. Just watch, you’ll have your button back, clean and shiny, before you know it.”
“W-Where am I?” I asked softly, praying they didn’t scream or start to freak out. As a 10 year old ragdoll, I was used to such things. Whispers suddenly filled my cloth ears, and a boy, who I presumed to be the leader, stepped up to me.
“You can talk? Well, never mind that. I’m Elijah.” he spat on his hand and held it out for me to shake. EW…
“Uh…Dolly. Dolly Ann Robb. But you can call me Rag Dolly.” I said, shivering as I shook his hand and felt his spit ooze through my cotton fingers. I was still unsure of where I was.
“Elijah! What are you all doing, crowding this little girl?” I heard a gentle woman’s voice across the room. Elijah stepped away, gesturing for the other kids to back off.
“Sorry, ma’am…” they all said in unison, completely apologetic. Elijah gave me a small, shy little smile and faced the woman.
She pushed her way through the crowd of children. A small, round woman with brown hair pulled into a tight bun was suddenly in front of me. “You’ll have to pardon the children, dear. They’ve never seen a living ragdoll before, no offense, and they’re excited. Now, tell me your name, your age, and how you got to be at Madame Rosalita’s orphanage.”
“M-My name is Dolly…Dolly Robb, but I like to be called Rag Dolly, for obvious reasons. I’m 10 years old, and I just…woke up here. No clue how I got here.” I stammered; nervousness making me tongue-tied.
“Ah. Well, welcome to my orphanage. I’m Madame Rosalita, but everyone here refers to me as ma’am. You’ve met Elijah, so I’ll leave you to meet the others.” I nodded and blinked, but when my eye opened, she had vanished.
“So, like I said, I’m Elijah, this here’s my little sister Marie…” Elijah told me, putting his hand on an 8 year old girl who had dark brown skin exactly like Elijah’s, and coarse, pitch-black curls. “Here’s Marie’s little friend, Anna, and her big brother Marco…” A Hispanic girl around Marie’s age frowned at me while an older boy, who I guessed was Marco, glared.
“Living ragdoll…” I heard him mumble. “What’ll Elijah pick up next? A bird girl?” Ouch. Like that was the first time I’d heard that. I tugged on Elijah’s hand.
“Elijah…did you see a ragdoll boy about my age with brown yarn hair and bottle caps for eyes?” I asked, worried about my brother. Rag Boy was one who got lost often. And trampled on, and nearly killed. I heaved a heavy sigh, the kind people only sigh when they’re really depressed or trying to get attention.
“Uhhhh……no? Oh, wait, yes I did! He ran away from me! I told him I was there to take both of you to a safe, warm place, but he just looked at me with those bottle caps and ran.” Elijah looked at me with those big brown eyes of his sadly. “Why?” he asked.
“That boy…is my brother. If I don’t find him, Rag Boy will be killed.” I said, biting my lip. “Oops!” I jumped when my button eye fell off. “Oh no! My lucky button!” I heard it roll under something. Bending down and crawling around, I started searching for my button.
Elijah knelt next to me and began helping me search. “What’s so important about a silly old button? We have plenty here.” he told me, unawareness in his voice. “We should be focusing on bigger things, like getting your brother back.”
“It’s not just a silly old button! It’s my eye, and my good luck charm, and my first mistress put it on me. I can’t lose that button! Besides, my brother won’t recognize me without it. He’s only got bottle caps for eyes, and those are difficult to see out of.” I snapped, crawling under a bed.
Elijah was soon next to me, reaching under and pulling various buttons out from under the bed. “They all fall under here. Trust me; we lost lots of jacket buttons under here.” He pulled a bright, neon blue button out and started tossing it when I reached out and snatched it away.
“My button!! Thank you so much, Elijah!” I pulled a needle out from my arm and giggled as his face took on a disgusted look. Carefully pulling thread from my raggedy, ruined dress, I threaded the needle. I placed the button exactly where my eye should go, and started stitching my button on.
“That’s disgusting. You’re disgusting!” I heard Marco behind me. What a jerk. Couldn’t a girl get some time to stitch her button back on without someone calling her names? I heard a small giggle behind me, and looked up to see Anna laughing.
“Disgusting Dolly…” she whispered to Marie, and Marie frowned. “She’s not even a pretty dolly, either.” Anna said.
I bit my lip. Sure, I wasn’t pretty but…I was a ragdoll. We aren’t supposed to be pretty. Marie crawled over to a bed that had a pillow with “Marie” stitched onto it. She pulled a beautiful ragdoll out from under her covers.
“This is Ari. You guys are gonna be great friends.” Marie told me, and I felt a small tear roll down from my good eye. “Oh, please don’t cry, Dolly. Anna and Marco are mean. You should ignore them, like ‘Lijah does.”
Ari’s golden yarn hair and bright blue eyes made my orange yarn and button look…hideous. To add insult to injury, a piece of my yarn fell from my head. Another tear rolled down my cheek, and Marie looked heartbroken.
“Rag Dolly? Did…what’s wrong?” Marie asked, her face crumpled in disappointment. She wrapped her skinny arms around me, and hugged me gently.
I hugged her back. She smelled of cinnamon and…something sweet. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but there was something sweet about her. “Nothing’s wrong, Marie…it’s just…the only other ragdoll I’ve ever been friends with is my brother. And Ari’s so beautiful…” A stitch on my arm came loose. The corner of the pale green fabric that made up various parts of my skin started coming off, and my stuffing fell out.
Marie let go of me, and knelt to pick up the stuffing. Gently, she put it back in my arm and took the needle and thread. My eye widened as she stitched my arm back together. “There.” she mumbled to herself.
Anna was staring at Marie. “Why would you hug such a hideous…THING?” she inquired. “It’s falling apart, and looks like it should be burnt.” She sneered. “Disgusting Dolly. That’s her new name.”
“Her name is Rag Dolly! Don’t even try and make fun of her! She’s my friend.” Marie said defensively, her body tensing up.
Chapter 2
I bit my lip and looked worriedly over at Elijah. He shrugged, as if to say “I never get involved with them.” Rolling my eye, I returned my focus to Marie and Anna. Anna and Marie had started arguing loudly.
“She’s not a thing, she’s a person! Just like you and me!” I heard Marie shout. My button popped off again. I sighed.
Anna picked up my button. “What’s this? The rag’s eye?” she scoffed, throwing my button out the window. Crying out, I rushed to the window and watched in agony as my button landed in the sewers.
“Anna! What did you do that for? Now she only has one eye!” Marie scolded. Tears were flowing freely down my cheek, and I slid down the wall.
“M-My button…”I mumbled, curling up into a ball. “She tossed my button……” This was the worst day ever. First, I’m brought to this strange orphanage. Then I lose my brother.
And now? Now a mean 8 year old tossed my lucky button into the sewer. I was never going to find my brother now. Elijah and Marie knelt next to me, and pulled me into a tight hug. “Don’t cry, Dolly…I’ve gotten lots of stuff out of the sewers. We’ll get your button back. Promise.” Elijah whispered, trying his hardest to soothe me.
Marie wiped my tears off with her sleeve. “There, there, Rag Dolly… ‘Lijah’s good at getting stuff out of the sewer. Just watch, you’ll have your button back, clean and shiny, before you know it.”
. That's so sad. 
