Part 31: Three's Story: My Dear, Sweet Little Dolls
Three's Story: My Dear, Sweet Little Dolls
Today was the first day I made a doll all by myself. I had to copy
someone else's work, but I still made it and it's mine alone. I did a much
better job than I'd hoped, which filled me with joy.
They tell me the little soldier doll I copied is a piece used in a game
called "chess." It was the first doll I took for my own; I found it in a
landed lord's castle. I had been fond of dolls since I was very little, but I
had never gotten to own one.
My older sister, One, scolded me when she found out that I'd taken
it, but I refused to give my prize up. It was my first doll! I was going to
love it no matter what she said.
I made my eighth doll today. This completes the black soldiers. I
think I'll start on the white soldiers tomorrow.
I finished making the white soldiers. All the soldiers are done now,
so I'll start on the other dolls tomorrow.
The chess board I saw had some horsie dolls on it, too, but I won't
be making any horsies. I like people-shaped dolls much more than
animals. I also saw some house dolls, but I won't be making any of those
because they're boring. Besides, a house doll isn't really a doll anyway, is
it? Houses can't move or talk.
So then, what kind of doll should I make instead of a horsie or a
house? I already have my kings and queens. Maybe I'll make a doll with
funny clothes like the "bishop." What is a bishop, anyway? I'll look it
up when I get the chance.
I looked up bishops and figured out what they are. They're a kind
of "priest," which is a really important person. That's why they wear the
funny clothes and hat.
The book said bishops shave their heads and don't have any hair. If I'd
known, I wouldn't have made my bishop doll with normal hair under his
hat. I went ahead and shortened my bishop doll's hair. It was hard to get
it nice and round like the book said. Still, it's a proper bishop doll now.
While I was reading, I came across a creature whose top parts are
human and bottom parts are a horsie. I've been wondering for a while
what to make instead of a horsie doll, and this will be perfect. I've
decided to make one.
I thought I might find a replacement for the houses, too, so I read
the book all day.
Apparently, in real chess, the horsie dolls are called "knights." Well,
I never. If I'd know that, I could have just made a doll of a person on a
horsie. Now that I think about it, I did see just one person-on-a-horsie
among the chess dolls the landed lord had in his castle. but since most
of them were personless horsies, I assumed those were the normal kind.
Anyway, I already made my dolls, so it doesn't matter.
It struck me that the "houses" might not be houses either, so I looked
it up and found out they're supposed to be castles. But they're still not
people and they're still not alive. Boring. After thinking it over, I've
decided to use a one-eyed monster I found in my book the other day for
the castle dolls. The monsters are so big you have to look up at them.
If I tie its arms behind it and wind its legs around it, it should look
like a building, right? I'll add stairs and ladders to make sure it does.
I finished making all sixty-four chess dolls. You can see how much
better I got if you put them all in a row. I'm so happy.
What kind of doll should I make next?
Today, I made a doll using my own method instead of copying
someone else's. Up until now, I was having a hard time gathering
materials, but I don't have that problem with my new method. Not only
that, my new dolls are much prettier and much nicer than the chess
dolls.
Now the dolls really are mine alone. They're mine and I love them
to pieces.
I played with the dolls I've made so far. A little girl in one of my
storybooks plays with her dolls, so I decided to do the same.
The little girl in the book plays with dolls of her mother and father
and her grandma and grandpa and dolls of little children. But I was
never fond of my mother and father, so I didn't have much fun playing
that way. Besides, I never had a grandma or grandpa. Octa looks old, but
he's not my grandfather. I'll have to think up another game.
Today, I played Vanquish-the-Villain with my dolls.
I made dolls of my big sisters One and Two and my little sisters Four
and Five, and together we showed that wicked lord doll what's what.
Because they were dolls, I couldn't imitate my sisters' song power, but
I still think it was very convincing the way we joined forces and took
him down.
I had great fun, but I accidentally broke the wicked lord doll. I'll
have to make a new one. It's fun to play games, but I like making the
dolls more.
My dolls and I had a tea party today. I broke my doll playing
Vanquish-the-Villain, but you can't break a doll by talking over a cup of
tea, now can you?
It's fun talking to my dolls. They hang on every word I say. The dolls
never complain at all. They never say, "What does that mean?" or "You
don't make any sense." Because they were so well behaved, I made them
sweets as a reward. I made the tea, too. It was a pretty purple color, like a
jewel. I wanted the sweets to match, but I couldn't get them to turn out
the same color, so the sweets were green.
I gave the sweets to my dolls along with the tea, but then their
faces turned an awful grubby color. I tried washing it off, but the color
wouldn't go away. Then they started to smell funny, so I threw the dolls
away.
I'll have to make new ones. I've decided not to have any more tea
parties.
I like dolls, but I also like scissors. I love everything about them: the
snick-snick as they cut, the crunch you feel in your hand. I have so much
fun when I cut my hair that I end up forgetting to eat.
When I cut Octa's hair to see what it was like, I noticed it was all
hard and bristly and different. I wanted to cut his beard, too, but he ran
away before I could. All I wanted to do was make him into a bishop. I
guess Octa doesn't like scissors the way I do. His loss. He doesn't seem
to like dolls either.
Octa wears funny shoes. They have such an interesting shape. I
wanted to put them on my dolls, but Octa wouldn't let me borrow
them.
It's hard to believe how fast he can run in those shoes. When I try
to cut his hair or his beard, he takes off fast enough to make you jump.
When I try to cut other places, he runs even faster. He's so weird. What's
not to like? We could have fun. I don't understand him.
Now that I think about it, we haven't played in a while. It's because
he doesn't like dolls. I want to play with dolls. And if he doesn't like
them, I think he should play alone.
Today, I put a lot of thought into how to make my dolls cuter. I want
to make cute dolls.
Should I give them more darling clothes? And what kind of clothes
would those be? Frilly clothes? Clothes with a bow on them? Except
even if the clothes are cute, all of that goes away when you take them off.
They don't make the doll cute.
Maybe I need to change their hairstyle. But what kind of hairstyle
is adorable? Curly hair? Braids? Except a hairstyle stops being
cute once you cut it or let it down. That's not the same as a cute doll,
now is it?
I realized I must be approaching this wrong. I want to make a doll
that's cuter. Not a doll that looks cute in new clothes or a new hairstyle.
So then, what makes something "cuter"?
I pondered the definition of "cuter." To me, all my dolls are adorable.
They all pass the test. That's probably why I wasn't able to tell the
difference between "cute" and "cuter." Very well. I decided I might be
able to figure out the difference if I ordered my dolls by how cute they
are. I tried lining up all the dolls I've made by adorableness and gave
them a good, hard look.
First, dolls with big foreheads are cuter than dolls with small
foreheads. Next, dolls with large heads are cuter than dolls with tiny
heads. Dolls with wide, googly eyes are cuter than dolls with small,
beady eyes. Dolls with small noses and mouths look cuter, too.
Cheeks look cuter when plump. Arms and legs look cuter when
they're short and chubby. Tummies look cuter when they bulge a little
instead of just being flat.
Which means...
All I have to do is make the heads larger, the foreheads bigger, eyes wider
nose and mouth smaller, cheeks plumper... Of course! Now I know
how to do it. I'll try making my dolls cuter first thing tomorrow.
Today, I tried making my dolls cuter. But I realized it's a lot more
difficult than I thought.
First, It was tough making their heads larger. Why? Because my dolls
have hard heads. I couldn't just blow them up like balloons. I also had
a hard time making their foreheads bigger or noses smaller, since there
was no way to carve them like wood or roll them up and squish them
like clay.
I spent a while trying a little of everything, but it was no use. I
ended up ruining one of my dolls. But then I finally struck upon a good
idea: if I couldn't make their heads bigger, what if I made their bodies
smaller? Adjusting the length of their arms and legs might be within my
capabilities. And when I tried it, it worked.
I was worried about how to make the tummy stick out, but then
I had another good idea while looking at the pillows on my bed. The
more you stuff into pillows and cushions, the puffier and fluffier they
get. All I had to do was pack my doll's tummy with stuffing. When I
tried it, the tummy got nice and round and plump. I had triumphed.
Now that I'd gotten the tummy right, I stuffed its limbs the same
way, and wound up with perfectly plump arms and legs. Fingers look
cuter when plump, so even though it was a struggle to work in such
detail, I stuffed the fingers one by one, and stuffed its palms, too.
Once I put its original head back on, I had my doll. The head looks
big; its arms and legs and belly look plump. Unfortunately, I was still
learning, so the girths and lengths are a little uneven. It looks clumsy.
But if I make enough of these, like I did the chess dolls, then I'm sure
I'll get very good at it.
I'll try another one tomorrow.
I've gotten better and better at making my big-headed plumpkins.
They don't look clumsy at all now. While I was working, I noticed that
the arms and legs and tummies of these "cuter" dolls look just like a
baby's.
And when you think about it, a baby does have a large head. A big
forehead. Wide eyes, and a small nose and mouth. Of course. "Cuter"
means more like a baby. I see now.
Maybe I should make the cheeks a little chubbier. That's what
a baby's are like. I should probably use something softer for stuffing,
though. The question is what.
I'll have to think on this a little.
I spent all day looking for new cheek stuffing. It has to be nice and
squishy, and soft to the touch. Would a down blanket do? A cushion? A
stuffed animal? Pastry? I took my scissors to every puffy and fluffy object
I could find and extracted its insides for closer consideration.
When I cut open the down blanket, minuscule feathers scattered
across the room. I couldn't stop sneezing because I accidentally inhaled
some of them. When I cut open a sweet, fluffy pastry, the gooey cream
got all over my scissors. Octa gazed at me with a strange mix of humor
and horror when he saw me sneezing and trying to lick the cream off.
After he washed my hair and changed me out of my feather-covered
clothes, I managed to stop sneezing.
But I never did find my cheek stuffing. What are baby's cheeks
made of...?
After trying all sorts of materials, I ended up using finely spliced
yarn for the cheek stuffing. This seemed to yield the best results. Very
carefully, I spliced white and red and pink yarn into soft, think strands
then stuffed them into my doll's cheeks. I was careful not to put in too
much so the cheeks would stay squishy, but I didn't want them to get too
spongy either. I poked a couple times with my finger to check my work.
It may have taken days upon days, but I've finally made a "cuter" doll
with cheeks just like a baby's. IT has the tummy bulge, and the plump
arms and legs. It's adorable beyond belief, and it's all mine.
But I still haven't made the "cutest" doll. What would that look like?
What would I stuff it with? What materials would I use? What makes
something the "cutest"? I'll have to give this a lot more thought.
Octa looks like he wants to have fun, but I'm too busy. Once I finish
making the "cutest" doll, I know I'll want to figure out what comes after
that. So, what doll should I make next? I want one that's cute as cute can
be and one I can play with forever and ever.
Heh heh... Heh heh heh heh...