27/04/2026
“My dear old doll! I was such a shy little thing that I seldom dared to open my lips, and never dared to open my heart, to anybody else. It almost makes me cry to think what a relief it used to be to me, when I came home from school of a day, to run upstairs to my room, and say, ‘O you dear faithful Dolly, I knew you would be expecting me!’ and then to sit down on the floor…and tell her all that I had noticed since we parted.” Charles Dickens, Bleak House
Dolly had a play date today. Her very best friend came over for tea and brought her blanket. They had such fun making a mess, pretending to launder their blankets and then hang them on the line to dry, while they ate oranges and dates, and, of course, chocolate. They told secrets. They shared their dreams. They cast their blankets on a patch of soft, green grass, like an expert fisherman would at sea. Except here, they lay down and made animal shapes out of clouds. They imagined stories of villains and dragons and pirates, and a princess captured by the enemy, the knight unable to reach her, doomed if Dolly and her best friend did not quickly execute a plan to rescue her. They covered themselves with their blankets and charged the castle gates, scaring the men-at-arms, who dropped their weapons and ran. Dolly thought this was so funny, these big, strong men running away, afraid of an enchantment. They thought they were being invaded by fairies and forest elves, but it was just Dolly and her friend hiding underneath their blankets.
Satisfied with their defeat of the enemy, they moved their tea party to the tree house, where they declared themselves heroines.
Their fun day was over all too soon.
Grandmamma helped put the blankets back into their blanket sacks, and Dolly said goodbye to her best friend. See you next time, she waved from the door of her forest house.
