Pretty Dolls

Writers: Devin, Vix
Date Posted: 25th September 2007

Characters: Iadell, Fellia, Dahlbeni
Description: Dahlbeni asks Fellia to play, and the girls have a conversation under Iadell's watchful eye.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 5, day 6 of Turn 4

"Can Fellia play?" The little girl looked up at the old woman plaintively.

Iadell smiled down at her. "Of course she can." She turned back into the small room she shared with her young adopted daughter. "Fellia, there's someone here to see you."

Fellia joined Iadell in the doorway, looking a little shy. "Hi," she said to the other girl.

Dahlbeni grinned. "Hi! Remember me? We played with my dolls in the garden yesterday."

Fellia's eyes brightened. "Oh, yeah. Your dolls are pretty!"

"Of course." The other girl shrugged it off as her due. "Papa buys them for me. But my sister Vibenia doesn't want to play and my brother isn't allowed to play with dolls."

"Why can't he play with dolls?" Fellia asked. In her experience, most boys didn't _want_ to play with dolls.

"My father would get angry." Dahlbeni uttered this as if it should be common knowledge.

Iadell had stepped back a bit from the door and kept quiet. If she needed to step in to explain something, she would, but she wanted to give Dahlbeni a chance first.

Fellia was frowning. "But _why_?"

"Because he's a boy!" The little girl's voice held a note of exasperation, though her words were an echo of what she had been told. "It's women's work to take care of babies and boys don't need to pretend otherwise."

"Oh," Fellia said thoughtfully. "But my daddy took care of me sometimes. He helped feed me and he played runner with me, and he kissed me when I fell down." Her voice got soft. "I miss my daddy."

"My Papa doesn't do any of that." Dahlbeni frowned as she said it. "Ilassa does those things. Papa just tells us what we need to know about 'sponsiblity and priv'ledge."

"Doesn't your daddy love you?" Fellia asked.

The other girl paused, uncertain to say. "Well. . . yes. . . He's my father and fathers love their children, don't they?"

Fellia nodded. "Uh huh."

Iadell stepped forward and laid a hand on Fellia's shoulder. "Why don't you go play for a while? I can grab my knitting, and we can all go outside." The girls' discussion had gotten too serious for her liking.

Dahlbeni was more confident now. "Yeah, we need to play somewhere where Ilassa can find me. If she has to look for me, she raises a fuss and _everyone_ gets upset."

"Just a moment, ladies," Iadell said as she went farther into the room. She took her basket of knitting and returned to the doorway. "All right, let's go." She took Fellia's hand and stepped into the hall.

As they walked, Dahlbeni looked up at the woman. "You're awfully old. You're not her mother, are you?"

Iadell smiled down at her. "No, dear. I adopted her."

"My mom died in the earthquake," Fellia said, a little sadly. "But Iadell gets to be my grandmama now, and we take care of each other."

"My mama and my grandmamma died," the other girl told her, though there was no emotion in the statement. "Someday Papa will get a new mama for us. I hope she's nice."

"Me, too. It wouldn't be good to have a mean mama," Fellia said.

"Ilassa is alright," continued Dahlbeni, "but if she's too nice, Papa says she's being 'soft' and that she's not watching us well enough. Like now - if he sees her and I'm not right beside her, she'll be in trouble."

"She should come with us, then," Fellia suggested.

"That might be a good idea," Iadell told the girls. "I wouldn't want anyone to get into trouble."

"No!" Dahlbeni pouted as she spoke. "Then my little brother would want to play, too. I'm tired of having him around all of the time."

"All right, dear," Iadell said. "Did you ask her if you could come play with Fellia?"

"Well. . . I told her that I was going to play dollies with the other girls. She _might_ have thought that I was just going to the common room."

"We should probably tell her you're going outside. I'm sure she won't mind if you're with me and Fellia." Iadell smiled.

Dahlbeni sighed loudly. "I guess so."

"Lead the way, dear," Iadell said gently.

Again the little girl sighed and led the way down the corridor. However, after a few steps, she turned, looking up at the woman as she walked backwards. "But my brother is _not_ playing with us."

She laughed. "All right."

Startled, Dahlbeni looked up at the woman. "Do you mean that? We really don't have to let him play? Ilassa always tells me that I must be nice to my little brother."

"You should be nice to him, but that doesn't mean you should have to play with him all the time." Iadell winked.

The girl looked up at her imploringly. "Can you tell Ilassa that?"

Iadell thought for a moment, then nodded. "And maybe you could be extra nice to him later?"

This was not quite what Dahlbeni had in mind, but she gave it serious consideration. "I guess I can do that - if I don't have to play with him all day."

"Maybe he can play with us next time," Fellia spoke up. "He can play with dolls where no one can see, so he can grow up to be a good daddy."

The other girl replied to Fellia in a loud whisper. "He does that sometimes - when no one is watching and I don't have anyone else to play with me."

"He doesn't break them, does he?" Fellia asked.

"Not unless he gets mad."

Fellia frowned. "Hmpf. Well, he shouldn't break them at all. He can't break his _baby_ when he gets mad!"

Dahlbeni rolled her eyes. "If it were a real baby, he'd give it back to its nanny or its mother. It's not a boy's job to take care of babies."

"He should still learn to be nice to them."

"Yes, but if he's mad, why would he be visiting the baby?" asked Dahl. "My Papa is grumpy sometimes but when he's mad he yells at other people."

Fellia thought a moment. "Well, at least he doesn't yell at you."

"No," agreed the girl, though she privately wondered if it wouldn't be better if her father did yell at her instead of stalking away. "I guess that he does a pretty good job."

"That's good." After a short pause, Fellia went on. "We should play Gather and put your dolls in their best clothes."

Dahlbeni nodded. "We can even play dress-up 'cause my dolls' Gather dresses match mine."

"Do I get to wear one?" Fellia asked with wide eyes.

"'Course you do. I've already worn them so it's alright to play with them."

The girl's face lit with a wide grin. "I get to wear a _Gather_ dress!" She tugged excitedly at Iadell's clothing as the woman smiled down at her.

"Probably not for very long," Dahlbeni warned her. "They aren't very comfortable, though they're fun for twirling and dancing."

Fellia did a little spin. "If I can find some nice cloth, maybe I'll make you a Gather dress of your very own," Iadell told her.

"Really?!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.

Iadell smiled. "Yes, really." Although it wouldn't be much compared to the clothes of Fellia's new friend.

"Everyone needs one or two," shrugged Dahlbeni. "Now let's go play."

Last updated on the October 1st 2007

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Pretty Dolls