Escape from life

Chapter 5: The Doll

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

William frowned. "Kiddo wants a doll. It sounds a little odd to me but she told me she wanted one."

Karen frowned too. "A DOLL?!" she said with a little attitude. "She doesn't need a doll!" At that moment the doorbell rang.

William opened the door to see a mailman standing there. The mailman gave him the mail and walked back to his truck.

William was leafing through them until Karen snatched it from his hand.

She scanned through the mail. "Bill, bill, bill. Ooo paycheck. Bill, bill..... And an advertisement to Miss Loiga's magic shop."

The ad said she was selling Antics, magic spell, potion books, many different kinds of dolls, and lots more stuff.

Karen looked closely. "Maybe we could get her a doll there but we don't have a coupon."

William rolled his eyes. "What do we need a coupon for? Let's just go and get her the doll."

Karen frowned. "What is the point of her even getting a doll?? What does she need it for?"

William sighed. "Honey you know that she gets really lonely around the house since I'm always working and you never spend time with her. She just needs something to take care of. Let's just drive by and check it out."

Karen clapped and exclaimed "Oooo! Great! Now we can go shopping for shoes!!"

William sighed. "You already have a whole ROOM full of different shoes. And didn't you and Kiddo already go shopping?"

But by the time he finished his sentences, Karen was already in the car.

********

When they got there, it was raining and storming. The store was just a small building with big purple lights flickering. "Miss Loiga's magic shop."

"What a dump!" Karen shrieked. "It's so creepy here. I'm not going on there! My heels will get crusty on the bottom!"

William took one long look at her and simply said "Then take them off."

Karen looked back at him. "Are you crazy! Then my feet will get dirty!"

Then William rolled his eyes again and said "No one likes a drama queen. And who wears heels on a stormy day anyways?"

"Well you married me!" Karen said defensively. So William just picked her up and carried her into the shop.

Once they got inside, they looked around for Miss Loiga. Ancient stuff was everywhere on shelves. There was a monkey's head with red ruby eyes and a bunch of other weird stuff. They looked around, wide eyed with terror.

Then suddenly a crippled, wrinkly old lady stumbled over to them. "I am Miss Loiga and how may I-"

She was interrupted by Karen who was ranting "Loiga?! Who names their child Loiga? That's a terrible name and why do you look all wrinkly? I gotta give you some of my cream!"

Miss Loiga looked at Karen. "I'm old. That's what happens to old people."

William interrupted before Karen could say anything. "Anyways, we are here to ask you if you sell any types of dolls? My daughter really wants one."

Miss Loiga looked happy. "Yes we have all types of dolls! Follow me."

She stumbled to a corner and flicked on a light on the other side of the room. There were a lot of dolls but the one that caught his eye was a beautiful blond haired doll with blue eyes, long eyelashes, and shell pink lips. The clear glass box she was in had scratches on it. She had her little hand on the case.

"What about this one?" William asked. Miss Loiga turned to stare. She looked frightened. "Oh you don't want that one. She is not really for sale. There is... something wrong with her. I am very serious."

William looked exasperated and sighed. "Oh come on! If my daughter wants a doll then she is gonna get one! I love her more than anything! I'm willing to risk anything with this doll, as long as my daughter is happy."

Miss Loiga rolled her eyes. "Fine you can have her. But don't say I didn't warn you."

She stumbled to the shelf and pulled the box off of the shelf and handed it to William. Karen looked over at it and said "Okay good lets go now." She sounded bored.

William looked at the doll and smiled. "How much?" He asked Miss Loiga. "$5000 dollars." she replied.

William dropped his wallet. Miss Loiga shrugged. "What? I got bills to pay! Plus there are no refunds."

Karen snatched his wallet and handed Miss Loiga a giant wad of money.

When they walked out, Karen giggled and jumped. "Now we can go shopping!!!" Then she dragged him into the car to Macy's.

********

20 pairs of shoes later, they went back home.

When they got there, Rita was on the couch reading a book. William smiled at her. "Hey kiddo! We got something for you." He set the box on her lap. She looked down expecting a pair of heels from her mom or something.

Rita examined it carefully before slowly opening it and when she tore off a little piece, she saw the dolls face. She eagerly ripped open the rest.

"This is for ME!?! I can't believe it!!! Thank you!!!" She smiled a wide grin. William smiled while Karen rolled her eyes.

"Of course! I know that you get a little lonely around the house so i got you this." He suddenly remembered what Miss Loiga said.

"Oh and kiddo, the store owner said that her name was Emily."

Rita smiled. That made her even more real.

She tried to open the box but it had a huge padlock on the side. "Daddy, it won't open. It's locked."

He struggled to open it then gave up. Rita frowned a little and that made William worry. He didn't want to let her down, so he got his box of tools and popped the lock off.

When he opened the box, it stunk really bad. "Ew!" Rita shrieked. William just stared at it for a minute. He said "No problem" and tossed it in a bucket of lemon scented cleaning liquid that their maid must have left out while cleaning. But when he threw it in the bucket, Rita swore she heard a low whimper.

A few hours later, they took the doll out and she looked brand new but a little paler like she got faded by the liquid. The doll had a sad look on its face.

Rita frowned. "You must be lonely. I'm lonely too but guess what, we can be best friends forever!"

She saw a small smirk on the dolls face.