She dragged the ragdoll over to an area underneath a little bush that was almost like a little cave. It successfully hid them and gave them shelter, without them having to dodge branches all the time to walk around. She set the rag doll and her sock down and exhaled in relief after getting that heavy weight off her little shoulders. The doll took a small light out of her sock and turned it on. Fortunately, the rain from the past month had somehow not destroyed it.
The light’s rays stretched out like arms, illuminating the leaves and twigs of the bush surrounding them. The little doll gathered a couple of leaves and pieces of grass together. She put them in two little piles, a bed for her and a bed for the ragdoll. She picked up the still limp ragdoll and dragged it over to a pile, laying the ragdoll down softly so as not to injure it.
“Here,” the doll said, reaching deep into her sock and pulling out a little piece of cloth. “A blanket to keep you warm.”
The rag doll did not respond, but instead turned over to its side. Clearly it was still mad at her for saving it. The doll sighed in annoyance and took the piece of cloth over to the little ragdoll’s bed and draped it over its body. She then proceeded to tuck the ragdoll in, making sure that no area of its body was left out of the piece of cloth to keep it warm. She pulled out her own piece of blue cotton and flopped down into her leaf bed. Although for now, the ragdoll seemed as if it didn’t like her, the doll at least had an acquaintance. For once, in 31 days, the doll did not rest alone.
The doll awoke as the day’s early light spread its tendrils through gaps in the bush. For an instant, she was confused, as to why she was sleeping in a bed that was surrounded by branches rather than the comforting walls of the green house. She shook her head, clearing the morning fogginess out. Of course she wasn’t at Maggie’s house. Maggie had thrown her away. She glanced over at the ragdoll’s little bed only to double over in shock. The ragdoll was gone. Its bed was just a pile of rustled leaves now. The doll mulled over what had happened last night and how that corresponded with the image in front of her. She found herself facing two options. The first was that she was so lonely that her mind came up with a nonexistent person to keep her company and send her the message that her life was insignificant and that she should just die. She refused to believe this option just yet. The only other possibility was that the ragdoll had left, taking its piece of cloth with it. So, the doll got up and set out to find her new companion.The doll, knowing she probably should move faster if she was to find the ragdoll, left as soon as possible. She did not bother to pack her sock, thinking that the sooner she left, the closer the ragdoll would be. She looked back at the ragdoll’s bed, looking for some clue it left that would signal its whereabouts. She looked closely at the pile of leaves, and saw a sliver of something. It was a tiny black bit of string, a small remnant of the ragdoll’s torn figure. At least, now the doll knew option one was out of the question, and that the ragdoll had been there last night.
The doll searched around for a slight disruption in the grass, any place the ragdoll could’ve stepped at all. Although it proved difficult and mind-provoking work, the doll did not mind. It reminded her of the adventures she would go on with Maggie, and the mysteries they would solve. She remembered playing detective with Maggie, looking for made up clues, and how much fun that had been. Although thinking of these things made the doll feel deserted and pained, it was nice to know that her life may hold some adventures yet.
About two or three minutes later, she found a footstep marking in the grass outside the entrance of the little bush cave that showed what direction the ragdoll had headed in. She followed the trail closely, hoping that no human saw her little silhouette in the grass and freaked out. Humans tended to do that, she heard from another toy in Maggie’s room, when objects that they though were inanimate could move and talk and think. Eventually the doll found more than just footsteps in the dirt. A small bit of the cloth she had given the ragdoll the previous night had snagged on a little pebble in the ground. The ragdoll was close.
YOU ARE READING
Our Ragdoll Hearts
Short StoryThe wooden doll stands out in the cold rain, on a stormy night. She stares back longingly at a house she once used to live in, but alas no longer does. The doll began to walk and walk, searching for something, perhaps anything worth living for. And...
