Kira's Story: Post 3 (Wet n' Wild Kira)

We've traveled through my past and have reached the present, but there is still one more story to be told. You know now what happened to my daughter Courtney, and how painful the loss was. What I didn't realize at the time was just how attached Treesa was to Courtney. Several months ago I was going about my daily life when by chance I came across a familiar face. Years came flooding back to me when I saw the brunette hair and the green eyes I remembered so well. Even the outfit was the same. "Courtney?" I asked, not believing what I was seeing.

"It's Cricket now," the doll said. "Treesa changed it when she got me home from the thrift store. I'm not sure why." This doll, Cricket, shifted the baby girl doll in her arms that I hadn't even realized she was holding and asked, "How did you know I was a Courtney doll?" I barely heard her question. I was staring at the baby she held, a baby who looked so much like my baby girl that they could have been twins. "The baby..." I said, my words trailing off. "She's not mine," Cricket said. "I mean, she's not MINE mine, but she's sort of mine. "I'm a Babysitter Courtney doll, and she came in the box with me, so she's my responsibility."

"I see," I said quietly after a moment or two. For just one second I'd thought that somehow, by some miracle, this doll was the daughter I had lost. "Excuse me," I said, "I need to find Treesa." I hurried off, sorrow and anger battling inside of me. When I found Treesa she was sitting at her computer. She had learned that dolls are alive some time ago, so I didn't hesitate to speak to her. "How could you?" I asked. "How could you bring another Babysitter Courtney doll into this house? No one will ever replace my daughter, no one!"

Treesa seemed startled when she heard my voice. She turned around in her chair, looking to see where the voice was coming from. When she saw me she said, "Kira, you scared me!" I wasn't in the mood to be pleasant. "You haven't answered my question," I said. Treesa made a calming gesture with her hands and said, "Kira, calm down! Let me explain!" I doubted that I would agree with whatever reasons Treesa had for buying a replacement Courtney doll. But I waited in frosty silence for her to go on.

"I didn't buy Cricket so she could be your new daughter," Treesa said. "I bought her for ME. I loved Courtney too! I loved playing with her when I was a kid! I was heartbroken when she broke! You know I didn't have many friends growing up. My dolls were my friends, even before I knew you guys were alive!" Treesa stopped for a moment, remembering the past. Then she said, "When I saw Cricket at the store, it was like getting part of my childhood back. I guess I thought if I had Cricket, it would be a little like having Courtney back. I didn't realize 'til after I bought her how much it would hurt you. That's why I didn't tell you Cricket was here. I was hoping you wouldn't find out 'til I thought of a way to tell you that wouldn't upset you."

At the time I couldn't understand why Treesa didn't realize how much having Cricket in the house would affect my family. I still don't know if I will ever really understand how Treesa thinks and feels. But then Treesa is human, and I'm a doll. I'm sure there are things about us that Treesa doesn't understand either. Some other dolls would argue that Treesa's meddling is proof enough of that.

I made sure the rest of my family knew Cricket was here. I didn't want any of them to go through the same confusion and disappointment that I had. We adult dolls felt that Cricket would be happier if no one told her about Courtney. We worried how Cricket would feel, if she learned she was a replacement doll. But our little girl Heather didn't understand, and one day the secret slipped out. We've all tried to reassure Cricket that we don't see her as a replacement. We see her as a new friend, someone unique and special. From time to time, when Cricket needed the rest, I've even helped look after Katydid, or Katie for short, the baby girl doll who came here with Cricket.

Cricket and Katie

I wrote in the beginning that my life has been full, and I think from the combined length of these three posts that you would agree. If you've accompanied me this far, I thank you for both your time and your patience.

Until We Meet Again, Kira







Kira's Story: Post 2 (Wet n' Wild Kira)

Before Michael and I were even officially married, Treesa was making our daughter Heather part of the story. Treesa never did have a play wedding with me and Michael. Since that first playtime, she'd imagined us as being married already. When Michael and I decided to marry it was a dolls only event, and our daughter Heather stood with us for the ceremony. So did our other daughters, Courtney and Baby. I'll share more about them with you later.

Heather was given to Treesa for Christmas the year before she got Michael and me. Heather is a Heart Family Baby Cousins doll with dark hair, and it was most likely the dark hair that gave Treesa the idea to make her mine and Michael's daughter. My own hair is black, and Michael's is a two tone brown color. A year later, Treesa was given a Babysitter Courtney doll for Christmas. Courtney was boxed with a little baby girl doll, dressed in a pink outfit. For years Treesa stubbornly insisted on thinking of the baby as a boy. Treesa didn't have any little boy dolls at the time, so my guess would be she just wanted more variety. She used to think of her baby mertwin dolls as boys as well, in spite of their purple tails and shiny bonnets.

Treesa could never decide on a name for the baby, so she just became Baby. Like Heather, Courtney had dark hair. Baby's hair is a much lighter color, but it still looked brown to Treesa. So Treesa decided to make Courtney and Baby part of our family. Being the parents of three girls was overwhelming at times, but our family wasn't done growing yet. Two or three years later, my sister Kiki joined us.

Kiki

Kiki is a Glitter Beach Kira doll. From what Kiki told us, Treesa saw her on the shelf at a discount toy store and begged her parents to buy her. Treesa's parents bought Kiki on the condition that she would be put aside and Treesa would not get her until Christmas. It took some time for the rest of us to adjust to having Kiki in the family. She has one personality trait in particular that took some getting used to. To put it bluntly, Kiki is a bit of a flirt. She never means any harm by it. I know now my sister would never deliberately break up a happy couple. But at the time I did feel a little threatened by her. Here was a new doll, with all her fresh out of the box beauty, complementing my husband in a way that seemed more than friendly. This in spite of the fact that she knew Michael and I were a married couple. And I was supposed to welcome this doll into my family? I knew that Michael would never abandon me, but I still dreaded having Kiki so close by. I didn't know what she was capable of. I worried what she might do to try and separate my husband and me.

Even Treesa noticed the flirty way that Kiki would sometimes look at Michael, and this was before we started speaking to Treesa! It did take some time for Treesa to notice the signs, but once she noticed she took action. Because Treesa didn't realize Kiki's flirting was harmless, she tried to solve things by throwing another doll into the story. Her idea was to hand pick a doll to be Kiki's boyfriend. The doll she chose was an Ocean Friends Ken that she named Jacques, after Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques

This could very easily have been a disaster. But Kiki and Jacques were both very good humored about Treesa's misguided meddling, and they ended up becoming close friends. I don't think their relationship was ever romantic. Jacques is a little like Kiki herself, in that they both enjoy the company of other dolls but neither one of them is in a hurry to settle down. Jacques, like Kiki, is also a complementer. I've received some of his complements over the years, and I will say that he knows how to flatter a doll. But I would never throw away the life I have with Michael, especially not for someone like Jacques, who flatters every female doll who comes his way.

Now the time has come to discuss something that is still very painful for me. After Treesa got Kiki but before Jacques joined our group, Michael and I lost our daughter Courtney. She was thrown away after her neck was broken. It was a hard blow for our family, but what made it all the more difficult to bear was the fact that at the time Treesa had sort of lost interest in dolls. She kept several collector dolls on the shelf above her bed, but her playline dolls were scattered around the playroom in her family's basement. We were still played with by Treesa's younger sisters. But in spite of that it was a time of uncertainty for all of us. Not only was our future unsure, it was also hard for us to get used to the idea that Treesa was growing up. She'd been such a steady presence in our lives.

Then the day came when Treesa decided to 'rescue' her playline dolls from the basement and put us aside for her future children. She even bought a clear plastic storage box to keep us in. One by one we were brought up from the basement and cleaned. But Treesa made the mistake of sealing us in the box before we were completely dry. Moisture in the closed space led to mold growth, and we had to be treated with bleach. But at least we survived. Maxie and Jazzie were left behind in the basement playroom, after Treesa told her sisters she didn't want them any more. A few weeks later Treesa found Maxie on the playroom floor with her neck severely broken. Treesa was horrified. She yelled at her sisters, telling them that just because she'd said she didn't want the dolls anymore didn't mean that her sisters could break them. Then Treesa brought Jazzie upstairs to join us.

I'm not sure how or why Treesa's interest in dolls returned. Treesa thinks it happened when the baby sister Kelly dolls reached the stores. She may be right, in part. But looking back now, with hindsight, I think it was just a matter of time. I've known Treesa long enough now to know that she has never completely lost interest in anything. Things sometimes get pushed aside by new interests, but she always comes back to them in time.

(to be continued...)







Kira's Story: Post 1 (Wet n' Wild Kira)

If I had to sum up my life in one word, that word would be 'full'. Over the years I've faced many joys and many sorrows. I've been a wife, a mother, a sister. I've lost friends and loved ones, including my eldest daughter. I've watched Treesa grow into the person she's become.

To share my story with you I will need to go back, back to those first playtimes with me and my husband Michael.

Michael

Michael is a Dance Club Ken, named after Irish dancer Michael Flatley. What can I say, it was the 1990s.

How children play can often be changed by the world around them. Their imaginations can be shaped by the books they read, the movies they see, and the television shows they watch. In mine and Michael's case, I think it would be fair to say that Treesa watched the movie musical South Pacific with her mother one too many times. During playtimes Michael would be cast as a soldier, and me the native lady he loved. But South Pacific couldn't have been Treesa's only source of ideas, since every playtime had us taking shelter in an imaginary cave from an imaginary blizzard. In Treesa's imagination Michael would sometimes be sick or hurt, and I would have to care for him.

There was another doll who sometimes joined us at playtime, in the role of a French woman helping us hide from enemy troops. She didn't have a name. At least, none of the names Treesa gave her ever lasted long. Treesa could never seem to remember what she'd named this doll. So every playtime, Treesa called her by a different name. I think if Treesa had been more attached to this doll, it would have been easier for Treesa to remember the doll's name. But Treesa was never that close to her. She was a dollar store doll that Treesa's cousin K. had conned Treesa into buying off of her. From what I understand, Treesa's mother was upset about it. But Treesa's aunt would not make her daughter, Treesa's cousin, return the money. I think she wanted it to be a learning experience for Treesa.

For a while Treesa tried to make the best of things. But the dollar store doll seemed to know her days were numbered. She never said anything about it, but a cloud of melancholy seemed to hang over her. I hated to see her like that, dealing with such a heavy burden alone. I felt that if her time here was going to be cut short, then someone should be helping her make the most of the time she had. So I tried to reach out to her, offering her my friendship. Though she never was able to share her own problems with me, she was wise enough to notice that I was troubled by some problems of my own, and was kind hearted enough to want to help me.

The source of my troubles was Michael, not Michael himself but the way that Treesa had thrown us together. The level of caring we were forced to act out during playtime made me feel uncomfortable around Michael. I never knew how I should speak to him when playtime was over. I felt it would be easier for us to work together if we became friends. But I also worried that if I was too friendly, Michael would misunderstand. I didn't want to risk misleading him that way, making him think I loved him, only to have him find out later that I didn't.

The dollar store doll listened carefully to everything I said before offering any advice. When she did speak, she said I should set aside some time and really talk things over with Michael. I should let him know how uncomfortable I felt, and that I wanted to get to know him better so it would be easier to work with him. She said as long as I was clear about my intentions from the beginning there shouldn't be a problem, that if Michael was the kind of doll I would want to be friends with he would understand.

She was right. Michael seemed to understand my feelings perfectly, once I found the courage to talk to him. He said he knew what I meant about feeling uncomfortable, that he too felt awkward both during playtime and whenever he saw me afterwards. When I learned that Michael shared many of the same feelings I had, it was much easier to talk to him. We were able to share our thoughts openly, and we were even able to laugh about the unlikely storyline that Treesa had created for us.

I can't say exactly when my feelings for Michael crossed over from friendship into love. All I can say looking back is that I'm glad they did. Michael is everything I ever could've wanted in a husband and more. One regret I have is that the dollar store doll never got the chance to see how my relationship with Michael worked out. She was already gone when Michael and I married. I don't know if she was given away, or broken, or made the choice to leave herself. Treesa doesn't seem to remember what happened to her.

(to be continued...)





Happy Easter

Happy Easter

to all who are celebrating.

Signed, Treesa





It's Easy Being Green On St. Patrick's Day

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Ryan and Kermit.

Signed, Treesa



Ken's Story (Sun Gold Malibu Ken)

 

I managed to talk Suzanne into letting me read her post a while back. She asked me not to read it when she first posted it. I think she was a little embarrassed of some of the things she wrote. I could have gone ahead and read it anyway I guess. But a good marriage is built on trust. So I waited until I had Suzanne's permission. When I joked that the post was on the internet where total strangers could read it but she wouldn't let her own husband read it Suzanne gave in.

 

Even though we've been married for almost 30 years some of the stuff Suzanne wrote still surprised me a little. Suzanne's told me before that she fell in love with me the first time I smiled at her. But I don't think I really believed it until I read her post. The way she describes how we first met...she couldn't write stuff like that unless she actually FELT it!

 

But I guess I shouldn't be THAT surprised. I knew the moment I saw Suzanne that I wanted to get to know her better. She was the most beautiful doll I'd ever seen! She still is, even though we've both gotten just a little worse for wear over the years. Humans get grey hair and wrinkles when they get older. So I guess it's only fair we're showing our age. I won't go into details here. I don't want to embarrass my wife. Suzanne gets a little self-conscious sometimes about her so called 'condition issues'. If you ask me there's nothing seriously wrong with her. But even if there was I'd still love her. After all, our daughter Skipper has much more serious 'condition issues' and we wouldn't trade her for anything.

 

I know a lot of humans don't see getting married and raising kids as a dream life. But I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than showing the three dolls I care about the most just how much I love them. Every day I try to let my wife and daughters know just how special they are to me. I try to be there for them no matter what. And when the going gets tough their love and support help keep me going.

 

People say there's strength in numbers and I think they're right. I think me and Suzanne and Skipper and Taffy are stronger together as a family than we would be by ourselves. I think it's because we've learned to work together. We try to do what's best for all of us instead of just what we want for ourselves.

 

Well, I have to go. Because of Skipper's 'condition issues' Treesa got it into her head that Skipper needs a service dog. So me and Suzanne promised to help Skipper and Treesa sort through Treesa's sixth-scale animals to see if we can find a dog that would be a good match for Skipper.

 

Bye, Ken



Kyrio's Story (rebodied Mattel Fairytopia doll)

 

When I first meet somebody, they always ask about my name. A lot of dolls in Treesa's collection have...unusual names, but my name seems to stand out. I guess it's because it's not really a word. Treesa made it up.

 

When Dandelion suggested I post something, the first thing I thought of was how I got my name. So that's the story I'm going to tell. I first met Treesa at the thrift store, but this story doesn't really start until after my body swap, when Treesa started pulling out clothes for me. I know some of the other dolls already said this, but getting redressed by Treesa takes a long time. Some of the other dolls joke that she spends more time picking out clothes for her dolls than she does picking out clothes for herself.

 

 

When Treesa finally found an outfit she was happy with, for some reason, it reminded her of a song she'd heard. Treesa loves music, and she loves to sing. Any doll who has been here longer than a week will tell you that. But I'd spent most of the time since I'd gotten here recovering from my body swap. I hadn't spent much time with the other dolls or Treesa. So I didn't know that sometimes when Treesa's alone she randomly starts singing.

 

"Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand," Treesa sang. I was still a little groggy from my body swap, and I'd never heard of Duran Duran. So I thought Treesa had decided to name me Rio. She was actually considering it, but that's not important right now. The important thing is, for some reason, I absolutely hated the name. I can't really explain why. Maybe the grogginess was making me cranky. Usually it takes something pretty big to upset me that much. I don't like to rock the boat, or draw attention to myself. You also have to remember, this all happened before we started talking to Treesa. So I couldn't have just told her how I felt.

 

Now the way Treesa tells the story, she had just about made up her mind to call me Rio when another song popped into her head. The song was Kyrie, by the group Mr. Mister. Treesa says it was like she somehow knew I didn't like the name Rio. But she thought it might be sacrilegious to name me Kyrie because the full phrase, Kyrie Eleison, translates to Lord Have Mercy. So Treesa just combined Kyrie and Rio and got Kyrio. (The way Treesa pronounces it, it rhymes with cheerio.)

 

And that's how I got my name, the mash-up of two 80s pop songs. I've learned a little more about 80s music since then, mostly because I was curious. I was surprised how many 80s song titles have people's names in them: My Sharona, Come On Eileen, Jessie's Girl, Mickey, Billie Jean. I don't think I'd want to be named after the people in those songs though. So I guess I'm sort of glad Treesa went with Kyrio instead.

 

Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Kyrio