Storytime with Esterka - The Lost Doll

When my granddaughter was little, she loved fairy tales. But not just any fairy tales. They had to meet precisely defined criteria. So I had to incorporate all the animals, girls, boys, and other requirements she listed into the story. It wasn't always easy to fulfill all the requirements, because the cute child deliberately chose the most complicated combinations. This resulted in somewhat bizarre stories, but we both loved them.

 

When my granddaughter grew up a little, she started telling stories herself. They were very long, complicated, with lots of characters with English-sounding names. And because I have a poor memory and don't know English, I was never able to remember them. After a few minutes of storytelling, I was completely lost. Instead of thoughtful responses, I could usually only manage meaningless and meaningless reactions such as "Wow!", "Oh, please." "But that's not possible," "Oh," "Really?"

 

They were endless. In more than one case, I had to cut them short with the humiliating admission that I was completely lost. But my granddaughter never minded. Within seconds, she was telling a new one. Time passed and we began to take turns telling stories. English names sometimes replaced the Czech ones, but I was just as comfortable with them. Senility is senility.

 

Fortunately, our children are very smart, so they came up with a brilliant idea. We limited the number of characters to a minimum and use our own names because, "So that Grandma can remember them easily." Yes. I have very kind and considerate grandchildren. Recently, my granddaughter and I agreed that we could try sending each other these stories via text message.

 

So, if you have a moment, sit back, listen, and don't mind the occasional illogicality. Children can be very mischievous, which makes the stories full of unexpected twists and complicated plots that are not always easy to untangle.

 

 

The Lost Doll

 

Grandma: Hanka got up early. Every time she got her school supplies ready, she sat down at her favorite spot by the window and watched the sun rise. She slowly sipped her warm tea, nibbled on bread, and watched the fog lazily roll across the field. However, her daily ritual was disrupted this time by a persistent feeling that something was different. That something completely disrupted her morning peace. Had she forgotten to do something? To take care of something? To bring something or take something away? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't figure it out.

 

 

Esterka: At that moment, her friend Petříček came and pulled Hanka's hair. Hanka cried out, "Ouch! Petřičku! What are you doing?!" "Come on, let's go. The cops are there!" replied Petřík. "So what?" asked Hanička. "Well, maybe we could take a picture with them," Petřík replied. Suddenly, it felt as if something had grabbed her hand. But Petr was standing much further away, so it couldn't have been him.

 

 

Grandma: This didn't make her feel any calmer. She looked around the kitchen in confusion. But apart from Petříček, there was no one else there. Hanka's throat tightened. She hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to confide her fears to Petřík. She decided not to do it for now. She had to think everything through calmly. Understand what was going on. She turned to Petřík and replied with a broad smile. "Okay. Wait a minute. I need to get dressed." At that moment, however, she realized that she had to go to school. Why wasn't Petřík getting ready? Another mysterious piece of the puzzle of the events of the day had just been revealed.

 

 

Esterka: "But we're going to school," Hanička objected. "But Hanička, it's the weekend!" Hanička thought for a moment. "Yesterday was Wednesday! So how come it's the weekend today?" She looked at the windows with white curtains. "Weren't they green yesterday? Or were they?" Petr said, "Come on, or they'll be gone in a minute." "Why are they there?" Hanička asked curiously. "Miss Lukášková stole 10,000." "But Lukášková is a baby. Her mom has a different name. And no one else with that name lives here." Confused thoughts raced through Hanička's head. She went outside to find Petr. But what Petříček had said about the cops were Lukášková's parents, and they were holding baby Lukášková in their arms. It was strange. Hanička didn't know what to think. Petr claimed that Lukášková was holding ten thousand, but she was holding a simple rattle.

 

 

Grandma: It was all too much for Hanička. How was it possible that Petříček could see different things? It didn't make sense. She wanted to get to the bottom of it, but she didn't know how. Maybe she was asleep and it was all just a dream, and when she woke up in the morning, everything would be as it should be. She told Petříček that she had to go home. That she wasn't feeling well. But in reality, she just wanted to escape the mysterious events that had been frightening her since morning. At home, she sat down at her favorite window. The sun was setting. The entire horizon was lit up by the golden color of the setting sun. Hanička couldn't take her eyes off the window. The view attracted her in an unreal way. She tried to remember everything that had preceded those nonsensical events.

 

 

Esterka: At that moment, Petříček returned and said, "No need to rush. The cops are gone. Too bad. It could have been a great photo." Hanička's gaze suddenly turned to the floor under the bed. There lay the doll she had thrown away long ago. But Petříček didn't see anything there. Everything seemed stranger and stranger to Hanička. She didn't know what to do. She almost started crying.

 

 

Grandma: "What's going on? How come Petříček doesn't think today is strange? How come he can't see the doll? And how is it possible that she can see it, even though logically she shouldn't be able to? "Maybe I'm hallucinating from the tea. That's...". The question "WHY?" literally materialized in her head. But the answer did not come. She stared helplessly at the strange color of the sky. It was so bright orange. It literally looked like it was on fire. "FIRE!!! That's it! Today I dreamed that I was in a forest and there was a fire burning in the distance. But... what happened then?" Hanička couldn't remember.

 

 

Esterka: Suddenly it dawned on her. "Yes! And then the fire went out and she went into the castle." That's what she and Petříček used to call her grandmother's house. "Yes! And she was holding the doll she had thrown away long ago." She also remembered that she had a diary hidden in the house. But then she suddenly woke up. She tried to remember. "There was something else between the diary and waking up. But what?! WHAT?!" It was bothering her. "Oh, dear," Hanička sighed. She grabbed the doll and set off. She had to get to the bottom of this.

 

 

Grandma: Grandma had been dead for a long time. The house was abandoned and time had taken its toll. Most of the windows were broken, and the cobwebs everywhere terrified Hanička. But somewhere inside, she felt that she had to go into the house if she wanted to find out what had happened. It was as if her grandmother was calling her. She knew it was very important, but fear seemed to pin her to the ground. She was unable to take a step. A voice in her head said, "Go. Don't be afraid. Everything is fine." Hanička gathered all her courage, placed her hand on the doorknob, and pressed it determinedly. The door creaked open. She peeked inside cautiously. There was mess everywhere, lots of cobwebs and dust. But as soon as she crossed the threshold, everything changed as if by magic. The room was tidy and bathed in sunlight. Her grandmother was standing by the stove, cooking something. When Hanička entered, her grandmother turned around and smiled broadly at her. "I'm so glad to see you. I've been waiting for you. Would you like some potato soup? I just finished cooking it."

 

 

Esterka: Hanička said a little startled, "No, thank you. I just need to find something." And she set off to look for her diary. She looked around the house, but couldn't find it anywhere. Her grandmother watched her for a moment with a smile. "What's the matter, Hani?" she asked. "Oh... I'm going to look upstairs." She quickly ran up the stairs. "Oh no. Where is that diary?" Suddenly, she saw it. A small book peeking out from under the pillow. "Yay. It's the one! My dream diary!" she exclaimed.

 

 

Grandma: When she returned to the kitchen, her grandmother asked her, "Did you bring your doll?" Hanička looked at her in surprise. "Yes." She didn't understand how her grandmother knew she had found it. "That's good," her grandmother replied. "That's very good." "I found it under my bed at home, but it was very strange because it wasn't there before. I lost it. I don't even know where." Suddenly, she realized she was talking to her grandmother. With her grandmother! "How is she alive?" A conspiratorial smile appeared on her grandmother's face. "You're wondering how this is possible, aren't you?"

 

"What's going on? Can my grandmother read my mind?" she thought. But her grandmother suddenly asked her a question. "Do you know when you lost your doll? And why did you lose it? Try to remember. Did you hurt someone? Think about it. It's really important." Hanička was surprised by these questions. "What does Grandma mean?" But after a moment, she slowly began to remember. It was a beautiful sunny day. Almost like today. She was playing with her neighbor Esterka with dolls. And then they had a big fight over something. "That's right," said Grandma. Hanička was no longer surprised that Grandma knew what was on her mind, and she let her memories flow freely. And then she remembered that she had found her diary a moment ago. "I can look at it!" Grandma looked at Hanička and said, "You can look at your diary, my dear, but I don't know if you'll find what you're looking for."

 

 

Esterka: She sat down in the chair and began to read. After a while, however, she realized that the diary was unfinished. The last story had been left unwritten. It was as if the writer had been interrupted. Hanička said, "You know, I think I remember now. I didn't lose that doll. Actually, I threw it away. Ester really liked it, and so did I, but because I was angry with her, I just wanted to upset her. So I threw it in the trash. But later, when Esterka left, it wasn't in the trash anymore. I guess the garbage men took it away. I was sad about it. What should I do, Grandma? Please help me."

 

 

Grandma: "You mustn't be so impatient," said Grandma. "You'll figure it out." Hanička nodded hesitantly. "Come on, let's have some potato soup together. You must be hungry." This time, Hanička didn't refuse. She sat down at the table and Grandma placed a full plate in front of her. As soon as she finished eating, it suddenly grew dark. She was overcome by a great tiredness. Grandma cleared the table. "The morning is wiser than the evening. Come on. I'll make your bed in your room." Hanička didn't even know how she got to bed. She just lay down and fell asleep immediately. She dreamed about Esterka, about the doll, and about the completely unnecessary argument. In her dream, she realized how much she had hurt Esterka and how much she missed her. In fact, they hadn't seen each other since then. "I should go see her and apologize. It was selfish of me. And maybe I know why that doll reappeared under my bed..."

 

At that moment, she woke up. She was lying in her bed at home. The little house was nowhere to be seen, nor was her grandmother, only the doll was lying in Hanka's arms. She quickly got dressed. She already knew what to do. She grabbed the doll and ran down the stairs. "Where are you going?" asked her mother, who was just making breakfast. "I have to hurry to see Esterka!" Her mother smiled. "What for all of a sudden?" she said in surprise. "It's a very complicated story, Mom. I'll tell you all about it later, but now I really have to go." "Well, if you have to, you have to. But don't forget your breakfast." But Hanka could hardly hear her anymore. She ran as fast as she could, holding the doll tightly in her arms. She had to take it to Esterka! And she also had to thank her grandmother for her help. At that moment, the sun came up on the horizon. It seemed to Hanička as if her grandmother was saying, "You're welcome. You're welcome. You figured it out all by yourself."

 

 

Esterka: Hanička ran as fast as she could. When she rang the doorbell, Esterka's mother opened the door. "What's up, Hani? You haven't been here in a while."

"Oh, I just needed to talk to Esterka. Is she home?" "Yes. Come in." "Ester, you have a visitor!" Esterka looked at Hanička without interest. "Hi. What do you want? Look. If you don't want to play foosball, you can leave. Yeah. And I don't play with dolls anymore.

 

Thanks." She grabbed her doll and threw it on a chair. Hanička stood there confused. She didn't know what to think about Ester's change in behavior. She hadn't expected this. She slowly turned to leave. Just then, Esterka grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the backyard, where there was a soccer field. "Let's play soccer. The boys will be here soon." "Oh," thought Hanička. "So Ester is playing soccer now and hanging out with boys. Hmmm..." "This is Petr and this is Bert," Esterka introduced her friends.

 

"Wait a minute! What is Petr doing here? In all the time we've been friends, he's never mentioned Esterka. How is that possible? And Bertík? He's his best friend? That doesn't make sense," thought Hanička. Meanwhile, the boys started kicking the ball around. Petříček called out to her, "Hani! Come on, let's play." Hanička shook her head. "But why?" asked Ester. "I don't like soccer." Hanička looked around and was relieved to see that everything was back to normal. No strange things. "Yay!" she said to herself. But she also realized that she didn't get along with Ester as well anymore and that she should probably leave. She was just annoying everyone anyway... She got up to leave. But Ester stopped her. "Where are you going, Hanička?" "Home," said Hanička sadly. "I feel like we don't understand each other anymore." With her head down, she slowly made her way to the gate. "Hmm... I think so too," replied Esterka.