News On Nellie

Hi everyone! It's Elyssa here. We're sorry we haven't posted for so long again, but Nikki got mumps, and then there were a lot of other things to take care of too. Kit's cousin's arrival has been rescheduled, so she won't be here for a while yet, but we have been told what's happening with Nellie.

A few days after the accident, Lindsay and I went to visit her in the hospital. Samantha came with us - she visits Nellie every chance she gets. Nellie looked like she was in a lot of pain, and she was wearing casts on her arm and leg, and a splint on her finger.
"I brought Lydia for you," Samantha said, trying to smile. "You can keep her until you're out of here." I thought Samantha was doing a very good job of staying brave. She was more upset then any of us about Nellie being hurt, and we all kind of knew that she thought it was her fault, although she didn't say anything.

"Thank you," Nellie said, smiling, as Samantha put the doll down next to her.
"How are you doing in here?" Lindsay asked.
"I... I'm alright. Everybody's very friendly." Nellie looked a little distant.
"How much longer do you have to stay?" I asked.
"Well... I... They say quite a bit longer," Nellie said slowly.
"How much?" asked Lindsay.
"They... They say they don't know..."
"But why?" Samantha said, sounding very concerned. "Is something wrong?"
Nellie took her glance away from us.
"Wh - what is it?" Samantha asked, sounding almost tearful.

Nellie looked away.
"I... It's... They say... the break in my leg isn't going to heal normally."
"What?" we all said in shock.
"What does that mean?" Lindsay asked.

Nellie turned even farther away, and I could see she was trying not to cry.
"It - it won't heal with just the cast," she said. "They're going to take it off... And, they have t-to operate."
"Oh, Nellie!" Lindsay said.
"Is it a safe operation?" I asked.
"Yes... it's safe for me... but... they say it might not work."
"A-and... what..." Samantha gulped. I could see she was shaking. "Wh-what would that mean?"

Nellie turned to look at her and closed her eyes.
"They... they say if it doesn't work I won't walk again," she murmured.
We were all horrified.
"Oh... Nellie..." Samantha whispered shakily, her eyes filling with tears. She bent over and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry Nellie... This is my fault... I could have stopped you falling, but I didn't, and it's my fault... I'm so sorry..."

Nellie put her arm around Samantha.
"It - It's not your fault, Samantha," she said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "It was mine... I just slipped.You could never have done anything about it. It wasn't your fault. I promise you it wasn't... Please don't think it was."
Samantha slowly stood up.
"But...but I could have stopped you falling..." she said.
"No, you couldn't... I promise you, Samantha, it wasn't you fault."
"But now this is happening to you, and -"
"It's not hopeless. They're going to try the operation, and it may well work."
"But what if it doesn't?"
"Don't think about that... It'll be okay. I promise," Nellie said, trying to stay strong.
No one said anything for a moment.

"When are they going to do the operation?" Samantha asked finally.
"It hasn't been scheduled yet, but they say it will be a few weeks."
"Will you be okay?" Lindsay asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Nellie tried to smile.
"We'll come and visit you again," I said.
"Yes," said Samantha and Lindsay.
"Thank you."
I looked at the clock on the wall. "We have to go now," I said. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," said Nellie. "I'll see you again soon."
"Yes, see you again," said Lindsay.
"Goodbye," said Samantha.
"Goodbye... I promise you I'll be okay."
Samantha nodded, and soon we walked out and went home.

We found ourselves sitting in silence and staring at the walls. None of us could even believe this was happening. How could it be? We couldn't talk; we all had to take some time to think, and take the news in.
"She must be okay..." I said suddenly. "Surely..."
Lindsay glanced over but then turned away again. "I'm sure she will be..." she said slowly.
Suddenly Samantha flopped down across the bed and burst into tears. We turned in surprise.

"Ohhh...!" she cried. "It's my fault! I shouldn't have let it happen!... It was my fault!..."
Lindsay and I looked on, uncertain of what to do. After a few seconds Lindsay got up and sat down next to Samantha.

"Samantha, it wasn't your fault," she said, putting a hand on her back.
"It was..." Samantha sobbed.
"It wasn't. Sam, if you'd been able to stop her from falling, you would have, wouldn't you?"
"Yes..." Samantha murmured, slowly sitting up.
"Then you couldn't have done anything about it, because if you could you would have."

Samantha looked away from Lindsay, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"But I tried..." she said. "I tried to get a hold on her arm, but I couldn't."
"The thing is, you couldn't. You tried. You did everything you could. Nothing is your fault."
"But it wasn't Nellie's either..."
"It wasn't yours."
"It wasn't anybody's," I said. "It was purely an accident, and no one could have stopped it... But there's only a chance of the operation failing, and it's probably a small chance... Nellie is almost certain to be perfectly fine..."
Samantha nodded, with a sniff, and tried to stop the tears falling.
"Everything's going to be okay," Lindsay said, but she sounded sad.

Good News And Bad News

Hi, this is Molly! Today we got some really exciting news, but it was followed by something horrible.

Kirsten and I were starting to play 'General Knowledge', when Kit suddenly ran in.

"Guess what!" she said, grinning.
"What is it?" Kirsten and I said at the same time.
"My mom just got a call from my uncle in France, and he was asking if my little cousin - his daughter - can come and stay with us, because he and my aunt are becoming missionaries, and they didn't want to take a young girl with them because it would be too hard for her. And my mom said yes! So my cousin will be coming to stay with us!" Kit panted.
Kirsten and I smiled.
"What's her name?" I asked.
"It's Cherie," said Kit. "But everyone calls her Cherry, because she's got really rosy cheeks. She's seven."
"That will be really sweet!" said Kirsten. "Can she speak much English?"
"Oh yes. She was born in France, but because my Uncle's American she speak both French and English."
"That's good. When is she supposed to be coming?"I asked.
"In about a month, if everything goes smoothly. It'll be great to have two cousins in the house. And I haven't seen Cherry in ye -"
Suddenly we were interrupted by a thump and an awful shriek, followed by someone screaming, "Nellie!" in what sounded like a complete panic.

"What was that?" Kirsten asked, looking worried.
"I don't know," said Kit. "But we'd better go find out what's happening. It sounds like somebody's gotten hurt!"

We all got up and started half-running to the door. Benny tried to follow me, but I told him to stay.

We ran out, to find Nellie lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, with Samantha standing next to her, looking very upset. Nellie wasn't moving, and I realized she was unconscious.
"What happened?" Kirsten asked.
"Nellie and I were just talking, and we decided to come downstairs, a-and she slipped, and fell, and I couldn't do anything to stop her! And she hit her head, and I don't know what to do...!" Samantha said tearfully, looking pleadingly towards us. She must have been very upset, because out of all of us she's the most first-aid qualified.
"Her leg doesn't look very good..." Kit said. "I think it may be broken."
Kirsten ran over and knelt beside Nellie to feel her pulse.

"Well, her pulse is normal," she said. "But her leg does look broken. And she may have a concussion... I think we should call an ambulance."
As I was about to run to the phone, Nellie started to stir.

She moaned, and opened her eyes a bit.
"Nellie?" Samantha said.
Nellie murmured.
"Nellie, wake up," said Kirsten, tapping her cheek. Nellie opened her eyes a little more.
"Wh - what's going on...?" Nellie whispered, slowly. "Ohh... it hurts..."
"What hurts?" Kirsten asked.
"I - I don't know... I'm dizzy..."
Kit mouthed to Samantha to go and phone for the ambulance, and she ran off, looking worried.
"Can you move?" asked Kit.
Nellie started to move slowly, but suddenly stopped.
"Ow!" she cried. "I can't move... I-it hurts!"
"Where?" Kit asked.
"My - My leg, a-and my arm too..." Nellie said, flinching in pain.
"It must be broken," I said, and Kit nodded.
Nellie lay back her head and moaned again.
Samantha came running back in.
"They say they'll be here in a few minutes," she said.
"Good," said Kit.
"I'll go and tell your aunt and uncle what's happened, Samantha," I offered.
"Thank you, Molly."

Hours later, we got to visit her in hospital. We were told that she had a bad concussion, and had broken her left arm and right leg, and also one of her right fingers.
"Are you okay?" Samantha asked as we came in.
"I'm alright..." said Nellie. "It just hurts."
"I'm really sorry."
"For what? You didn't do anything, Samantha."
"I couldn't stop you falling..."
"No... It's not your fault. Not at all. I'll be okay. Don't worry."
Samantha gave a grateful half-smile.
"How are you doing?" asked Kit.
"Well, aside from the broken bones and being a bit dizzy, I'm mostly alright." Nellie tried to smile.
"How long do you have to stay in here?" I asked.
"They say they don't know... But the nurse said at least three days. She said something about keeping an eye on the breaks or something..."
"Okay..." said Kirsten. "Are you comfortable, at least? I mean, aside from being in pain."
"Yes, I'm alright. And the nurses are nice."
"Good," Kirsten smiled.

In a few minutes, a nurse came over and told us we had to go. We all said goodbye, and slowly turned to leave.

"Goodbye," Nellie said quietly, lifting her hand.
Samantha stopped suddenly and turned back for a moment.
"Will you be okay?" she asked.
"Yes, of course I will," Nellie said, trying to smile again. "I promise I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'll be okay. I'll be out soon."
"Alright." Samantha tried to smile a bit herself.
"Goodbye," Nellie said again.
"Goodbye," we all said, heading for the door. "And goodnight. We'll come back to see you tomorrow."
"Alright, goodnight."

We walked out and left the hospital, feeling very dreary. We'd had a very long day, because there were hours when we didn't even know if Nellie was alright. But at least she's okay. Hopefully she'll be able to come home after just the three days. :)

Merry Christmas! :)

Hello, I'm Cindy! Today, I met Nikki and all the dolls that live with her. :) I like them very much, and I'm glad I'm going to stay with them all. They weren't expecting me, but they were very nice anyway, and Nikki's doing everything with me! :) I'm nine years old, and I love flowers, pretty colors, and dancing, especially ballet! :) Here's a picture of me this morning:

I am wearing my favorite hairstyle, even though Nikki's family keeps calling me "Princess Leia".
Another girl called Sarah came too, but the others say you've already seen a picture of her, so I won't post one.

We got lots of lovely presents today! :) Even me! I got a lovely pinkish-red Christmassy dress! (It's the one I'm wearing in the header.) :) Here are the other really amazing presents:

 Kirsten got a doll! :) She isn't sure what she's going to call her yet, but she thinks maybe "Gretchen" or "Olga". :)

And Molly also got a doll! :) She's probably going to call her "Patience". :)

The picture's blurry, but Elyssa got a Cecile doll! :) It was amazing having all these dolls on one Christmas! :) Elyssa wants to call her doll something like "Annette", but she doesn't quite like that, and she's trying to think of something similar that sounds better. I'm sure she'd be glad for suggestions! :) She also got a blue leotard, because she's starting gymnastics soon, but it broke. :( Nikki will fix it as soon as she can get the right kind of thread, though. :)

It's another blurry picture, but here's the last of the best presents. It's another doll! :) It's Nellie's, and she doesn't know what to call her yet. I'm sure she'd love suggestions, too. :) Nellie's lucky, because if it wasn't for Nikki's brother, she wouldn't have her doll.

We've had a lovely Christmas so far, and Lindsay's reading the Sherlock Holmes book Nikki got. ;) We (Nikki included :)) hope you have an amazing day too, and that you also have a wonderful year! :) It'd also be cool to know if you got any amazing presents. I hope you did! :)
Merry Christmas! :)
Love,
Cindy (and Nikki, Anna, Sarah, Cait, Melody, Samantha, Nellie, Elyssa, Lindsay, Nicki, Julie, Kit, Kirsten, and Molly ;))

Putting up the Christmas Tree! :)

Hello, it's Nikki here, to tell another story with the photographs I've taken. :) Today, the dolls put up their Christmas tree. We're all sorry it was so late, but at least it's up. :)

This afternoon, Nicki was waiting in The Room for the others to arrive, while she arranged the tree's branches. I wonder how long they'll be, she thought. Just then, she head footsteps, and turned around.

 

It was Molly and Kit!

"Hi, Nicki!" they said.

"Hi, guys!" Suddenly Nicki noticed what kit had over her shoulders. "Kit," she asked, "why are you wearing tinsel?"

"I thought you might need some extra," Kit laughed.

"Ohh, okay. You wanna put on the lights?"

"Sure!" said Kit and Molly together.

Just as they were finishing with the lights, sprocket came bounding up to them.
"Hi, Sprocket!" said Molly.

"He's so cute!" said Kit, going to pet him.

"Sprocket's just reminded me," said Nicki, "Where's Benny, Molly?"

"Oh, Cait's looking after him today because Kit and I were shopping."

"I see," Nicki smiled.

  They were putting the tinsel on the tree, when Cait and Melody arrived with Benny. Shouts of "Hello!" flew for a few seconds, and then Benny was left to play with Sprocket while Melody offered to help with the golden beads. The tree got a little too crowded for Kit and molly, so they went to the window.

"We'll watch for anyone else coming," said Kit, while the others talked.
"I see Nellie and Sam!" shouted molly a few minutes after wards.

A minute later Samantha and Nellie walked in.
"Hi everyone!" said Samantha. "I think Kirsten's a little way behind us."
"Hello!" said Nicki. "Would you like to help decorate?"
"Of course!" said Nellie and Samantha together.

"Alright," said Melody. "Could you hand me some more balls?"
"Sure!" said Nellie, grabbing some from a drawer. "Here they are."
"Thanks."

Kirsten arrived soon afterwards, carrying a cat.
"Hey, Kirsten," said Molly, "is the cat yours?"
"No, I'm just looking after him for Christmas." Kirsten put the cat down. "His name is Benson."
"Oh, that's such a cute name!" said multiple voices.
"I like your outfit," said Nicki.
"Thanks."
"It's sort of... old-fashioned. I think it's cool."
Kirsten laughed. "It's the closest to "Christmassy" I could find!"
Nicki giggled back. "Come and help decorate!" she said.

"I'm out of balls again!" said melody a minute later.
"More balls, coming up!" said Kirsten, taking a huge handful.
In all the chaos Nicki was the only one to realize that Sprocket was growling at Benson, and ran over to stop him.
"There's Lindsay and Elyssa!" said Kit from the window.
"And I think that's Julie behind them!"
"That means we'll have everyone - except Anna," said Nicki. "I wonder where she is?"

Soon Lindsay and Elyssa came in, and the space around the tree got very crowded.
"Elyssa," Kirsten asked, after they'd said "hello", "what's that on your head?"
"It's a Santa hat."
"But it's blue!"
"I needed my outfit to be Christmassy!" Elyssa laughed.
"Isn't that from Nicki's pajamas?" asked Nellie.
"Yes, but she didn't want it, so she gave it to me."
"I didn't know you were going to wear it as part of an outfit!" Nicki laughed.
"Imagine being me and having to walk here with her!" said Lindsay.

Soon Julie arrived, and the tree was more crowded than ever, but nobody cared. They just loved decorating with their friends, and the tree was being decorated very very fast between all of them. Kit went to sit down and rest her feet.
"I'll come and take her place!" said Nellie. "I'm scared someone's going to knock over the tree if we don't make a little more space!"
Kirsten left to take Benson to another room where he wouldn't be growled at by Sprocket, and the other carried on decorating.

"I think we have enough of the balls on now," said Julie.
"Yay!" said Nicki. "Now we can start with the other ornaments!"

Pretty soon they had done everything, including putting up the little nativity scene, except for giving the tree a topper.
"We haven't got anything for a topper," said Lindsay. "What can we use instead?"

 "I don't know," said Nicki. "And even worse, Anna still isn't here, and we've done all the decorating."
"And she's the only one who can reach," said Kirsten.
"Do you think something's happened to her?" asked Molly.
"No," said Samantha, "nothing could've."
"Maybe she's just forgotten," said Nellie.
"Anna never forgets," said Elyssa.
Just then, there were footsteps in the hall. Nicki got up to see who it was.

"Anna!" she cried when she opened the door. "We've been waiting for you!"
"I am sorry I am late."
"That's okay. We were just worried for you. And I'm afraid we've done all the decorating."
"I do not mind. But I did bring you an angel for the top of the tree."
"You did?!" Kit yelled. "We were just wondering what we could use for the top!"
"I am glad that I am bring it, then," said Anna.
 "Us too!" said Kirsten.
"You can put it on," said Molly. "None of us can reach."

"Okay," said Anna, climbing onto the chair. She put the angel on the tree and smiled. "It looks so pretty!" she said.

In fact, it was so pretty, they even took a picture of it.
"Let's take our Christmas-card photos now!" said Cait.
"Yes, let's!" said Kit, turning on the lights.

We took lots of photos, but this one is the best. They're all together, with Sprocket, Benny, and even Benson! :)

My dolls and I hope you have a very happy Christmas, and we all can't wait for tomorrow! :)

Look What Nikki Made! :)

Hi! I'm Nellie. :) This afternoon, Nikki made a pretty shirt for us dolls, and although it's a little tight, I think it's lovely! We took some pictures of me in it, but they're a little blurry and yellowy, because it's dark, and Nikki's camera is really lousy, and flash makes the picture look odd, so we have to use no-flash, which comes out funny. (If you couldn't follow that, don't worry. I couldn't either. :))

I had to roll up the sleeves a little, because they're a bit long, but I think that makes it look kind of like a new fashion or something! :)

Here's me closer, but it looks like my hair ribbon was falling off. ;)

This is the shirt itself. It's also the picture with the most realistic color. :) I love the rose pattern! :)

 This is my hair. I stole Nikki's ribbon. :)

Well, that's about it? :) How do you like my new shirt? :)