Seven Sisters: 1

Camilla, that is what she called herself. That is what we called her. The prettiest of the sisters. The one with the longest tresses, perfect round cheeks, and blue eyes that seemed to flutter in gratitude and praise for their owner. It is only right that she became the favorite.

It took me some time to realize that she was off, and by the time that I did, either it was too late, or I was so beyond caring that I let it play out.

Tell me, am I the sinner?

Chapter 1

I remember the day clearly when we were brought to our first home. It was on the “slow day.” The day when time flows interminably and the wonderful creative parts of me feel sucked in, and I start having all of these dark thoughts about tripping someone or falling off a high shelf. On this “slow day,” an old woman comes in with her walking stick jammed into the corner of a shopping cart with a bag of cat food, a dog toy, and one package of baby diapers.

All of us dolls at the store know that no one with cat food in their cart is going to buy anything from the toy aisle. The diapers, though. The diapers threw us all for a loop,p and we were whispering and betting our tiny combs and dresses like it was the last bit of contraband in the universe.

Now, the stakes were getting high because Felicity came with a lot of accessories, and we were, of course, all determined that we were the ones who were going to make off with the lot. I, Beatrice, came with cleaning accessories, one of which was the feather duster and I was in no mood to lose that shining unused prize so I bet quickly on that the old lady was going to wander down the aisles for a hour, which on a “long day” feels like 5-hours, then she would begin to limp and leave the store.

Felicity bet that she would only buy her. This is what she always bets, even though she comes with horse grooming tools, but no horse. The horse is sold separately, but they do not stock it here, so she is unique yet utterly pointless.

Camilla bet that the woman would slip on the wet floors and die; pretty faces hide the darkest thoughts.

Alice said she would not buy a toy but would buy those cute little tiny socks instead. Alice came with cute, tiny socks. It is literally the only thing in her head: socks. It's horrifying.

Ursula, yes, that is her real name, refused to participate and said we were morally depraved. True, but bored dolls do what they must.

And, Tia, with the ballet slippers, said that she would buy a doll, but probably not her. Dancers, even plastic ones, are used to disappointment.

We lost.

The old woman with the grey hair that hadn’t seen a brush, let alone a doll brush, in 70-plus years, bought Camilla, Alice, and me, Beatrice.

She was obviously a terrible woman because I could have made out with all of the horse accessories if she had just left the store as I needed. Of course, Camilla looked pleased because she always looks pleased because her face is painted that way. Naturally, I looked displeased for the same reason, sadly. Alice looked vague, but not because she was painted that way; it’s probably the tiny socks; her brains were sucked out through the tiny socks.

Part 2 coming soon....