NaBloPoMo DAY 12:
I must confess that I did not find Raggedy Ann on my walk. But my friend, Trisha, did while on hers.
Poor Raggedy Ann. She didn’t ask to be left behind. In fact, she didn’t want to go to the park in the first place. She’s a stay-at-home kind of gal, who just went along for the ride.
And what a ride it was. A day filled with frivolity, fun and games and lots of creative play. The little girl who brought Raggedy to the park pretended they were sisters on a journey to far off places.
“And since I’m the older sister,” the little girl said firmly to Raggedy Ann, “You have to do everything I say.”
Raggedy Ann gave the little girl a blank stare.
First, they played in the sand, and Raggedy Ann watched in horror as the little girl, pretending to be a pirate who had kidnapped a doll, buried her alive.
“Oh, no!” Raggedy screamed silently to herself, her small voice muffled by the delightful squeals of children being children in the park.
Then, the little girl shook the sand off of Raggedy. Placing the doll in her mouth, and making sure to bite down hard on Raggedy’s tummy so that she’d stay in place, the girl climbed the monkey bars, all the way to its highest peak.
“Top of the world, Mommy!” She gleefully cried, which unfortunately caused Raggedy Ann to tumble out of her mouth and crash to the ground.
“Oh, no,” was Raggedy Ann’s blood-curdling cry that no one–absolutely no one–heard.
The little girl scampered down the monkey bars, grabbed Raggedy Ann, and flicking an ant that had been crawling across Raggedy’s dress, she headed to the swings. The smile on Raggedy Ann’s face remained strangely frozen in place, her eyes filled with terror.
“How’d you like me to push you on the swings?”
Raggedy Ann skeptically furrowed her brow and gave it some thought.
The girl placed the doll on a swing and began to push gently at first. Raggedy Ann gave a sigh of relief. Not so bad, the doll thought, and kind of fun, too.
But then the little girl pushed harder, followed by a shove that caused the swing to do a 360 and sent Raggedy flying across the playground and landing with a thud on the slide.
Which is when the little girl’s mother, who’d been distracted, sitting on a bench checking her email on her smart phone, exclaimed, “Time to go home!”
She then grabbed her child’s hand and headed to the car. For a moment the little girl felt like she was forgetting something, but she couldn’t think what it might be. So, she climbed into the car and into her booster seat, and the mother soon drove away.
Raggedy Ann, still on the slide, gave a sigh of relief. For the first time that day, her smile was genuine.
Note: I’m taking part in NaBloPoMo. Thirty days, 30 posts. Because writing daily posts is hard work which I couldn’t do without your support and encouragement, I’ve going to be awarding a prize to the one person who has commented on the most posts. If there’s a tie, I’ll do a drawing. So if you want to win a $20 gift certificate to Amazon, make sure to comment!
Monica's Tangled Web 
Poor Raggedy, sweet doll that she is. Terrible adventure.
Poor thing, indeed. She’s a survivor, though.
What an unpleasant adventure for Raggedy. She must’ve breathed a sigh of relief at being left on the side and eventually, landing in your care. I used to love my Raggedy Ann doll. Makes me wanna go buy another one.
I have an idea. Even if you don’t get a new one, why not place a Raggedy Ann doll in Beatrice’s apartment so that it’s in one of the strips. Doesn’t need to be part of the story; just in the background where we can see it. What do you think?
Poor Raggedy Ann! Told from the doll’s POV, this is a horror story. I must say, I never was mean to my toys — I loved them and treated them with LOTS more care than this!
As for “misplacing” them, nope, wouldn’t have happened. Guess I was taught from an early age that, when somebody pays good money for something and gives it to you, you treat it with respect.
Debbie, I’m with you. Though I once did something awful to a doll I loved, and to this day, it makes me mad when I think about it. I had a beautiful Marie Alexander doll purchased from FAO Schwartz. It was the only fancy doll I ever had. She had blonde curly hair which reminded my mother of Shirley Temple, so that’s what we called her. Anyway, one day, I took it upon myself to cut off all the curls, somehow thinking they’d grow back. Sigh. My mother was so angry at me.
My sis and I did the same thing to one of our fancy dolls. I think we called it playing beauty shop. Anyway, the hair (like you said) never grew back, and I’m sure Mom wasn’t happy with us! Though it was pretty fun at the time, heehee!
You have given Raggedy such a great story! I am happy to report that although she was on the park bench the following day…on day 3 she was no longer there. I want to believe that another little girl came along that had longed to have a doll just like her. She took her home, cleaned her up and set up tea for them both. Needless to say, in my mind, she now lives happily ever after.
I want to believe that, too. So let’s just say that’s what happened!
Adorable story. I love all your sentences: the next one, the next one, and where they lead. To date this is my favorite in your daily challenge. I don’t have to be a child to relate to that nagging feeling of “Did I forget something?”
Grandson loses and misplaces things. Just this morning teacher answered my e-mail that we wanted to issue an “APB” on his science journal that went missing on Monday…whew…they located it in his DESK.
Oh, I’m so glad you like the story I conjured up to explain why Raggedy Ann was left on the slide. Had I discovered the little doll, I probably would’ve taken her home to give her the life she deserves, such a sweet doll. As it is, she spent a couple of nights out on that slide before being “rescued.” Sigh.
I see toys, dolls cars etc. left around by the children in my cup-de-sac.
I think that generally children now tend to have so many toys they don’t treasure what they have and just leave them lying about.
When I were a lad, to quote a northern term here in England we had far less and looked after what we had.
Just my thoughts.
I think you’re right, Robert. There’s no way I would’ve left a doll at the park. For starters, I don’t think my mother would’ve let me take it to the park!
Oh, the adventures of Raggedy Ann–no wonder she’s raggedy! Poor thing. Thank God she’s escaped the insanity and is having a chance to regroup. I had a raggedy Ann doll that I loved when I was very small. Wish I still had it.
Congrats on your blogging challenge, Monica.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
Kathy, I’m surprised you still don’t have it, seeing how you don’t like getting rid of things. I think she’d look awfully cute sitting on your bed or in a comfy chair.
I’ve loved my Raggedy Ann doll since I was a wee little thing, Monica. I still remember her. Mine had a dark blue skirt and the brightest red hair. I didn’t take mine out at all, nor did I toss her, you see my dad brought her back from one of his trips overseas and she was very precious. So if Raggedy needs a home, mine is open… We’ll take her in. In fact she can sit peacefully in my reading chair – my girls won’t bother her or she can sit with my books. She can read, rest and relax. I would like to see her smile all day long.
According to my friend Trisha, who took the photo, Raggedy has been adopted by a new family. Let’s hope she is now in safe hands. I love the idea, though, of her sitting in your reading chair at peace. That’s what she needs now. Peace and TLC. 🙂