Paper Dolls

• Sarah McTiernan, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

Mary sighed as she stared out her colossal window. It had been that way for the past day and the poor girl was alone. As she revisited her memories of her parents, her eyes went red and a tear ran down her cheek. Those memories were gone.
“Kids! Come down here and eat,” hissed the owner of this home. Mary trudged down the endless hallway and eat her stale, cold meal. After her and the other orphans finished, they scrubbed their plates and Mary snuck into the attic. There she was free to create dolls made of cheap, old materials. It was the only place she could let her imagination free.
“Hello Kiara, here are your new friends,” She softly smiled as she showed her newest doll to the crew. There was Tim (a builder), Steph (a Rockstar), Rosie (A businesswoman), and the newest member, Kiara, a crafter. All of them wore new, pretty clothes, unlike Mary. She was forced to reuse a rag although the orphanage was basically a mansion.
“Mary! Where are you? Go to bed now!” Snapped the old woman. Mary suddenly rushed to the crammed room and hopped in bed. Getting shouted at by the owner was worse than being eaten by an alligator. The little girl closed her eyes, hoping for some miracle.

“Shush! Don’t wake her up, Steph,” whispered a small voice.
“Who’s talking? You mouth is clearly moving more than mine!” Shot back another. Mary slowly opened her baggy eyes to find all her paper dolls staring at her!
“Don’t be scared, Mary. We are here to help you,” soothed Kiara. Mary covered her hands on her mouth and her eyes were open saucers. The dolls started talking about magic powers and bringing the orphan´s parents back. Although there were living dolls made of old paper talking to her, Mary seemed unconvinced.
“They are dead! And even if you could bring them back, we wouldn’t have any money or even a home!’’ She explained, as quietly as possible. Mary pushed her dolls aside and went back to bed, assuming it was just a dream.

“Wake up you lazy children! You know we wake up at 6 am! Clean yourselves and get in positions, maybe today we can finally get rid of you.” The owner screeched All the kids groaned as they trudged down the giant stairs and into the crammed bathroom. There, they would wash their dirty faces. Mary finished extra quick and rushed to the attic before grabbing her tiny friends.
“You will love this, Mary,” smiled Rosie as the orphan put them in her pocket. Mary blinked twice before repeating in her head,
“It was just a dream.”
As Mary walked towards the stage, she spotted two familiar faces in the crowd.
“I’ll take the girl!” they exclaimed as they pick me up. I remembered that voice! It was my dad! I smiled at the dolls as they took me to a giant home! Magic does exist after all.