My friends, fellows, and whoever else is reading, after 5 weeks of planning, 3 weeks of writing, 4 weeks of picture taking, and 20820 letters later I am pleased to present 'Amelia Woodhouse'.
:)
Taryn was perched in the window, acting as lookout.
She scanned the room, watching the others go about their tasks.
Afton kept arranging and rearranging the table.
Claire and Lanie were sweeping, busily.
Molly was hanging up her handmade welcome poster.
Charlie, of course, was directing all of this.
'Taryn smiled. 'Four years ago, I was the only doll in the house, but after today there's going to be nine!' Taryn thought. "Me, Charlie, Claire, Lanie, Molly, Afton, Kit, Ruthie and the new doll who'll be here soon. Wait a minute. Where are Kit and Ruthie?'
Taryn jumped as Charlie cried, "Kit! Ruthie! What do you think you're doing?!"
It seemed that the two of them had set up a tape maze, of sorts, in front of the door.
"Clean that up now!" Charlie cried, with a hint of hysteria in her voice.
Taryn chuckled and turned back to the window.
She jumped three feet straight up, then pressed her face to the glass.
She turned and shouted to the rest of the room, "She's here! And she has a goat!"
The girl outside sighed sadly. This was going to be hard.
"I can do this though, right." she said to no one in particular.
Kam bleated at her cheerily.
The girl nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
She let Kam, Loops, and Regina through the door, then followed them in.
All she saw was a room with a table, but there was on one to be seen.
Suddenly everyone else jumped out of hiding, shouting "Surprise!"
For a moment,the girl looked completely surprised then a grin spread across her face.
The girl ran across the room and jumped onto the table, sending the vase of flowers spinning.
She grinned again then said in a heavy southern accent, "Howdy, y'all! M'names Amelia, but you can call me Amy! I like the outdoors and I can play any sport, though I p'fer volleyball."
'That sounds a lot like me.' Taryn thought in surprise.
"Any questions?" Amy asked with another grin.
All hands shot into the air.
"Uh, how's about you?" Amy said, pointed at Charlie.
Charlie smiled sweetly, "I just wanted to say, I hope you'll enjoy living here."
Amy's smile faltered for a moment, then it was back as bright as ever, "Well, I reckon with such lovely people as yer'self I'm bound ter' enjoy it."
Next, Lanie asked, "Can I pet your sheep?" She was almost bouncing with excitement at the idea of more animals.
"Well sure. They're real sweet." Amy said fondly.
In a second, Lanie had both sheep in her lap.
Afton's question came next, "Do you have a favorite pair of shoes?"
"Of course!" Amy replied, "My rubber boots." She said pointing to her feet.
Afton looked disgusted but nodded.
Claire asked, "Do you play video games?"
"Sure I do! I can play any game, any place, any time." Amy said, a challenge in her voice.
"Alright then," Claire smiled, "Saturday?"
"You're on." Amy said.
People kept firing off question until Taryn was the only one left.
She was about to ask, 'How did you get that scar above your eyebrow?', when Charlie said, "Alright that's enough questions."
All the others streamed out of the room, chatting happily.
'Have they forgotten about me?' the thought flashed across Taryn's mind, then shook her head. 'That's just silly.' she told herself firmly...But was it?
Charlie looked ruefully around the room, "I'm really sorry," Charlie sighed, "We couldn't find anyway to squeeze another bed in. I guess you'll have to sleep on the floor for a while."
"Aw, that's no problem." Amy said happily.
"You know, I would let you have my bed but I sleep in the chair in the living room." Molly said, not looking up from her book.
"You could have my bed if you like." Afton chirped.
"Or mine." Claire added.
Soon everyone was squabbling for who's bed Amy would take.
"I guess you could have my bed too" Taryn mumbled.
"Great!" Amy's voice cut through everyone else's.
Ignoring everyone's looks of surprise, she kicked her boots off and climbed onto Taryn's bed.
She shoved Taryn's blankets and pillows into a pile on the floor.
Amy began spreading out the blanket Charlie had lent her, oblivious to Taryn staring at her.
Taryn just stared. Stared at the girl now putting her own blankets on Taryn's bed.
Taryn finally began picking up her pillows and sighed. 'This could be interesting.'
The next morning, Taryn groaned as she felt something moving close to her.
She sat up and blinked blearily, then jumped.
Regina, the goat, was chewing on the edge of Taryn's blanket.
"Hey!" Taryn yelped as she tried to tug her blanket back. A very noisy tussle ensued, and soon everyone was awake, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Taryn!" Charlie cried as she jumped out of bed.
"It's not me!" Taryn grunted giving another tug, "It's this stupid goat!"
"Aw' right, aw' right." Amy called as she hopped off of Taryn's bed and picked up Regina, "I'm real sorry 'bout that y'all. I must'a forgotten to put her out last night."
"Oh," Charlie sighed, "That's alright, Amy. It's no problem."
"Yeah, no problem." Taryn mumbled, sticking her finger through the hole in her blanket.
Upon closer inspection, much more than Taryn's blanket had been chewed. The table cloth, the couch, a few books (to Molly's horror), and, worst of all,
A cache of Afton's shoes. Except, the shoes wen't chewed by any goat.
Afton gasped, "Boulder! No, bad dog, bad!"
Boulder barked happily at her, as Afton sobbed.
"Taryn," Charlie snapped, "Why didn't you put Boulder out last night?"
"Um, sorry." Taryn mumbled, "I guess I forgot."
All through breakfast, Afton retained a huffy silence, and Charlie wouldn't even look at her.
Taryn really was sorry, but she couldn't help but notice that no one seemed upset with Amy...
After breakfast Taryn tapped Amy, who was talking animatedly with Afton, on the shoulder.
"Oh, hey Tara." Amy smiled, "What's up?"
"It's Taryn." She said through gritted teeth, "I heard you say you like volleyball, and I was just wondering if you'd like to join my team?"
For a moment, Amy looked as though she had lost the thread of the conversation, then she shook her head, as if to clear it, and smiled again, "Well, sure! That'd be great! When's practice, and what should I wear?"
Taryn smiled sweetly, "It's at 1:30 this afternoon, and you can just wear a t-shirt and shorts."
"Aw' right, I'll be there!" Amy said.
"You bet you will." Taryn whispered as she turned away, her sweet smile transforming into an evil grin as she thought, "This is where I'll show her I'm just as good as her. No, better!"
Taryn needed something to pass the morning, so she thought she would hang out with Claire.
"Hey, Claire. You want to come outside with me?" Taryn asked.
Claire didn't look away from the game she was play as she replied, "Nope."
"OK," Taryn tried again, "How about watching some fail videos on YouTube?"
Claire still didn't move, "No, Taryn."
Taryn looked down at the game controller in Claire's hands then said, "Can I play with you then?"
Claire jumped, "Hey! That's a great idea!"
Taryn smiled and grabbed her controller from beside the TV.
"But you have to play really hard." Claire said, shooing her kittens off the couch so Taryn could sit down.
"Ha ha." Taryn laughed sarcastically, "Remind me when I haven't played hard? Why, would you say that?"
"I'm trying to practice to beat the Master, so I just want some good competition, that's all." Claire replied.
"What?!" Taryn snapped. Taryn and Claire had been competing for months to win the prized title of video game Master. "Who is the master?"
"Well, Amy of course." Claire answered.
Taryn slid off the couch, "I don't think I want to play anymore."
"Oh OK." Claire turned back to her game.
For the rest of the morning Taryn lay in bed listening to the others taking and playing with Amy.
That afternoon, Taryn, Amy, and Kit who was also on Taryn's volleyball team, walked towards the volleyball court.
Taryn waved to the rest of the team, who were all gathered around the net.
"Guys, I'd like you to meet-" Taryn began but she was cut off by Amy stepping forward to introduce herself.
"Hey there!" She called in that southern accent that so irritated Taryn, "M' name's Amelia, but y'all can call me Amy."
As Taryn had, to some extent, expected everyone gathered around to greet Amy.
"Can we just get a volley going?" Taryn sighed, leaning against the pole holding up the net.
As the practice session started, Taryn tried hard not to concentrate on Amy. She tried and failed.
Taryn just couldn't help noticing Amy seemed too busy talking to focus on actually playing.
On a particularly hard, but strangely arced spike, the ball soared past Taryn, speeding towards Amy. She was still too busy to notice her danger.
Taryn, without a second thought, tackled Amy, mid-sentence.
Both girls hit the ground hard. Taryn ended up laying exactly where Amy had stood a second before. The ball, continuing in it's arc, hit Taryn in the back of the head. So hard in fact, that she saw stars.
Taryn sat up with a groan.
"Are you all right?!" Someone cried.
"Yeah," Taryn said with a smile, "I think I'm-"
"Aw' I'm fine." Amy answered as everyone crowded around her.
Taryn sighed, her smile disappearing as quick as it had come, 'I used to think being invisible would be fun'
Taryn finished the practice early, partly due to the fact she felt like she might have a mild concussion, and partly because no one else seemed to care about any thing but how Amy felt.
As soon as they got home she went to talk to Champlain, her horse. Taryn often does that when she needs to think.
Regina, who now lives at the stable along with Kam and Loops, kept trying to make friends with both Champlain and Taryn. Taryn only had to glare at her twice to get the message across.
Stay away from me and my friends.
If only it was that easy to give Amy the hint.
"I kind of feel like I'm being replaced." Taryn sighed. Champlain just stared at her.
"I know that sounds silly but She's exactly like me but...better. She likes sports, pranks, and my sisters. She polite, kind, and helpful. She knows exactly what to say to get people to like her! How can I compete with that!"
Champlain snorted.
"Of course I need to compete with her. If I don't... what if... What if the others forget about me?" Taryn whispered.
The horse threw his head.
Taryn took that to mean, "Would I forget you feed me if I became friends with the goat and the sheep?"
"Well, no. I hope not." Taryn replied.
Taryn jumped back against the fence as Champlain charged across the coral.
Kam, Loops, and Regina spun to look up at Champlain. Champlain bent down, and gently nosed them along.
The four of them walked out to the pasture together.
"OK, If you can be friends with them I can be nice to Amy." Taryn said, mostly to herself, And she walked back to the house to try. With little hope of success.
Everyone was in the living room watching a movie.
"Hey, I love this movie!" Taryn said, "Have you gotten to the part where-"
"Shh!" Molly hissed, "Amy's never seen this one."
Taryn tried to find a place to sit, "Excuse me, can I just sneak through here?"
No one even seemed to hear her.
"Guys?"
Nothing.
Taryn huffed in frustration. This wasn't working. There wasn't room for two Taryns in this house.
And then Taryn had an idea.
Taryn walked into the human's room.
"Could you help me with something?"
"Sure." Megan said, "What can I do?"
"Well, I was hoping I could get you to make me a classified ad." Taryn said, attempting a nonchalant voice with little success.
"An ad?" Megan asked skeptically, 'For what?"
"For a Maplelea doll we're getting rid of. You see..." Taryn commenced to tell her friend everything that had happened since Amy had arrived.
"So I had this idea. If I had a contest, one on one, me and Amy, we could settle which of us is better. The best doll stays here, the loser... well that's what the ad is for."
Megan was silent for a long time. Taryn was waiting for the expected 'no', she had know it was a long shot from the beginning, but...
"All right." Megan said slowly, "I'll make you an ad."
"YES!" Taryn cried as she leaped of the human-sized bed.
"But, Taryn." Megan said as Taryn reached the door, "Just remember, people aren't always what they seem."
"OK." Taryn called, but she hadn't really heard.
Taryn stayed up late into the night working out the kinks of her wonderful plan to get rid of the doll who had stolen everything.
The next morning, when Taryn found her, Amy was entertaining everyone with a 'hilarious' story.
"Amy." Taryn said.
Just as Taryn was getting used to, no one heard her.
"Amelia!" Taryn tried again.
"And then he says, 'I can't speak French'!" Amy finished.
Everyone laughed, long and hard.
No one ever laughed at Taryn's stories like that.
"AMELIA WOODHOUSE!" Taryn shouted as loud as she could.
"Hey there Tara." Amy smiled at her.
"Taryn!" Taryn snapped, "It's Taryn. " She took a deep breath, "I, Taryn Brady, challenge you, Amelia Woodhouse."
Amy's smile faltered, but only for a second, "Challenge me to what?"
"Three sporting events, randomly chosen. The winner stays here, the loser is going to a new home." Taryn said as everyone gasped.
"Taryn when you lose you'll have to leave! You can't! Megan won't let you!" Charlie cried.
"When?! When I lose!?" Taryn shouted then shook her head, "Megan already said 'yes'." More gasps, everyone began to talk nervously, "Megan said yes?" "What will we do without Taryn?" "Who will do the chores when she's gone?"
A moment of panic showed on Amy's face, but again only a second.
"Aw' right. What'r the events?"
"Molly," Taryn called, "Say the first two sports you think of."
Molly looked startled but replied, "Um, is stickball a sport? Yeah, uh stickball and...racing."
"Wonderful!" Taryn smiled, "Meet me in front of the house in 30 minutes for stickball."
"30 minutes? But - I - uh - um - but..." Amy stuttered.
"Unless," Taryn said slowly, "You would rather... forfeit. But of course that would mean you need to leave now."
"No." Amy snapped defensively, "I just thought you would need more than 30 minutes practice to beat me."
Taryn turned and called over her shoulder, "May the best doll win."
Amy was left standing in the living room thinking, 'How am I going to get out of this one?'
Everyone was there right on time. Everyone but Amy sat down to watch.
Amy stepped over to Taryn and said, "Aw' right. Let's do this."
"I assume you know the rules?" Taryn said holding the ball, leaning on the bat.
"O' course, but I'll need your rules. To make sure we both play straight." Amy said, stressing the word 'both'.
Taryn rolled her eyes, "Two person stickball is very simple. One person takes the bat, the other takes the ball. The person with the ball pitches, the person with the bat hits it. If the person with the bat misses the ball, they lose. If the person with the bat hits the ball they win. Simple."
"Uh, right. I'll pitch." Amy said. She looked ultimately nervous as she got ready to pitch. "Ready?" Amy asked.
Taryn snorted, as if this was a silly question, "Yes. When ever you are."
"Taryn be careful, we'll miss you." Charlie said quietly.
This mumbled warning caught Taryn off guard, no one had shown any worry about her for days. She lowered her stick, and was going to say something.
But Amy had already heard Taryn say she was ready. She didn't hear Charlie's mumbled misgivings. She threw that ball as hard as she could. As she realized, to late, her mistake Taryn tried to get her bat up.
She made a wild swing for the ball, tripped over her own feet,and hit the ground hard, the bat flying out of her hands.
The ball flew over the old shed, disappearing from view with a twinkle.
Amy was frozen, staring at the spot where the ball had vanished, looking as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Everyone else piled around to hug Amy, who still looked stunned, shouting things like, 'Out of the park!' and 'Home run!' They didn't understand the baseball terms they were using, but they didn't seem to notice how silly it sounded.
Taryn sat up and looked over at the hug/traffic jam of sisters.
'Charlie doesn't seem to worried about me now.' she thought. 'It doesn't matter. I can win the next two!'
Taryn stood waiting for the race to begin, still seething about losing stickball.
Amy walked up with everyone else following her, all chatting excitedly about Amy's first win.
Taryn and Amy stepped right up the start line drawn on the grass, as the others settled down to watch.
"No dumb luck to save you this time, just skill." Taryn smiled, evilly at Amy.
Amy just shrugged, but Taryn's words did seem to worry her.
"OK this is boring," Afton said, "1,2,3, go!"
Taryn made a wild dash for the finish line. It was a very short race, it was over in a heart beat.
When Taryn finished, she turned to see where Amy was.
A few steps from the start line, Amy apparently had tripped, and was now laying on her face.
"I win!" Taryn cried excitedly, not that she didn't expect that or anything.
Everyone was, once again, gathering around Amy asking if she was all right.
No one congratulated Taryn.
"I win?" she said again. A question.
It didn't feel like she'd won.
Taryn stood waiting for Amy to show up for the last event.
'My last chance to win my family back. After tonight, Amy will be gone! Gone!' Taryn stood contemplating those wonderful words.
Amy finally appeared from the house. No one came with her, on Taryn's request.
"Hey, Tara. Um, why can't any o' the other watch this event?" Amy asked. She looked a little apprehensive.
"Because Charlie would probably report me to Megan for reckless endangerment if she knew what we're doing." Taryn mumbled.
"What exactly are we doing?" Amy asked,her eyes growing wide.
"Tree climbing." Taryn said, pointing to the branches towering above the dolls heads.
Amy gulped as she looked up to the top of the tree. "Aw' the way up thar?"
"Yep," Taryn replied, "All the way up, all the way down. I'll go first."
Taryn put her hands on the trunk. This her last chance to prove she was better.
Amy had won the first game by chance, the second, she as good as won.
"Um, you ready?" Amy asked.
"Yes." Taryn said, taking a deep breath.
"OK, um, go."
Taryn was to the first branch in a matter of seconds. She knew she had to set an unbeatable time.
Not long after, Taryn leaned against the trunk, panting.
"What's - my - time?"
"Uh, 20 seconds." Amy said, not understanding the importance of those words.
"Wha - but - that - that's a new record!" Taryn cried, "Top that!"
Amy looked up the tree again as she placed her hands on the trunk.
"1,2,3, GO!" Taryn cried.
Amy hesitated a moment then began climbing.
Amy was a few seconds behind Taryn when she reached the first branch.
She was doing OK, until,
She stepped on the stub of a branch that Taryn knew was rotten.
"Amy!" she cried, too late.
Amy screamed as she fell, landing on her back.
Taryn just hoped she hadn't been high enough to hurt herself.
"Amy, are you OK?!" Tarn ran towards her, but before Taryn reached her, Amy jumped up and ran away. Taryn, feeling very confused, followed her.
Taryn found her leaning up against the shed, and she was crying.
"Um, what's up?" Taryn asked leaning beside her.
Amy replied, without a trace of an accent, "I - I'm terrified of heights. I also hate sports, I've never played volleyball in my life, and I was jealous of you."
"Um, I think I need this story from the beginning." Taryn said, "I'm confused."
Amy sighed, "I'm Amelia Woodhouse, I like Disney princesses, mermaids and My Little Pony. I'm 7 and 1/2 and I'm terrified of heights."
"You're 7 and 1/2? I thought you were like 15! And why would you be jealous of me?" Taryn asked.
"Wh - why? Because your family loves you so much!" Amy exclaimed.
"Really?" Taryn asked.
"Yes. Where I used to live I was the first doll, just like you, More dolls kept coming and all of us were different. Until this one doll comes and she was exactly like me but...better. Everyone loved her...everyone forgot about me. Well, my human put up an ad, 'Old, beat up, Maplelea doll for parts'. When I heard I was coming here, I looked you guys up on the internet and I found this super cool blog about your family."
Taryn was surprised, 'Our family is on the internet?" but Amy was still talking, "I thought if I were like everyone's favorite doll, your family would like me and I could stay."
"Um, who's everyone's favorite doll?" Taryn asked.
"You, of course." Amy smiled.
"I'm so sorry I tried to replace you." Amy sniffed, "I just wanted a family."
Taryn put her hand on Amy's shoulder, "If you want them to love you, you need to be you."
"You - but - I lost. I'm leaving, remember?" Amy said.
"Um, I may have over reacted, just a little. Let's go tell Megan to cancel that ad and introduce the real Amelia to the others." Taryn said.
Amelia smiled and stood up to leave, but Taryn didn't move.
"Um, you coming?" Amelia asked.
"How did you do it?" Taryn asked.
"What? Pretend to be you?" Amy smiled.
"No. How do you do that southern accent?"
The End