Who is Dolly?

Lately, Albert had been feeling that something was amiss. What made him think this? Whenever he was alone on the lower floor, he would feel someone’s gaze staring at him. There were also times at nights when he would hear noises as well. Sometimes talking, sometimes singing, it was unlike a burglar, but more like an unknown guest had taken residence there. Although those were instances that he shook off as nothing, the water pooling in the kitchen seemed to make him more aware of it.

Albert looked at Dolly, who was also drenched with water. He had his suspicions with her, but he also did not want to appear crazy. Of course, the doll stayed still. He sighed then took Dolly and placed her by the stove, far enough to not catch fire, but close enough to dry off. Seeing how Ficus always treated Dolly like she was a human, maybe he should ask her if Dolly really was alive. Albert wrote down a note telling him to visit the shop tomorrow before he wiped the kitchen dry.

On the next day, Albert closed his tavern for the afternoon and began to prepare for his trip. Because he was unsure of how long the excursion would take, he decided to pack a light meal of meat and cheese within a sack that he hung to his belt as well as dress for a long trek. He opened the door to find Leo standing before him, and immediately frowned in disgust.

“Why are you here Leo?”

The nuisance nodded up and down, scanning Albert’s apparel. “Where are you going? Certainly not shopping. Travelling to some nearby lake?”

“Tch—” Albert scoffed. “As if. I need to be somewhere.” He tried to go around Leo.

Leo’s footsteps followed him. “Think I can join you?”

“No.” Albert rejected that suggestion quickly.

“Why not?” Leo implored. “I always drag you along whenever I want, so you can drag me along to whatever you're doing right now.”

Albert halted. “In the first place, you weren’t supposed to drag me along whenever you want, because you were usually on duty. Secondly, I’m not dragging you along if you are willingly coming with me.”

“So I can come along.”

Leo’s line of thought made Albert mentally pause. “No,” he finally said. “Don’t you have to do your job?”

“I just pulled a few strings and said I was hanging out with you,” Leo blatantly spouted.

“Please don’t drag me into your excuses.” Albert started walking away.

Leo went alongside him. “Well, it worked, so I have to hang out with you or else I would be a liar.”

“That’s your problem.”

Albert arrived at the alleyway he had entered the day he was lost and immediately glared at Leo.

“What?” Leo was oblivious to why Albert acted that way.

“Nothing,” Albert replied and headed into the maze.

The pair walked through the alleys until Albert noticed the lack of walls. He checked the returning path to see if they were indeed trapped.

Leo mindlessly followed Albert to a dead end. “Hey, where are we going? Are you lost?”

“Shut up,” Albert snapped. He did not have any good memories of this place, and Leo’s carefree attitude made things worse for him.

Leo booed. “Maybe we should’ve gone to the lake, it’s boring here. All I see are walls.”

Many turns and an underground tunnel later, along with Leo’s ramblings, Albert and Leo reached the shop’s door. The sun was still out and showed no signs of setting anytime soon, indicating that they didn’t take too long to reach the destination. He didn’t even need to eat the meal from his sack.

“Are we there yet?” Leo looked around.

“Yeah,” Albert replied.

The door was there, waiting for them. A handle sticking out and an open sign on it, there was no doubt that they were allowed to enter the shop. Albert turned to Leo.

“Do you want to enter?” he asked.

“No, it looks boring,” Leo answered. “Why did you bring me here? And here I was, thinking that you finally stopped pushing yourself and opened the door to adventures and relaxing.”

“No, but I didn’t bring you here. You followed me,” Albert countered bluntly. “Stay outside if you want.” Without waiting to hear Leo’s reply, he entered the shop.

“Fine,” Leo muttered to Albert’s back. “Maybe I will stay outside,” and he rested his head on the steps to stare at the clouds.

Bells jingled as Albert entered the shop. He could hear a light, mellow sound soothing his ears. Albert looked around the shop and only to discover that the tapping was originating from a wooden wind chime. There was no wind that caused it to play. There was also no one in the shop.

Albert closed his eyes, half expecting Ficus to show up unnoticed like before. He waited for a while, standing there blindly. He stood there for a few minutes before he finally heard faint breathing from the other side of the shop.

It was Ficus, sleeping by the display where Dolly was first located. She was slouched over from her chair onto the counter, resting her head sideways. Her hair, partially draped over her face, quivered with every puff of her breath.

“Hmmm?” Ficus opened her eyes to see an embarrassed Albert who, at the moment, had realized that he had been staring at her for a bit too long.

“Sorry,” Albert averted his eyes.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes awake. With the unexpected situation, Ficus smirked at the unannounced visitor.

“Oh my,” she said, brushing her silky hair behind her ear, revealing her intelligent eyes. They beamed mischievously. “Watching an innocent lady sleep, I don’t suppose you merely stood there.”

“I-I-,” Albert stuttered. “I just recently came in,” he lied.

“What was that?” inquired Ficus, standing up from her seat. She had a smug face. “But I was pretty sure I heard the door opening quite a while ago.”

“If you were conscious when the door opened, then you would know that I didn’t do anything!” he protested.

“Sorry,” laughed Ficus. “Were you perhaps only waiting for me to wake up?”

“Yes,” said Albert, exasperated.

“That’s fine,” she released Albert from the teasing and sat back down in her seat. “So, what did you come here for?”

Ficus stared at Albert. “I’m sorry, I don’t sell travel supplies here,” she apologized.

“You’re wrong about that,” responded Albert. “I didn’t know how long it would take to reach here.”

“What do you mean? It’s only in the city?” Ficus tilted her head in question.

“Well that’s because I walk slowly!” A weak excuse from Albert.

“Aww, you also didn’t bring Dolly, ” Ficus complained, ignoring Albert’s remark. “Though I suppose it’s a good thing because that means you aren’t here to return her. Maybe I should visit her.” She looked at Albert. “Sweet Ales, was it?”

“Yes…” answered Albert.

“Great! I’ll be sure to visit some time soon!” Ficus smiled.

“Ye— Wait, I didn’t come here to tell you about that,” said Albert, suddenly remembering his initial reason why he came to the shop.

“Oh, of course not, how silly of me,” laughed Ficus. “My apologies for being sidetracked. What did you come here for, Mr. Albert?”

Her question skipped to a beat, as if she already knew what Albert was going to ask. Ficus’s lips curled into a smile as if she figured him out.

Albert stammered. “Th- the doll. No, Dolly. Is Dolly alive?” He felt like he was asking a stupid question.

“Well, that’s a difficult question,” pondered Ficus. “What is alive? Why is it that people say a rock cannot be alive but the moment it moves it is considered alive. Is a flame alive? Some people, depending on the context, will answer differently.”

“Please answer the question properly so I can understand.”

“Dolly is only alive if you believe she is alive.”

“Okay… “ said Albert, unsure of what to make of that response.

“Don’t worry,” reassured Ficus. “Dolly is a completely harmless and friendly doll. So please take care of her.”

There it was again. Ficus was treating Dolly as if she were alive. However, Albert felt like he wouldn’t be receiving any clear answers from Ficus. Was she trying to make him think and discover something by himself? Or was she avoiding the questions? He would have to investigate Dolly back at home to find out.

“Well, I suppose now that I know there is no need to worry too much, I should get going.” Albert put on a smiling face.

“Of course, of course,” said Ficus, standing up. “That's fine.” She led Albert to the door.

Outside, Leo had fallen asleep counting the clouds. His body rested in front of the door.

“Bit of a slow day, everyone is sleeping,” remarked Albert when he saw Leo.

Leo woke up to Alberts comment while Ficus stifled a laugh. Lying on the ground, he stared at Ficus, then at Albert.

“Let’s go, Leo,” Albert said as he stepped over Leo’s lying body.

“Oh,” Leo yawned an affirmative response and slowly got up.

“See you later, Ms. Ficus,” Albert bid his farewell.

Ficus waved back. “That ‘later’ is going to be this weekend! I’ll come and visit.”

“Haha,” laughed Albert, weakly. “I’ll try to make space for you then.” He left with Leo, confused about the two and also half asleep, following closely.

Albert was a few houses away when Ficus called after him. “Albert, you know the way here, so you are always welcome to the shop.”

“Thank you,” shouted Albert in response. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

Ficus stared at the two disappear around the corner. “ Sorry Albert, for keeping the fact that Dolly was alive from you. But no sensible person would have taken her if they knew she was alive. I needed a good person to grant Dolly’s only wish. That’s why I had you name her. Giving her a name would make you more connected and attached to her. Her name will shape her identity towards you. Now, Albert, what will Dolly be for you? And what will you be for Dolly?” She closed the door. “Camellia… what a perfect name, yet a bit sad.”

Leo started to become fully awake by the time they reached the main street. “You have a girl?” he whispered to Albert. “When did you have the time to get her? One as beautiful as a goddess to boot.”

“I’m not with her,” Albert flatly rejected Leo’s thought. “We just had some business. That is all.”

Leo was not buying it. “Now, now, it’s no good to be modest when you have such a beauty at your grasp. We’re going to be celebrating.”

“I’m not going.”

“Don’t be like that,” Leo’s face resembled a parent sending away their kid. “WIddle hardworking Albert finally grew up. How can I pass this opportunity?”

“I bet you just want to slack off more,” Albert glared at Leo. “Since I’m going back to the pub, I suggest you go back to your job. The sun is still out.”

“Fine!” Leo stuck out his tongue like a 5-year old. “But this won’t be the last time this topic comes up.” He marched off.

Albert sighed when he reached his home. He took out his keys and unlocked the door. A distinct “bam” could be heard when he opened the door. What greeted him was the sight of the doll falling and face planting onto the counter.

He walked to the doll to investigate, unsure of whether the cause was from the wind or the doll being alive. A quick check up revealed the figure to be fine from the fall. No scratches or chips to be seen. Albert was about to set the doll back down when he felt it start to shake.

Dolly couldn’t hold it back anymore. It hurt when she fell. She had wanted to walk along the counter while Albert was out, but was surprised to suddenly hear the doors unlocking. In her frantic dash back to in between Happy and Fluffy, she had tripped over her feet and landed face first. Unable to contain it, she reduced into wails.

Surprised, Albert dropped Dolly, who fortunately landed onto the plush toys, effectively cushioning her fall. He took a quick step backwards. He certainly was in shock, and it took a while for him to register the fact that Dolly was, indeed, alive. Moreover, she was crying in front of him. ‘Harmless and friendly’ were the words he remembered Ficus used to describe Dolly. As she sat there, sobbing, Albert decided to maneuver himself in front of her.

“She’s harmless, she’s harmless, she’s harmless,” Albert whispered to himself repeatedly like a mantra as he inched towards Dolly.

Albert had never interacted with many kids in his life. Thus, he did not know how to react to Dolly, who acted very much like a kid. Now that he was in front of her, he shouldn’t back out. There must be something he could do.

Crouching down, he asked her, “Are you okay? It hurts because you fell, right? Can you tell me where it hurts?”

Dolly paused for a bit. She saw Albert looking at her and resumed into bigger wails. “You're not Ficus!” she bawled.

Albert was taken aback. He accepted that he wasn’t an expert at handling kids, but that comment affected him greatly.

“Dolly wasn’t careful. Dolly let Mr. Albert see her move!” continued Dolly.

Albert felt a little better, knowing that the reason for her cries wasn’t entirely his fault. However, it still didn’t solve the current problem. If being seen was her main reason for crying, should he ignore her crying and pretend nothing happened?

Worth a shot. He went to the room in the back and retrieved a handful of ingredients to cook with for his late lunch, early dinner meal. As he was preparing his meal, Dolly began to soften her cries. Her pain from the fall earlier was already gone, but she was still sulking about being seen. Every time Albert peeked a glance towards her, though, Dolly would return to her cries. Seeing how his gaze would raise the volume, Albert eventually ignored her completely.

Albert finished cooking, so he grabbed a chair and sat nearby Dolly. Her sobs were now much smaller. Seeing how Mr. Albert was now peacefully eating a meal, she slowly advanced over towards him in short scuttles. He continued to ignore her, but he did hear her approaching.

“Is Mr. Albert going to send me back?” she asked between light sniffs.

Albert swallowed. “No, I won’t.” He took another spoonful of his meal.

“Really?” she doubted.

“Really,” confirmed Albert.

“Is Mr. Albert not scared of me?”

“No I’m not.” He swallowed again.

She sat down beside him. “What is Mr. Albert eating?”

“Soup with meat, onion, and cheese,” he responded before taking another spoonful and swallowing. “Have you calmed down?” asked Albert, turning his head to face Dolly.

She immediately covered her face. “No…” said Dolly, bashfully looking away.

“What do you need to calm down?” Albert pushed his bowl aside. He didn’t feel like eating anymore.

“Whenever Dolly is sad, Ficus gives Dolly a hug and sings.”

Albert repeated her words in his head before responding. “Well, I can’t sing, so will a hug be fine?”

Dolly meekly nodded, so he reached over and gingerly wrapped his arms around her. It tickled when she nuzzled into him. They stayed in that position.

“Feeling better?” Albert asked after a while.

Dolly nodded again, and Albert relaxed back into his seat. He stared at Dolly. This time, however, Dolly stared back.

“So you go by Dolly?” he questioned.

“Yes! But Dolly likes Camellia as well.” Her response was bright. It seems that Dolly was no longer sulking.

“Okay, but which one do you want to be called?” Albert felt like he was interrogating her.

Unaware, Dolly carefully pondered before answering. “Dolly wants Mr. Albert to call me whatever he wants.”

“I’ll continue calling you Dolly then, and drop the ‘Mr.,’ it makes me feel old.”

“Okay…” Dolly’s response seemed to have dropped a beat.

“Did you want me to call you Camellia?” Albert caught on quickly.

“Yes,” She answered while looking at the ground.

Albert stared at Dolly with a questioning look on his face. “Then why didn’t you say so when I asked?”

“I didn’t want to upset Albert and be sent back.”

Apparently she still held onto that idea. Albert put his hands to his face and tilted his head back to hide his expression. Dolly flinched.

“I’m not going to send you back,” he finally said.

“But what if Albert realizes dolls shouldn’t move or talk?” she asked.

“Yeah, I already know dolls shouldn’t move or talk,” stated Albert. “I’m still not going to return you. Unless, of course, you want to go back.”

“You promise?” she continued to ask.

“I promise,” he confirmed.

“Okay,” Dolly smiled. “Camellia misses shop, but Camellia also enjoys helping Albert during the night, so Dolly wants to stay.”

So it was Dolly that made the mess. Albert patted Dolly on the head. “I appreciate the effort, Dolly, but maybe you should help me out when I am watching. So not at night.”

Dolly giggled. “Okay.” Her happiness clearly showed on her face.

Albert stood up and stretched. “Now that we have that out of the way, let’s call it a day. I haven’t had this long of a break before, so I will sleep.” Looking at Dolly, he said ”You can start helping tomorrow.” His smile was genuine.

“Okay!” said Dolly, excitedly.

“You’re fine sleeping here right?” Albert asked. The question of whether dolls sleep or not crept at the back of Albert’s mind.

“Yes,” she responded. Apparently, they do sleep. She leapt into Happy and Fluffy and snuggled into the plushies. “Dolly will now sleep. Because sleeping makes tomorrow come quicker!”

“Is that so? Then, good night, Camie.” 

"Camie?" Dolly tilted her head.

"It's short for Camellia. I thought it suited you more," Albert explained. "Do you not like it?"

Dolly smiled and giggled. "Okay! Camie likes it a lot."

Albert headed up the stairs.

“Good night!” Dolly called after him.

That night, Dolly, no, Camie had her best sleep since she arrived at Sweet Ales.