Mischievous Merilwen

Well, the excitement continues around here. What a week it has been! This week's excitement, however, has nothing to do with our person's pending wedding.

Instead, it has to do with one of Miss Merriweather's more....active...students, Merilwen. Merilwen is a half-elven doll companion. A little girl with a quick smile, a friendly demeanor, a cheerful outlook...and a turn toward mischief. Don't get me wrong, Merilwen is a good child, it just seems that trouble tends to find her (or she finds it) on quite a regular basis.

The trouble began with a predicted first snow fall. We were all so hoping to see snow at last! The girls at Miss Merriweather's academy were fairly bursting with excitement. They gazed longingly out the window to catch sight of the year's first snow.
However, no snow appeared. In fact, it was rather sunny. Merilwen was all in favor of going on a hunt for the snow, thinking it must be hiding somewhere. But it was a bit too cold and too close to evening for little companions to be out and about. The other students reluctantly settled down to homework and other evening activities....but not Merilwen.

She got it in her head that it was not too late or too cold for a quick adventure. She tried to convince Nissa and Nim, the pixie and fairy students, to join her in a brief excursion outdoors. Nissa and Nim refused and tried to talk some sense into Merilwen. They didn't succeed.

Defeated, Merilwen wandered off to try to convince Sarah and Betsy to join her. She didn't meet with any success there either. She sadly drifted about the academy...or so the other girls thought. As soon as Merilwen was out of sight of the other girls (and Ms. Merriweather), she slipped on her coat and muff and then slipped right out of the mail slot (the dolly door as we like to call it). Once outside, Merilwen delighted in the brisk air and freedom. At first, she searched for snow near the house. But then she saw a lovely red cardinal and chased after it for a bit. One thing led to another, and soon Merilwen was quite lost. The poor dear tried to find her way back, but night had fallen and she realized she was a very small doll lost in a very big, dark, cold world. She continued trying to find her way back, only to slip and tumble down a large hill. Bumped and bruised, the poor darling simply sat and wept in despair.

Fortunately for Merilwen, it didn't take long for Miss Merriweather to find out she was missing. Miss Merriweather had called the girls together to check on their homework progress and to settle them in for the night. She called several times for Merilwen, with no luck. After searching the house, she noticed some rather worried looks from the other girls.

Miss Merriweather had the sinking feeling Merilwen had went out to find snow. The other girls didn't like the idea of snitching on their friend, for Merilwen...despite her mischief....was indeed a good friend. Miss Merriweather quickly explained to the girls the dangers of a little doll being lost in the cold darkness and it didn't take long for them to tell what they knew.

Miss Merriweather and Master Elrond went out in search of Merilwen. It didn't take long to find her. She hadn't made it out of our own yard yet, but in the cold and dark, and being very frightened after her tumble, Merilwen didn't even realize she was not far from home.

Master Elrond and Miss Merriweather made short work of bringing Merilwen back home. Miss Merriweather helped the sobbing girl take off her coat and muff.

She went to fix Merilwen some nice hot tea while our resident healer, Master Elrond, made sure there was no lasting damage. Aside from some minor bumps and bruises, our mischievous little half-elf was fine; however, she would not stop crying. Master Elrond was rather puzzled, since Merilwen was safe and warm now.

In the meanwhile, Miss Merriweather reassured the other girls that their friend would be fine,

before bringing Merilwen a cup of hot tea.

Merilwen continued to sob. Ms. Merriweather gently asked her what was wrong? Was she still afraid? Hestitantly, Merilwen confided that she had lost her little yarn doll out in the dark and was terribly worried about her. She was afraid Ms. Merriweather might leave the doll outdoors since such a naughty little girl might not deserve to have a doll anymore. Ms. Merriweather hugged Merilwen tight and assured her that she would most definitely not be without her yarn doll. Our English governess was ready to march right out into the cold again after the doll, but Master Elrond intervened.

Finally, reunited with her doll, warmed, and surrounded by love, Merilwen was ready to give into exhaustion.
Miss Merriweather tucked her into bed, confident Merilwen wouldn't be wandering about anymore this particular night.

The next morning, Merilwen was fit as a fiddle as we used to say in my day. And....Master Elrond and Miss Merriweather kept her quite busy the rest of the week...leaving little time for further mischief....at least for now.

If you are interested in more of Merilwen's past escapades, you are welcome to read her very own journal:

http://merilwensmusings.blogspot.com/

The Ring

Well, when last I wrote, we companions were settling in for a nice, quiet, Christmas Eve...but, little did we know the evening would be more exciting, and more worrisome, than we ever imagined.


I had left the festivities at Hitty House for a few minutes to check on things from my usual look- out point on the entertainment center in the living room. From there, I can gaze out the window as well as observe the goings on of the household.

In looking out the window, I saw my person's beau coming up the front walk. The Dangerous Dogs must have sensed him too, since they began the most ear shattering barking and howling. That is the greeting they reserve for people they know and like. I won't go into their reaction to strangers or people they dislike, lest I digress into a whole blog on the uncivilized behavior of Dangerous Dogs.

I have accompanied my person and her beau (secretly...in my person's purse or pocket) on many outings over the past several months. After all, it is only proper to have a chaperone on such outings and I felt myself the logical choice for the job since I like tagging along with my person anyway.

I must admit, I approve of my person's beau. He is a nice, old-fashioned sort...just the type of person a Hitty admires.

On Christmas Eve, however, my person's beau seemed rather nervous if I do say so. He came in the house and sat beside my person in the living room. I was only half-listening to their conversation, having been distracted by the most lovely pair of cardinals at the bird feeder outside the window.

I was abruptly brought back to the conversation, however, when I heard my person's beau say, "....so, I guess what I'm trying to say is....would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?".....as he took a white box out of his pocket.

"WIFE!!!!!!" I exclaimed in shock.Fortunately, most people can't hear dolls even when they shout or shriek in surprise and my person was too busy stammering out things like "Yes!...oh of course!..." and rather rambling on about being so very happy and such as she opened the box and took out a ring.

Both of them were so distracted neither one of them noticed when I fell into a dead faint from shock right were I stood. When I regained consciousness, the house was quiet and there was no sign of my person or her....Fiance. I looked out the window to see they had left in Fiance's car. Left WITHOUT me!!!!! They returned only briefly, quickly leaving again to attend a Christmas Eve party...and now a celebration of engagement too... at Fiance's parents home and then to go to Midnight Mass. I was NOT included in the party or at Midnight Mass.

I was rather dismayed and went to break the news to the other companions.

The house was soon in an uproar. Our person seemed so happy, and Fiance is a nice man....but, we couldn't help but wonder....what would happen now? Would our lives change very much? What if Fiance didn't approve of little dolls and their households ? I had heard our person tell Fiance a bit about "doll collecting" (A term we dislike....we are not stamps, or stones, or thimbles or on the same level as things people usually collect...we are companions. But, we also understand most people wouldn't approve of such a thing as companions and might think our person a bit daft in the head if she described us as we really are. So, we resign ourselves to being a collection for the sake of simple and sane explanation).

Fiance didn't seem bothered by my person's "hobby" (as if we are like socks to be knit, or scrapbooking or some such hobby). But still, he has never shared quarters with doll companions either and he might not approve when it comes right down to it.

Miss Merriweather, Master Elrond and I entered a long discussion about the possibilities of our new roles. Master Elrond was of the opinion that we might expect our person to not pay as much attention to us over the next few weeks in all the excitement, but that if we were patient she would return some of her attention to us soon enough. Miss Merriweather and I were more worried. We know our person loves us dearly, but she has been rather distracted of late and tonight she forgot to even take me along with her. Master Elrond simply chuckled a bit and said our person just needed a bit of time to adjust to all the excitement and he was sure all would be well.

When our person returned home after Midnight Mass, it was quite late. She sat in front of the Christmas tree, silently staring at her new ring glimmering in its light, for quite a long time before retiring. She debated on keeping the ring on all night, but fearing it might be best to be more careful with it, she gently placed it in its box right by her bedside.

After our person fell asleep, we companions sprang into action. We wanted a closer look at this exciting but rather worrying thing. I carefully took the ring for us to better examine.

I have to admit, it was a rather lovely thing...but then, as Master Elrond can attest, so was that ring that caused all the trouble in Lord of the Rings . You know the phrase from the books or movies..."One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." If you are a doll and have ever been shoved in a box and placed in a dark closet and stored for years, you can truly relate to, and fear, that last phrase there. I sincerely hoped this ring of my person's wouldn't mean us companions getting shoved in a dark storage space somewhere...out of sight and out of mind.

Although I didn't really think our person would treat us that way, the ring still symbolized a rather uncertain future. And uncertainty can be a frightening thing...especially for doll companions. After all, we have no control over our own futures. Our lives are in the hands of our people, for better or for worse. It can sometimes be an most unsettling thing to be a doll.
We talked throughout the night, but reached no conclusions. Master Elrond suggested we simply talk to our person about our uncertainty. But, with our person being so happy, we did not wish to intrude upon her joy with our worries. After all, Mehitabel said she had never seen our person so very happy in all the 10 years she has been with her. Who were we to dampen her spirits? But, surely the wedding was a long way off we determined. Why, there was no need to worry at all until much later....surely. I held onto that thought until my person took me with her on a mysterious errand a few days later. When I peeked out of her purse at the shop we had entered...I quickly realized that the time to worry was now....

It seemed that in six months time, our lives would change forever and we would have a Master of the House as well as a Mistress in ....July.

I fainted again, but no one noticed since I was in a purse.

By the time we got home, I had quite recovered. The next two weeks were even more worrisome. My person forgot entirely to take me with her as she rushed off to work. Fiance visited often and he and our person held long discussions about the future. Dolls did not enter the conversation. I know because I kept up an unobtrusive surveillence in the living room (not to be confused with spying).

In general, our person was far too distracted to pay attention to us...too busy looking over wedding books and such when she was not at work (where I was no longer invited).

I grew more worried as the days passed. Master Elrond continued to counsel patience.

Finally, just a few days ago, I was in my surveillence spot and I overheard a conversation that relieved all our worry. My person and Fiance were talking about keeping their hobbies and interests alive after marriage. My person begin talking about us companions (again as a beloved hobby and doll collection...but it was at least it was a start). Before long she took a deep breath and, pointing at me said..."and that is Hitty...she is kind of a....mascot who travels with me" (I'll forgive her calling me a "Mascot" like some silly costumed creature wandering around on a football field, since I understood she had to explain me in terms acceptable to the general public).

My person went on to explain that she enjoyed making miniature costumes for me and that she liked collecting minature things for me in different places. She explained how much she loved having her miniature doll homes in the house and how dolls had been special to her since she was a little girl. I held my breath, as did my person, and waited for Fiance's reply.

He paused a minute before saying, "Well...is she coming with us to the beach?" Fiance and our person plan to visit the ocean for their honeymoon. My person rather embarrassedly admitted I was, but Fiance would not even know I was there. He slowly replied...."Well...I suppose we will need to find some shops to get her some souvenirs."

My person and I both breathed a sigh of relief. Fiance told our person that he could see she really loved her doll hobby and that she must keep her dolls right where they were since they made her so happy.

Our whole household rejoiced! It looks as though we are soon to have a Mistress....and a Master...in our happy home! And, my person is again taking me to work and attending to her companion family now that the initial excitement has died down a bit. She even ordered me a bridesmaid dress in Tea Rose silk. So it looks as if I will be attending my first wedding soon!
Yours Sincerely,

Hitty Rowan