A Change of Pace - short story

I've been working on some other projects (as in my moving of late I've misplaced my October's Child notebook!) This is a short story I've just completed. Hope you like it!

China Doll

The doll was sitting in the window of the op-shop as Trish past it in her lunch hour. For some reason it grabbed her attention. Perhaps it was because of the colour of its clothing, or the expression on the doll’s face. Whatever the reason, Trish went inside and asked about it. “Oh, it came in earlier this week, Lass” the shop assistant replied, “It has quite a story, you know.” Trish didn’t and the interest she expressed encouraged the assistant to go on. “There was an elderly woman who frequented the store. She had been a missionary in Singapore in the 50s and 60s, and then married a diplomat and lived in Singapore till her husband retired about 20 years ago. She was what you’d call an eccentric, I suppose. She’d bring the most marvellous things into the shop, you wouldn’t believe. Collected from all of her travels over Asia. Oh she had stories to tell all right! The things those diplomatic types got up to….” The woman paused and Trish encouraged her to go on. “Well, they hosted all kinds of diplomats and important people in their home, and the guest usually brought gifts from their countries. Vera collected dolls and once it was common knowledge the guests would often bring dolls in traditional costume, and so forth. She said she had over 60 dolls at one point. Anyhow, it was strange, because she never had any children, so her doll collection came to be known as Mrs Spencer’s daughters.” Trish found a stool and brought it to the register, settling down for the tale.

Well, one summer there was a terrible cyclone and their roof was clear ripped off in the night. Most of the dolls either blew away or were ruined. Vera was devastated, but she found this one buried under a shelf when they were clearing out the room and it was undamaged. So, after that she treasured this doll above all the others. It had pride of place in her collection. She even told me that she packed her up among her belongings when they went on their tours, so the doll has seen much of Asia. Trish looked at her watch and gasped, “oh dear, I must get back to the office, I’d love to hear more about Vera and her dolls though.” She rose and replaced the stool. “Well, dear, I’m here every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. It’s rarely busy, so come in anytime and I’ll gladly fill you in.” Trish thanked her and made to leave the shop, “oh, and don’t sell the doll, I’ll buy it next time.”

Trish had to work through her lunch break the next day, so it wasn’t until the next Monday that she was able to visit the shop again. She picked up a sandwich and went straight to the shop, pulling up the stool and settling down beside the register. “I don’t think I introduced myself last time,” Trish said, “My name is Trish.” She held out her hand and the shop assistant shook it warmly, “lovely to meet you Trish, my name is Elsie. You didn’t come last Thursday.” Trish explained that she had to work through her lunch break sometimes and entreated Elsie to continue with the story. “Well,” Elsie began, “where did we leave off last time… that’s right, Vera and the little doll saw much of Asia.” She went to the window and collected the doll. She placed it on the counter and continued the story. “Gradually Vera rebuilt her doll collection. Many of her friends sent new dolls when they heard how her collection had been destroyed, and visiting dignitaries continued to bring dolls to add to it. She had special display cabinets built to protect the dolls and even had shades installed to protect them from fading in the bright, tropical sun. She still favoured this little doll above all the others, no matter how valuable, unique or precious, her new ones were. They were all labelled and catalogued, and she even insured the entire collection. It came to be well known, and visitors, especially little girls, would always ask to see them when they came. She was very proud of her collection and would show it off to anyone who even showed the slightest interest. She remembered how she had acquired each doll, or who had given it to her.” Trish leaned forward, “how did she come by this one? She asked. “Oh yes, that’s a lovely story, and perhaps another reason why it was her favourite.

Remember how I told you that she didn’t have any children?” Trish nodded. “Well, she had been pregnant, early on in her marriage, and her little sister had sent her the doll to wish her well. Unfortunately she miscarried a few months later and the subsequent surgery meant she was never able to conceive again.” Trish sighed, “Oh, that’s so sad.” Elsie’s eyes were moist, but she didn’t cry, though her voice trembled slightly, “Yes, I know that Vera would have dearly loved to have a real daughter, or even a son, but she was never lonely and often entertained children of friends and family. Her sister was living in nearby Singapore at the time, that is where the doll is from, and she would often send her children to holiday with their Aunt in Indonesia during their breaks from school. The children all loved to spend their holidays with Vera in Jakarta and she was a great favourite among them. Vera would take them shopping, or out to see the sights. They would go for picnics, or swimming in a waterhole. It was always reported to be a great lark to stay with Aunt Vera. She too treasured time with her nephews and nieces. No doubt indulging them far more than they deserved. She would even allow her niece to help her with the doll collection. In fact, it was her niece that brought the dolls to Australia, but no doubt I’ll have to leave that story for another time. You’ll have to be getting back to the office.” Trish reluctantly agreed that her lunchtime was over and replaced the stool where it usually sat. She also placed the doll back in the window. Just as she was about to leave, Elsie asked if she would like to visit her to hear the rest of the story. Trish agreed and they made a time for the following evening, after work.

Accordingly, on Tuesday evening, Trish picked up a cake from the shops after work and made her way to Elsie’s place. Following the directions Elsie had given her the previous day. She found it without difficulty and rang the doorbell. Elsie answered the door and ushered her guest inside. The kettle had just boiled and Elsie made them a pot of tea, also cutting several slices of the cake Trish had brought and placing it on a pretty dish. They took their afternoon tea into the front room and both settled down to continue the tale. Trish noticed that there was real art on the walls and plenty of photographs, but she was too keen to hear the continuation of the tale to ask Elsie about them. “You were going to tell me how the dolls came to Australia,” she reminded Elsie. “Oh, yes, so I was. I’m afraid it’s not altogether a happy tale, though,” she began. “I have already told you that Vera and her husband did a lot of travelling. They often had to attend meetings, visit other dignitaries, or even just for social reasons. Well, on one such occasion, they had reason to be in India. This would have been in the early 1960s. Although Vera’s husband had been to the subcontinent before, Vera had not, so they made time to see some of the sights, while they were there. Vera even found another doll for her collection. Well, they were returning from a daylong tour of some temple, or other and the bus they were travelling on had a terrible accident. It was full of foreign tourists like Vera and her husband, but only a couple of people survived. The driver, and most of the passengers perished.” Trish gasped, “Oh, that’s awful. It must have been big news.” Elsie nodded, sadly, “yes, I believe it was. Anyway, the bodies were returned to their native Melbourne, and most of the luggage returned here too. Vera’s sister and her family had already returned to Melbourne the previous year, so it fell to her to organise much of the funeral arrangements. Vera’s husband was an only child and didn’t have much family.”

“It came about that Vera’s entire doll collection went to her favourite niece, ‘who had assisted her so faithfully’, it said in the will. It was quite a large collection, and cost quite a lot to send from Jakarta. Trish butt in then, “and how did it come to the shop? Surely Vera’s niece wouldn’t sell her Aunt’s most precious doll?” Elsie laughed, “I am Vera’s niece. I’ve been looking after the dolls for years. I can even show you the rest of the collection. The doll hasn’t really been for sale though.” She said with a twinkle in her eye. Trish looked intrigued, “it hasn’t?” Elsie shook her head, “No, I was just waiting for the right person to ask about it, and then I would know who to pass the collection on to.” Trish was incredulous, “but surely you would pass the collection on to someone in your family?” Elsie looked a little sad, as she replied, “no, none of my children, nieces or grandchildren have ever really expressed enough interest. I couldn’t bear to have the collection just sold off or neglected. No I either wanted to find a new owner, who would look after them properly, or donate them to a museum.” Trish got up, “well, I guess you had better show me the rest of the collection then.” Elsie also got up slowly and linked her arm in Trish’s, “this way my dear, this way,” and she led her to a little room at the end of the hallway.