"Ivy! Ivy! Ivy! Wake up! You've been sleeping forever!" Mia shouted. Her voice was far too loud for Ivy to simply ignore. Ivy let out a groan and rolled over.
"Leave me alone. I'm tired. Besides, we have a break. I don't need to do anything today. Just let me sleep in for once, Mia!"
"But you'll miss all the fun!"
"Sleeping is fun."
"Sleeping is boring!"
"I don't care."
"Come on, Ivy! I have so many games planned for today," Mia said. Ivy forced her eyes open. Mia's face was glowing with excitement. What an annoying little ray of sunshine she was. But Mia's smile was just something that Ivy was incapable of saying no to.
"You aren't the boss of me," Ivy whined.
"Oh yes, I am! You have to listen to me!"
"Nope. You're the one who has to listen to me, Mia. Do you know what will happen to you if you don't listen to me?"
"What?" asked Mia. Ivy grinned.
"You'll be tickled!" Before Mia had time to run, Ivy grabbed the child and began to tickle her without mercy.
"Ah! Let me go, Ivy! Let me go!" squealed Mia.
"Mawhahahahaha! The tickle monster has conquered you!" They were both laughing now. Ivy's sides hurt from the sheer force of laughing. For a moment, Ivy just closed her eyes and held Mia tightly. There was nothing for her to be afraid of. She had everything that she needed right here in her arms and there was no threat of losing Mia today. Ivy savored the moment of peace. There was no trace of fear or worry on Mia's face. She looked as happy with life as she had looked on the day when Ivy had first met her.
That was a day that Ivy would never forget. From the moment that Ivy had laid eyes on Mia, she had known that Mia was special. That precious little smile had said it all. Of all the dolls in this city, Mia was probably one of the youngest. She couldn't hurt Ivy in any way. All that she could give Ivy was love and affection.
"Can we play some games this morning?" Mia asked softly.
"Sure. What games do you want to play?"
"I have a whole list of games! Maybe Ruby and Blossom would also like to play them with us! Come on, Ivy!" Mia grabbed her hand and dragged the sleepy Ivy out of bed and into the hall. There she nearly walked right into an equally sleepy Ruby.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Wow, careful, Ruby!"
"Sorry, I'm a little out of it today," laughed Ruby. "It's so quiet now. Where is everyone?"
"They're probably hanging out in the streets, talking to other dolls. The whole city kind of turns into one giant party during the breaks," explained Ivy.
"Really? Well, that sounds amazing!"
"Come on, Ruby! Let’s find Blossom and play some games!" Mia chirped.
The streets were indeed very crowded. It took them quite a bit of looking around before they found Blossom. The sun shone brightly down on the happy dolls whose laughter and talking filled the air. Up above the buildings, the sky was deep, pure blue. There wasn't any darkness in the city today. Everything seemed to reflect that sense of peace back to Ivy.
She slowed her pace and just took a few moments to savor how wonderful everything was. Ivy felt Mia let go of her hand and pull away. For a moment she felt that familiar fear well up in her. But things were safe now. There was no battle. Mia could go wherever she liked.
"Stay close, Mia! Don't wander too far away!" called Ivy.
"Don't worry, I won't!" Pretty soon, Ivy could see Mia laughing and talking with a group of younger dolls who were closer to her age. But Ivy knew that it was only a matter of time before Mia came running back to Ivy, begging to play hide-and-seek.
"She's adorable," Ruby said.
"She's an adorable pain in the neck. But she looks like she's having fun. That's good. It's probably good for her to spend more time with girls her age. She won't grow any bigger, and there are only a few other dolls who are as young as she is," said Ivy.
"There you two are!" Ruby and Ivy turned to see Blossom smiling at them. "I was looking for you guys! How are you doing?"
"A little tired," said Ruby. "We worked ourselves half to death, or at least that's how it feels." Blossom flung back her head, laughing.
"It is hard, isn't it?" laughed Blossom.
"It really did take a lot out of me," Ivy admitted. "But it feels good to know that we're helping." Sadness crossed over Blossom's face, tainting her smile.
"Is something wrong?" asked Ruby.
"No." Blossom lowered her voice. "Just remember to be careful, you two."
"Ruby, look at this!" Mia called out. "I found another you!" All three girls turned to see what she was talking about. Next to Mia stood a slightly older-looking doll. She did indeed look similar to Ruby. They must be similar models. The girl smiled and waved at them. "Her name is Rosey and she's my new best friend. She wants to play hide and seek with us! Come on, let's play!" Mia laughed.
"Okay, who should be it?" asked Ivy.
"You! I want you to count to a really, really huge number this time, Ivy! I want you to count all the way up to twenty! Can you do that?" asked Mia. Ivy swallowed her laughter before it could escape.
"Yes, I can."
"Yay!"
"Ivy, at some point I would like to talk to you about something," Blossom whispered.
"Why? Has something happened?"
"No. There are just some things that I think you should know."
"Should I be worried?"
"N-no." Blossom's stutter wasn't really reassuring. But before Ivy could question her further, Mia cut in.
"We're going to hide in teams! Blossom and Ruby, you'll hide together, while Rosey and I will hide together. Start counting, Ivy!" Mia said, hopping from one foot to the other as she spoke.
"Okay, I'm counting now!" Ivy closed her eyes and began to count. She counted as slowly as she could. She did so partly because she wanted to give them more time and partly because she wanted to take a moment to relax her own mind. Soon the game would begin. But this wasn't the deadly, horrifying game of hide and seek that Ivy was used to. This was a harmless, wholesome game. It was everything that a game should be.