Cathy's Creative Corner: The Ugliest Doll
Joy is a typical little girl. She loves playing with her vast array of dolls. She has Barbie dolls, Disney princesses, Cabbage Patch Kids and other brand dolls. They range in height from 12-inch Barbies to 32-inch “life-size” walker dolls. Over the years, Joy’s mom has managed to acquire tables and chairs to accommodate the various sizes so everyone can attend the weekend tea parties. Good thing Joy doesn’t have to share her bedroom with siblings because the doll tables, beds and houses take up one side of the room. There’s a table for two for the walkers, the perfect picnic table for the four Cabbage Patch Kids and five more tables for the rest of the girls. So far, Joy only prefers girl dolls. She thinks the male action figure soldiers and intergalactic travelers would be bored at her tea parties.
Not only are the dolls seated by size, Joy also seats them by characteristics. The walkers could almost pass for twins with the exception of hair color. The Cabbage Patch Kids are all young toddlers. The princesses are royal and glamorous. However, the Barbies have more diverse interests. There are beach lovers, schoolgirls, fashionistas. The mom-looking Barbies usually help Joy serve. And then there’s Apple Annie.
Apple Annie doesn’t fit in with any of the other dolls. She’s not as tall as the walkers but bigger than the Cabbage Patch crew. She’s also ceramic and has to be handled with care. A lot of people say Annie is ugly because of her distorted face. Joy has a story behind that. She says Annie loves apples! All kinds of apples! Especially Granny Smiths, which are said to be the sourest and tartest of all apples. While munching on a Granny Smith one day, Annie’s face froze as she was puckered up and squinting. Joy calls her Apple Annie in hopes that other people can make the connection and not just think she’s an ugly doll. Joy keeps Annie seated nearby in her miniature recliner. She likes to keep it tilted back so the ceramic doll doesn’t fall forward possibly damaging her face. Others may think that would be an improvement in her looks, but Joy loves Annie just the way she is.
“Joy, here’s a fresh batch of brownies for you and the girls,” her mom exclaims as she enters the room. “And they are mouthwatering if I must say so myself!” The tray has varying sizes of brown construction paper brownies to accent the size of the dolls. It also has two homemade chewy fudge brownies for Joy.
“Oh, Mom, they look delicious!” She takes the tray, pinches off a piece of one of hers and places the rest of it in front of Apple Annie.
Trice Hickman Hayes
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“Why’d you give Annie that real one?” Joy’s mom asked.
“Because she’s picky, and if she doesn’t eat it all, I’ll just reach over and finish it off.”
“She’s special to you, isn’t she? I’ve always wondered why,” probed mom.
“Because I know how she feels. She doesn’t fit in with the other dolls because they have pretty smiles and pretty faces and like to do things pretty people do. Apple Annie likes to be around me because I accept her as she is. And she likes me and understands me when other people can’t. She doesn’t look at me crazy when my speech turns into garble without me knowing.”
Joy has been in speech therapy since pre-kindergarten. She had to be trained to use her lips, tongue and the muscles in her mouth and throat to make the right sound. Even though the other children interacted with Joy, they didn’t understand her problem. They deemed her strange. Accordingly, Joy always felt like she didn’t fit in. Although her speech has greatly improved after three years of therapy, when she gets excited, her speech can become unintelligible. A fact she doesn’t realize until she notices people’s puzzled looks. She can relate to Apple Annie’s experience of always being called ugly. Strange versus ugly, which one is worse?
“So, how’s the brownie?” Joy asks Annie. “I can tell from the twinkle in your eye you like it.”
