Louisa Runs Away

 Louisa snapped her book shut.  She was reading a riviting story.  In the story, the little girl ran away.  She even took a train!  She found it to be an interesting idea.  Maybe she should run away, too!

She turned to tell Clarence her great idea.  But he seemed to be asleep in his chair.  He always fell asleep when she read aloud to him.  She patted him on his fluffy head.  He quietly mooed in his sleep.  Louisa wondered if he was dreaming about grazing in lush green grass.

Time to get ready!

She hopped up and grabbed a backpack off the dresser.  Which was no easy feat because she had to climb the dresser first.  That's one thing that was true about all the dolls in this family.  They were all good climbers.

After she got the backpack, she put her curly hair back in a ponytail.  She didn't want her hair in her face while she was running away. 

She picked up Scooter, assuming he would want to come along and made her way out the bedroom door.

Passing through the dining room, she waved to Mommy.  'Bye, Mommy!' she called in a cheery voice.

Mommy said, 'Bye, Louisa,' then said, 'hang on' and looked over to where Louisa was walking past the table.  'Louisa, where do you think you're going?' Mommy asked.

'I'm running away!' Louisa chirped.  Mommy was familiar with this notion.  She was a little girl once, too.  'Ok, well have fun,' Mommy replied.

Louisa walked on.  She went through the kitchen toward the back door.  Daddy was in the laundry room laying new floor.

'Bye, Daddy!' Louisa said, happily and gave him a wave.  She thought she was really on to something here.

'Bye, Louisa,' said Daddy without looking up.  Then he heard the back door opening.  'Wait, Louisa, where are you going?' he inquired, sounding a bit worried.  He wasn't accustomed to seeing Mommy's dolls wandering out the doors.

'I'm running away,' Louisa said, happy to be telling someone else her idea.

'Ok, well be careful,' said Daddy, and he watched her go out the back door.  'Honey,' he called out to Mommy.  'Were you aware that Louisa is running away?'  'Yes,' Mommy called back, 'let her go.'  Daddy shrugged and went back to working on the flooring.  He assumed Mommy had things in hand.  She knew the dolls better than he did.

Once Louisa was on the back porch, she wasn't sure what to do.  The back yard was big.  It would take a doll all day to get to the side gate which led to the front and up the driveway.  And by the time she even got to the gate, what would she do then?  The gate latch was way too high for her to reach.  She could climb the dressers and shelves, but she'd never climbed a gate before.  And what about the driveway.  It would take her all night (after the daytime crossing of the yard) to get up the driveway.  She didn't know what was beyond that so her thoughts stopped there.

She put her backpack down and placed Scooter next to it, telling him to 'stay'.  Placing her hands on the rung of the rocking chair, she climbed up and scooted her vinyl bottom all the way to the back of the chair.  This is how Mommy found her.

About 10 minutes after Louisa left, Mommy thought it was time to go get her.  Especially seeing as she hadn't come back on her own.  She got up and passing Daddy, who was still a bit perplexed, went through the back door.  Louisa was sitting on the rocking chair.  She looked a little lost.

  Mommy sat on the porch, next to the chair as Louisa scooted back up to the edge.  They sat quietly for a while.  Then Mommy spoke.

'Louisa, why did you run away?'

'Because the girl in my story did it and I thought it was a fun idea,' replied the little doll.

'You can't do everything you read in books,' replied Mommy.

'Why not?'

'Some things are dangerous,' said Mommy.  'And some things are even impossible.  Some things are just a writer's imagination and can't be done.  Running away is very dangerous.  You could get lost or hurt or stolen.  And in this hot sun, you could even melt if you were out for too long.'

'I didn't know,' said Louisa, suddenly alarmed.  'I'm sorry, Mommy.'

Mommy chuckled.  'I ran away once,' she said.

Louisa's mouth tried to form a little O but since her mouth didn't move, she reached out and took Mommy's hand instead.  'You did, Mommy?  What happened?'

Mommy smiled wistfully.  'I was younger than you, though not so small.  I was angry, but I don't remember why.  I packed a little suitcase and walked out of the house.  Like you, I didn't know where to go, so I went to a little hideout I had between two tall cedar trees.  I put the suitcase at the bottom and climed up as high as I could go.  I sat up there and cried for a little while.'  She paused.

'Did your mommy find you?' asked Louisa.

'Yes.  A little while later, my mommy came out and called up the tree.  She said it was time for dinner but I told her I was running away.  She said it would be hard to eat dinner up in the tree.  She said I'd get spaghetti in my hair.'  Mommy laughed and so did Louisa.

'Did you go home?' Louisa wanted to know.

'Yes.  My mommy loved me very much and I could never leave her because I loved her very much, too.  And I love you very much.  And I would hope you would want to stay here with me because you love me, too.'

'I do, I do!' Louisa cried.  'I promise I will never run away again, Mommy!  I don't think I really understood what it meant.  If it means leaving my family, I'm not interested!'

'I'm glad, Louisa,' replied Mommy helping her off the chair.  Louisa scooped up Scooter and gave him a little kiss.  'Now let's see what you packed for your journey,' Mommy said opening her backpack.  It was completely empty.

'I didn't know what to pack.  I've never run away before,' Louisa said with a little giggle.  Mommy laughed and scooped her up and with a kiss and a snuggle brought her back inside the house, past a smiling, working Daddy (he'd heard everything) and into the bedroom.  She placed her back on her bean bag chair and gave her her book.  Scooter hopped out of her arms and snuggled in next to Clarence who was snoring gently in his sleep.  Mommy put the backpack away and told Louisa that she wanted her to talk to her if she ever read anything that gave her ideas on a new adventure, or if she had any questions.  Louisa promised she would.

Mommy left and Louisa sat back, holding her book.  She was tired from today.  It scared her a little bit about how close she came to leaving her family.  She would definitely ask Mommy or one of her sisters next time she read something like this.  She daydreamed for a little while about Mommy taking her on an adventure beyond the gates.  She looked over at Clarence and listened to him rumbling.  She wonderered what big advanture he was dreaming about.

We hope you enjoyed our story!

Love Aria 💘