Jon sighed, "All right, I'll trust you for now. But I'm bailing the first time that door knob jiggles."
Karyn Doll smiled knowingly, "Deal. Now, just wait here a minute. I want to set something up first."
"Do what."
"Just wait here until I call you. It won't be long." Karyn pushed Jon onto the stairs where he couldn't see the first floor dollhouse. She slipped out of sight and Raggedy Jon heard things moving around, cupboards opening and closing, and after a minute, "OK!"
Jon stepped onto the landing and looked around the rooms. This floor had a Victorian design with heavy curtains and dark floral patterns. The kitchen was to his left, behind a wall dressed in purple flowers.The den on the opposite side of the house had several thick chairs and couches wrapped in blue cloth. He could see the wrap around front porch through thin windows.
Karyn sat directly in front of the front door at a small round table, her chin resting on a bored cloth arm. The table was set with a tea kettle and cups as well as several plates with plastic food on them. She stared into the far distance outside the dollhouse.
Jon moved a little toward her, not understanding. Then she snapped her cloth head toward the rag doll and acted as if she didn't know he had appeared.
"Oh! I didn't think you were coming. It feels like I've been sitting here for an hour." She stood up and offered her mitten to Jon's, "I'm Gwendolyn, but everyone calls me Lynn." Jon shook her cloth hand with his own, but held his body back warily.
"Hi, I'm . . . Jon."
The witch doll's nose wrinkled somehow, "That's a funny name for a rag doll." She said, but motioned to a seat on the opposite side of the table, "Please sit down." Jon did as she was told, almost forgetting to smooth her blue skirt as she sat. Karyn, or Lynn, plopped onto her seat. "Would you like some tea?" She took the kettle and poured into her cup. Nothing came out. Jon shook her head, sending her red tails flopping.
"I was a little worried," Lynn said, whiffing in the aroma of her imaginary tea, "when my owner told me she wanted to send me on a blind date. These sorts of things never seem to work out."
"Yeah, I, uh, know what you mean." Jon looked out the windows, noting he had an almost perfect view of the door passed the bed. He imagined it opening and one of Karyn's family looking right at him. He shivered.
"Anyway," Karyn said, sipping from her white plastic cup, "let's get the basics over first. My name is Gwendolyn, like I said, and I'm a witch. As if you couldn't tell." She motioned to her black dress and striped tights. "I've been owned by Miss Karyn since she wasn't much bigger than we are now. We had such great times together, until she turned thirteen I think it was and started discovering boys." She sighed and looked around the lovely house, "This is the first time she's brought me out in years." The rag doll turned to Jon, "What about you? What's your story?"
Jon froze for a moment, froze more than he would if he really was a doll. He didn't know if this was some kind of act, or if the real Lynn had come out to play. He also didn't know if he should play along. Most of all, he didn't know of some human would come into the room and decide to play . . .
