Heya everyone, and welcome to my upload for the Halloween Showcase =]. I was going to enter last year, but alas, I finished the story to late. This year however, I was determined. Hope you enjoy the story!

The Little Doll

As the trees zoomed past me outside the finger-marked car window, casting their eerie jagged shadows through the twilight I asked myself one simple question. Why had grandma moved up to the mountains? Like me she was a social creature, we both craved the big city and the dazzling lights. Yet, for reasons beyond me, she had moved up to a small town in the rocky crags about four hours from where we lived, meaning I didn?t see her much anymore. I hated that. I sighed out impatiently, tapping my knee as I often did when I was bored.

?Come on Jen, I?m sure you can survive a week. I thought you wanted to see your grandmother?? ?Of course I want to see Gee!? I snapped a little shaper then I had meant to, upset that she thought my negativity was at the idea of spending time with her. ?I just, don?t like mountains. Or forests. Or small towns. They creep me out? My mother put her head back in the chair and laughed slightly. ?You always were scared of anything like your typical horror movie. Remember that time you saw a black cat on a Friday the thirteenth??

I ground my teeth as her laughter echoed over the engines tireless grinding. Of course I remembered. Who wouldn?t remember a black cat, jumping off a ladder, which then fell over and smashed a car?s wing mirror on a Friday the thirteenth? ?That cat viciously attacked me? I fumed, feeling my cheeks redden with embarrassment. ?It walked in front of our gate and you nearly had a heart attack!? she laughed again, this time having to stop to wipe away a tear. I huffed, staring out through the forest. ?I still don?t see why she had to move up here.?

?Your grandma used to live here when she was a girl. She thought it would be a good place to set up a permanent shop, being so close to the Capital.? I wondered if mum realised that I already knew that Gee was using this place as a good base for her business, or if she generally thought my brain didn?t hold any logic. We carried on down the road, and eventually passed a wooden sign, informing me we had entered the small town. I squinted through the dusk trying to make it out. Something Hollow. S ? something Hollow. I gasped, sitting up straight in the seat, my belt digging into my shoulder. ?Did that sign say Sleepy Hollow? It did, didn?t it!? My little outburst caused mum to crack up again, rendering her unable to talk until we reached the drive to Gee?s new home.

Her house stood apart from the others in the small hamlet around it, with its own twisting path cutting through the trees, a straight drive running next to it. Mum pulled up to the house and shut off the engine, popping the boot so I could go and get my things. Mum never got out of the car to say goodbye. ?Jennie!? I heard Gee?s voice before I saw her, the excitement cutting through the trees around her. I hadn?t seen Gee for seven whole weeks, and considering I practically grew up in her house, that was a long time.

I got out of the car and virtually fell into her arms, her gentle hands pulling my shoulders in close. ?I missed you Kiddo,? she said, smiling. ?I missed you to Gee? I smiled back; her much-used grin was infectious. I got the rest of my stuff out of the boot and then turned back to face mum. ?Bye? I said, pecking her on the cheek. Gee did the same, and then we both stood to wave her off. ?I?ll be back in a week? She said, putting the car into gear. ?Make it two?? Protested Gee, putting her arm around my waist and picking up one of my bags.

?I would if I could Jennifer, you know that. But your son always was a kill joy, doesn?t want her to miss school? she put on a mock frown, and then resumed waving her off. ?You be good Jennie,? She said to me, using all the motherly sternness she could muster. ?Be good for your grandmother? I nodded quickly, causing mum to point a finger at Gee ?And Jennifer?? she warned, starting to pull out of the drive. ?You stay out of trouble?

We watched mum pull down through the thicket of leaves, both breathing out when she was gone. Now I realised the fun could start. ?So,? Gee started, leading me up the house. ?How do you like Sleepy Hollow so far?? ?WHAT?? I questioned, jumping out of her arm and routing to the spot. Oh my gosh. The town really was called Sleepy Hollow? Gee took on the same laughter my mum had, grabbing my arm and pulling me back up the steps. ?Things like this are too easy with you Jennie? she let out another laugh, studying my worried expression. ?Its Shepard?s Hollow? she sighed, opening up the front door. ?I can tell this week is going to be fun!?

Unwilling to admit it, I can see why Gee liked it here. It was very beautiful, and green, and peaceful. The house itself was old, but at the same time it was comfortable and warm. Not like the old barns you imagine when you think of houses from the era this one was built in. Most of the furniture a house needed to function was already here, left over from the last owner. It wasn?t hard to tell that no one had lived here for a long time. ?It?s dusty? Gee admitted, ?But I?m going to say its vintage. It will look alright after we get some new stuff in and give everything a good scrub tomorrow.?

After that, she took me upstairs and told me to pick a room. There were six bedrooms in the house, all fully decorated. I eventually settled on a pink one, one that looked like it used to belong to a child. ?You want to keep the furniture or get new?? Gee asked as I absentmindedly sat on the corner of the bed. Normally, I would have said new in a heartbeat. Is there anything creepier then sleeping in someone else?s room? Someone who might be dead? But something made me hold back that thought, made me speak before I realised what I was saying. ?Keep.? I looked around one last time, scanning the little dollhouse in the corner. ?I like it the way it is.?

?Fair enough? Gee smiled, ?It should be clean enough to sleep on tonight, but we will give it all a good polish tomorrow.? She smiled on for a moment, looking around, and then suddenly turned back to me. ?You got any nice clothes with you?? she startled me slightly with the abruptness of her question, but I recovered enough to answer, ?The dress you got me in the summer, why?? The corners of her mouth twitched. ?This place has got a fancy dinning room. What say we christen it with the feast it deserves?? As creepy as this old house and its furniture was, Gee knew that I would probably be hungry, and she was right. I nodded once, and then with another smile, Gee left me to get changed.

When Gee said a feast, most would assume she meant something along the lines of stuffed turkeys, Suckling pigs roasting on a spit, lashing of vegetables and such like. But I knew her far better then that. Gee and me never cooked when we were together. And therefore, we christened the new house with enough Chinese food to feed a thousand. ?So, you like the house?? Gee said, slurping up a few noodles. ?Mm-hmm? I replied, half way through devouring my own box. We both chewed on in silence for a while, stopping only when our stomachs were full to burst.

?So, what brings you back here? Other than somewhere to start the business I mean?? I asked later on, as we sat on the dusty floor, sorting through some photos. ?Well, I always loved this house when I was a girl, and I found out it was for sale over the Internet. It was an amazing price, so it didn?t feel right to turn it down? I looked through some of the black and white photos, pictures of Gee as a child, sitting on the doorsteps of houses down the road. ?I thought you hated this place?? Gee gave out a little snort, kissing my forehead the way grandmothers did sometimes.

?I did hate this place, but the house, I liked? I gave her a sceptical look, then glanced back at some of the photo?s. ?Had you ever even been inside the house, Gee?? she looked at me sheepishly, trying to hide a grin. ?No? I started to laugh, shaking my head at her. ?Who used to live here when you were young?? She rummaged in the photos for a while and then pulled out one of a handsome looking man, short blonde hair and eyes that seemed to dazzle blue, even with the lack of colour from the photo.

?He?s beautiful? I breathed, not actually meaning to voice my opinion out loud. ?He was? agreed Gee, still looking at the photo. ?He was a doctor, I can?t remember his name? She handed it to me and I turned it over to see the date. The Doctor. 27th October, 1968. ?What?s the date today?? I asked, not quite able to tear myself away from the piercing eyes of the photograph. ?Erm? the twenty-seventh? said Gee, straining to see the calendar by the sofa. ?Hm. That?s strange,? she said, putting down the photos and scrunching up her nose.

?What?? I asked, finally putting the photograph down. ?Nothing? she muttered, ?Its just, it was, -? she stopped, counting in her head ?- Forty years ago today that the doctor moved out of this house, I found that picture at the end of the drive? I looked around, then back at the photo. The doctor was standing between the clock and the chair that were sitting stationary to our left, looking down at us like ghosts. This house had been empty for forty years? I shivered slightly, thinking of the house standing alone all that time. ?Why did he leave?? I questioned, returning the photo to its box.

Gee stood and sat on the sofa. I joined her and put my head on her lap, like I did when I was little. ?No one really knows.? She sighed, twisting some of my hair. ?But many of us had our suspicions.? She stayed quiet for a while, waiting for me to prompt her into a story. ?What were they?? I could feel her smiling, and knew that she would be staring at the wall, trying to make her memories fly from her mind and appear onto it.

?The doctor had a little girl? she started, still playing with my hair, still staring at the wall ?His little doll, he called her. She was beautiful, just as he was. I can?t remember her name either. She used to play with the rest of the children in the village, just like I did, swimming in the river with us, playing hide and seek in the forests. Then one day, she invited me round to the house. ?Come round tomorrow? she said to me, in a voice as soft as a robin ?Come round and I?ll show you my dollhouse, and we can have a tea party. Well as you can imagine I was chuffed to pieces, no other child had been invited to the house before.

?When I got there the next morning it was the doctor that greeted me, not as I had suspected, a maid or nanny of some sort. ?Hello? he smiled warmly, his blue eyes reflecting the warm autumn sunshine. ?I?m afraid you can?t come to play today sweetheart, for my daughter has taken ill in the night. Come back in a few days, and I?m sure she will be well enough to show you her dollhouse.?

Well, I did as he said, I came back a few days later, but I just got the same message. I went countless times over the next few months, went from when the tree branches were bare, their spindly fingers snagging on my coat, to when the bright summer blossom caught in my hair, the sun streaming through it, making dappled patches over the lonely house. Each time I saw the doctor he looked a little more haggard, like a little piece of his heart had been chipped away. Eventually, I stopped calling. No one called for years and years. Then one day, completely out of the blue, me and the other children saw him getting into his car, alone, and driving off. As he drove past he looked at me for a very long time, his eyes locking with mine in a grip so tight I could almost feel his pain. He never returned.?

?What about the girl?? I questioned, ?What came of her?? Gee yawned, which caused me to automatically look over to the clock. Twelve thirty? I had no idea it was that late. ?That?s the strangest thing? Gee said, getting off the sofa. ?That?s the bit no one knows. Many suspected she caught some sort of fatal disease, which is why she was ill for so long. But when she didn?t leave with the doctor, and no one saw a car come to take away the body bag, people were confused.? I wanted to know more, but knew if I asked Gee would come up with some crazy response like There are some people who though she never left the house?. so I kept my lips shut tight.

?I?m going to bed.? stated Gee, turning off the light in the dining room. ?Are you going up?? I nodded, and rose to follow her, giving the box of photos one last glance, the hansom doctors eyes finding mine, locking with them, giving me his sorrow.

Upstairs, most of the doors were open, all but one, the door opposite the stairs. ?What?s that door?? I questioned, pointing to it as we walked past. ?Dunno,? Sighed Gee. ?It leads to the tower you can see at the front, but no one can get it open. We can?t find a key anywhere and it?s locked tight. I?ll get someone to put a new door on it eventually, but for now its okay. It looks pretty small from the outside anyway, you wouldn?t get much in there.? I nodded at her, and then we stopped outside her bedroom door. ?Night Gee? I whispered, kissing her on the cheek. ?Night,? she replied, opening the door and leading herself inside.

I got into my bed, snuggled down and shut my eyes. It was no good. I couldn?t sleep. My own stupid words echoed around my head. Maybe, she never left.... Why do I do this to myself. I sat up and looked around the room one more time. It was basic, but the furniture looked expensive. You could defiantly tell she was the only child of a doctor. I looked again and noticed something. There were books and toys everywhere, but all the toys were of one variety. Dolls. Everywhere there were dolls. China dolls up on the shelves, their beady eyes watching me as I tried to sleep. A doll at the end of the bed, her pretty white dress flowing over the edge of the trunk she sat on. Small dolls in the dollhouse, sitting at the table, caring for the baby. I bet if I looked in the trunk there would be dolls there to.