Doll Baby

Juliet Drake sighed as she sat up in her purple room. ‘I love purple,’ she thought. ‘But this is just ridiculous.’ Everything in Juliet’s room was a shade of purple. Her walls were painted a light lavender. Her carpet was a deep violet. The vanity, dresser, shelves, and bookcase were all a bright orchard. Her four-poster bed was a combination of these colors. Her open closet reveled an entirely purple wardrobe.

Juliet looked around at this explosion of purple with her sky blue eyes. She pulled at her long mane of curly black hair. “I wouldn’t mind so much if it wasn’t the same in their rooms also,” she whispered to no one.

Juliet Drake was the eldest of the identical Drake quintuples. On the day of their birth, after being named, their parents slapped them with one color that they preceded to wear for the remainder of their lives. So now Juliet was in a house of clones of herself.

Juliet was the oldest, having been born a full two minutes before the next sister on July 10, xxxx. She had, of course, been given the color purple. Of all the sisters, she was the leader. Every adventure into Never Never Land, or against their parents’ rules, was her idea. Her sisters would often not want to follow her, but after much persuasion, they always did. Juliet could recall every misadventure and punishment they had received (which numbered in the hundreds).

Anastasia was the next sister. Her color was the most girlish of them all, pink. She was the thinker, the smart sister. She had straight As in every subject and was an all over teacher’s pet. She tried with all her heart to convince the others not to follow Juliet, but all her brains could not put a stop to Juliet’s pleas. Anastasia remained level headed always, unless provoked by her sisters.

Clarissa was the middle child. Her color of choice, blue. She was the sweetheart and charmer, the child every parent wished they had. Usually when they got caught doing mischief, it was due to Clarissa’s guilty confession. Her naiveness and innocence often angered her sisters, but they couldn’t help but love her. Even though she wasn’t the youngest, they thought of her as the baby of the group.

Eleanor came a minute after Clarissa. Her lively action was given the vivid color green. She was the funny one. Everything they did was just a big game or joke to Eleanor. Eleanor drove the others insane. No one could ever remember a time she was still or quiet. Eleanor bustled about life with more noise then Woodstock. Eleanor had many unnerving quirks, but in a tight spot, she could release any tension amongst them.

Last, but not less, was Isabella. She was given the color yellow. She was the athletic one. Every sports team, she joined, not caring if it was pee-wee football or ballet. It was rare she was seen without a ball or some other sports equipment. Whether or not she was as hyper-active as Eleanor was unknown, she was always running after a player or ball. She was good at helping her sisters get into trouble in her spare time, making her a MVP to them also.

Yes, they loved each other and normally didn’t fight amongst each other. Still, it was hard to live with four clones of yourself, who you had shared a room with up till you were five. Their parents, who they dearly loved, did not help the situation. They try to uniform them in every way possible, so they all wore matching outfits everyday with matching hair styles.

“Girls,” called their mother, Jodi. “Breakfast. Juliet, Anastasia, Clarissa, Eleanor, and Isabella, this is your last chance to get down here!” Juliet muttered as she got off the bed. Summer break had officially begun for the now third grade graduates, and they had hoped for a lazy one. They had forgotten their mother.

Jodi Drake, was not a stay at home mom. She was an author of children and teen novels. She did most of her work at home, in an office next door to Isabella’s bedroom. She used her daughters as research material, explaining her greatest book series of all. It was about five black puppies that were always into mischief.

Jodi was also a firm believer in idle hands. She knew that if her daughters did not have something to do, and someone making sure they were doing it, she would not have a house to come home to. So, for the majority of the Summer, she kept an eagle eye over the girls.

“Juliet!” cried Jodi. “The rest of your sisters are down here already! What in blazes is taking you so long!” Juliet chose not to respond, just going to the vanity and looking into it.

Most people would say she was very pretty. She knew she was. She just wanted to be pretty in a different way then her sisters. They were all the same height, weight, and coloration. There was not a millimeter difference in the length of their hair. Jodi and their father, Eric Drake, said they were glad the girls looked alike.

“Juliet,” said Jodi, standing in the doorway of the girl’s bedroom. After seeing Jodi’s mane of black curls, it was known where they got their hair from. “Why did you not respond to me? Your breakfast is on the table and your sisters have already begun eating.” Although Juliet was the chief mischief maker, she always felt sorry for what she did. She understood it was hard for her parents to raise five girls.

“Sorry Mom,” apologized Juliet, as she finally went to breakfast.

The rest of the day was normal in the Drake household. Jodi had given her daughters an Arts and Craft project, while she started to work on her latest book. Jodi emerged from her office every half hour to check on the girls’ progress. As usual, Jodi during the after noon hour, got too caught up with her writing to notice the time. By now, the girls had finished.

Juliet had decided that the extra glitter from the project would look very good on the neighbors’ lawn gnome. She told her sisters this. The response was as followed.

“No,” said Anastasia.

“Juliet that is mean,” said Clarissa.

“Why not put it on her poodle?” asked Eleanor.

“Might as well,” said Isabella.

After some more coaxing from Juliet, Anastasia and Clarissa both agreed. Jodi was disturbed twenty minutes later by a phone call from Mrs. Masters.

“Mrs. Drake,” Mrs. Masters loudly screamed into the phone. “Your daughters have just ruined my priceless lawn gnome that I got from Germany! What do you plan to do about it?” Mrs. Masters was a very evil woman, even Jodi knew that. She had been married to the same man for thirty years and never had any children, only a black poodle that bite everything in sight. She was extremely jealous of Jodi’s and Eric’s relationship and success. She also hated children.

“Mrs. Masters,” replied Jodi, furious at her daughters, herself, and the woman on the other phone. “I happen to know that your lawn Gnome comes from Walmart, and is in high supply at this moment. My daughters have probably destroyed your lawn gnome due to the fact your precious Mr. Fluffums ruined our outside dinner party last week, not to mention that he chewed up the tablecloth that has been in Eric’s family since his great-great grandmother came from Italy. So I will gladly give you your $5.88, as soon as you pay for the damages your dog caused.” Jodi felt like slamming the phone down right there, but she didn’t out of sheer embedded manners.

“I am going to call the authorities,” said Mrs. Masters, with great anger.

“Fine with me,” said Jodi. “They probably need a good laugh!” With that, she slammed down the phone, and made her way to the living room. At that moment, the girls entered the room, attempting to sneak in quietly.

“Hello,” said Jodi, watching the fear creep into her daughters’ faces. “I just got a call from Mrs. Masters, so don’t even try to talk your way out of this. After lunch, you are to go to your rooms until dinner, and no dessert. Even though she is a vile woman, you still have to respect her.”

“Yes ma’am,” they replied.

“Can we keep the money?” asked Anastasia.

“What money?” asked Jodi.

“Mr. Masters slipped us a twenty for making his garden look prettier,” said Anastasia. “We pulled the weeds to get to the little gnome.” Jodi, at this point, let out a huge laugh, shooing her daughters to the kitchen.

By dinner, the girls knew they had been forgiven by their mother, since she ended their sentence early and allowed them to watch televison. When their father, Eric, came home, he already knew the story.

Eric was not the strict parent, which many found funny. He was a lawyer and highly respected in the courtroom. He, though, tended to find his daughters’ antics more amusing then anything else. It was never he who punished them. At dinner, that night he could not help but laugh as they retold their story.

“I must say,” said Eric, his blue eyes sparkling. “That you have inherited your mother’s creativity. Who would have ever thought of turning a garden gnome into a glam girl?” Even Jodi laughed, as she served dessert to everyone, even her daughters.

“Yes,” said Jodi. “They are creative. That was why I thought Arts and Crafts would be good for them. Oh well, at least my next idea will go over better.”

“What is it?” asked all five girls at the same time.

“Your Grandma Mandy had invited us all to New York next week,” said Eric.

“And to the Cirque du Soliet,” added Jodi.

The girls let out a scream of approval.

“We leave Sunday,” said Eric.

“Which means we have exactly seven days, for those of you who barely passed math,” said Jodi, looking at Eleanor, who wished her mother had forgotten their last report cards. It was beyond hard to compete with Anastasia for grades.

Their parents chatted about work and the news for the rest of dinner, while the girls thought. Their parents seemed to see the differences, but didn’t really notice them. They had to make them notice.

The Drake Family spent the remainder of the week preparing for their journey. Eric was in charge of booking the flight and calling his mother to make certain everything was planned out. Jodi was making certain that enough clothes, food, and entertainment would be brought. She also had to make certain a neighbor would watch the pets ( two dogs and three cats) and water the plants. She found it in her friend Mr. Timms, who adored little girls in a non-perverted way, and was a teacher.

Juliet, Anastasia, Clarissa, Eleanor, and Isabella, mainly just did what their parents told them, since they were eight and not considered responsible enough to do it without a command (actually Jodi knew they were responsible enough, she just knew they would find away to get into trouble).

So by Friday night, every detail of their trip was planned out. The minivan was packed, the tickets bought, and the threats on the table if someone misbehaved in front of relatives.

Saturday afternoon passed with the normal speed of Christmas Eve or the day before break, made worse by the fact a rain storm was in progress. Jodi and Eric had decided to watch a overly sweet romance movie, which had caused the girls to nearly pass out from sappiness. They decided to go to the play room, knowing that any plots and schemes had to be concocted there, to avoid parental interference.

The play room was painted in all five of their colors in a lazy crooked rainbow. Toy boxes with their colors and names engraved had been arranged to give the girls as much space as possible. The room was the largest in the house, since it was originally their shared bedroom. On the shelves running around the entire room, stood their mother’s doll collection, now passed down to them.

They had been in the room for five minutes until they jumped to a sudden conclusion: If they did anything at all today, their mother could, and would, cancel the trip. So for once in their lives, they decided to act as normal and nice as possible. Which was harder then they imagined.

Anastasia and Clarissa had begun their tenth game of checkers, so far Anastasia had seven wins and Clarissa three. Eleanor was trying to build a card house, but was not having much luck with it, as she had never attempted before. Isabella was skipping rope. Juliet had decided to look on the communal bookshelf to see what was here.

Jodi functioned on another policy besides idle hands, siblings will never share anything. So while teaching them good manners and such, she also made certain the majority of the toys and supplies where enough for each girl to have one. They had the same number of dolls, stuff animals, books, clothes, shoes, crayons etc..... So to teach sharing, Jodi did the communal cases, which meant they belonged to all of them.

‘Read it, read it, read it,’ was Juliet’s mantra as she looked over the books. The bottom three selves contained all the books she had read, and the case was only four shelves high. Finally after triple checking every book, there was not one left she hadn’t read. She huffed, and fell to the floor. She put her head between her knees and looked at her sisters. They hadn’t changed their activities yet. Everything was normal. Then, she noticed something.

On the tea table was an old leather bound book. It was defiantly not one of theirs, most likely it was their mother’s. Juliet moved to study the book. The cover had some strange language she had never seen. She open it to revel many onion skin thin pages, all half filled with small writing in the same language. Under several of the pages was what she recognized as her mother’s writing. Juliet began to read the English parts to herself.

‘Good Luck Spells, Love Potion, Vanishing Ghost,’ Juliet read, confused. She read some more. Each page talked about a different spell or chant to grant something. It must be a...

“Spell book!” yelled Juliet. Her sisters looked at her. “Look here!” She pointed to the book. “This is all about witch craft and stuff!” All her sisters joined her to look at the book. Jodi could never be charged with raising a group of non-believers, every single one of her daughters knew all about ghost and fairies by the time the could walk. They silently fought over who held the book, but finally gave in to letting Juliet do it. She softly read each spell to her sisters, until she turned to the last translated page.

The title of the page read Making Others View You Differently. Juliet looked at her sisters. They looked back.

“Juliet,” warned Anastasia. “I know what you are thinking.”

“Anastasia,” said Juliet, in mock shock. “How could you accuse your own flesh and blood of something?”

“No, Juliet,” said Anastasia, with as much force as she could muster. “We cannot and will not do it! Are you even thinking of the consequences or does your mind go straight to trouble overload mode?”

“Anastasia,” said Juliet, about to start pleading with her sister.

“Am I missing something here?” asked Clarissa, while Eleanor and Isabella gave Anastasia and Juliet a confused look.

“Well,” began Juliet. “I was thinking of, maybe, casting the spell, to nudge our dearly beloved parents on the road to the obvious differences.”

“And as I was saying,” said Anastasia. “We cannot possibly consider doing this. Messing around with magic, untrained, is just calling for trouble. If you want to cast a spell ask Mom, it is her book.”

“Anastasia,” said Juliet. “Do you honestly believe Mom is going to help us cast a spell, to make herself notice something she doesn’t believe is there?” Anastasia shook her head no.

“Well,” said Clarissa, surprising everyone with her sudden boldness. “I would like for people to see we are different, and Mom always said believe in ourselves and magic...”

“I can’t believe I am hearing this!” exclaimed Anastasia. “Clarissa, I thought you would be in this with me! This is crazy! Mom is so going to catch us and when she does....”

“She isn’t going to catch us if you stop shouting!” hissed Eleanor.

“Girls, is something wrong?” asked Jodi, from the living room.

“Nothing Mom,” they answered in unison.

“Fine, but it better not cause damage of any sorts,” replied Jodi, knowing better then to believe that answer.

“So who is with me?” asked Juliet, putting her hand forward. Clarissa, Eleanor, and Isabella placed their hands on top of hers, leaving only Anastasia out. “Come on Anastasia, we are going to need your help.”

Anastasia looked at her sisters and rolled her eyes. “You are going to need someone to bail you out of this one.” The others gave a cheer as she joined the circle. “Now Juliet, read the spell.”

“Okay,” she replied. “Form a circle and have one person stand in the middle. The middle person must then chant the following mantra: Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw, seven times.”

“You should be in the middle Juliet,” said Isabella. The others agreed and formed a circle around the eldest sibling.

“Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw,” Juliet said, making sure to say each word carefully, everyone closing their eyes. “Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw. Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw. Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw. Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw. Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw. Sonaohe oasdhofh Aonek jfeo jaohieh Anoehbeonhd alkfhoeihfeoiw!” Then there was silence. For five minutes the entire room was eclipsed in silence.

“Did it work?” questioned Eleanor, with eyes still closed. Juliet opened hers to peak at her sisters. Not one bit of difference was made.

“No,” sighed Juliet. The others open their eyes and sighed.

“At least we’re still are in one piece,” said Anastasia. The others could not argue with logic.

“Girls, dinner!” yelled Jodi. They trudged out of the room, not noticing the faint light covering one of the dolls.

Sunday was a whirl wind of activity. Although the car was pack, nearly everyone was worried something was missing. Finally at ten in the morning, they left.

Their flight left at one and the airport was an hour away. Going anywhere with five young girls can drive anyone insane, so Jodi had preplanned. She had brought every Harry Potter book on tape and played them on the car ride. Eric was not a fan of the books, but preferred it over the bickering of his daughters.

When they finally arrived, Eric went to the trunk and started getting out the luggage. “Hey, who brought Veronica?” Eric asked, picking up a doll. She looked just like the girls, but was in a white wedding gown, looking blankly with her glass eyes.

“It was her,” said all the girls pointing at another sister. Eric and Jodi sighed. They would never figure out who did it, but the crime was harmless anyway.

“It doesn’t matter, just put her in my carry-on,” said Jodi, not trusting a china doll in the storage of a plane. The Drake Family then went to their flight boarding area.

The flight was as usual. The girls were use to flying since they visited relatives every year and sometimes went with their mother on tour. They were seated in first class, which got them some confused looks from the other passengers. The first class cabin only seated twelve, and the plane was filled up. It was two to a seat so Juliet sat with Anastasia, Clarissa with Eleanor, Isabella with Jodi, and Eric with a disgruntled business man who kept asking him if the girls were actual his children. The normal fight over who got the window seat had ensued, until Jodi threatened to make certain none of them got one, they had drawn lots and stay quieted. The trip was only about an hour long, but to everyone on the plane it seemed like an eon.

The Drake’s arrival in New York was a relief to all. Grandma Mandy and her driver where waiting for them at the airport. They drove them straight off to a diner for lunch and spent the rest of the day getting settled. They were going to the Cirque du Soliet on Wednesday, so they had much to do in the two days beforehand.

On Monday, Grandma Mandy decided to take her granddaughters sight seeing, while leaving their parents on their own devices (a plan loved by all). So the girls got to visit many museums, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, and the ethnic areas. Grandma Mandy was having the time of her life chasing after her five granddaughters. They finally met their parents for dinner at a child friendly restaurant. After that, they all settled in for the night.

On Tuesday, Eric’s older brother, Samuel, came to visit. Uncle Sam was the favorite uncle of the girls. The Drakes decided to spend the day in Central Park. They had a quiet dinner at home, and the girls went to bed full of excitement.

Finally Wednesday came. All morning the girls drove every family member insane wanting to go see the show. They had been to some local circuses, but never the Cirque du Soliet. The show wasn’t until after lunch, but the girls were more hyperactive then the day after Halloween. Finally, after the longest morning in history, it was time to see the show.

Seated in their seats, the girls jumped around waiting for it to begin. Jodi was on her wits end, having run out of threats and aspirin hours ago. Eric was no better off then his wife, but showed his tension less. Mandy was thrilled to see all of her family, except her ex-husband (who was currently on a cruise with his fifth wife, who was younger then Jodi). Samuel was amused at his nieces antics, finding them cute. Juliet decided to see if she had brought her walkman in her backpack. She opened it to revel Veronica.

“Hey,” said Juliet. “How did she get in here?” Her sisters shook their heads, as did the rest of her family.

“Just hold her on your lap Juliet,” said Jodi. “So she can also enjoy the show!” Jodi gave a little laugh and Eric rolled his eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me Mister.”

“I remember when you two first married,” said Samuel. “Jodi would call her dolls your children and kept them in your bedroom.” Mandy and Samuel laughed at this statement.

“Thank goodness for children,” laughed Eric. Jodi playfully hit him, causing the girls to giggle. Their mother was not a delicate female like most would expect.

“Yes it is so wonderful to have five lovely granddaughters,” said Mandy. “If only both of my sons would give me grandchildren.”

“Mom, is that a subtle hint at me to get married?” asked Samuel, who already knew the answer.

“Dear it is just that. . .” Mandy was stopped as the show started. The Cirque du Soliet was filled with so many amazing things that noone could focus on just one. People flew thru the air like kites, juggles had objects of all shapes and sizes, animals in costume where rode, and brightly painted clowns pranced about. Juliet was so impressed she decided to stand on her chair to see more. She had forgotten Veronica in the excitement.

Veronica joined the trapeze artist in their performance, but instead of being caught, she hit a clown on the nose. The clown gasped and fell to the ground in pain and started to cry, his tears falling straight onto Veronica’s face. The show stopped as security guards escorted the Drakes out, minus Veronica. If the audience’s attention had been on Veronica, they would have noticed something odd. Veronica was blinking, something she could never have done before.

Thursday was spent in Mandy’s home. Juliet was feeling horribly guilty for what she had done. Her mother assured her it was an accident and had called the injured clown, and found out his nose wasn’t even broken and he wasn’t pressing charges. The clown gave some sad news though. It seemed that Veronica could not be found anywhere, and most likely some member of the audience stole her. Juliet began to cry at this. Jodi made her feel better by going online and buying a Veronica look-alike on ebay.

“See sweetie,” said Jodi to Juliet. “This dolly is in much better shape then Veronica. Veronica wasn’t even one of my favorites. I got her at a yard sale for two dollars. Cheer up.” But Juliet could not cheer up. She wanted to stay home while her family went to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, as punishment. Jodi spent nearly two hours coaxing her to go, and finally Juliet yielded to her mother.

The musical did cheer Juliet up, especially the dancing food and forks. They grabbed a late night hotdog and pretzel from the vender and headed home. Juliet felt much better as she fell asleep that night to her sisters’ breathing.

Juliet awoke the next morning earlier then usual. She went out of the room she was currently sharing with her sisters, to the kitchen. It was only seven, so no one else in her family was up yet. The only one up was Maria, Mandy’s cook, who was making breakfast.

“Hola Maria,” she said in her baby Spanish.

“Hola Senorita Eleanor, como estas?” she asked.

“Maria, I am Juliet,” she whined, grabbing a piece of toast.

“I am sorry little Huliet,” she said, showing her strong Spanish accent. Juliet normally found it funny when she said either her or her mother’s name, since Maria had never grasped an American Accent in her ten years of living here. Maria went back to work, as Juliet finished her toast and headed to the living room to watch some television. As she passed the front door, she noticed a post card stuffed under it.

Juliet reached down to get it. On the front was a picture of one of the places they had visited. She turned it over to see a message :Mommi I am lost. It was not addressed to anyone. Juliet stared at the letter and ran back to her bedroom.

“Wake up!” hissed Juliet to her sisters. Slowly the other four girls rose and wiped the sleep from their eyes. “Wake up now!”

“What is it?” asked a groggy Anastasia. Clarissa was giving Juliet a questioning glace along with Isabella. Eleanor, who was not a morning person, was giving her a full on glare.

“Look,” she stated, thrusting the post card into Anastasia’s face. Anastasia read the postcard, and was very confused.

“Okay, what are you doing now?” asked Anastasia. “What is your master plan this time?”

“This isn’t my hand writing!” said Juliet.

“She is right,” said Clarissa, who was now looking at the postcard. “And she would never spell Mommy like that.”

“So who sent it?” asked Eleanor.

“We have to find out,” said Juliet. “Mom, Dad, Uncle Sam, and Grandma won’t be up for another two hours. The only one up now is Maria, and she is busy. We have to sneak out of the apartment and find this missing person.”

“Juliet!” hissed Anastasia. “This is New York! We can’t go off on our own! We don’t know where everything is. People die here all the time, not like back home. This is beyond foolish. For once, be the responsible leader of the group, and don’t act like a baby,” Clarissa, Eleanor, and Isabella nodded their agreement. Juliet sighed.

“Fine!” she said and stormed out of the bedroom, followed by her sisters. Juliet finally made it to the living room and turned on the television set.

“Juliet,” started Anastasia, but the nudging from Clarissa made her stop. Juliet had randomly changed the channel to a news program. Anastasia, Clarissa, Eleanor, and Isabella were going back to bed, when they were stopped by a sudden announcement.

“According to witnesses, a young girl in a wedding dress has been terrorizing the area of the Willow Apartment Complex for the past twenty four hours. Let’s go to Jim, our reporter in the area.” Before Jim came on, Juliet turned off the television.

“Hey,” said Juliet, “Doesn’t a girl in a wedding dress sound a lot like Veronica?”

“Juliet,” said Anastasia. “I know you feel guilty for losing the doll, but it really wasn’t your fault. Mom has already replaced her, so it doesn’t matter.”

“No,” said Juliet. “It really does sound like Veronica.”

“It is impossible, how in the world could a doll come to life,” said Anastasia. “It would take so much science or...”

“Magic,” they all said together.

“The spell,” said Clarissa.

“It wasn’t to change humans,” stated Eleanor.

“It was to change toys,” said Isabella.

“Chicas, did you say something?” asked Maria.

“No Maria,” they answered in unison. They were glad it was Maria, and not their mother.

“So do you think Veronica sent us the note?” asked Clarissa. Anastasia nodded, as did Juliet.

“Now we have to go and find her,” said Eleanor.

“I have to go,” said Juliet. “It is my fault.”

“It is all of our fault,” said Anastasia.

“Remember, we get into all trouble and out of all trouble together,” said Isabella. Juliet smiled at her sisters and they hugged. Very quietly they made their way to the front door and snuck out. As quick as possible, they existed the building, and ran to an alley way.

“Now if I was a living doll, where would I hide,” said Juliet.

“The toy store!” said Clarissa. “There is one at the end of the block.” The girls nodded their heads. They ran down the block, trying to avoid all eyes. Lucky, everyone had heard the news report, and was staying inside.

Ben’s Toys stood at the end of the block. The front door was wide open. The girls crept inside the store. Although the sun was bright and shining, the store was as dark as night. They all huddled together from fear, as they went deeper into the store. The teddy bears and Barbies looked scarey in the darkness. Their painted on mouths and blank eyes were starting to get to the girls. Finally as the past action figures, they saw a small shape moving. As it came closer, they had a better look at it. It was Veronica.

“I am glad you got my message,” said the doll, in a high evil voice. “I was ever so in need of your help.”

“What for,” asked Juliet, a bit scared.

“To bring all these toys to live also!” she gleefully cried, pointing at the shelves. “One can not conquer the world alone.”

“Why do you want to conquer the world?” asked Clarissa.

“Simple,” she snarled. “Toys are forgotten with time. Before you came, your mother considered all of us her daughters. Now that she has human daughters, she thinks of us as just toys. I was going to spend the rest of my life on that shelf. But luckily ,you foolish girls brought me to live! Now I need you to recite that spell to bring the others to life.”

“No way,” said Eleanor.

“Then I will have to force you too,” said Veronica.

“You and what army?” asked Isabella.

“The GI Joe Army,” said Veronica. Suddenly, hundreds of GI Joe action figures, even the special edition five thousand a pop ones, came out. They all had their plastic weapons aimed at the girls. “Seems I have some powers as to bring action figures to live. Now ready to surrender?”

“Never!” screamed Juliet, as the girls sprinted off. The action figures marched after them, tossing plastic projectiles at high force. The girls dodged the ammunition as best as they could, and finally took shelter behind a shelf.

“What are the odds?” asked Juliet.

“Like I was counting,” hissed Anastasia.

“What are we going to do?” asked Clarissa, holding something to her chest. Juliet looked and noticed her sister was holding the Luke Skywalker Light saber. Which means they were in ...

“Weapons!” screamed Juliet. The others looked around to see all the Arthur’s Swords, Legolas’s bows and arrows, my first battle ax, and Spider-man web spray. They each took a weapon and waited. They heard the tiny feet of approaching plastic death and saw the little dots that functioned as eyes.

“Attack!” yelled Juliet. The Drake sisters went in at full throttle. The GI Joe action figures did not stand a chance against the forces of children. With the slashing and cutting of supposedly child safe toys, the action figures were no more.

“That’s the last of them,” called Isabella, hitting a Venom Soldier with a rubber dart.

“But where is Veronica?” asked Clarissa, holding her light saber closer.

“Right here!” said the doll, along with a company of teddy bears. “It seems I am not in need of your spell anymore. So Teddy Bears, let’s have a picnic on their flesh!” With an evil laugh, the sweet toys turned into vicious demons.

“Run,” said Eleanor. They went rushing through the store, followed by Veronica and the bears.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” hissed Isabella. “We have to stop them from attacking.”

“How?” asked Clarissa.

“Juliet,” said Anastasia in a hushed voice. “Do you remember what Mom told us about spell reversal?”

“Yeah,” said Juliet. “Just say it .... Anastasia do you think it would work?”

“It’s worth a shot,” she said. “Everyone, form a square with Juliet in the middle.” The others were confused at the oldest sisters sudden demand, but were willing to try anything. They did as Anastasia instructed. Juliet stood in the center and took a deep breath. At that moment Veronica rounded the corner, with an evil gleam in her eyes.

“Attack,” said Veronica.

“wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS,” said Juliet with a bit of uncertainty. “wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS. wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS. wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS. wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS. wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS. wioefhieohfkla dhnoebheonA hiehoaj oefj kenoA hfohdsao ehoanoS.” There was a whirling light, as the last word left Juliet’s lips. Veronica gave a cry of terror, as the teddy bears gasped. In a moment, everything was still. Anastasia was the first to break the concentration. She walked over and picked up Veronica, now completely a doll.

“Let’s go get some breakfast,” she said. Her sisters readily agreed, and made the trip home.

By the time the girls arrived, it was 8:30. They quietly rushed to their bedroom to change. By the time the came out, their family was already at the table.

“Maria said that you girls were up early this morning,” said Jodi, sipping juice instead of coffee for once. “Did you cause her any trouble?”

“Not at all Senora Drake,” said Maria, putting the girls normal breakfast on the table. “They were prefect angels. I barely noticed them.”

“You girls sure are different,” laughed Eric. “Just look at your breakfasts.” It was true. Juliet was eating eggs and bacon, Anastasia blueberry pancakes, Clarissa hot oatmeal, Eleanor waffles, and Isabella a fruit salad.

“I swear, sometimes I question if they are related,” laughed Jodi. “If they didn’t look alike, I would swear they weren’t sisters.” The adults found this funny and laughed. The girls exchanged looks. Their parent’s noticed their differences. Maybe the spell did work. But what about the doll? Speaking of which...

“Mom,” said Juliet. “Look what came this morning!” Juliet went to the room and brought back Veronica.

“Oh,” said Jodi, happily. “They must have found her! I am so glad. I hated having to replace her.” Jodi smiled and Juliet felt very relieved. Something fell from the doll’s dress. The spell book. Juliet’s eyes widened in fear.

“Mom, we can explain,” said Juliet, seeing Jodi’s eyes go toward the book.

“I see you have been reading,” laughed Jodi. “I thought I threw this book out.” The girls gave her a puzzled look. “Before you girls were born, I was working on that book. It was supposed to be a spell book to go along with a young witch series. Then I decided to focus more on children’s books. I was throwing that and a few other old works out, and I must have dropped it.”

“So it is not a real spell book?” asked Anastasia.

“Nope,” said Jodi. “I invented every incantation in the book. Say, maybe I should finish and publish it.”

“No!” said all the girls. Jodi just blinked, then smiled again.

“Well, I am going to be too busy anyway,” said Jodi, exchanging a loving look with her husband.

“Why?” asked the girls.

“Sweet hearts, there is something we have been meaning to tell you,” said Eric.

“I’m pregnant,” said Jodi. The girls exchanged looks. Their adventures had just begun. Maybe battling evil toys was harder then being big sisters, then again, they highly doubted that.