STORY 1: THE DOLL

STARRING:
Sally Brown
Charlie Brown
Snoopy
Maureen Brown
Silas Brown, Jr.

VERONA: Our first story begins with the tale of an ordinary toy, but soon the kids find it's anything BUT ordinary.

Silas Brown, Jr. was driving home from the toy store. He had gotten some new toys for his kids. His son would receive a brand new baseball, baseball bat, and glove, while his daughter would get a brand new doll that just came out. As he pulled up to the driveway, he saw his son's dog, Snoopy, napping on top of his doghouse. He was an unusual dog, to say the least. He also acted almost human, at times. He got out of the car, grabbed the gifts for his kids, and entered the home. His wife, Maureen, was cooking dinner and it would be ready soon.

"Hey, honey, I'm home," Silas announced.

"Si, how was your day, dear," greeted Maureen, who then kissed her husband.

"Wonderful. Got you and the kids some presents on the way home."

"Silas, you didn't!"

"I did, to show what a wonderful family I have." At that moment, his kids, Charlie and Sally came running down the stairs and into the kitchen where their parents were.

"Hey dad," greeted Charlie.

"Hi daddy," greeted Sally.

"Kids, I got you both something," announced Silas. He handed Charlie his baseball gear. "Here you go, son. I know how much you like baseball, so I got you a new ball, bat, and glove."

"Wow, thanks, dad!" said a happy Charlie.

"And Sally, my lovely daughter," Silas continued, "I brought you a brand new doll for you."

"Really?!" squealed an excited Sally. When she grabbed the box the doll was in, she was taken aback by its lifelike face. Even Charlie was shocked by how real the doll looked.

"Wow, daddy, that's… something!" said Sally, unnerved by the creepy-looking doll.

"Well do you like it?" asked Silas.

"Yeah, I do," said Sally, regaining her composure. "Thank you." And she hugged her father.

"And last, but by no means least, my beautiful wife," said Silas, turning to Maureen. He pulled out a velvet box and opened it, revealing a diamond necklace.

"Oh, Silas!" gasped Maureen. "It's lovely! Thank you so much, darling!" And she kissed her husband with love.

"MOMMY, DADDY!" gasped Sally.

"You know there's kids here!" retorted Charlie.

"Sorry, you two," said Silas. "But wait until you're both married. Then you'll be kissing your husband and your wife the same way."

"In the meantime, go put your gifts away and get washed up," said Maureen. "Dinner is ready." And Charlie and Sally went to put their gifts away.

Later, as she was getting ready for bed, Sally looked at her strange doll. It looked like it was following her every move. Charlie walked in.

"It's time for bed, Sally," he said.

"Big brother," Sally began, " what do you think of that doll daddy gave me?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know what to think of it. No offense, but it's kind of creepy."

"I feel the same way. I don't want to hurt daddy's feelings, but I don't know about this doll."

"Well, maybe you can put it in your closet. That way you don't have to look at it."

"Good idea." And Sally put the doll inside the closet and closed the door. "Now it won't weird me out anymore."

"Good. Anyway, I'm going to check on Snoopy and then head for bed. Good night."

"Good night, big brother."

Later that night, Sally was asleep in her bed. Things were pretty quiet. But then a scratch at the closet door was heard. It woke up Sally. She looked around to see if anyone was in the room. She shrugged and went back to sleep. Then she heard a knock at the closet door, which shocked her back awake. She got up and crept towards the closet. She slowly opened the door. The doll was still where she left it.

"Get a hold of yourself, Sally," she told herself. "You're hearing things. It may be that stupid dog of my brother's playing around like he usually does." And she went back to bed. After a while she slightly woke up because she was thirsty and wanted a drink of water. She got up and went to the bathroom and got a cup of water to drink. When she got back to her bedroom, she was alarmed by the doll now sitting on her bed!

"MOMMY! DADDY!" she screamed. Silas and Maureen ran into her room and turned on the lights.

"What wrong, baby?" asked a concerned Maureen.

"I put the doll daddy gave me in the closet, and then it was on my bed!" cried Sally. "I think it moved all by itself."

"CHARLIE!" Silas bellowed. Charlie walked into Sally's room tired.

"What's all the commotion?" yawned Charlie.

"Are you teasing your sister?!" asked Silas.

"Of course not," said Charlie. "I just got up after Sally screamed for you and mom."

"It must be that dog of yours, big brother!" said an upset Sally. Silas looked out her window.

"Sally, Snoopy is still sleeping," he said. Sally looked out her window and saw Snoopy sound asleep on his house.

"What happened?" asked Charlie.

"Sally said her doll was in the closet and after she got back from the bathroom, it was on her bed," said Maureen.

"I saw her when she put it in the closet," said Charlie. "I even suggested it, after she said it kind of creeped her out."

"You're scared of the doll, dear?" asked Silas.

"I'm sorry, daddy," said Sally, sadly. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings. The face just looks so lifelike, it kind of scared me."

"Tell you what," Silas suggested, "we can go to the toy store and you can pick out the doll you want tomorrow since it's Saturday."

"Really?!" said Sally.

"Absolutely," assured Silas. "And I can get rid of this one."

"Thank you, daddy!" And Sally hugged her father.

"Now let's get back to bed, everyone," said Maureen. And all went back to their bedrooms. Sally placed the doll back in the closet and went back to bed. She fell asleep soon afterwards.

A little while later, Sally was sound asleep. She opened her eyes a little and then it widened when she saw the doll sitting on top of her in her bed! She sat up quickly!

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME, YOU CREEPY THING?!" she cried. "WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME LIKE THIS?!" Charlie ran into the room, along with her parents.

"Good grief, not again!" sighed Charlie.

"That's it!" said Silas. "We're getting rid of this thing, not tomorrow, but tonight!" And he grabbed the doll, placed it in a pillowcase, and he and Charlie headed for the car. They drove for about ten miles when they hit Monte Woods. Silas grabbed a shovel out of the trunk. He had Charlie carry the doll. Once they found a clearing in the woods, Silas started shoveling a deep hole under the moonlight.

"Okay, son, drop it in," ordered Silas. Charlie did as told. Then Silas covered it with the dirt he dug up, packing it down nice and neat. Then father and son headed back for home. Once they got back, Maureen and Sally were still up.

"It's buried deep in Monte Woods," Silas stated. "It's not coming back."

"Good," said Maureen. "Maybe we can get a good night's sleep now." And all went back to bed. Sally went to sleep, relieved that the creepy doll was finally gone.

Morning had arrived. Snoopy had woke up, never knowing what had transpired the night before with the doll. He went to greet his bird buddy Woodstock and they went on an adventure for the day. Meanwhile, Sally was waking up. She stretched her arms out and rubbed her eyes. When she looked, she was shocked to see that the doll had returned!

"AAUGH!" The family ran into the room.

"You've got to be kidding!" gasped an exasperated Charlie.

"I thought you and Charlie buried this thing!" said Maureen to Silas.

"We did!" said Silas, also shocked to see the doll was back.

"Get this thing away from me!" wept Sally. "I hate it so much!"

"What are we going to do, dad?" asked Charlie.

"I may know someone who can keep this thing from ever coming back," Silas replied.

A little while later, Silas brought the doll to a weird shop in town that deals with paranormal objects. He showed the doll to the owner. The owner looked over the doll carefully.

"Yes, this is a haunted doll, Mr. Brown," said the owner. "I have a glass box with a lock on it so it cannot ever return to your place ever again."

"We appreciate that, sir," said Silas. And the owner placed the doll in the case. Then he placed the case in a corner of his shop and put velvet rope around it. He put up a sign that read "Do not remove ever!" so folks wouldn't open the case and take the doll out, lest they have a creepy doll that would always return back to their house. After locking the doll in the shop, the Browns never had any more troubles with the doll or anything like it. And Sally received a less creepy doll that didn't terrorize her.

UP NEXT, A STORY ABOUT A BLANKET WITH A TASTE FOR BLOOD!