{"id":5765,"date":"2023-10-09T00:01:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T04:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sawpublishing.com\/?p=5765"},"modified":"2023-08-25T10:54:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T14:54:54","slug":"betty-bonnet-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawpublishing.com\/betty-bonnet-october\/","title":{"rendered":"Betty Bonnet October"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ItBetty Bonnet is an ongoing serial story, released on the Sheep Among Wolves blog once a month. It follows the adventures of the Bonnet family, first created by Sheila Young as a paper doll series released in the Ladies\u2019 Home Journal beginning 1915. To go to the first episode,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I.<\/h6>\n

\u201cWhat would you like for Christmas,\u201d said Betty Bonnet, standing solemnly at the arm of my chair, and clutching a big sheet of paper and a stubby pencil, all ready for action.<\/p>\n

I looked out the window, where the foliage was just beginning to be tinged with red and yellow.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetty, dear, it\u2019s the first of October,\u201d I protested weakly.<\/p>\n

Betty nodded earnestly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn eighty-three days it will be the day before Christmas Eve,\u201d she informed me. \u201cBob said so, this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, well, then,\u201d said I, seeing a loophole. \u201cYou must ask Bob, not I, about Christmas presents, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did ask him,\u201d said Betty, still with the pencil at the ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, what did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said it was eighty-three days until the day before Christmas Eve, and he\u2019d think of something sometime, if I\u2019d only hand over his tennis racket.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ItII.<\/h6>\n

\u201cAh,\u201d I said, feeling that Bob had really made the only possible reply under the circumstances. \u201cWell, as your brother has pointed out, there are eighty-three days left to think about it. Eighty-four, if we include Christmas Eve itself, and without going so far as to ask you to hand over my<\/em> tennis racket\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to give Bob a doll,\u201d announced Betty, consulting her list.<\/p>\n

\u201cA\u2014what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA doll,\u201d said Betty, squinting at her handwriting. \u201cOr it might say, \u2018a ball.\u2019 It\u2019s hard to tell. I\u2019d sooner get him a doll. They\u2019re much nicer\u2014and they make a bigger present.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about Christmas presents,\u201d I remarked to the ceiling, \u201cis that one really wants to put down something the other<\/em> person would like. It isn\u2019t so much a matter of giving oneself eighty-three days to think about it, as it’s a matter of hitting on the very thing somebody was hoping to have given to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said Betty, matter-of-factly, \u201cthat\u2019s why I\u2019m asking people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh,\u201d said I, again. It was unsatisfactorily vague.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly when people don\u2019t know, I have to decide for them. \u2018Bob\u2014a doll,\u2019\u201d she read again, frowning hard at the pencil smudge that made the exact identity of the \u2018d\u2019 rather ambiguous.<\/p>\n

I ventured on one more remonstrance. \u201cI\u2019m not certain if Bob really likes\u2014”<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, he\u2019d like this<\/em> doll,\u201d said Betty cheerfully. \u201cI know just the sort it ought to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

III.<\/h6>\n

I sank back in the easy chair and surrendered. What were the chances that Betty\u2019s list stayed intact for eight-three days, after all?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat shall I get you<\/em>?\u201d Betty reminded, persistently.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes. Me,\u201d I murmured forgetfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you want anything in the whole world?\u201d persisted Betty.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany things. Financial independence. Inspiration for my next article. A clear conscience. A stamp for the letter that\u2019s got to be posted this afternoon. But nothing you can wrap up with paper and a ribbon, just at present, Betty love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betty looked gravely at her paper for a minute. Then her face cleared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d she said cheerfully. \u201cI\u2019ll put you down for a doll.\u201d<\/p>\n

IV.<\/h6>\n

\u201cA doll?\u201d I repeated blankly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like dolls,\u201d said Betty, with a comfortable wiggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I know. The thing with Christmas presents, Betty, is that you try to put down what\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you said you didn\u2019t want anything I could wrap up!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I said that,\u201d I explained hastily, \u201cI meant, just now. At the moment. Without giving due consideration to the question. It is<\/em> a serious question, you know. One wants to give it some reflection\u2014some quite fireside evenings, some still silent mornings\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Betty looked at me, clearly unconvinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides,\u201d I added, changing my tack, \u201cwhen I said there was nothing I wanted, that didn\u2019t mean there weren\u2019t some things I wanted less<\/em> than others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betty\u2019s eyes grew large and disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought<\/em> you liked<\/em> dolls,\u201d she remarked, quite as sorrowfully as if I had admitted a tendency to hate sunshine, or ice cream, or happy babies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do like dolls. I was very fond of them when I was a girl of your age,\u201d I amended, trying to save my reputation and my Christmas present in the same breath. \u201cIt\u2019s only that as you get older, you find it\u2014er\u2014a trifle harder to\u2014to\u2014”<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you can\u2019t think of anything else,\u201d persisted a puzzled Betty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you give your mother, last year, for Christmas,\u201d I inquired hastily.<\/p>\n

Betty reflected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I gave her a doll,\u201d she said at last.<\/p>\n

V.<\/h6>\n

I shut my eyes in defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a little doll,\u201d Betty explained, warming to her subject. \u201cA little doll, to sit on her desk, with a frilly skirt you use for an ink blotter, and the darlingest little china head. I got her at the charity bazaar. She was the last one they had, so I can\u2019t get you one exactly like. But I might get you a different kind. There are so many different sorts of dolls, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d I repeated, with the voice of exhaustion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might put you down for a doll, now, and we could change it, later, if you thought of anything else,\u201d suggested Betty. \u201cIt\u2019s only pencil.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked around desperately, but there seemed to be no way out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright,\u201d I conceded, feeling we must put an end to the conversation, at whatever cost. \u201cPut me down for a doll. But see if you can\u2019t make it less than eight inches high.\u201d I indicated the desired proportions with my fingers. \u201cI shall have to pack the thing, when I go home for the New Year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betty nodded seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoll\u2014very small,\u201d she read aloud as she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d I said, feeling I must say something.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Betty nodded.<\/p>\n

V.<\/h6>\n

The door opened, and Mr. Bonnet came in.<\/p>\n

\u201cPapa!\u201d cried Betty, running over, the pencil-streaked list flapping out behind her. \u201cPapa, darling, do you know it\u2019s only eight-three days till Christmas? To the day before Christmas Eve, I mean. What would you like for a Christmas present, Papa?\u201d<\/p>\n

I glance out the window, where the first touches of red and yellow are just beginning to tinge the foliage, with a smile. From the other side of the room, I can hear Betty\u2019s earnest little voice. \u201cSuppose I put you down for a doll, Papa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, well.<\/p>\n

I turn back to my interrupted reading.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n

As Betty herself is so eager to remind us, we still have eighty-three days.<\/p>\n

(To be continued.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t miss out on last month’s episode of Betty Bonnet:<\/p>\n

\"It\u2019s<\/a>

It\u2019s September and Betty Bonnet is all ready to start back to school\u2014at least until an unforeseen accident threatens to extend her vacation indefinitely. Does Betty have what it takes to transform herself from the student into the teacher?<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Betty Bonnet is an ongoing serial story, released on the Sheep Among Wolves blog once a month. It follows the adventures of the Bonnet family, first created by Sheila Young… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,58,60,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-betty-bonnet","category-fiction","category-sawpublications","category-the-bookshelf"],"yoast_head":"\nBetty Bonnet October - Sheep Among Wolves Publishing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It may be only October, but Betty Bonnet has decided to make her Christmas list early\u2014and she can\u2019t figure out why nobody else seems to be on board. Will her project have to be postponed? 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