Stitch the Witch

Once upon a time, a witch was so lonely, that all she was doing was casting spells on whoever was entering her forest to make them never leave.

No matter how much she was trying, all of her spells never worked. People would still find a way out of the forest and the witch kept feeling so lonely, that anger grew inside her heart.

One day, she went deep into the forest and cried so loud that a man that was passing by stopped and sat next to her.

She looked at him through tears and asked: " Why don't you go your way? Are you not afraid of me? ".

The man, looking around, giggled and said: " Hmmm… I have heard of you, but you seem more human when you cry. Look around you, the birds, the trees, the grass, everything is so full of life, we are not alone. ".

The witch, driven by the anger inside her heart, refused to see the warmth in the man's words. She stood up and tried to cast a spell on him so he wouldn't leave her side, but the man smiled and said: " This is why your spells won't work! There is so much life around you… ".

Hearing this, angered the witch more and she used her powers to destroy the forest shouting: " None of this will ever make me feel less lonely! If everything in this forest is alive and this is the reason why my spells do not work, then it all shall die! " and the entire forest turned dark before the man's eyes.

" Hmmm… well, well! I am still here! But I will have to go soon, so take this box and my jacket. You will find a needle and red, black, and white thread inside. Use my jacket for material and create a doll out of it, you will have some company during these times. " the man said as he put the box into the witch's hands.

He reached into his pocket and said: " I sew this doll out of my sweater's sleeve, and I carry it with me everywhere I go. It keeps me company while I travel. " then smiled and took distance from the witch, going on his way.

She was so angry with the man's words, how dare he look so down on her while she possessed so much power, not needing a doll for company, but yet… not managing to make a living creature stay by her side. She threw away the box and the jacket and went back to her house.

Days passed by, and the witch's loneliness felt heavier. As the forest became darker, nobody dared to even come close to it and the witch was upset.

She went back to the spot where the man spoke to her and searched for the box and the jacket he gave to her. She found it on the ground all dusty and took it home with her.

It was so cold in the forest, the witch had to keep the fire on all the time to have some warmth, and after she started the fire and sorted the potions from the table, she opened the box and looked for a good part of the jacket to cut and make a doll out of it.

As she turned the jacket on each side, the witch found a pocket on the left upper side.

She checked inside of it and found a white and beautiful flower.

Twisting it with her fingers, the witch did not understand how this flower survived her power when she destroyed the forest, and in frustration, she threw the flower into the fire.

It was all burning as the witch cut the pocket out of the jacket and sewed and sewed until she made a small doll all in stitches with black thread and white thread for eyes.

She gave the doll a small black dress too, but one thing was missing, since the witch ran out of thread, the doll had a hole in her chest on the left. The witch did not want to use the red thread to finish sewing because everything around her was dark, so she left the doll on the table and went to sleep.

When the witch woke up, she looked at the doll and said : " It is so small… Doesn't look human at all, it is so ugly. " so she thought to cast a spell on the doll to make it talk and have the size of a human, but unfortunately for the witch, no results were shown.

So the witch, angry again, put the doll, the ashes from the fire, the jacket and the red thread with the needle into the box and threw it away from the forest.

From the witch's anger, dark clouds grew upon the forest and the village and the people couldn't see the sun anymore or feel it's warmth.

Days and nights passed and slowly, with the rain, the doll grew bigger and became alive, finding itself somewhere unknown but yet knowing it's purpose.

" It hurts… it hurts so much… " the doll said as it started to walk.

The stitches were aching the entire doll's body, but the heaviest pain felt was from the hole on the chest, missing a heart.

After a long walk, the doll reached the witch's house and knocked at the door. The witch, in anger, came out and the doll said : " You have created me, but why does it hurt? Why did you throw me away if my purpose is to be by your side? All I have is this jacket and this box… what am I? "

The witch was surprised seeing this spell she casted has worked, but was annoyed by the doll's questions. She invited the doll inside the house and said : " Right, you have to be by my side! But remember, I have created you, I can destroy you as easily! So, don't you dare ever leave this forest! " then she attached chains to the doll's arms.

" Never take this off, because if you will, I will make sure that your hands will have no use anymore! Do as you are told, stick to your purpose because this is what you are, a doll for me! And… I am going to call you Dolore. Your existence is a pain, indeed. " the witch arrogantly told the doll.

Years have passed by, and Dolore was learning the spells that the witch was casting and failed to work. But the witch's loneliness was the same, and so was her anger… because Dolore's hands made of a jacket, stitched up and chained, wouldn't make any spell work as well.

One day, the witch being disappointed, sent Dolore deep into the forest to gather materials for new potions and spells. Dolore did as she was told, she grabbed her basket and went deep into the forest.

As she was walking, a small white butterfly flew around Dolore. She was surprised to see such a creature that she has never seen in the forest before.

She was so amazed by this small creature, that she chased it so far without realizing she had left the forest, finding herself in the village.

" Oh! No! This is not the forest anymore… if the witch finds out that I am gone, she will be so angry… I have to go back! " Dolore said to herself terrified that she might not be back in time.

As she was trying to find her way, rain started and her body felt heavy, slowing her down, so she approached a house to shelter herself until the rain stopped.

The villagers passing by were looking at Dolore in fear. They have heard about the forest witch's doll, but never seen it before. And as Dolore was standing still patiently, nobody dared to get any closer in fear of getting harmed… but a brave man that was passing by, stopped from his way and said : " It should stop soon… It is always cloudy but the rain comes and goes. Here! Hold this white flower for now, it will keep you company! " .

Dolore was surprised by the man's courage and kindness, and also she was amazed by the white flower's beauty. As she held the flower gently, she looked at the man and said : " The rain is making my body heavy… It hurts. But, this little flower is so light even if it's raining! I wonder if it feels any pain… I wish I could feel as light and beautiful as this flower! " .

The man gave Dolore a gentle pat on the shoulder then said : " You are as light and as beautiful! You just have to free yourself in order to feel it, and also enjoy the rain… " .

" She created me out of a pocket from a jacket because she was lonely… but I do feel lonely too. In the forest, there's just her and I, and today, a small flying creature has shown me that beyond the forest, is a new world! Everybody looks alike, each creature is the same… I wonder, are there other dolls like me? " Dolore replied to the man as she was looking up into the sky.

" Hmmm… Well, well! She is not that lonely, the world is around her. She just wants somebody for herself. I have heard that by the Dead Sea, there's a fisherman who owns a doll he has bought from the mountain witch. " the man added, then continued smiling : " Do not be afraid! Those chains might be heavy, but the hole inside your chest must be heavier… I think that you can remove those chains easily, but it requires a lot of willpower, which I hope you will obtain once this hole inside your chest is filled! " and left on his way, waving good-bye to Dolore.

Once she heard the man's words, she looked at the flower and then at the chains, realizing that the weight she had been carrying held her back from seeing the world outside of the forest. And with no hesitation for a second, she took off one chain, but then, the witch's words echoed in Dolore's head and she got discouraged. She knew that if she completely took it off, the witch wouldn't be so happy about it, and the punishment would be greater than the feeling of freedom. She kept one chain on an arm, and held the flower in the other, willing to bring it to the witch as a gift, hoping that she would forgive her for being late.

In the forest, the witch noticed Dolore's absence. She was so upset!

Dolore, after a while, came back and entered the house, happily saying : " Look! Isn't it beautiful? It is for you! We can put it outside and maybe it will grow — or, or, maybe more will grow and make this place a bit brighter! " .

The witch was not happy seeing Dolore behave this way. She took the flower from Dolore's hand, and threw it into the fire. As the flower was slowly turning into ashes and Dolore's smile was fading away, the witch got closer to Dolore, holding onto her shoulder, and said : " What?... What did I tell you, Dolore? HOW DARE YOU?! How… dare…. you… leave this forest? And now, you bring this ugly thing into my house, and you smile… Look at you! You are so ugly, how can you even smile, Dolore? " .

The doll was terrified, frozen in the spot, holding her tongue as the witch continued : " You have lost a chain! … Did you try to take it off and run? … Do you think it is that easy to get away from me? … I have created you, I will destroy you, Dolore! You useless thing! I will teach you a lesson! " .

The witch attached two more chains on Dolore's legs and then, she grabbed the ashes from the fireplace and started to cast her spell : " Your eyes, finding joy, now may be filled with darkness! Any color that you see, may turn grey and bring you sadness! Every time you feel curious and happy, may it turn you angry and mad! With this spell I cast upon you, may you be forever sad! " finishing it by blowing the ashes into Dolore's white thread eyes.

Since then, Dolore was not able to see any colors again, her vision was clouded and dark, slowly forgetting about the village she had seen. The only thing she knew was that she had to stay by the witch's side and do as she's told.

More years passed by, and Dolore, even as she was now, couldn't make the witch feel less lonely. The witch was not satisfied by the doll's efforts and her anger was bigger than before which made the forest darker and scarier than ever!

The villagers, out of fear, abandoned the village because they were sure that the witch's anger would catch them into this dark nightmare cloud floating above the forest, slowly extending towards the village.

Only a few creatures would dare to get closer but nothing would enter the forest at all… and one day, as Dolore was cleaning the house, she found a jacket. The jacket that had the pocket which she was created from, but she had never seen it again since the day she became alive. The witch was hiding the box and the jacket away from Dolore, knowing that it would awaken her memories and it might break the spell.

Dolore was holding the jacket and felt like she needed to remember something, but the more she tried to remember, the more anger and sorrow would take over her, continuously torturing her. After putting the jacket back to its place, she kept cleaning around the house but with each step, her body would act on it's own in pain, as if it knew that all the feelings Dolore had were not her own.

The witch was looking at the doll's struggle, in satisfaction, that one of her spells had finally worked, being sure that now Dolore wouldn't ever be able to leave. And to celebrate this achievement, the witch decided to make a visit to the mountain witch and share this spell with her, leaving Dolore to take care of the house and the forest.

" I will be gone for a week. Keep the house in order and gather materials from the forest for my potions! " the witch told Dolore as she was packing her necessary items.

" And do not forget, my dear, I have created you, I will destroy you! Don't you dare try anything funny! Because, as a mother, as a creator, I have deep love for you, and you wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you? We just have each other… you belong to me! " she continued and then she left as Dolore nodded and bowed before her.

After two days in the witch's absence, Dolore followed her orders and kept cleaning. Now it was time for her to gather the materials needed, potions were slowly running out and Dolore did not want the witch to get angry when she was back home.

She grabbed her basket and went deep into the forest, walking slowly since the chains on her legs wouldn't allow her to take bigger steps. But with each step, Dolore noticed something flying around her. It was a butterfly… flying through the hole inside Dolore's chest, but the doll did not seem entertained by it.

As she was gathering some sticks, the butterfly would still fly close to her, which made Dolore feel anger, throwing the sticks at the small butterfly. She kept throwing and throwing, but the butterfly was untouchable! And Dolore was angrier… She dropped the basket, and started to run to catch the butterfly.

She kept running as fast as she could but couldn't get that close to it.

" This cursed thing dares to challenge me! It will see what comes when something dares to mess with me! I will destroy you! " Dolore shouted at the butterfly as she was running. It was fast, and she couldn't catch it, but her focus was on it, and as she was running with anger, the chains on her legs got tangled into rock from the way and broke.

" No! NO!!! … The witch will destroy me! This rock… This cursed rock… And this cursed creature… Ah! I will destroy everything before the witch will destroy me! I will catch you and burn you, at least we could make potions out of your ashes, you useless flying thing! " Dolore shouted.

She tried to gather the chains and put it back, but it was broken. The butterfly got closer to Dolore and flew through the hole inside her chest, but, Dolore in her anger and fear, took a rock from the ground and caught the butterfly.

At that moment, she realized that she was out of the forest and the place seemed familiar, looked around but yet could not remember much… but then : " Oh, no! … No, no, no! What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?! … I- I didn't mean to… Please… I… Please, move! MOVE YOUR WINGS!!! Please … Fly… Here! This hole! Please… " Dolore said crying, realizing that she hurt the butterfly. She held it into her hands, but it was not moving at all.

Two more days passed by, and Dolore did not move from that spot. She cried and cried, holding the butterfly. During those days, she slowly remembered that a man told her there's a doll by the Dead Sea, and after she wiped her tears, she started to walk with the butterfly in her hands hoping that the fisherman's doll could help her fix her mistake. But before she could head towards the Dead Sea, she rushed back into the forest and took the box and the jacket from the witch's home and left.

Dolore walked and walked, days and nights now. The sea was really far away from the forest. And as Dolore was on her way, the witch returned home and noticed that her doll was missing. She desperately searched for her in the forest, but Dolore was nowhere to be found, and she realized that her spell was, in fact, not really working. Her anger was so great that all of this time, while Dolore was missing, she destroyed everything near the forest, hoping that the doll was hiding somewhere and it would come back, but just like this, seasons were passing…

Fall, winter, spring, summer… seasons where Dolore was way too far from the forest.

On a sunny summer day, Dolore had finally arrived in the village at the Dead Sea. She was asking the villagers about the fisherman's doll, but nobody wanted to speak to her. She was full of stitches and looking scary, a doll that they have never seen before.

She kept wandering through the village, some nights waiting for a " so known " doll to appear, some days asking the villagers about it. But yet, no doll was passing by, and nobody would answer her.

" Be patient, little one! We are here, I will get you some help! Please, hang in there! " Dolore said, while she was holding the butterfly into her palms.

" Are you crying because you are ugly? " a child asked Dolore.

She wiped her tears and nodded. The child continued : " You look like my friend. She is also ugly! But she does not cry… We still play together! The other kids run away from her or throw rocks at her, but she always smiles because I am her friend! "

Dolore smiled for a second. The child was the only one not afraid of her, but she could not feel happy, the sadness would fade away her smile quickly.

" I have never seen you around, what are you doing here? Did you come to play? Or… To eat us? " the child asked.

The doll was surprised, but forced a smile and answered : " No, I am not here to eat anyone. I am here to play and fix this little friend… This little black butterfly got hurt while playing… I am looking for the fisherman's doll. "

The child took a look at Dolore's palms and confusedly said : " Your eyes are sick! It is white, not black! " then giggled and said : " Looks like your little friend is tired. I also sleep a lot when I am playing too much or hurt myself when I am running! So let's not make too much noise! "

Dolore smiled again and the child continued : " The fisherman's house is on the island, right over there! But nobody wants to go there… My mother is saying that the fisherman is a bad person, and his doll keeps all the outsiders away from the island… we all avoid that place, it is scary anyway. We can all play here! "

She thanked the child and headed towards the island.

From the distance, the island appeared beautiful and made Dolore feel determined to reach it, but the challenge was to cross the sea that was in between the village and the island. She had never seen the sea before and did not know how to swim, but despite feeling afraid, she took a few steps into the water. As she was walking into it, she noticed that her legs were floating as her hand was sinking from the weight of the chain she still had attached. It was pulling her down and she had trouble holding the butterfly and the box. So, she went back to the shore and had to let go of the chain that was making her struggle.

" Surely, she will find me… She will destroy me! But I have to not waste time anymore, those chains kept me stuck for way too long, and now, I can finally do something and fix my mistake. " Dolore said as she took the chain off, put the butterfly and the box on her chest and lay on her back into the water, letting the waves lead her towards the island.

Hours had passed and Dolore finally reached the island. It was huge and had many trees that she had never seen before. She was sitting in the sand, waiting for her body to dry, lost in her sadness because even though it was the first time seeing the Sun, she would see it dark, like everything else she had seen before. But the warmth definitely was a new experience for her.

" So this is what they call a sunny day… They were happily talking about it, but I do not see what's that special. It is grey as the clouds in the forest… " Dolore said.

The sound of the waves, the warmth of the Sun, the sand was part of a world that Dolore had never seen before, and she wished that she could understand why people are happy on such days.

" It is yellow! It is white sometimes… Other times it is orange or red. Are you coming out from a cave? Who are you and what are you doing here? " a voice behind her said.

Surprised, she quickly turned and saw a doll made out of pearls! It was shiny, and after all this time spent in darkness, she felt blinded by how bright the doll was.

" You must be the fisherman's doll! I am Dolore! " she said as she stood up and slowly approached the dool.

" Keep the distance! I have asked you something! " the doll shouted.

" What do you mean, yellow, red and orange? It looks grey to me… Only your shirt has red! But.. I am here to ask you for help! A witch created you, so you must have some powers! I… I hurt this little black butterfly and is not moving anymore… Please, help me! " Dolore desperately answered.

The doll came a bit closer to Dolore and said " I was not created to fix your mistakes! Help yourself! You hurt it, now face it because I won't help you! "

Dolore started to cry and beg the doll to help her, and as she kept asking the doll to do something, she grabbed it's arm. " WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! " the doll shouted again.

" Do not touch me, or else I will tear apart every single stitch that is keeping you together! Leave the island right at this very moment! " the doll added.

Dolore was so sad… She hoped that the doll would be happy to see one of its kind and help her, but then, she noticed that the doll was losing pearls, leaving a trail behind it and Dolore started to follow it.

She gathered every single pearl on the way and put it inside the box she was carrying until she reached a house under five palm trees. She slowly approached it and saw the fisherman entering the house, then she went carefully towards the window and sneaked a look inside.

" Hold this! And if you keep losing them, I will take each one out by myself and throw it into the water! " the fisherman angrily told the doll, handing it a sack of pearls.

" Yes, father! I am sorry… " the doll said as it was attaching the pearls back in place.

" Ha! Good for nothing… That's what you are, Sventura! How can you be so reckless to fall asleep on the beach and let the birds steal the pearls? What if someone was attacking us? I told you, do not let anything touch or get any closer to you! Not even a bug! You are precious to me and you have to be strong and protect your father! Or… Am I not that important to you, Sventura? How can you… How can you do this to me? " said the fisherman.

He was mad at his doll, and Dolore kept looking through the window in fear, wishing that there could be something to help the doll. Then, the fisherman took another sack of pearls and threw it on the floor towards Sventura, saying : " This is costing me so much, Sventura! It took me so many years to finally find those pearls in the Dead Sea, it is not easy to get it and you know it. I was supposed to sell it to a witch from a forest far away, her doll ran away and she needs it for her spells to find it. Now, look, I have to give it to you, while you are useless… I will go tonight to gather more and I will be back by the morning. Try to not be so reckless and sensitive until I am back! " then left.

Dolore quickly hid herself behind the corner until the fisherman took the boat and was getting away from the house. She knocked at the door and the doll opened, angry to see Dolore there. " I told you to leave! I told you what happens if you don't leave! " Sventura said and before closing the door, grabbed an end of the thread from Dolore's hand and tore it apart. " Why… Why are you doing this? I just wanted to fix my mistakes, I just wanted to make a friend, why… HOW DARE YOU HURT ME?! " she shouted in anger and pushed Sventura on the floor, watching the poor doll's body come apart and the pearls spread everywhere.

Seeing this happen right before her eyes, she realized that her anger pushed her to make another mistake. Now, she knew that the fisherman would be back in the morning, so Dolore rushed to gather every pearl and stole the other sacks of pearls and left the house. " What have I done? Why do I keep doing this? It is so wrong… I… I will fix both of you! I need to fix you both! " she thought to herself as the sadness was trying to cloud her head.

After wandering around the island for a while, trying to find a way to fix what she had done, she realized that once the fisherman is back, she can take the boat and be able to leave the island. So she patiently waited for his return, and as soon as he entered the house, she ran to the boat and left towards unknown lands, away from the witch and the fisherman.

Days passed and Dolore finally found land. She did not know where she was but for sure it was a place where nobody could find her. " I have… I have this box with a needle and thread, a butterfly, and pearls… I have to fix this! I will bring Sventura back and the butterfly as well! " Dolore thought as she started to put the pearls back one by one attached to the thread she had inside the box.

It took her few days to put the doll back together, but in the end she succeeded! The only issue was that Sventura did not move a single bit… And more days passed where Dolore did not know what to do anymore. Sad and tired, the only thing she thought is right to do, is to give up on the doll and the butterfly and return back to the forest, so she took Sventura's body and placed on his chest a piece of wood with the butterfly, then slowly enter inside the water, ready to let go of it all.

" Good-bye, butterfly! Good-bye, Sventura! I am sorry that I have done this to you and I do not have enough power to bring you back… " Dolore said as she was laying the doll's body into the water.

" It is white… Not black! " a voice said, as Dolore was getting out of the water. It was Sventura, the doll! He was following her steps, carefully holding the piece of wood with the butterfly on it. Dolore ran to Sventura and hugged him crying and said : " I am so glad to see you again! I am so sorry… I didn't mean to… " then they went on the sand and sat down watching the sunset.

" White? It is black… I've only seen one white butterfly but this is not the same… Now, even you look different. The pearls are dark, when I saw you first it was so bright, what happened? " Dolore asked.

" It is white to me, so are my pearls right now. I have never been allowed to touch the water before, the pearls were so dirty and full of dust, now I am clean and this red thread looks great on me! Thank you! " Sventura answered.

At that very moment, Dolore remembered the spell that the witch casted on her, so she stood up and ran to the water and washed her eyes and looked at the doll.

" It was a spell! I remember now! I can see you now! And the sun is red… And the sky is purple! Haha! It is so beautiful… " she excitedly shouted.

After so long, she could see the colors again and feel joy without the anger to take over immediately. She was so happy, that she forgot she was missing a hand, and she forgot about the forest for a moment.

The night arrived, and the two dolls made a shelter with some leaves and some wood. But Dolore wanted to stay in the sand for a bit longer… " Would you look at this… so many colorful lights! It is so beautiful! Sventura, look! "

" They call it "stars". Whenever it is dark, you can see it! It has always been like this… And there is the Moon! It always lights up the night sky… May I ask tho, how do you know my name? " he asked Dolore.

" That day, you lost so many pearls and I gathered them all and found the fisherman's house. I was at the window and heard everything… All the things he said to you, and then he called you by your name. The witch that created me, was talking to me with the same anger as the fisherman had… But the pearls that I was gathering were so bright, as bright as the stars! " Dolore replied and held Sventura's hand then smiled.

The dolls were living in a world of their own now, away from everything that they knew before. Sventura did not feel afraid of anything that gets close to him anymore, and Dolore finally had some company that was not making her feel alone as she was feeling around the witch.

" She is a lonely witch… For years she casted spells on everything that entered her forest, and it never worked. Someday she created me to keep her company, but despite whatever I've done, she was feeling lonelier and angrier. I have thought that my purpose is to be by her side only, not knowing the world around the forest, but now, I feel like I belong here! To the world! Away from the sad darkness and the spells, I feel alive! " Dolore said to Sventura.

The doll looked at Dolore and saw her smile, but also noticed the missing hand. He grabbed the leftover thread, and started to sew it back together saying : " You should not stay by her side just because she is lonely, you belong to the world! In the end, what belongs to us, will come back together, stitch by stitch, pearl by pearl, with all the efforts we put in, even when it feels like we have made mistakes, we still try until the very end to fix what we can! "

Dolore quietly listened to Sventura as he continued : " My father — the fisherman, heard rumours around the village that witches can create dolls, and those dolls are given a purpose, a purpose so strong that they will act on it forever. He went to the mountain's witch one day and asked her to give him a precious doll that will protect him and do everything he says. But she refused him, because he was a poor man, without anything to offer to the witch. For years he gathered pearls and brought them to the witch, many different colors, but the witch did not seem pleased. One day, he visited her again with a sack full of white and dark pearls, and she accepted the dark ones, with the withe ones, she created me. Since that day, I have been protecting him, doing as I was told but he was never satisfied… Never let me leave the island or talk to anyone. Now, being away from that place, I feel brave and alive! "

Dolore was happy to have such a great friend to share it all with, but the pain she had all along was still felt. Even feeling alive, it did not fill the hole inside her chest, and that would remind her that the witch could find her and hurt her friend…

" Does it hurt? " Sventura asked.

Dolore nodded as she was covering the hole inside her chest. Seeing that, Sventura took some of the pearls and sewed them inside the hole on Dolore's chest.

"Better? " he smiled at Dolore. " Better! Thank you! " she replied with a big smile.

" I am useful now! Let me help you with the butterfly as well. I can not do anything to make it move, but we could do a ceremony in the morning for this poor, little thing… Sending it to peace is the best thing you can do for it! " Sventura added. Dolore agreed and next day, right after the sun was up, they made a ceremony for the butterfly and sent it towards peace with the waves. Now, both of them, away from their pain, decided to create a village for the dolls trapped under spells made by the witches and help them all set free.

One year later, a new village was born! A village for the doll, where they could live peacefully and enjoy every single day with the others. A place where they learn about the world! But, in this village, one day, a man appeared looking for Dolore and Sventura. After he found them he said : " We need your help! The witch from the forest has been looking for you, Dolore, and on her way she destroyed so many villages… The other witches went into a rage because they thought we had stolen their dolls… The fisherman paid witches to find you, Sventura! And the village near the island is completely gone… Please, help us! We do not know where to run anymore or how to stop them, but in these years, they have destroyed almost everything… Surely they will come here too! "

Hearing such words, Sventura felt like it was his fault and he had to do something about it. He asked the dolls in the village to help the villagers and give them shelter, then he decided to return to the fisherman. " Dolore… I have to go back. I have experienced so many new things here, I've felt alive, but now, I can not be here as all of the villagers are losing their home and life… I've gathered enough strength to act on my true purpose, which is to protect them from the fisherman and those witches! Keep this village safe, and our dreams alive! I will try my best to find the strength to overcome this misfortune and return here! " he said as he hugged Dolore then went on his way back to the island.

In that moment, the pearls from the hole inside Dolore's chest fell… The pain was back but she knew that also had to do something, so she grabbed the red thread and the needle and went on her way back to the forest to face the witch, leaving the village in the care of the dolls. When she reached the forest, everything was in ruins… Even the dark trees were gone and as soon as she stepped into the forest, the witch appeared next to her and said : " Beautiful, isn't it? It is because of you! I could not find you… To destroy you, so I have destroyed everything else! And now you dare to come back? My creation, you might lack a heart, but you lack a brain as well! You are useless, I do not need you, so I will destroy you! "

" Don't do it, mother! I belong here, with you…. All the years away from you, have destroyed me already, now I truly understand why you feel so alone… " Dolore said and then hugged the witch.

" M- Mother? " the witch was shocked hearing that. " Right… You belong here! But you won't get away with what you've done so easily! " Then she took Dolore back to the house and did not allow her to go out anymore.

Late at night, Dolore added the pearls that fell and a white flower into the fire and patiently waited until the witch fell asleep. As soon as the witch was asleep, Dolore gathered the ashes and blew it into the witch's face, making her wake up in anger. " May you never see again! Be stuck here, alone, in pain! May your body never move and your voice never be heard, your spells never work! On this wall, forever, you may be stuck! " Dolore shouted and then sewed the witch to the wall with the red

thread.

It was her first time casting a spell, and the power was so great that the red thread grew big and strong, so the witch would never be able to break free. Dolore knew that she never belonged in this place, her new experiences gave her strength and had a home to go back to.

After the witch was locked inside the house, the forest became alive again. Flowers would bloom, the grass was greener than ever, the birds sang beautifully and the Sun was shining bright. This time, Dolore left the forest for good and went back to the dolls village. There she helped the other dolls and fought all the witches that let their anger on innocent villagers, hoping that someday, Sventura would succeed as well and return.

From now on, Dolore had stitched up inside the hole on her chest different things. During autumn, the leaves that were falling from the trees that made her feel colorful; during the winter, the pines and cotton to keep her warm; during spring, flowers that made her feel light and beautiful and… during the summer, pearls to remind her of all the good things and where she belonged.

The end.