by Noel Mcgivern

Created on: May 16, 2009

One upon a time there was a kind, clever, delightful little girl called Megan. Megan had a dolly that she loved very much. The dolly's name was Dolly. Megan said that was because it was the perfect name for her. Unfortunately poor Dolly had only a thin dress to wear and no blanket for the cold, cold nights. Megan did her best and cuddled Dolly but alas when she fell asleep Dolly was left to shiver.

Megan had an auntie called Alison. Auntie Alison promised to knit a blanket for Dolly. She went to the wool shop and asked the lady what type of wool would be best for a dolly. The Lady said she had some extra soft wool that would be ideal. She showed Auntie Alison a pink ball of it. Auntie Alison said it would do very nicely, indeed.

Auntie Alison took the wool to work and in her tea break began to knit. Unfortunately the phone rang and she had to put the knitting down. Sadly she forgot about the knitting.

It snowed that night. The snow piled so high that people had to dig themselves out of their houses and when they walked along the snow came over the top of their boots. As you can imagine poor Dolly was very cold indeed, especially since she didn't have a blanket.

The next day Auntie Alison sat down, again, to knit the blanket for the poor Dolly. She thought I'll put the radio on while I knit. A Spice Girls song came on. Auntie Alison really loved the Spice Girls, because they were very big years ago when she was a little girl. She put the knitting down and bopped to the music. It is a pity that the song hadn't been by the Pussycat dolls because maybe then she'd have remembered to knit poor Dolly's blanket. But, alas, she got so carried away by the music that she forgot all about poor Dolly's blanket.

There were hailstones that night. They hit against the windows with a great clatter, bounced off the pavement and battered the doors. Poor Dolly shivered and shook terribly.

Several days later Auntie Alison remembered she still hadn't knitted poor Dolly's blanket and she sat down to do it. As she did so she suddenly remembered that she was down to her last three bottles of Cola. Now, Auntie Alison did know that Cola isn't very good for you, but still she put the knitting down and rushed out to buy some more of it. Sadly she forgot about Dolly's blanket.

The wind howled and whistled through the trees that night. The window in Megan's bedroom rattled and shook. Poor Dolly was so cold her teeth shattered. Poor Dolly wished so much that she had a blanket to keep her warm.

One day a peculiar man with a white beard came into work to see Auntie Alison. Auntie Alison told him she was knitting a blanket for Megan's Dolly. The peculiar man said to himself that Auntie Alison must be a very kind lady, indeed. However, a few weeks later when he came back again he noticed that the wool was lying in the same place and not a stitch had been added. This made the peculiar man very sad. He picked up the knitting and asked Aunt Alison why the blanket was not yet made.

Oh Dear, said Aunt Alison, I had meant to knit the blanket, but somehow I kept being waylaid.

Indeed you have been, said the peculiar man. Why not pick up your needles and start knitting now.

That is exactly what Aunt Alison did. The blanket was finished in two shakes of a lamb's tale and Dolly never spent another cold night.

You might be wondering who the peculiar man was. Well all I can tell you is that he is the busiest man in the world on a certain night in December.

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