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     Beginnings have always been difficult. Where exactly would it be appropriate to begin? Would it be the day she was born? The day she first discovered their love of all things vintage, uncanny, or downright spooky? The day she accepted that there were things beyond the physical? No no, those things were all too vague. They were accepted truths of her existence: Dorothy has always believed in the paranormal, always sought out to make contact with the paranormal, and always dressed and spoke like she hadn’t been present for the past 2 decades. That’s just how Dorothy was, that’s just how she would always be. 

     No no no, we’ll just begin with the day she went antiquing. 

     It was one of her favorite holes in the walls, a treasure trove of old toys and memorabilia that were just meant to adorn her curio cabinet- A dusty, vaguely mildewy shop with fluorescent lights built to look like the ugliest little box this side of the Mississippi. There wasn’t anything in particular she was after- Perhaps some trading cards or a Furby- but to her delight there was a brand new booth set up in a formerly desolate room of the store. Right behind the menagerie of rusted over farming tools that no one bothered to look through anymore was a collection of toys, including vintage merch for some puppet show she hadn’t heard of before. She stepped into the small little room, being careful not to let her fanny pack knock anything over- It had happened before, and suffice to say he father wasn’t too happy about that. “Look with your eyes, not with your hands” was the lesson her parents had drilled into her head. Granted she did an awful lot of looking with her hands these days, One did have to look at the price tags after all, but that was that besides the point. 

     “Welcome Home” was the name plastered on each little knick knack, vinyl record, and red VHS tape on the shelves. It wasn’t a very interesting name, but it was… Different. It didn’t seem very marketable or recognizable in the way that Sesame Street or The Muppets were, it was just vague. She supposed that’s why she hadn’t head of it until now. She pulled her phone back out and took photos to catalogue the collection… just in case there was something worth coming back for later. Once she was satisfied, Dorothy moved onto taking a better look at each piece of merchandise on the shelf. She settled down on the floor to dig through the dusty plushes on the bottom shelf, setting aside boring beanie babies and cooing at unloved webkinz in the process before she found something that interested her. It appeared to be a doll from that Welcome Home show- and a rather high quality one at that. She felt that little click in her body that filled her with adoration, the one that signified that something was a worthwhile purchase.

      “Well hello there, ya little cutie..” she whispered. Dorothy could have stood to be louder given that there was no one around, but in all honesty she didn’t want to risk feeling silly. She pat the large little blue pompadour atop his head and pulled him into a hug as she checked for a price tag- usually on the larger dolls they were kept in the back with a safety pin. To her annoyance she only found the string, but no paper tag. Just great, it looks like she’d have to haggle for him. Hopefully the cashier working today was the one that liked her, she was always very generous with accepting her offers. 

     Dorothy briefly considered not picking him up, but it was a very nice doll and besides… He seemed loney. There were no other dolls of welcome home characters in this booth, so it’s not like he had any friends to talk to. She carefully cradled the silly little guy as she hoisted herself up, keeping the caring touch as she continued to look around for any smaller knicknacks to add to her new little collection. The vinyl records were out right away- She could be pretentious with her vintage media, but not that pretentious. The VHS tapes she was looking at all ran for about three dollars a piece… So that in itself was nice. She took the 3 that seemed to be in the best condition and made a note to herself to hook up the old tape player downstairs once she got home. 

     Right as she was about to leave with her winnings her eyes fell onto another knick knack: A little toy rotary phone- Red, with little striped accents that matched her VHS cases and the doll’s pants. She checked the tag- $12 dollars. Another deceptively low price in today’s economy. She quickly tallied up the price in her head, 3 time 3 is 9, nine plus twelve was 21… That on top of whatever she was going to pay for her little pompadoured friend was doable, she supposed. She deserved a little treat after this week. She grabbed the phone and with her arms full of primary colors made her way to the front desk. Thank goodness this stuff wasn’t stashed upstairs, that wouldn’t be a fun trip. 

     Heh heh, trip . She really ought to quit her day job sometime. Her brain was filled with anxiety as she made her way through the maze of booths to the front building, and she was careful to check her peripherals as she walked. Dorothy never knew who could be waiting to nab her on the way back home, but she felt at ease with the little yellow fellow by her side. She really ought to look up his name soon, it felt rude not to address him with something proper. The little old lady situated behind the desk turned to face her as she sat her haul down, giving a grin. “Dolly, dear! Long time no see, how’s it going?”

     She laughed, shaking her head as she spoke. “Not a Furby in sight, but that’s alright. I think I found something more interesting today, here’s hoping the little guy can help me with my coursework. He doesn’t have a price tag, though. How are you doing today?” The cashier, or Mrs. Lola if you wanted to get personal, gave the doll a once over and glanced over at the store’s inventory. “I’m doing so well today Miss Dolly, that you can name the price and he’s yours. I can’t seem to find anything on him.”

     “Would ya be willing to double my total and make it 42 before tax? Pretty please?” Dolly batted her eyes up in an exaggerated manner, giving Lola a chuckle. “Only because it’s you, and only because your father would kill me if I made you pay more. Do you want that in a bag, hun?”

     “Just the phone and tapes, please. This little guy's riding shotgun with me. Thank you so much! I really appreciate it, Mrs. Lola.” She stood awkwardly as Lola wrapped her telephone in newspaper and bagged it with the VHS tapes. There was a knowing feeling that suggested the woman wanted to talk a bit longer, but Dolly… didn’t . She could feel her social battery drizzling into practically nothing as she stood there.

     She took her bag and gave a loud and bright smile as she said goodbye before handwaving her departure with some story about needing to get back home to help with her sister, and that was that. She felt bad, but kept up her composure as she finagled with her car’s keys and with setting everything up for the ride home. She buckled her new friend up next to her, connected her bluetooth to the stereo, and started the car before driving off.

Chapter Text

     Wally wasn’t sure of exactly how long he was asleep, all that he really remembered was pulling off the itchy thing on his back and nuzzling back into the softness of the stuffed animals surrounding him. That was until his surroundings turned bright and he was greeted by a silvery little whisper and a hug. He expected to be put right back down, but to Wally’s surprise he felt himself get hoisted up alongside this new person. “This was fine,” he thought to himself. He was still disoriented, his eyes were still adjusting to the bright lights, but he thought the blurry figure cradling him like Barnaby used to seemed nice enough. Wally felt the this person moving around the small space, and to his delight she grabbed a few tapes and his telephone. She must be a fan! At least he thought it was a she. Their face was still coming into focus, but that was alright. Wally didn’t really care what this new friend looked like so long as they were kind. Wally let his eyes adjust as they walked through this new place. 

     At one point he finally allowed himself to get a good look at his friend’s face, and that’s when she started acting strangely. She looked around and held him tighter, her steps increasing in speed ever so slightly. Wally felt bad, her pupils were already blown so wide. He debated trying to apologize for staring, but they were in public… and he wasn’t completely sure he had his voice back yet. She could come to terms with this quirk of his later, he decided. He felt fully awake by the time that they reached the counter, and the nice lady finally gave a name to this new face. “Dolly,” he thought to himself. “Dolly is a very nice name. It suits someone with a face like that.”

     Their conversation didn't last as long as the ones at Howdy’s bodega, which struck Wally as strange for these two people that seemed to be on good terms. Maybe she was still scared, but she didn't act scared around Mrs. Lola. Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe Dolly was the one overreacting. He'd find out in due time, he supposed. Wally behaved himself as the girl struggled to get her bag put away safely before buckling him up. She made a joke about him needing a car seat, and he wanted to chuckle at the idea. The seat was much too big for him, but Wally was unaware of this fact. He let his gaze fall to Dolly as she tapped away on some sort of flat box. He figured it must be some kind of remote, because soon music began playing from the car's radio. 

     The first song was loud and fast-paced, it seems like something Julie would like. Granted, he couldn't understand half of the words being sung because of just how fast it was, but that was fine. Dolly seemed to understand it as she hummed along. The next song seemed much sadder than the last one, but she sang along much more consistently than with the last. She shifted back and forth between singing and resting, but Wally couldn't help but notice that she sang along loudest with the sad songs. She seemed so happy, it didn’t make sense. He would ask her later, he decided… once there was no risk of her crashing into a tree or running away. Wally admittedly didn’t pay much attention to their surrounding on the drive to this new place as one separated from everything they once knew should. He was too busy looking at all of the dials and buttons on the car’s dash. It was so much different than the last time he was in a vehicle on Earth, and much more complex than the occasional vehicle he saw in Home. 

     It took about half an hour for them to pull into the driveway of a large cul-de-sac neighborhood. It wasn’t perfectly round like Home’s, but it shared similar features. Everyone’s house was in a circle, with a large swath of grassy hills and trees in the middle. It was nice, Wally thought to himself. He hoped that some day he could sit under one of those trees and paint the world around him. He watched Dolly nearly trip as she exited her door, the poor thing- But she was fine! She chuckled to herself as she scooped him and the paper bag with his things into her arms, her foot going to shut the car door. “G’night, Zinny,” she called out to her car, “You be good now!” Hmm, technology seemed to have progressed a very long ways since he was last present. The car could hear her. How curious. 

     Dolly’s house was… nice, all things considered. It was messy in the way only a lived-in could could be, and Wally enjoyed the menagerie of family photos he could see when she stopped to talk to her mother. The frames themselves were a tad dusty, but each photograph was pristine, not a hair out of place on any of the children. Dolly looked about the same, he noted, save for her hair. It was much neater- longer, even, with a pretty white bow adorning her head. Her two siblings looked much the same, if not for their darker hair and eyes. His attention fell back to the real Dolly once she held him out to show off. “...Isn’t he just adorable ?!”

     “You know I don’t do clowns,stop bringing those things into the house…” her mother groaned. Wally noticed that her gaze returned to her own shiny box. “He’s not even a clown, he’s just a snazzy little gentleman! Lookit, he’s even got little hearts on his shoes! I love him!” She squeezed him tight to her chest when her mother made mention of how Wally looked like he was suffering from an acute case of jaundice, making a note to pat his head. “She didn’t mean it, baby. She’s just a bitter old hag.” She laughed as her mother shooed her away, and she made her way to her room with no further interruptions. 

     The first thing Wally noticed was the wards placed along the door. A sachet of ingredients and runes on one side to keep unwanted entities out, and wrought iron trinkets to keep things in on the other. They were not very complex pieces of magic mind you- but there was enough intention behind him that Wally could feel it through his body. He allowed himself to get situated in her lap as she put down her bags and moved over to an armchair situated in front of what he recognized as a home computer. It was a very cozy setup, and Wally was more than happy to sit and watch her type in her passwords and browse through the internet for tutorials for setting up VHS players. These newer generations… How would they survive if they couldn’t navigate the true pinnacle of video formatting? Surely nothing could have come along that surpassed VHS tapes in the 30 years Wally had been asleep, right? 

     Just as he was excited to see Dolly get up and react to his show, he felt her yawn and glance at the time. 7:02. “Sorry little buddy… I need my beauty sleep. How’s about we go to bed and get this set up before I leave tomorrow, alright?” Wally did not find that plan too agreeable, but he was still regaining his energy so he wasn’t in a position to complain. He was very carefully sat back down into the chair after Dolly got up to get changed, with a playful warning thrown his way about not peeking! Not that he would, of course. Dolly was right when she said he was a gentleman. A gentleman that she didn’t know was sentient, but a gentleman nonetheless. He really would have to apologize for his behavior once he was able to do so.

     Though, if she was a witch like her door and shelf full of books suggested, this conversation might occur sooner than he initially thought. 

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     It had been a hot minute since Dorothy had felt the urge to slip into the liminal, but she figured it couldn’t hurt. Sure she was tired… Uncharacteristically so, in fact, but she thought she could manage. The moon was almost completely full this time of month, the house was uncharacteristically quiet… and she had a drive to do something , anything , tonight!

     Her first attempts were rote, she had practically perfected them. Cleanse the self, cleanse the mind, and dump all of your worries down a well. The troubles came when she tried to conjure the image of her favorite place to relax- Her little home away from home in the form of a small house by the river. Each time she tried to plant herself there, she once again became aware of her body and the large doll in her arms that kept shifting with the flow of gravity. She sighed, and decided to just wander tonight. She let her mind roam until she came across a very large tree atop a grassy knoll, and knew that this was where she was supposed to be tonight. 

     Dorothy scarcely minded the unnatural colors of the foliage around her as she climbed atop the hill, with most of her sensory input being that of the soft jade grass beneath her hands and feet. She allowed herself this simple joy, taking delight in her ability to laugh without running out of breath as she took in the cloudless sky and the color that painted the forest below. She laid down under this tree with its vaguely purplish bark and heart shaped leaves, and let herself relax once again. Dorothy opened herself up, but instead of birdsongs she was greeted by the sight of a short fellow standing beside an easel. 

     A very familiar short fellow standing beside an easel. He bore the soft yellow skin and blue pompadour she had come to know, but his face was different from his physical counterpart… It had a pleasant contour to it that a doll couldn’t achieve, his droopy little eyelids replaced with a similar yet much more appealing expression. He didn’t yet look at her, but Dorothy could pick up on the composed contentment he displayed. They stayed like that for a while before he broke the silence with a soft greeting. “Hello, you… It’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”

     “And to who do I owe the pleasure?” Dorothy questioned, “Are you a ghost? A guide? A figment of my imagination? If you’re a demon you can just say so, it won’t make me go away.” The little blue-haired fellow laughed… It was soft, monotonous. She recognized it as something others would find mildly off putting, but she found it comforting. “I’m Wally. Wally Darling. I’m not sure that there’s a name for what I am, but if there is I wouldn’t know it. I mean you no harm, though, I can assure you of that.”

     “What do you mean to do with me, then? How did you find me?” she asked. Wally hummed, his eyes shifting up away from her as his thumb stroked his chin. “I suppose I just want to be your friend, that’s all… and you’re the one who found me, Dolly Dear. You found my puppet and brought it home with you. I don’t think we would have met otherwise.”

     The girl’s eyes squinted. “I didn’t tell you my name,” she said, “How did you learn that?” He lifted his nonexistent eyebrows. “So I got it right? That makes me happy.” She shook her head with a little grin. “You’ve got it half right, at least. You can call me Dolly.” She leaned over and peaked at the canvas in front of her new acquaintance. He had yet to put down so much as a brushstroke, the possibilities were endless-

     “Do you have any suggestions?” he asked quietly. She shook her head, “no, not really. This is a perfect place for landscapes, though. You can see a lot more of the horizon.” Wally let his light smile widen. “Do you paint too, Dolly?”

     “No,” she smiled. “Too messy for me. I love looking at paintings, but I always want to curl up and die whenever some paint touches me.” Wally dipped his brush in some blue paint before swiping it across his canvas. “That’s fine, then. If you don’t want to join me, then you’re free to sit and rest for a while. I could even paint you, if you’d like.” he watched her cover her face with an arm, “Absolutely not. It would be rude to ask something of that from you!”

     “It would be my pleasure, honest it would. Besides, I still have to apologize for my behavior earlier today. It was very rude of me to stare at you at the store, and I feel… uncouth for not alerting you that I was present while you changed. I’m afraid I haven’t been a very nice houseguest and I’m sorry for that.” The fellow’s shoulders slumped as he watched the tinges of pink on her cheeks turn red, but she didn’t seem angry. “...eh. I’m not too offended, you are some sort of inhuman entity after all. I’d imagine you wouldn’t find the same titillation that a human would from that. I forgive you, but please know that I will be changing in my bathroom from now on.”

     “...Thank you, Dolly. I very much appreciate that. I look forward to getting to know you better. I’m pleased to be in the presence of such fascinating company. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” She shook her head and yawned. “Hmm. I don’t think so. All I really want to do right now is rest, It’s been a very long week for me believe it or not and I still have to get up early if I wanna set up that VHS player.” Wally tilted his head and looked back towards his canvas. “I understand.”

     4:38 AM. That was the time Dorothy jolted awake with a cold sweat and aching all up her arms and chest. She stretched her sore muscles and picked up Wally- The puppet, not the doll as she had been informed, before rolling out of her nice warm bed. Following her better judgement for once, she also picked up a throw blanket as well as her new VHS tapes before she headed downstairs with little more than phone flashlight to guide her. Wally found it strange that she didn’t turn on any lights, but he chalked it up to Dolly not wanting to wake anyone else up. He peeked over her shoulder to see two very large dogs snoring away on the couch. He decided that leaving Dolly’s bedroom unattended might not be the best idea moving forward if he wanted to keep his stuffing intact. 

     Wally expected her to set up the VHS player to the television in the living room, but instead he found himself taken down to a finished basement with a bulkier, if not more familiar, CRT TV set. She turned the light on in this room so that she could see what she was doing before setting Wally and her blanket down on a spare chair. He smiled to himself when she made the effort to wrap him up in the blanket. It was unnecessary- He didn’t really feel the cold after all, but it was a very kind gesture nonetheless. He found the strength to tilt his head to watch her fiddle with the television set, giggling to himself as she struggled to set up all of the various cables in the back. It was during this exercise in frustration that Wally learned his new friend had the potential for very crass language when the situation called for it... Oh dear!

     Dolly eventually figured out how to get the box working, and she cheered when she popped in the tape and learned that she didn’t have to take it out to rewind it. Satisfied with her work, she picked up Wally and settled down in front of the television to watch an episode of Welcome Home.

Chapter Text

     The episode Dorothy chose was titled “Welcome to The Neighborhood,” and to her utter relief it seems as though it was the pilot episode. Or, at the very least, the scene on the tape’s sticker promised something similar. It was as good as a place to start as any, she supposed. Wally felt her shift her weight forward as the animated opening theme played, and he had to be honest… He was excited to see her reactions. It had been so long since he’d gotten to see someone watching his show. Wally was so excited, in fact, that he allowed himself the privilege of swapping out to see her face once he came on screen to greet the audience and introduce himself!

When Dolly heard the name said aloud on screen, she froze. 

She looked to the TV, and then back to the puppet in her lap. She recalled the conversation she had last night, and her heart sank. 

     “That wasn’t just a dream, was it? You really talked to me… or something did, anyways. How else could I have guessed that?” Dorothy felt a little silly interrogating a toy, but she felt more assured in her suspicions as snippets of her dream came back to the forefront of her mind. One of these snippets contained a correction to her previous assumptions. She found his puppet . Not his doll, his puppet. She took a peek down the back collar of his shirt, expecting some sort of sewn-in slit. To her surprise, she found nothing. Maybe the thing that spoke to her meant it the other way- That the doll was a vessel, not necessarily a puppet puppet. An inspection of his wrists showed no signs of entry from a wire or wooden dowel, either. It didn’t make sense. Outside of the perpetually-closed mouth on the fellow in her lap, the two models looked identical. 

     Her hands scrambled to pause the tape and fumble to unlock her phone, the girl none the wiser that Wally was watching the way her fingers moved across the screen. He found it curious how attached she was to the thing, how many purposes it seemed to serve. Why, it even had a little clock and notebook inside it! One that Dolly was using to type up every one of their interactions that she could remember. He felt a pang of anxiety shoot from her center. He didn’t know why, though… He thought they got along quite well. Paradoxically, she held Wally’s body closer to her chest, squeezing him tight. She took in a deep breath, held it, and released.

     Breathe, hold, release, repeat. Breathe, hold, release, repeat. Dorothy allowed herself to gather her thoughts and feelings as she grounded herself and sorted through all of the sensory inputs shooting through her brain and body. The carpet she was sitting on was rough, Her blanket was soft and held her warmth quite well. Her stuffed companion was weighing heavy in her lap. Something was behind her. A pair of eyes she didn’t recognize were burning a metaphorical hole into the nape of her neck. Her eyes involuntarily welled up, hot tears quietly rolling down her cheeks and onto Wally’s stuffed pompadour. She felt a small weight placed on her shoulder and a kind, monotone voice leaked its way into her thoughts. “Are you okay, friend?”

No, but that was besides the point. 

     “Of course I am.” Dolly tried to blink away her tears to no avail. “I’m just surprised is all. Big emotions, tiny body, you know how it goes… heh.” The voice paused before it gave its response. “Why are you surprised, then? You know me, don’t you? You weren’t scared of me at all last night… Did I do something wrong?”Dolly was quick to shake her head at the doll, her voice speeding up as she spoke.“Scared? No no no- This is just amazing. You’re amazing. I- I set out do some exploration and I made a friend! I’m proud of myself! It’s just that I didn’t expect company. I’ve got cleansing to do- and research! Lots of research.” He saw that any fear Dolly might have had in her eyes had dissipated, leaving only glimmers of curiosity. “Don’t you want to finish this episode first, friend? We’ve barely even started it…”

     Oh right. The show. That’s the entire reason she woke up this early after all, wasn’t it? “Sorry, sorry… I guess I just got carried away,” she said while reaching for the remote control. “I’ve got the memory of an insect. That’s just something you’ll have to get used to.” She felt a little chuckle echo in her ears. “Insects actually have quite good memories. Butterflies remember being caterpillars, even. My friend Frank told me that.” Dolly hummed before she unpaused the video, “You got me there, wise guy. Is Frank here with us?”

     “No.” he said quietly, “It’s just me here, and it has been for some time now.” Wally stayed silent while the episode played in the background, and she couldn’t help but feel sad for the guy. “I’m sorry, Wally. I’m not going to pry anymore, but I’m uh, I’m here if you need to talk about it.” She gave Wally a little pat on his head and held him tighter. He found that he appreciated the comfort, the silent understanding that he might need space. He hadn’t been extended such a kindness since he was separated from Barnaby. He thanked her before retreating back to his body and the comforting grip she had on him. 

     The two spent the next hour or so in quiet bliss, and Wally delighted in seeing and hearing someone laugh at all of the jokes he had been a part of. He became very familiar with Dolly and her wheezy little laughs that could just as easily turn to witchy cackles if she thought of something to add to jokes over the course of each segment. When Frank Frankly appeared on screen, she squealed. “Oh my gods. That’s Frank?!” she gasped. “Yes, that’s his name. Why do you ask?” He listened to her laugh… “That is the fruitiest little man I have ever seen and your show came out in what? The 60’s 70’s? That’s amazing!” Wally was confused. “He’s not a fruit, he’s Frank. Why are you laughing so hard, friend?” 

“No, fruity as in queer . I was trying to say that he looks like he’s gay. I’m sorry if I stepped out of line, it just surprised me is all!” Wally was still confused. “What’s gay?”

“Gay… As in homosexual? It looks like he dates men.”

“Oh yes! I suppose Frank would be gay, then. He’s liked Eddie Dear for some time now.” She snapped her fingers. “I knew there was a reason I related to that silly little mailman so much!” 

“I thought you were already related.”

“And why would you think that, Walls?”

“Well, because you both trip over things and have the same last name. Your voices match, too.”

“I… don’t know what you mean.”

“The lady at the story called you Dolly Dear. You said I got your name half right, didn’t you?”

     She laughed. “Dear is a term of endearment here. You use it for people you love, or in Lola’s case southern hospitality. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to start getting ready. I have class today and I don’t want to be late. C’mere, buddy. I’ll get you set up in my room before I leave.” Wally felt himself scooped up and carried upstairs with an efficiency he hadn't yet seen from her. She gently plopped him down onto her armchair and he watched as she swapped between rooms to get dressed and pack her bags. She sped out after giving him one last little pat on the head, right as everyone else began to wake up. 

Chapter Text

These people were… loud. very loud. Dolly’s mother seemed to yell a lot more than she did last night, it seemed as though she was trying to get a little girl to mind her and get ready for school. Wally didn’t particularly care to pay attention to their bickering, though. His mind was elsewhere, he wanted to explore more. Frustratingly, he couldn’t explore more. He couldn’t move from his seat in the armchair. That in itself wasn’t a problem- It was a very nice armchair. It was very comfortable, not as fluffy as his one back home of course, but Home had its ways of making every chair feel just right. 

Right as Wally was about to call it a day and nap away the hours until Dolly’s return, he heard the wooden door burst open. He heard sharp little footsteps stomp past his chair. He took to turning his eyes back to see a short, baby-faced girl rifling through Dolly’s closet. She found a box with practiced speed, and after a moment of digging she took a tube of some kind of product and turned away to walk back out the door. Wally could see that she wore a school uniform of some kind- One with a purple pleated skirt and a white polo. Her hair was longer than Dolly’s, not… tied up like hers, either. He thought he was safe from the stomping girl, but she caught wind of him on her way out and turned to get a better look at him. She gave a disgusted look and batted his hair, rude, before muttering on her way out. ”Haunted thing.”

He strained to shift his eyes over to the side of the room with her books. It seemed as though most of her occult items were concentrated by the door. Wally found that strange- Just how much had the world changed? How was Dolly able to keep such texts out in the open and not hidden under floorboards like magicians of yore? Wally didn’t know. All he knew was that she noticed him before he was supposed to be noticed and that her sister did, too. It was very strange. The titles on the spines were strange to him, too. There were books on “Folk Magic,” books on “Celtic” or “Welsh” magic, and then his eyes fell onto another group of books… Liminal Magic. Astral Realms. Wally vaguely recognized those words. They were spoken during the earliest memories of his conception. He was certain that her interest in those fields might help him, if not to find his friends- Then to get Home and get them himself. 

There were a few other books on that shelf that he could not see, there was a small black… creature in the way. A toy of some sort. It wore a silly wizard costume made of starry fabric, its face looking elsewhere. Perhaps at Dolly’s bed- The large one made for two that was filled with blankets and other soft things to fill the empty space. He glance to his left. There were more of the creatures. Many, many more of them. Wally was not prepared for this, so he went to sleep. 

Sleeping did not provide the timeskip Wally was hoping for.

     Dorothy’s American Literature class was… well, it was American Lit. The teacher was a nice guy, she just hated how dry his lesson plans were and how bright he kept the classroom. In all honesty she had only taken this class to avoid the risk of being subjected to British Lit’s Canterbury Tales. Dolly half-followed along with the professor’s lecture as she half-heartedly doodled in her notebook. One would think she would be freaking out, but the witch had yet to truly process the last 12 hours or so of her life, instead opting to wait until her one other witchy friend was out of class so they could grab lunch and chat. Dolly took note of their reply before turning back to her notebook. The page quickly filled up with little doodles of Julie and Frank with their flowers and butterflies, and another became dedicated to a scene on a hill with a single tree. She fought to stifle a sigh in the crowded classroom, not matter how tempting it was. The margins soon found themselves full of busts of her new little friend as she struggled to get his proportions right. She glanced to the open laptop in front of her… Surely looking for an old model sheet for reference couldn’t hurt, right? 

“Wally Darling Model Sheet”

‘Wally Darling Reference”

“Wally Darling”
“Welcome Home Wally Darling”
“Welcome Home”

     Nothing! Not a single result came up for any of it. This show didn’t leave any papertrail. Fuck . Change of plans: Dolly looked around to ensure no one else was watching and began to make note of everything she knew so far outside of her dreams:

There was a single vendor’s booth at Lola’s antique shop containing plenty of toys, but most notably Welcome Home merchandise. 

Welcome Home was once popular enough to have merchandise. 

Welcome Home was not popular enough to have been mentioned on the clearnet. 

The figure in her dream knew Wally’s name and voice before she did. They knew of Frank before she did. Something was watching her last night and that morning. That something touched her. 

She was tired. So tired. Anxious, too, but that was scarcely new for her. 

She was not scared, she was intrigued, and there was nothing more worrisome than Dorothy being intrigued.

     The end of this class couldn’t have come soon enough, in Dorothy’s opinion. She was quick to pack her things into her vintage Chuck E. Cheese tote bag- one of many prized possessions- before speeding off to the neighboring building to meet her friend. She was luckily quick enough to flag them down, and the two greeted each other with a wave and a hello. Her eyes drifted around to take in the grass and the sky as they spoke and walked towards the campus cafe together, with Dolly being very careful to avoid getting in way of their cane. 

     “So what’s up? Did Barbie get into your makeup again or something?” their voice teetered on concerned as they took in the bags under Dolly’s eyes. The latter shook her head. “No, no. I just have a magic problem. You know I don’t do entity work, but I’m pretty sure I brought something home with me last night annnd I had a very interesting dream because of it. I woke up super early, too, but that could be because I went to bed at like seven.”

     “Are we talking good entity or bad entity?”

     “That’s just the thing, Stells. I’m just not sure. He seems cute and friendly, but just a bit too eager to get to know me and work with me. He wouldn’t tell me what kind of entity he was in my dream, either. ‘Said he didn’t know what he was.” They raised their eyebrows at that last part. “Anything else I should know about him? Any descriptors?” Dolly simply passed over their phone with the notes app opened up for them.

     “Outside of the fact that he’s taken the form of a puppet doll from a mid-century children’s show, no. Not at all!” Dolly let out a wheezy little laugh. Stells hated puppets. “I have some sketches of what he looks like, and I can tell you more about him, but you can’t find anything online about it. It’s weird!

     Wally didn’t mean to eavesdrop, honestly he didn’t, but he found himself to be a captive audience on the sheet of paper. His vision was dark at first, his hearing muffled by fabric. It was a new feeling for him. He heard Dolly’s voice rise amongst the noise first, it was a hard voice to miss after all, but another person soon rose to prominence in the conversation. He listened to the two talk for a bit before hearing what sounded like an order for food. She sounded so kind, he thought. Her jokes made the two others near her laugh so hard. Wally thought they were jokes, anyways. Dolly seemed to always sound like she was joking. His mind wandered back to that linden tree. She spoke so… what word would she use? Candidly . He thought he heard Frank use that word once. 

     Wally’s next big adventure came when Dolly finally opened the darn notebook. He found his vision obscured by thin blue lines, but still made out Dolly and her friend’s faces nonetheless. They appeared to be sitting outside at a covered table, which was fitting. He could make out that it was a nice day. Wally noticed that she had taken her hair out of its ponytail since this morning. Odd. 

     “...So why didn’t you take any photos of him,” Stells asked, “That would have been way easier than just sketching him when you have a camera.” Dolly shrugged as she picked at her salad. “...It just seemed rude at the time! How would you have felt if I shoved a camera in your face the day after I visited your little corner of liminality?” They laughed, “I’d be a little confused, but I’ve accepted that as part of our friendship. You like me too much to murder me in cold blood now.” They tapped a nail on the drawing of the hill, “Do you remember what kind of tree that was, though? It could have some sort of meaning to you.” 

     “That was my first thought since my dreams are chock full of symbolism! The colors around the entire place were sort of screwy, but I knew instinctively that it was a linden tree. They aren’t very common around these parts, but I remember reading about them for Freyaaa- Fuck . Nevermindnevermindnevermind-” Dolly put her face into her hands in an exaggerated show of… something . Stells laughed at her realization before finishing their friend’s sentence. “I’m familiar. Lovers, divination, honesty… All of it. I’m not surprised.”

     “Surprised about what, dear friend o’ mine?” Dolly was glad that she kept her face covered when they responded. “Oh, they just look like your type is all.” She playfully batted their arm away with one hand. “Noooo, that is not why I’m embarrassed thank you very much! I think very kindly of the esteemed Wally Darling and nothing more! Now, what would your recommendations be for wards and interacting with him going forward?”