My first short story! (which'll be made a comic using Poser 6).

Synopsis

'Tale of the Doll Maiden' is a story written by a girl named Kelina a long time ago and was reprinted many times. Unknown to others, the original script was written in a magical book which can send whoever is reading it into the book. It is said that Kelina somehow wanted to travel in the world that she created, but was trapped inside the original book. She may or may not have become a doll herself. The original book was kept in safekeeping by Kelina's family, who thought she had gone missing. It got stolen by thieves, and as the book changed hands it claimed more victims. Moreover,the book which initially 500 pages thick became thicker and thicker as time passes. Is The book still being written? Ayuza is the last person to handle the book, and will she will save both Alisya and Kelina, and lastly destroy the book before thier story ends in a sad way?

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Gentlemen, good evening. Ladies, good night.

She carefully buttoned her nicely pressed blue silk Mandarin-collared shirt until she felt the stiff collar wrap her neck tightly. Then she continued by feeling around her bust line and her waist. As she admired how well the costume fits her, she also wondered who'd send her a package covered with wrapping paper scented with perfume on her birthday, which upon opening contained a card saying "For My Dearest Ayuza". Beneath the card, folded neatly was a blue silk chinese styled shirt, which had her name embroidered in the trimmings. There was also a pair of knee length pants, made in the same colour and material as the shirt; a pair of chinese fans;and shoes that was only half the size of her feet.

The sweet scent was also present on the shirt she wore, and somehow the smell made her feel warm and fuzzy.Sudddenly she had this crazy idea that she should wear it to school tomorrow. "As if I wanted to be caught by Ms Grundy for not wearing the school uniform!" Laughing by herself, she looked at herself on the mirror. Her shoulder length hair hung in clumps. She then put her hands at the sides of her head and pulled her hair to opposite directions before tying them into pigtails with hair ribbons. After that, she combed her frontal hair forward until her face was totally covered with her clumpy tresses.Her hand reached a pair of scissors and cut the hair in line with her eyebrows, forming thick and heavy bangs.

"ni hao!" she said playfully while fanning herself  with one of the provided fans. "Wow, this high collar makes me feel so warm! Guess I can wear this as my pyjamas, as the air-conditioning in this room is so cold I always sneeze in my sleep!" she said, stroking the trims of her Mandarin collar. She pulled out her blanket and climbed on her bed. Soon she was asleep.

The sun was shining brightly when she opened her eyes. "Oh noooo! I'm late for school!" she cried as she threw herself out of bed."Wha-aaaaah! oomph!" Somehow her feet felt so painful that she stumbled to the floor. Her eyes widened in utter surprise, as both her feet was oddly crammed into the blue shoes which is half as big as her feet. "Since when did I practice foot binding?" She thought as she tried hard to pull her feet out of the ridiculously small footwear. She received yet another shock as she saw that her feet has been awkwardly deformed and contorted to fit the shoes she just took off. Just like those women with bound feet in ancient China, she whispered tearfully.

Then she remembered that today is the day for the much awaited Ancient History exam. "Uhh, I've got no time for this! I must get changed and get to school right away!" Said the girl in blue. She washed her face hurriedly, combed her bangs down, and opened her closet. Her closet was empty. Not even her ironed white and turqoise school uniform,  or her pastel-coloured undergarments. "WHAT? Where are all my clothes?!" she screamed at the top of her voice, her tears streaming down her cheeks. She'd nothing to wear to school now, but the exam would start in another fifteen minutes. "Grrr...I hope Ms Grundy lets me off today..." said her, while imagining that she'd be the only one who's easily spotted among the white uniforms in the humongous exam hall because of her bright blue costume.

Hurriedly she grabbed the twin chinese fans, wore the foot binding shoes, and quckly ran off to school, forgetting that she didn't bring any stationery or personal identification with her. "Good morning, Mr Guard! Got to go now! Exam!" she muttered as she blew past the school gate."hmmm, I didn't think the Dance Club has a dance exam today?" thought the bewildered security guard, seeing someone who looked like a Chinese fan dancer sprinting towards the exam hall.

Her bosoms bounced about as she ran towards the door. "Drat! I forgot to wear anything underneath this pyjamas-that's why I feel kinda comfy when I slept through the morning!" Suddenly a stern and cracked voice of a 50-year-old discipline teacher struck her like lightning, stopping her dead in her tracks."Ayuza Naiman! Come here this instant!" Old Ms Grundy was there. Our girl, by the name of Ayuza turned and walked slowly towards the haggard-looking teacher.

"Yes,maam?"
"Running in the school compound, not wearing uniform, not wearing socks, not wearing school shoes..."she said while her hand pinched and twisted Ayuza's belly.
She didn't even flinch. for a reason unknown, she didn't feel any pain.
"What are you going to say to yourself, Ayuza?"
"I-I'm just going to my-"
She looked to the fans on her hands.
"m-my dance lesson with Ms May. We're having a recital tomorrow."
Ms Grundy pulled her left pigtail.
"Get in the hall,NOW!"

Ayuza was relieved. She sat on her chair and opened her fans. Then she started to fan herself."I made it in time, amidst a lot of mishaps..." Ayuza's mind muttered. The invigilator came to her table and asked her about her personal identification."Oh! My ID.Just a minute." Ayuza reached deep into her pockets, grabbed something that felt like a card and gave it to him."Hmm. Interesting. but it's your ID that I want! I'll let you off this time since I already knew you." Remarked the angry invigilator. Ayuza looked at the card that she gave-it was a playing card, labeled 'JOKER', but it has a picture of a girl with two pigtails wearing a blue shirt in a dance pose. Her mouth opened wide, but no voice came out.

"The papers for HS0024 will be distributed now.Please check the papers to make sure the pages are enough, that is 12 pages..." boomed a voice from the hall speaker. Far back in the last row, a pigtailed girl in a chinese dance costume wiped her tears as she found out she hadn't brought any pencils or other writing instruments. Ayuza sobbed silently as the exam paper was hastily dropped onto her desk. She then opened the first page of her paper. What was in it made her gasp loudly and put her hand over her mouth. There was a coloured picture of a girl with pigtails in a blue costume with fans in her hands in another dance pose. It was drawn to fill the entire page, just like a centrespread poster. The next page was a picture of the same girl, in a liplock with another girl who has a single ponytail, but wearing a red-coloured suit similar to hers.Ayuza touched her lips and proceeded to turn the next page.There was a picture of the girl in the red chinese costume, but she was spreaded out like a starfish, with each limb clamped to metal jaws. Her mouth was stuffed by a strange human-shaped drinking gourd. Ayuza flipped the next page - and she saw a picture of the red-clad girl's face, filling the whole page. The girl's lips puckered, her eyes were wide open, and there was a tear just trickling from her left eye."She looks constipated," Ayuza thought.

As she opened the last page, there still wasn't any questions written on the test paper. But there was a note, written in a writing that Ayuza recognised.

Ayuza
COME HELP ME
HELP
I'M TRAPPED
SAVE ME
I LOVE YOU
LOVE YOU

She instantly recalled her nieghbour, and also best friend, Alisya who was declared as a missing person a year ago. "M-mm...Alisya?" she whispered. Is this a call for help from her? Where is she being trapped? Has she been kidnapped? By who? Ayuza tried to make sense, but it was cut short as the head invigilator boomed his voice again, "You can start the examination now. You have two hours." Ayuza's lips suddenly formed an 'O'. She felt as if something was moving up her food tract towards her mouth. She nearly choked as the thing somehow slowed down at her windpipe. A second later, an eraser and a wooden ruler pushed themselves out between Ayuza's lips. Before she could say anything, a black 0.2 gel pen squeezed itself out of Ayuza's right nostril. Following that, two pencils each fell from her cute pigtails into her hands. She was dumbfounded, and froze at her seat with her mouth open for a good two minutes.

"Ayuza, you got a problem?" an invigilator which slipped beside her said as she noticed Ayuza was apparently trapped in a mental block. "..ahh...mmm...no...nonono...I'm okay!" her pigtails shook as she tried to calm herself. She picked up her pencil and pulled the OMR paper close. And opened the exam paper. The pictures were gone, and filling the entire 12 pages were HS0024 test questions. "Okay Ayuza, you can do it..."she whispered to herself, assuringly. She ran through the whole paper in just 15 minutes, being the A-List student that she is.

She stretched and flexed her arms."Hmph.Nothing 6 hours of daily studying can't do!" She cheered herself inside her mind. But her bliss faded as she felt her stomach rumble."I'm soooo hungry...I can't wait another hour without anything in my belly! I have to get me something to eat...".Her hand stroked her tummy. Then Ayuza had an idea. "What if I ask permission to go to the toilet, but sneak into the canteen instead? I'll just get a quick bite, then return here in a jiffy." she thought. With a smirk, she raised her hand for the permission she needed. Soon she was striding happily along the corridor, knowing that soon she'll get her favourite custard cupcake for breakfast.

Sadly, the canteen was closed for maintenance. Despite having it's announcement hanged at the bulletin boards of all classes, Ayuza still forgot. And her forgetfulness got her again. She slumped on the oft-sticky canteen table, and let out a moan."Ohhh...I feel like I'm going to faint..." said her. Her nose then sprang to life, picking a sweet aroma of something freshly baked. Her eyes lit up as she saw on the next table - an untouched set of a strange meal. There was two buns which size is bigger than a grapefruit, some cylindrical brown coloured cookies - glazed and somehow has inscriptions on top. There was also a bottle, which shape was very odd - having a long, thin neck and a stumpy, bulging bottom, with a cork that resembled a lantern. Ayuza hastily grabbed the buns, put them in her mouth and chewed greedily, downing them with the cold drink from the bottle. "Mmmm! Berry!" exclaimed Ayuza inbetween her gluttony, expressing the delicious taste of the brown glazed cookies.

"Ahh...that was so good..."chirped Ayuza, unaware of a figure closing in behind her. Ayuza then felt something cold touching her face. A pair of hands appeared and held each of her cheeks. She shuddered, as she realized that those hands were deathly white. She tried to scream, but those hands pushed Ayuza's cheeks forward that her lips were squeezed into a tight pout, silencing any word that would come out. In front of her stood a woman, with long black hair, dressed in a golden silk shirt, holding a brush on her left hand and a palette on the other. The woman dipped the tip of her brush on a red glob of paint on her palette, and slowly dabbing the thick red colour on Ayuza's lips. After that, she continued by painting Ayuza's eyelids bright pink, and the rest of her face white. Lastly, she painted all Ayuza's fingernails the same colour as her lips. The hands which held her cheeks rubbed together, and appeared to be oily.
 
The woman in front of her in gold then held a brilliant white pearl between the tips of her thumb and her forefinger. The pearl, which was roughly a quarter the size of a tennis ball, was slowly pushed between Ayuza's red lips. At the same time, Ayuza's eyes became very heavy. All she could hear was a sound...of a distant bell...


RRRRRIIIINGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!


She sprang up in surprise, as the bell rang, signaling the end of the day's paper. Ayuza massaged her temples, muttering to herself about such a dream she had while snoozing off in an air-conditioned exam hall. The girl clad in blue chinese suit then arrived home, plopping on her comfy bed. "....what a day! I never thought that I would do a paper clad in my pyjamas!" she exclaimed. Her eyes then turned to her dressing closet. Were her clothes really disappeared that morning? A quick inspection made clear that there was a note hanged on the inside, saying 'sent everything to the laundromat.spare uniform hanged outside to dry.' She went to the clothesline where the uniform was hanged, and upon re-entering her home, she quickly disrobed herself from the blue chinese pyjamas and put on her uniform. She buttoned up her white shirt, tucked into her plaid-patterned skirt, and put on her tie and nametag.

"There! Now this is what I should wear until my other clothes arrive!" She said, flicking her hair back. Ayuza then went to her mini-library to continue reading her John Grisham book. At the same time, the cloth of her shirt which was initially white cotton, began turning into shiny blue silk. The collar of her shirt popped up and wrapped itself tightly around Ayuza's neck. Her plaid skirt also turned into blue silk, which then wrapped itself around both of her legs, forming pants. Ayuza was unaware about this, and about half a minute later her uniform were back on the clothesline, leaving her still dressed in the mandarin-collared pyjamas.

"Package for Ah Yu Zha!" a voice yelled from outside.

"Coming!" called a voice which came between a pair of shiny red lips. Her book club's new monthy subscription arrived in time, to her usual excitement. She took the book from the courier, and said ,"...you pronounced my name wrong. It's Ayuza. See?" she pointed to her name on the address. "hmmm...it's written in Chinese letters, and it spells Ah Yu Zha...I'm just saying." said the courier before glancing at the blue-clad girl. Ayuza was dumbfounded, but she pretended not to hear what he said. On her favourite couch, she tore open the brown paper wrap. It was an elaborate, thick covered book which had only a circlish symbol on its front cover, resembling a chinese pictogram. She then flipped through the cover to the first page.

There was an illustration, a picture of an empty desert, at night. Which was painted in gloomy colours, auburn, burnt ochre and black. She detailed the fine brushwork, and the imagery...and she swore that she heard the eerie sighing of the desert wind. As she was going to flip through, in a sudden, everything turned dark. Ayuza jumped from the couch to reach the light switch, but instead she felt like falling. Falling a long way down.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Ungh!"

Miracullously, she landed on her feet. When her eyes opened, she found out that she was alone, with a cold wind blowing. Ayuza's voice squeaked in  terror as she realized that she wasn't in her house anymore,but in the middle of an empty desert. "Wh-where.....am I?" She said, the coldness biting her fair skin. At first she was dumbfounded, standing  there without any idea of anything to do. Then shortly, an image flashed through Ayuza's mind.

.......Alisya, wearing a red chinese suit, beckoning her, wriggling futilely as her limbs were held down to metal stocks.

"Alisya!" She suddenly screamed. When she felt her cheeks, they were damp with her tears. Ayuza cried for her. But, she never realized that she somehow loved her friend this much. She sobbed loudly, chanting Alisya's name as tears continued streaming down her face. Her legs then felt as weak as jelly, and she fell face down. She gripped the chinese fan in her hand tightly.

Through her watery eyes, she noticed that she was actually lying on a bed. In the middle of a desert? Ayuza asked herself. She sat upright, and was further shocked. Four walls appeared from the ground and surrounded her. The desert floor within the walls began to become shinier, until it somehow turned into a marble flooring. Before Ayuza could wipe her tears, the skies were closed from her by a tiled roof.The wall in front of her formed a large bud, which shaped itself into an armchair. A same bud appeared from a spot on the floor in front of Ayuza, and shaped itself into a table.  "What's happeningaaaaaaaak...?" Ayuza hadn't finished her words when a wooden box emerged from her mouth. It bounced to the corner of her newly-formed 'room', and grew in size to become an ornate wardrobe. Her tears began to flow a lot, and splashed to the floor.Then her tears on the floor became a puddle which magically transforms into a mirror.

And when she saw her reflection in the mirror-

"EEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

(...she didn't like what she saw.)

Her whole body was shiny, as if it had been glazed porcelain. The blue shirt on Ayuza's body was now only, a mere painted 'shirt' on her body. Her head was quite rounded, like a baby's head with plump red cheeks, with black round eyes and a flat nose. Her body shape has been somehow distorted, with a thin body and limbs contrasted by round, bulging bosoms. She looked eerily doll-like. Ayuza touched her face.It was hard,slippery and cold...

She launched her fist to break the mirror. But her whole body suddenly froze.A voice echoed inside her head-telling her what a beautiful doll she is, taunting her old life as a bookish student, and promising her that a life as a doll is sweeter and happier.She tried to resist the voice, but to no avail.The subliminal voice called her name out loud.

Ayuza...yuza...yuza...yuza...Yuzza....Yu-Za...Yu...Za...Yu-zha.....Yu Zha...Yu Zha...Yu Zha...!

Yu Zha...!

Yu Zha...!

Yu Zha...!

Yu Zha...!!!!!

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ayuza let out a scream before passing out.


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Poor Alisya's lips puckered.She couldn't scream as the spell cast by her captors made her lips stick like glue. Her eyes were wide open, and there was a tear trickling from her left eye. Alisya's heart was beating fast under the red silk cloth of her chinese suit. Hands and legs clamped by metal jaws, she, exhausted from pointless struggling could only hope that the ordeal would quickly end as soon as it began.

A lady clad in gold satin carries a bowl in her left hand, and a brush in the other. Alisya could hear her footsteps coming closer. Another woman came in from behind, and dipped both of her hands into a cauldron.

"This is the girl who eluded us for a year, hm?"
"Even on the first day she was transported here, she knew her way around."
"I heard she'd almost found a way to enter the Halcyon Temple, to get back home. Silly girl."
"Now she'll be like the rest of the dolls available for the princesses' playtime pleasure. I just finished wiping the oil onto her body for the transformation."
"Cute face. But the princess wants her dolls white with red lips...that'll be it."

Round red circles were drawn on Alisya's cheeks with paint. Her face, painted white, shone like a pearl. Ruby red was the colour of her lips, matching her costume. She  remembered the girl scout uniform she was wearing when a package containing the chinese suit arrived.And she also remembered how she failed to take it off once she had buttoned it to its high Mandarin collar. And the next day when she had to wear it during the netball tournament, before being whisked away to the hidden world of Tranh Hauss.

"Hmmmm....mmmmm!!!!"
"Useless moaning. We're almost finished with you here, girl."

She did hear about the legend of a toy shop which makes dolls for the Empress and her princesses. Which abducts fair virgins and turns them into beautiful china dolls. But she dismissed it as a fairy tale. A legend. Alisya regrets that now, as she will become another doll.

"Ayuza! Help! Save me! Help me! I don't want to be a doll!" Alisya mumbled through her glued lips. The lady with the brush put her hand tighly on Alisya's mouth, muffling Alisya's words. She smiled as she watches Alisya's slow transformation.

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Ling-ling-ling....

Ling-ling...

Ayuza sat on her bed, walking to the door where a bell hanged, ringing softly. She turned the knob. Outside was a long haired blond girl, short and stout wearing something identical to Ayuza's shirt, offering a basket. "Hello Yu Zha. For you." She said, her voice sweet as honey.

"What's in this?"
"Some food for you."
"Oh! Thanks. How do I pay for it?"
"Give me a kiss!"
"What? You sure that's what you want?"
"Mmm! Kiss me Yu Zha!"

Ayuza was weirded out. This girl is queer, she thought. Okay, if that's what she wants, I'll do it. Just a small peck on the mouth. A small, brief peck. Ayuza closed her eyes and bent forward. Instead of feeling wet on her mouth, she felt hands curling around each of her boobs.

*PHAP!*

"Owwww!!!" Ayuza grimaced in pain. The girl mischeviously gave a hard slap each on both of her assets. "Big boobs! Ha ha ha....!" Ayuza could only watch as the blonde skipped away. She held her breasts in her hends.  "I'll get you later...but now I've gotta eat. Oh, just some rice balls and tea." She commented on the mediocre food, while holding rice balls in her hand. Ayuza licked her lips, and began to stuff them into her ruby mouth. The rice balls were sticky and glutinous, and was seasoned with black pepper -  a taste which she enjoyed to the last rice ball.





End of chapter One (Sorry for the weirdness, I grew up reading Alice in Wonderland.)

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Gentlemen, good evening. Ladies, good night.

Oops. Too much data.

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I won the Loebner prize !