Nana: papa, papa! Read a story to Nana! Papa: It's late. Go to bed. Nana: Aaaww…. Papa: Oh, okay, okay. Well, let's see now… Once upon a time… Once upon a time, in a faraway woods where spring never came, there lived a doll-maker. The doll-maker made many dolls, but none ever met his satisfaction. Each one was too tall, too short, too wide or too thin. For although his master was a great master of carpentry, the doll-maker had inherited none of his talent. And, for all of his hundreds of dolls, each one only seemed uglier than the last. One day, after a long toil, he made what could only be called the ugliest and most horrible doll of all. In his frustration he broke the doll and took it into the deepest part of the wood so that he might throw it into the Ever-Still Lake and be rid of it forever. At its moon-shaped edge, he hurled the doll with a mighty heave… but just as the doll should have sunk beneath the mirror-like surface, a maiden's hand appeared and saved the doll. The Fairy of the Ever-Still Lake -- though the most wise and powerful of all creatures in the woods -- was also the gentlest. Taking pity on the doll, she gave unto it True Life and charged the doll-maker with turning her into a beautiful, wonderful girl. "With enough love," the fairy said, "The once-doll's beauty would outshine all others in the land." Charged with this new purpose, the doll-maker gave the girl clothes, food and a place to live, as well as time, care as well as gentleness and fairness… and all the love that he had within him. And yet, it was not enough. Although long years had passed, the once-doll was no more beautiful girl than she had been when she was an ugly doll. And so, the doll-maker sent the girl on a journey. "Out in the world," he told her, "there are many more people and much more love to give and take." "There are those that are kind and those who are unkind, but both will teach you things that you could not learn from the other." And so, laden with a magic chest and a branch from the oldest tree that served as the symbol of her home, the once-doll went off into the world. And years passed. Though the snow never melted in the wood where spring never came, the once-dolls letters and mementos became a sure sign of the passing seasons. Each letter spoke of wonderful friends, hated enemies, adventure, misadventure, the warm sun, grassy hills… all the things that the woods, here, did not contain. The doll-maker was pleased and looked forward to that fated day when the once-doll would send the letter that would let him know that she was truly a doll no more. But that day was not to come. And although he understood it, he did not wish it… for the next season was told not by coming of another letter, tied to the leg of the little black bird she called her own, but the the softest pitter-pat of pearls on his sill. The end. Papa: Well, did you like it? Nana: Uu…. UUUUuuu! Papa: Oh...