The Card Debt of Queen Dolce

The Card Debt of Queen Dolce

If Bear in our library is the recognized minister of philosophy, then the monkey named Dolce is the official minister of blessed idleness.

No one in the Home remembers exactly what year she crossed this threshold. Dolce came from IKEA even before Bear, so she rightfully considers herself one of the oldest residents. However, her veteran status hasn’t added a single drop of seriousness to her. She is a reckless, charming slacker. Her motto is: “I’m down for any adventure, as long as someone else organizes it, does everything for me, and leaves me to just sit beautifully.”

She spends most of her long life on a Victorian stool by the antique Canadian organ, The Bell Organ & Co., lazily flipping through fashion magazines. The monkey loves the sweet life and has a special weakness for the Dolce & Gabbana brand. The thoughts in her plush head are short, light, and completely harmless. She reads very little — mostly comic books.

The only thing that truly gets her moving is Alenka. Alenka is a dog with a wonderful heart, whom Mum, with her famous “rescue syndrome,” saved from a cramped pet shop enclosure about thirteen years ago. Since then, Alenka and Dolce have been an inseparable gang. They play teasing games, engage in mock bites, and share wild hugs. Sometimes Alenka takes her friend for a walk in the garden, and at night, she gently brings her into her huge bed.

Alenka’s bed is truly royal — three meters wide. True, she has to share it with Mum, Dad, the cosmic Sphynx Bibisechka, and the pitch-black cat Bagheera. But Alenka firmly believes the bed is her personal fortress, and she guards it more faithfully than the rest of the Home. Dolce settles into this bed with special chic — Alenka condescendingly rests her warm dog head right on top of her.

But sometimes, a day of deep cleaning arrives. Once a week, Mum and Dad arrange a bath day for Alenka, and at the same time, Mum bathes Dolce too — so that everything around shines, smells of lavender, and remains flawless.

And just the other day, our fashionista put on a grand performance. While Bear was thinking his important thoughts, the monkey put on huge steampunk goggles, sat in an armchair, declared herself the Steampunk Queen, and forced everyone around to deal her playing cards! She, of course, didn’t know the rules and was too lazy to hold the cards with her paws. So, Bibisechka had to work as her card inspector, while a toy retriever dog silently watched to ensure the Queen didn’t cheat. During the game, Dolce managed to grab the receiver of an old telephone and whispered her grand plan into it to Bear for a long time: “Listen, Bear, we need to persuade the humans. Let them finally put us into a beach basket and carry us those miserable two hundred meters to the sea that we’ve all been just listening to for so many years!”

All in all, her life is a success. She hasn’t seen the sea yet, and she didn’t win any cards, but she was the center of attention, breathed her fill of lavender, and fell fast asleep on the three-meter bed under the protection of faithful Alenka. And Alice — the invisible and sensitive Soul of the Home — smiled softly, watching this lavender chaos.

After all, ahead of Dolce lies an introduction to the mysterious Moose, who appeared in the Home a little later… But that is a completely different story.