The Rollerblind

The roller blind

There once was a little roller blind named Elisabeth. She hung in a dolls house window where a shy and embarassed doll lived. It was Elisabeth's job to make sure nobody could look into the doll's house when the doll changed her clothes. Elisabeth always had an eye on what was happening outside the doll's house. Especially she made certain of rolling down when the man and lady outside kissed, because the doll couldn't endure that.

Then one day the doll's house was to be moved. It was lifted up and put on a truck. Elisabeth the roller blind pulled herself down to protect the doll as best she could, but the truck jumped about so much on the bad roads that Elisabeth fell out of the dolls house window and down on to the ground. When she came to herself again she saw the truck disappear over the hilltop. Carefully she rolled herself onto the pavement and lay by a wall as quietly as she could.

On the pavement people were busy getting to work, and to schools and kindergartens. Suddenly Elisabeth saw a man who tried to kiss a lady, but the lady was so shy that she just looked down at the tips of her shoes.

Elisabeth rolled over to her. "Hi there," she shouted. "Shall I roll myself down in front of that man, so that you don't need to be shy and embarassed?" The lady looked at the little roller blind and picked it up. "Look," she said to the man who tried to kiss her. "I've found a little roller blind." "Really," the man replied unenthusiastically and tried to kiss her again. But as the man leaned towards the lady's mouth Elisabeth rolled herself out. The man only got the roller blind against his mouth, instead of the lady's soft lips.

The man was first bewildered, then he was irritated. "If you are so shy that you need a roller blind in front of your face, I won't bother to try to kiss you again," he muttered and went away. The lady was only too happy to get rid of him. She smiled at the roller blind when it had rolled itself up. "Thanks for saving me, little roller blind," she said. "Don't mention it," Elisabeth said proudly. "I can protect you from any dangerous and awkward situation if you attach me to your forehead."

The lady fastened Elisabeth to her hair with a pin, and went to the cinema where she worked as a ticket lady. She soon had good use for the roller blind. The movie showed a man changing into his bathing trunks. Elisabeth rolled herself down over the lady's eyes until the man was properly dressed again. "Many thanks," the lady said. "Will you roll down every time something happens that I'm too shy to watch?" "Of course," Elisabeth promised. "And over your ears if there are unpleasant sounds to be heard."

The roller blind Elisabeth looked after the lady all day long and had to roll herself up and down many times, because she was so terribly shy. Even the red man on the traffic lights made her shy. She thought he was naked. On her way home from work Elisabeth had to work particularly hard. The cars honked, the lights flashed and many men waved at her and tried to attract her attention.

In the middle of a cross roads with heavily traffic it became too much for Elisabeth to manage. She tried to cover the red man at the same time as somebody whistled at her - and then it got stuck. The lady staggered blindfold into the middle of the street. The cars honked and drove around her. But the last one couldn't stop. It was a cab, and it hit the lady so hard that the roller blind loosened and spun up so the wire got twisted in her hair.

The cab driver threw himself out of the car while he shouted angrily. "You can't walk in the traffic with a roller blind in front of your face." But then he realised that the lady had fainted. Carefully he took her in his arms and lifted her inside the car. Then he drove as fast as he could to the hospital.

The shy lady was taken care of by doctors and nurses. The cab driver sat by her bed waiting for her to wake up. When she opened her eyes and had a look around, the cabdriver leaned over her. "Hi, my name is John. It was I who hit you." "I'm sorry," the lady said. "I could not see anything because of the blind in front of my face."

John had a look at the roller blind in the lady's hair. It pulled and dragged the wire to roll itself down, but was still in a mess. The lady smiled shyly at the cab driver. "I'm so terribly shy. The roller blind helps me when dangerous and awkward situations arise." "That's some protection," John sighed. "Aren't you shy now?" "Oh yes, very," the lady said. "I think the roller blind must have got stuck."

The lady flushed, but she liked the kind cab driver. "Maybe you should try to kiss me," she said. "The blind will certainly roll itself down then," John smiled. He started to like the shy lady. So he bent over and kissed her soft lips. Elisabeth the roller blind stretched so hard to try to get loose that it hurt. "Au," she said. "Did my kiss hurt?" John asked anxiously. "Oh no. It was lovely," the lady replied. "Thanks for kissing me." "Would you like me to do it again?" John asked and smiled. "Yes thank you," the lady answered and leaned herself towards him.

Elisabeth realised that the shy lady wasn't so shy any more. Instead of pulling the lady's hair, she carefully loosed herself from the pins and slipped down onto the floor. She was on her way out of the door when the lady caught sight of her and ran after her. She picked Elisabeth up and kissed her as well. "Thanks to you," she said happily, "I have found love."

Later the shy lady married her cab driver. They had a baby girl together, and the girl got herself a doll's house when she grew up. When the shy lady and the cab driver sat in the sofa they often kissed each other. Each time they heard Elisabeth rolling herself down in the doll's house window, so that the doll would not feel embarassed.