Amelia Pond was at it again. She was already nine years old, and she still believed in her imaginary friend, the "Raggedy Man". She believed that one night when she was seven, he had crashed his blue box into her yard and had saved her from a scary crack in her wall that she had heard voices coming out of. After doing that, he had flown away in his blue box. It had been going on for two years now, but she still was making little dolls of him, drawing pictures of him with his mysterious blue box, and saying he would come back some day because he promised her. Her aunt was getting concerned about it. She considered asking her friends, Rory and Mels, to try and talk her out of it, but every time she would talk about him they would hang on to every word and wish they could see this fantastic person. One day, she decided she had enough. She was going to confront the problem herself and directly tell Amy that he didn't exist.
Amy was coming downstairs one morning, wearing her favorite red rain boots and coat, just like the ones she wore when she first met the Raggedy Man. She was carrying her newest Raggedy Man doll that she recently made out of some old cloth and some stuffing. She was quite happy with this one, because it was the first one she had actually sewn. All the rest were made from either paper or old scraps of stuff she had glued together. As soon as she walked into the plain kitchen to see her aunt waiting for her, she knew it was going to be a frustrating morning. Whenever her aunt gave her that stern look, Amelia knew that an argument was brewing.
"Good morning, Amelia," Her aunt said with no emotion. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I always do, but you still ask me every morning." What will it be about this time? Amy wondered.
"I want to talk to you about this "Raggedy Man" business. I think it is time I set you straight."
"I know you don't believe me Aunt Sharon. But he really did come here, and he really did fly away in a blue box. That is the truth, no matter what you think."
"Listen, Amelia, I know you think that really happened, but surely you realize how impossible it is for a big blue box to simply float away without any means of it flying. You are nine years old now and you should be old enough to separate dreams from reality."
"It didn't float away; it disappeared, sort of slowly, with a loud noise and lots of wind. And I am old enough to know what is real and what isn't. The Raggedy Man is real!"
Aunt Sharon was getting really frustrated now. "I think it's time you went to school. Hurry up and get something to eat, or you will be late."
Amy quickly put some toast in the white toaster, got some butter and jam from the white fridge, and took down a white plate from the white cupboard. After eating, she grabbed her backpack from the hall closet and left for the bus stop. Meanwhile, her aunt was thinking about what had happened that morning. Realizing that the more she tried to convince Amelia that the Raggedy Man wasn't real, the stronger her belief in him was. She decided it was time to use stronger methods. Finding the number in a phone book, she called a children's psychiatrist who she had been recommended to by a coworker. She scheduled an appointment for the next day. After discussing the problem with the psychiatrist for a little while, she hung up the phone, satisfied that the problem would soon be over.
When Amelia got home from school later that day, Aunt Sharon took her into the kitchen again to tell her what she had done.
"Amelia, I believe this imaginary friend has gone on for long enough. Since you don't seem to pay any attention to me, I have arranged for you to see a psychiatrist tomorrow after school. He will be able solve this problem, and hopefully you will soon be able to let go of these childish antics."
But Aunt Sharon! That isn't fair! Why won't you just believe me? He is real, he really did save me from the crack in my wall, and he really did fly away in his blue box! I don't know why he didn't come back for me that night, but I know he will come back someday. I wish you would just believe me. Rory and Mels do! I don't want to go see some silly doctor for this. The only problem here is with you. I wish you would just believe me!"
With that, Amy ran up the stairs to her room, determined that no matter what she would never be convinced that the Raggedy Man wasn't real. Even if it meant being teased or bullied, she would always believe in him.
The next day at school, Amy told her best friends, Rory and Mels, about what was going to happen later that day.
"Maybe you should just go along with it," Rory told her. "Maybe then your aunt will believe you are over him and won't bother you anymore about it."
"No way! You shouldn't ever say that you have given him up. After all, he is real and you shouldn't pretend otherwise," said Mels. She was always like that, completely determined to stand your ground. She also completely believed what Amy said about the Raggedy Man and it was her biggest wish to someday meet him.
That day, after school was over, Aunt Sharon came to pick up Amelia so she could take her straight to the psychiatrist. While they were sitting in the waiting room, Amy decided which friend's advice to follow. When they walked into the office, as soon as the doctor said, "Hello Amelia! Let's talk about this Raggedy Man. When did you first dream him up?" She did the one thing she thought would get her out of there, the one thing she knew would show how she would react towards anyone Aunt Sharon used to try to convince her that the Raggedy Man wasn't real. She grabbed the psychiatrist's hand, and with all her strength, she bit him.
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