Once upon a time, there was a girl named Vasilisa. Vasilisa was incredibly beautiful. When Vasilisa was still very young, her mother died. But before she died, Vasilisa's mother gave her a little wooden doll and told her that if she ever was in trouble, to give the doll a little food and it would help her. Years later, Vasilisa's father remarried. Her stepmother and two stepsisters were very mean, and made Vasilisa do all the chores.
One day, all the candles in the house went out. Vasilisa's stepmother sent her to go find and bring back a light for them. She went out into the woods and found Baba Yaga's hut. Outside the hut, there was a row of glowing skulls. Vasilisa tried to take one of the skulls so she could bring it back to the house for light. Sadly, before she could get away, Baba Yaga returned to the hut and caught Vasilisa.
Baba Yaga made Vasilisa work for her as a servant, making her do impossible chores and cook an incredible amount of food. At the end of the day, when she hadn't finished all her work, Vasilisa fed her mother's doll. The doll came to life and magically finished all the chores, so when Baba Yaga returned home it appeared that Vasilisa had managed to do all the work herself.
After a few days of this, Baba Yaga asked Vasilisa how she was able to do all the near-impossible chores so easily. Vasilisa simply said, "The blessing of my mother protects me." Baba Yaga was furious. "There will be no blessings in my home! Get out!" she yelled. Vasilisa ran away as fast as she could, grabbing one of the glowing skulls on the way out to bring the light back to her family.
This is Vasilisa as she runs from the house, with the flaming skull and doll. I know it's not great, it's not the easiest fairy tale to make a dressup out of, but as one of my favorite fairy tales of all time I couldn't resist trying.
