Chapter 3: Life as a Prop
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“Dreams do come true here, Penny… What are you dreaming about?”
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There, dangling by her strings on the rack where her owner had left her, Penny the puppet was as still as any of the other animatronics and props that filled the moonlit room around her. The doll couldn’t do much but wait for her owner to come get her in the morning, finding herself quite lonely for some time even if she was around other toys like herself. With time though, Penny slowly drifted off into a dreamlike state. Though it was a blur at first, Penny eventually found herself in an familiar feeling dream. She wasn’t on her stand anymore, and for some reason, she was warm, but not like the feeling that Tim made her feel when she was being played with. Instead, touching her arm, she was actually warm to the touch, and much softer than wood too. Without even a moment to take this all in, the puppet found herself moving, not where her strings told her to go, but on her own accord. ‘Well that doesn’t make any sense,’ she thought, glancing down at her feet as they moved along the floor without a puppeteer to move her along. There were no strings on her legs, nor a windup key to make her march forward in her back, and yet she moved forward as if it was nothing. After a second, her attention was pulled in another direction as she found herself glancing into a mirror across from her: there, she could see she was dressed in the kind of clothes the people in her audience would wear, a pair of leggings and a knit red sweater. With a smirk, Penny watched as she pushed a strand of red hair from her eyes before turning from the mirror, picking up a glass of wine from the counter of Tim’s apartment and returning to the living room. She even didn’t know why she knew this was Tim’s apartment, let alone how a simple puppet was doing any of this on her own without ending up in a heap on the floor, but as she turned the corner she couldn’t care. “Owner.”
As she heard herself mumble the word aloud, a bright smile not unlike the one she usually had painted on crept along her face. There on the couch dressed in plain clothes, Tim was waiting for her with a drink in hand and looking to her with his usual warm smile. Before he could even speak up, Penny felt herself moving once more, flopping down next to him on the couch and nuzzling up to him as she did. She still wasn’t sure how she walked across the room on her own, but as she felt her face brush up against her owner’s neck, she couldn’t be bothered by the details anymore. With a grin, Tim put an arm around her, finally chiming in with a familiar deep voice. “Did I hear that right? Did you just call me owner, Pen?” Smirking herself, Penny turned her gaze upwards towards him while still laying on his chest. “Wellllll, what if I did? I’m your puppet, aren’t I?” She replied with a playful tone, Tim rolling his eyes slightly. “Alright, well you’re not wrong I guess,” Tim looking to her bright blue eyes for a moment before continuing. “And well, if you’re just a puppet, then I guess it would only natural for you to want your owner play with you then, right?” It didn’t take more than a second for Penny to nod eagerly, trying to contain her smile as she looked to Tim expectantly. All at once, Penny felt herself overwhelmed as she felt Tim pull her close and kiss her deeply, the girl instinctually locking her lips against his as she relaxed. It was everything Penny had wanted for what felt like forever. ‘Is this what being real feels like?’ she found herself thinking, lost in her owner’s embrace. Holding for a few seconds before Penny buried her face in his chest, embarrassed at how affectionate she was being, Tim chuckled with one last kiss on her redhaired head. “Best doll ever.”
For the rest of the night, Penny watched and felt as her dream continued on, enjoying every second of what it felt like to be a real girl with her owner beside her. In what felt far too soon though, Penny found herself slowly awaken as the moonlight from the vent far above her head turned to that of the early morning sun. As the puppet came too, she found herself in the same position from the night before, unable to think of anything but the dream she had just experienced. she couldn’t explain any of it, let alone how Penny knew what it felt like to be real, but she couldn’t deny that it was amazing, even rivaling the feeling of Tim playing with her. Settling back into reality, glancing at the other animatronics and dolls she could see from her line of sight, Penny internally sighed. ‘To bad I’m not a real girl… then I could show Tim I’m not just some toy…’ Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of how real the dream felt; it was almost enough to make her think she wasn’t really just a puppet, but she quickly wrote that off as nonsense. At that, she went back to waiting for the day to start, patiently staying where she was left like a good doll waiting for her owner to collect her.
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“You wanted to be a puppet, but it’s more than that, isn’t it? You wanted to be his puppet.”
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A couple hours passed since light had first shined into the room, but for some reason there was no sign of Tim. It was unlike him for to show up late for work, Penny missing the gentle way he’d pick up the doll before carrying her out to the park. Just as she began to lose hope, Penny perked up as she heard the door of the storage room open. Her excitement spiked for only a moment before subsiding as the lights flipped on though, seeing that instead of Tim, it was just real girl, nose deep in a long list of things to do. Watching as she walked aimlessly into the room, the girl zigzagged in her general direction as she read aloud. “Red hair, blue eyes, ‘Penny the Puppet,’ huh.” With her haze bouncing from animatronic to animatronic, standing in front of another puppet resembling long blonde haired princess as she did, the girl’s eyes eventually landed on Penny and lit up immediately. “Oh!”
Darting right up to her, the girl pocketed her list and unceremoniously plucked Penny off of her stand and hugged her to her chest. “Hmm, never seen you hung up with the other dollies in her before, are you new here?” She heard the girl speak up in a playful tone, feeling as she took her by the yarn hair and puppeted Penny to nod her head. “Thought so! I’d remember a pretty face like that.” Admittedly, Penny thought she recognized the girl too, maybe just a familiar face from around the hub, but the puppet couldn’t think of a time where Tim had introduced her to other cast members like him. Regardless, the girl tossed Penny over one shoulder, clumsily carrying the doll down her usual tunnel and out into the park.
As the girl carried Penny over to the toy shop, the puppet found herself panicking slightly. ‘No no no, where’s Tim? He’s my owner, not her! Am I being doll-napped? Or maybe Tim gave me away! No, he would never do that, maybe-“ The puppet’s thoughts stopped short as the girl walked past her stage and into the toy shop, Penny watching upside down as the girl carrying her waved to a friend behind the register. “Hey Nat! One sec, need to drop this off!” She heard her say, and at that the puppet felt as the girl dropped her down beside one of the bay windows of the store. Confused as to what was happening, she watched as the girl cleared a small space, placed her limp strings and marionette controls beside her, and took a large black sign and starting scribbling something on it. Taking a moment to pose the doll playfully on her knees, head tilted to the side, and her out in her lap, the girl seemed satisfied. Placing the sign in her hands and leaning it against her wooden chest, the display was done: there on the sign read “Try me! Bring home a toy just like me!” written in flowing cursive handwriting, with Penny posed to look like she was practically begging to be played with. With a nod, the girl left, leaving the puppet alone on the thick red carpet of the toy store before walking up to the register. From her spot on the floor, Penny couldn’t help but overhear her captor’s side of the conversation as she spoke to her friend behind the counter. “Yeah, Janet said to drop off the puppet here for the kids to have some fun with. I don’t know. Tim? Yeah, I think he’s working somewhere else for the next few days. Yeah! I thought the doll looked familiar too! Oh well, make sure the kids don’t break her, I’ll see ya!”
For a while, all Penny could do was sit and look out at the toy store. Lining the aisles were hundreds of Wonderland themed toys, each on dark wooden shelves with a rustic appearance in line with an old toy store. There were a number of stuffed animals in the corner, displays for Wonderland Princess dolls, even some marionettes like Penny, though they only stood about half her height. Deep down, Penny wished she could be on display with her fellow toys at least, forced to wait alone in her pose. Regardless, the wait was not a long one, the park opening soon after. As the street outside began to fill with people for the day, so did the toy store, with kids and adults alike stopping to admire the invitingly posed doll. Eventually, a young couple took up the offer to ‘try’ Penny, a teen girl taking her controls and sloppily tugging her up by her strings. “Aww, look how cute she is!” she started, puppeting Penny for her to sway side to side. “Can we buy her?” For a second, Penny her heart froze over at the thought of someone buying her and taking her away from her owner, but a second later the girl’s boyfriend chimed in. “A doll like that?” he started, taking some liberties with eyeing up the puppet’s chest and frame, “I wish. No way we can afford her.” Disappointed, the girl drooped slightly making Penny follow suit before dropping Penny all together and letting the puppet fall onto the carpet in a heap, bouncing slightly. Watching as she walked off with her boyfriend from her new spot on the carpet, Penny couldn’t help but think. ‘Tim wouldn’t leave me on the floor…’ she found herself musing, though she had to admit being played with even a little was really nice.
Over the course of the day, Penny found herself played with by all sorts of people: there were some kids who played with her gently, delicately trying to figure out how to guide her strings, and others who tossed her around like a rag doll. There were adults who admired her, puppeted her, even took pictures with her, and there were adults who felt up the doll or jokingly propped her up in lewd poses. One interaction that stood out was a pair of girls who had sworn they had seen Penny as a flesh and blood girl just 2 days before, looking over every inch of the doll with no luck proving she was anything but a toy. Regardless, by the end of the day, Penny was exhausted even without moving an inch herself. Even if she missed her owner, she had to admit she was deeply satisfied from a long day of play, lying face down on the carpet for some time before someone came to collect her. Once again, she was hoping it was Tim, but instead it was just the girl from the cash register, a dark skinned girl with a mane of curly hair who dusted her off with a kind smile as she picked her up. “Penny, was it?” she started, “Those kids sure do play rough with you…and the adults too.” As if waiting for a response, the girl paused for a moment, Penny’s only answer being her head falling slightly to the side. “Right… you’re a doll. You feel kind of real though, ya know?”
At that, Penny felt as the girl carried her around the store as she cleaned up for the day. ‘Natalie’ she said her name was, saying how she had seen Tim perform with her through the shop window each day, and how she couldn’t help but be captivated by the pair from a distance. “You two are a cute couple, you know?” she said, jostling Penny a little to have her nod ‘yes’. “Tim’s a good looking guy, you’re a lucky puppet! Then again, maybe he’s the lucky one; I wouldn’t mind being in his position if I got to play with a girl like you all day.” Holding Penny at arm’s length, the doll was surprised to see the same smile and the same warmth in her eyes that she usually got from Tim, though it only lasted for a second before Nat went back to cleaning.
For a short while, Natalie continued playfully chatting with the doll and responding for Penny, the redhead actually enjoying the company of the store clerk. Before long though, Penny could see as the twilight shone throw the store’s windows, a little disappointed as she was carried over to a display stand in the middle of the store and placed with a number of other puppets, the girl taking the time to pose them around her before stepping back. “The boss said you’re staying with the toy shop for the next few days, so settle in. Don’t worry though, I’ll take good care of you, doll.” At that, the girl closed up the shop, looking to the puppet one last time before dipping out the door. “Goodnight Pen-occhio” she said, laughing at her own pun. Alone in the toy store, all Penny could really do was stay where she was posed with the other dolls, reminiscing about being carried around by her new friend Nat and wishing Tim was there as she drifted off to sleep.
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“Do you know what you want? Or are you hoping someone will take your strings and decide for you?”
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“Do you like playing with me as your puppet?” Laying in bed with Tim, Penny found herself amidst another dream. In reality, the puppet was asleep within the toy shop where she was left with the other toys, but the dream felt more real than any of that. “I mean, is it bad if I say yes?” Tim responded coyly. At that, the pair laughing at themselves, Penny hugged Tim a little closer. “Well, I love when you play with me, so I guess I’m just as guilty here.” Feeling as his fingers ran through the girl’s red hair, Tim responded with some new interest. “Oh really? You actually like having a weirdo like me treat you like any ol’ doll all day? Just tugging you around like a toy?” With a smirk on her face, Penny lifted herself up slightly, propping her chin up in her hands as she laid out across Tim’s bed. “Excuse me: One, I’m not any old doll, your doll. Big difference. And two, yeah, I really do. I didn’t think I’d like it at first but handing over my strings like that to you felt, well dumbly enough, actually kind of liberating. I don’t know how to explain it, but being played with without a care in the world, knowing how happy I can make you just by being your toy, it’s just… well…”
“Perfect?” Tim finished her sentence, giving the girl a quick kiss on the forehead before, Penny melting slightly as she felt Tim pick her up and sit her on his lap. Turning her to face him, Tim looking to her intently for a moment before lifting an eye brow at Penny, who instantly understood his message. “Fiiiine, I’ll be a good doll.” Knowing what to do and trying not to giggle as she played along, Penny went limp in his lap, putting on her doll expression and smile as if she was doing her puppet act back in the park. Taking a few seconds to play with Penny if only to tease her, Tim was impressed she could keep up the act so well. Then again, it was what she did for a living. Realizing she wasn’t going to crack any time soon, Tim gave in and pulled Penny close to him. Kissing the ‘doll’ passionately, Tim looked to her with a smirk to see that even with a kiss she didn’t break her composure, her expression unchanged and her mouth hanging slightly ajar. “You’re way too good at that Penny. I swear, you could pass off as really being just a puppet sometimes,” he teased, letting her flop onto the bed beside him and quickly joining her. Lifting Penny’s hands above her head as he laid out across her, he kissed Penny once more before whispering in her ear. “Well, you have been a good doll. I guess I better be a good owner and play with you then.” Feeling as her owner undressed her, Penny kept up her puppet act as long as she could, but before long the two were wrapped around each other.
‘I could get used to being played with this way.’
It was morning by the time Penny began to awake from her dream, the toy feeling more than just warm from affection, but flustered. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been played with like that before,’ she found herself thinking, enthralled even just by the idea of knowing how happy she had made Tim in her dream. Still. everything about the dream seemed odd to the mind of the puppet: she still didn’t know how she was moving on her own in these dreams, let alone why being played with that way felt so good, but regardless all Penny really cared about was how much she was aching for Tim to be here with her now. Unfortunately, she was still in the toy shop and still very much just an inanimate toy, propped up with the rest of the store’s wares. Though she’d at least be played with again today was a nice consolation, in reality she really just wanted Tim to finally find her.
With the morning sun rising and the park slowly coming to life, just like the day before, Penny found herself ignored while the shop was being opened, acting as little more than decoration in the corner. Natalie gave her the occasional smile, but it was clear she was too busy to play with the puppet for now. ‘Maybe Natalie would want to play with me the way Tim did in my dream,’ Penny thought to herself innocently, still trying to make heads or tails of the events from the night before. As Natalie finished prepping the store for the day, Penny was surprised to see as she took the puppet’s strings in one hand and scooped up Penny in the other, pressing the doll’s waist to her own to prop her up. “Come on doll, we actually have a special assignment for you today.”
With a wink, Nat carried the puppet out through the front door of the shop, though they didn’t go far. Rounding the corner so they were right beside the front door and under the protruding sign of the shop, Penny could see a sizable contraption wedged between the wall of the building and the sign: The machine was simple, a wooden box with a series of gears visible from some slots in the bottom, but what caught Penny’s eye was a series of wooden pegs dangling from the box, each with hooks similar to the one’s that attached her strings to her body. Feeling as Nat set her down against the wall, the doll drooping as she worked, Penny could see as her part-time owner attached her marionette strings to the pegs of the machine above her head. Before long, Penny felt as she was scooped back up, feeling a soft ‘thunk’ as a string was attached to the hook on her head, then her arms, and finally her legs. As Natalie let go of her, the puppet half expected to collapse in a pile, but instead she stood up straight with her heels dangling only about an inch above the ground. At that, Nat lifted a small remote from her apron pocket, looking to Penny with a grin before pressing a button. “Ok then Pen, let’s see if this works”
All at once, Penny felt as her strings began to move on their own, or rather as they were pulled by the machine above her head. Slowly, Penny felt as one string lifted her arm, waving at a nonexistent crowd while her head was rotated from side to side to look around. The mechanical box above her head wasn’t just a display stand, it was an automated pattern to puppet her around as if she was one of the animatronics back in the storage room. Content with her work, Nat patted the doll on the shoulder, whispering in her ear before going back inside the store. “I know, it isn’t Tim pulling your strings, but maybe that cute face of yours will drum up some business!” With that, Penny was left alone, feeling as her wooden body was methodically guided for her.
As the park began to fill up with people, Penny was quick to realize the machine that held her up only had a handful of pre-programmed movements for her: There was the simple, ‘wave and look around,’ a slow twirl, her playfully jumping as her strings lifted her off the ground, and dropping to her knees and drooping as if her strings were cut. People still stopped to admire the puppet, a few taking pictures with the life sized toy, but it was nowhere near the excitement of being performed with by Tim as well as not even close to the attention she got being played with in the store. Still, she had to remind herself she was just a prop, owned by Wonderland Parks and made for stuff like this. It wasn’t as if she had a say in the matter of how she was used, mechanically going through her movements and looking through the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of Tim.
He never did come though, Penny’s day ending with Natalie collecting her and bringing her back into the store. The puppet had to admit, that was the highlight of her day, Nat quickly gravitating towards the doll as if she was her own. “Boring day, huh Pen?... Yeah, me too,” she spoke up the puppet as she cleaned the store, chatting to the doll the whole while. Finishing up early, Natalie looked to the front door and then back to Penny with a smile. “I could close up for the day, buuut something tells me you could use some attention.” Locking up the front door, Nat scooped up Penny once more before carrying her off to the back room of the store. There, the room closely resembled Tim’s workshop, Penny almost feeling at home as the girl put her on a workbench. “How did you get so dirty just hanging around all day?” Nat started, lifting the puppets arm for a moment before dropping it back to the bench. Looking to the doll with a devilish grin, she continued. “This just won’t do, Penny.”
From there, Penny felt as Natalie stripped her, all the way down to her mittens. For a second, Penny felt like she should be embarrassed, but then again it wasn’t like the puppet had much to hide under her costume. Taking a second to admire the doll’s craftsmanship, she began to clean the doll from head to toe, wiping away any dirt from the day of being played with and hung outside. Penny would be lying if she didn’t love the attention, cooing internally as her caretaker’s hands ran over her. Natalie even took some time to reapply some paint to the puppet’s make-up, and though she wasn’t as detailed with her handiwork as Tim as she touched up Penny’s freckles, the doll could feel the compassion was the same. At that though, Natalie said something that caught Penny off guard. “You know, I kind of want to take you home with me…”
A wave of mixed feelings hit Penny all at once, but before she could process them all Nat continued. “It wouldn’t be impossible; I’d just take you back to work each morning and it would be as if you never really left. Instead of being alone all night, you could be some cute decoration for my room. I’d take care of you, and talk to you, and, well…” she paused for a moment, looking around for a moment before looking to the red lips of the doll on the table. Through her hesitation, Nat kissed Penny on the lips, melting the puppet instantly as she felt her run her hands along her wooden frame. It only lasted for a few seconds, Nat pulling away embarrassed and leaving the doll to slump slightly, but a second later Penny melted once more as she heard her giggle. “And I’d play with my doll, even if its not the way she’s used to.”
At that, Natalie dressed the now cleaned doll, bringing her back out into the workshop. Deep down, Penny kind of wanted Nat to take her home with her, but instead Penny was propped up in the store window in a cute pose. With one more kiss on her cheek, Natalie got up and headed out the store door. Pausing for a moment to look at Penny though the front store window, Penny heard her muffled voice tell her “Maybe tomorrow.” Penny was alone again, a feeling she was beginning to get familiar with. Now though, as much as she still wanted Tim to find his puppet already, she couldn’t help but think about what it would be like to be decorating Nat’s bed right now as well.
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“So, you want it all. You’re a puppet at heart but you long to be real too. You’re given your dream and yet your dreams now lie elsewhere. You’re quite the enigma, Penny the Puppet, but I’ll see if I can solve this puzzle for you.”
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Routine seemed to become Penny’s life from there moving forward, the days she spent at the toy shop becoming over week now. Each night she would dream of Tim, that she was a real girl who could hold him back and make him smile as more than a toy. Each day she would live the life of a puppet, going on-off with days she spent as a plaything in the store and days she spent as an animatronic dangling outside the store’s entrance. It was a simple life, but then again she was a simple prop, just a puppet to be used how her owner saw fit. ‘Owner,’ she thought, though the meaning of the word was a bit less clear now. Tim had always been her owner; he had made her, performed with her each day, cared for her, but now that she was in the possession of the shop, it was almost as if she had two owners.
Admittedly, she did find herself growing fond of Natalie as the days passed. Despite still viewing the situation as temporary, waiting for Tim to walk through the front door of the shop and collect her at any moment now, there were worst owners to have than Nat. With each day, she was only sweeter with the puppet, talking to her, playing with her, and cleaning her each day. As she got more familiar with the toy, Nat took more liberties to ‘play’ with her in the backroom after cleaning her each day, though things quickly evolved from a quick peck on the lips to playing with Penny more expressively and passionately each day, even locking up the store early to have more time with her toy. Penny would be lying if she didn’t love it, almost getting the same flustered feeling she had gotten in her dreams with Tim, but she did feel guilty enjoying the hands of another owner that much.
One night, after a long day of play and being left on the red carpet of the toy shop, Penny felt as she was scooped up excitedly and carried by Nat to the backroom, almost skipping as she did. Stepping inside, Penny couldn’t help but giggle at the display as Natalie tossed her in the air and caught her in a hug, spinning her around a few times. Feeling as her owner kissed her passionately, Penny looked to her eagerly for some kind of explanation for the display. “Guess what, Penny,” She started, the puppet as silent as ever before Nat continued without skipping a beat. “Good guess but no! Starting tomorrow night, I really do get to be your new owner!”
With a familiar sense of mixed emotions running through her Penny looked to Nat for more answers. Feeling as she sat down, bringing Penny onto her lap to face her, she continued. “Well, Janet pulled me aside today and said to make sure you’re all cleaned up for tomorrow! I asked why, and she said that after tomorrow that the park would be giving you to an employ to keep! And then she gave me a wink. A wink! I think they’re gonna let me keep you as a bonus for taking care of the store!” Running a finger down Penny’s chest, Nat spoke up once more as she looked to the puppet. “I know you’re not exactly a plushie, but something tells me I’m gonna be cuddled up to you each night from now on anyway.”
As Penny felt as she was played with and put away for the night, Nat giving her extra attention before posing her and putting the toy away for the night, she couldn’t help but panic slightly as she thought over everything she had just learned. ‘Does Nat really mean it? Does this mean I’m going to be hers now?’ At that, her mind went back and forth all night, the doll unable to rest with so much to think about. On one side of things, she knew that deep down she would probably love being Natalie’s doll: if the displays of affection at work were anything to go off of, Penny had a feeling that she’d be getting no shortage of love from her new owner. Even just imagining being pulled into bed with her, dressed up in a spare pair of her owner’s pjs, and being held close to her each night was enough for her to melt at the thought. Quickly pulling herself out of the feeling though, one thought arose to her mind each time: ‘If I leave the park, then Tim really will never find me.’ Even if Nat was sweet to her, and loving, and would make a great owner, she didn’t belong to her. Deep down she was still Tim’s doll, and she intended to keep it that way. Still, as the doll sat inanimate in the empty toy store; it didn’t seem she had much say in the matter.
By the time morning came, Penny had spent the whole night worrying, unable to sleep let alone dream. As a familiar bell rang, signaling the front door being opened, she felt a kiss on her cheek as she was scooped up from her pose. “One more day, cutie, think you can stand the wait? I know you want to get home but one more boring day won’t kill you.” Nat’s voice echoed in her ear as she was carried outside and put back on her mechanized strings. Flipping the box on, Penny began her usual animatronic routine, though her mind was still elsewhere.
As each hour passed, the puppet grew more anxious, watching as the sun moved across the sky and seas of people moved past her. All this time she had spent waiting for Tim to find her would be for nothing in just a few short hours, and though she did have a soft spot for Nat, the thought of never seeing the man she loved again left her crying behind her painted smile and bright eyes.
The clicking of the machine above became the ticking of a clock, counting down the minutes until the end of the day. As twilight began to cover the street of the old German town she found herself on, the crowd around her began to dissipate, and so to did her last hope. With a defeated sigh, she felt as her strings let her down in a limp pose as it did every so often, Penny falling to her knees for a few moments before being lifted back to her feet to wave again. As her head was shot straight though, she saw a silhouette in the crowd, someone who wasn’t making their way to any exits, but instead stood firm looking in the direction of the toy shop. Though he was in plain clothes, dressed like any other guest of the park, Penny’s wooden heart almost stopped. It was Tim.
Through her giddy excitement of her owner finally finding her, Penny all but broke her strings and ran to hug him, but instead she stood in place as the machine above her wound down and brought her to a stand still. Pausing for a second, Tim approached her slowly, but something was off; through the mix of light and shadows cast by the twilight around them, Penny could see a solemn smile on his face and some sadness behind his eyes as well. “Hey, Penny… it’s been too long.” Penny wanted more than anything to tell him to smile his usual warm smile, to show him how happy she was that he found her, how she could finally take her back, but all the puppet could do was smile and feel as the man cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry it took this long. Janet had me working in different parts of the park for almost two weeks now I guess. I had to find you though. Even if it is just to say goodbye.”
In a second, all of the excitement drained out of her. Penny waited, silently demanding an explanation. ‘Tim, no, you’re here! You can take me off these strings and we can go home together!’ Tim just looked at Penny for a moment longer before speaking up. “This is crazy… I must be crazy. I’m saying goodbye to a doll. But, well, Janet told me you’re not going to belong to the park anymore after tonight… I don’t know why they would do that but I can’t exactly tell my boss what to do with company property.” Pausing for a few moments more, the pair looked at each other, Tim running a hand along the puppet’s red hair. “I just hope you end up with an owner that loves you the way I do… goodbye Pen.” With a kiss on the forehead, Tim turned to go, but as he did a voice rang out from behind them.
“You’re really going to leave your doll that easily?”
Looking behind him, Tim’s eyes went wide as he looked to the source of the voice. It was Janet, but instead of her usual professional pants suit, she was in full costume as if she was a character actor and not their manager. It wasn’t just any costume though: before the pair, their boss was dressed as the Blue Fairy, with a long blue dress, fairy wings on her back, even a small wand in her hand. With a deep level of confusion on his face, Tim looked to his boss. “Hey Janet… You doing ok? What’s going on her exactly?” With a short laugh, Janet approached the two. “I’m setting things right, that’s what. It seems the park made a bit of a mistake thinking Penny just wanted to be a puppet: turns out, she wanted to be yours. It’s all she’s been dreaming about, actually” For a few moments Tim was silent, looking between Penny and Janet. “Well then… that’s sweet… Are you sure you’re feeling ok, boss? I have no idea what any of that means.” His tone was getting more confused by the second, Janet not paying it any mind. “It’ll be easier to show you.”
At that, Janet gave Penny a light tap on the head with her wand, the puppet shifting slightly on her strings for a moment. All at once though, a light began to move from the fairy’s wand and circle Penny. Tim, taking a step back, watched in awe as the light swirled around her whole form, moving from her head slowly down across her whole body. As it did though, Tim could see something that caught him off guard: Penny blinked on her own. Coursing down her body, Penny’s strings began to attach one by one, her feet landing on the ground and holding her up on wobbly legs. Though she was still entirely wood, the doll began to prop herself up even without her strings. As the magic whooshed down past her feet and disappeared into the air around them, Penny was standing on her own. Slowly, the doll looked up to Tim. “Owner,” Penny heard herself speak in a relieved voice, but a second later, Penny began to fall forward.
For a second, things were dark; all Penny could do was try to make sense of things as the falling sensation around her stopped before she hit the ground. Feeling as her body moved on its own, almost out of instinct, she was left wish a confused expression on her face. As she slowly started to come to, Penny could feel the warmth of someone’s grasp around her, holding her tight and propped up against them. Slow to open her eyes, she finally did, seeing Tim’s bewondered eyes looking down at her. “Penny?” Hearing that one word in his voice was like opening a floodgate: in a second, her memories of everything, her time as a puppet, her life as a real girl, her past with Tim, and the dreams they both had, came rushing back to her. Looking into his eyes, she could tell he was experiencing the same thing, a look of understanding on both of their faces. Without a second thought, Penny found herself embracing her owner, holding him tight on her own accord. It felt just like her dreams, how it felt to hold him back: perfect. The two held each other close for what seemed like forever, relief washing over them as if it was the magic they both just witnessed. “Sorry to break up the moment, but…” Pulled back to reality, the two looked up to Janet from their spot on the ground. There, the fairy had a kind smile on her face as she continued. “I suppose you two deserve an explanation then, right?”
“I don’t mean to make things sound simpler than they really are, but Wonderland is magic. No, no it’s not just a tagline to sell movies and toys, it really is magic. It’s been that way since it was founded: something about the commitment people brought to the park, the way they lived their parts, the way they made the magic of the park seem so real, actually made it real. It sounds silly, I know, but when you have hundreds of people not just playing the part of characters, but really being these fantastical people in larger than life settings, a certain energy just builds up until the act and the real thing are one in the same. Over the years, that energy became magic, and that magic became the park, in a sense.”
“I told you both this is where dreams came true. Once again, not a tagline, I swear. Something about this park has a habit of making dreams come true, no matter what you dream of. You need to be in the park for a good while for anything to happen, you’re not going to just see some kid wander in here and make a dinosaur appear out of thin air, but once you’re here for a while the magic tends to let you live out your dreams here in the park; I know you both felt it when you performed each day. It was the actual magic of the park that made you feel like you really were Tim the Toy Maker and Penny the Puppet. On some level, you both wanted to be these characters, so in the park you became them. Thing is, the park does seem to get carried away from time to time… So, by chance, did you two happen to dream about Penny really being a puppet in the past few weeks?”
Bashfully, Penny and Tim looked to each other for a few moments before looking back to Janet. “Um…maybe?”
With a smirk, Janet continued. “Thought so. Well, the park could feel you wanted to be a puppet, so a few weeks back you got your wish. I honestly wasn’t surprised when I saw you as a puppet, but I wasn’t about to get in your way: if you wanted to be a toy that bad then I’d just make sure you’d get your wish. The thing is though, that was only half your wish, wasn’t it?” Pausing for another moment and watching as Tim blushed slightly, Janet answered for them. “You wanted to be Tim’s, not just a plaything for some kids in the shop, not just an animatronic puppet, but Tim’s doll, is that right?”
If the puppet could blush, she would be bright red right now, but looking between Tim and Janet, she nodded with a meek ‘yes.” “Thought so. Well, I suppose it’s about time we make that happen.”
Wish one more flick of her wand, a light began to circle the two of them on the ground. Within seconds, Penny could feel more than just her owner’s warmth coursing through her, but her own. Moving down over her body, Penny felt as her skin became soft, as life was breathed into her chest, and as her wooden seams joined together to create whole joints. Though still in full costume and make-up, real color began to return to her face beyond the simple red circles drawn on her cheeks, her lips fleshing out and her eyes shifting from painted on exaggerations to her real blue eyes. As the effects coursed through her, Penny started to collapse once more, Tim supporting her and pressing her to his chest. In seconds, Penny had stopped being a toy and returned to being a real girl. Before they had a chance to take it all in though, Janet continued.
“The park isn’t perfect; magic can be clunky, and slow, and frankly hard to explain even to people who have witnessed it first hand, but it always gets where its going. You two wanted things to be this way, so we always would have ended up here eventually.”
It was a lot to take in, the two looking to Janet for some time before their gaze eventually landed on one another. Penny, though still slowly getting used to being able to speak again, was first to talk. “So… you always wanted this too? You weren’t just playing along with the act?” She said to Tim with a look of longing. Without even a hint of hesitation or nervousness in his voice, he replied. “Of course, Penny. Always.” At that, Penny felt as he glided a hand along her neck and lifted her lips to his, the two kissing deeply for a few moments before finally relaxing after weeks of anxiousness. “I always thought you two were a cute pair,” Janet chimed in, already making her way to the green door across the street and opening it, already back to her overtly punctual self. She was about to call the two to join her, but behind them they heard a small bell ring.
There, halfway out the door of the toy shop, Natalie stood stiff as a board looking at the scene in front of her, her eyes darting between a costumed Janet, Tim on the ground, and the girl he was holding. With her eyes eventually landing on a very human Penny, Nat’s eyes went from confused to shocked. Looking between the two people who had owned her, the doll slowly sat up and looked to Natalie with a nervous smirk. “Hey there…Nat. I’m Penny.” Within a second, Natalie fell straight backwards onto the plush carpet of the toy store, passing immediately out from shock. With the pair looking to Janet for some kind of answer as to what to do now, the fairy sighed. “I really do need to take care of everything, don’t I?”
Epilogue:
Following that night, both Janet and Tim expected Penny to want nothing to do with Wonderland Parks after what had happened. After all, the girl was effectively trapped as a plaything for almost half a month, played with as a toy, and used as if she was nothing but a prop; It was safe they were a bit beyond OSHA regulations. To their surprise though, Penny gave no sign of wanting to quit. If anything, the girl only seemed that much more passionate about her job… well, her two jobs. Beyond remaining committed to working for Wonderland, Penny also was over the moon about her new role too: not just acting as Tim’s puppet, but living the part.
That night, after being reunited with her owner and being human for the first time in weeks, it would have been perfectly reasonable for the girl to want a night alone if only to adjust. Instead, walking out to the parking lot and getting ready to drive the girl home, Tim felt a tug on his hand. Turning around to face Penny, he could see that despite everything the girl was still a little nervous. “Tim… I’ve been alone for every night for weeks now… can I please stay with you tonight?” Surprised, Penny felt as Tim pulled her into a tight hug, the girl relaxing instantly. “Penny, you can stay with me as long as you like.”
That was the first of many nights with Tim, her owner making up for the past weeks by doing his best to take care of his puppet. The pair took the next day off of work, talking about what they had experienced and making up for lost time as Tim held Penny close on the couch. “This feels kind of familiar…” Penny said without thinking, remembering her dreams where she was in almost the exact same position. Pulling her closer, Tim continued her thought. “I know what you mean. But you know what Janet said,” he paused, turning her chin to face him. “Dreams have a tendency to come true around here.” Kissing Penny deeply, the puppet felt the same way she did all those nights dreaming in the toy store, pulling her owner close.
When the two did get back to work though, Janet greeted them with another surprise. Sitting in her office, the pair looking to her boss with some shared anxiousness, Janet was rummaging through her desk to find something. “Ah, here it is,” she started, tossing something to Tim before even saying what. Quick to catch it, the pair looked in his hands: there, it was the same small wand Janet had used on Penny the other day. Before they could even ask a question, Janet beat them to the punch. “It’s just a prop wand. There’s nothing really special about it, but that toy turned Penny from a puppet into a real girl the other night. Think of it as a way to channel some of the park’s magic. So, as long as you believe it can turn Penny from human to puppet back to human, it will. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Pausing for a moment, Tim looked to his boss with some frustration. “Wait, you don’t seriously want to turn Penny back into a toy, do you?” Composed as ever, Janet responded. “I don’t want anything but my employees to be happy. It’s great that you two lovebirds are finally a thing, but that was only half of Penny’s wish, wasn’t it?” Taking a second to think things over, Tim looked to Penny. There, the redheaded girl looked not angry but excited, speaking up. “So you’re saying I can be really be Tim’s puppet for work each day?” Nodding, Janet shot back. “How about whenever you want? The wand’s yours; think of it as a ‘Sorry-for-leaving-you-as-a-doll’ gift.” At that, Penny practically jumped out of her seat, hugging Tim and then her boss. Though her life had been a bit crazy for the past few weeks, she couldn’t care: now, she really could live out her dreams.
--- 2 months later ---
Walking through the tunnels of the park as they did each day, Tim and Penny were hand in hand as they approached the green door leading out to the toy shop. “Ready, doll?” Tim chimed in, giving his puppet a quick kiss on the forehead before Penny smiled back at him. Without a word, Penny threw on her usual exaggerated smile as Tim pulled a short wand out of his pocket and tapped her playfully on the head with it. As she began to fall forward, going limp as any puppet would, Penny was back to back to being a wooden plaything by the time Tim had caught her. Scooping up the lightweight puppet, he gave Penny one more kiss before walking out into the park.
Over the past weeks, the pair had gone from puppet and owner to an actual couple, though for them the two were essentially one in the same. Penny was ecstatic to learn that Tim could use the wand on her even when they weren’t in the park, using the ability liberally at home. Penny had moved in with Tim shortly after ‘the events’ that led up to them getting the wand, the couple living happily if not conventionally. After experimenting with the magic a bit, it didn’t take much practice to figure out that just by believing it, the wand could turn Penny into not just the standard puppet she was in the park, but any number of dolls.
For practice, Tim turned her into a mannequin one night, playfully disassembling her and putting her back together like a puzzle. That was just the beginning though: From there, barely a day went by where Penny wasn’t turned into some toy or another around the house. Most nights, Tim turned her into a life sized plush doll, Penny’s skin taking on a smooth knit texture and filled with stuffing, though keeping her detailed facial expression, red hair, and womanly features. Penny couldn’t lie and say that it wasn’t her favorite variation of doll to be, loving the feeling of Tim carrying her around the house like a kid with his favorite stuffed animal, Penny often ending up as his body pillow in bed each night. When they were feeling more adventurous, Penny would end up as a silicon doll though, the girl looking almost the same as she did as a real girl, but as a perfectly posable sex doll. It was safe to say that using this, Penny got to experience a few of her dreams all at once, the doll getting played with in every way she could imagine.
When they were at work though, she was just a regular puppet, and she still loved it. Walking out into the park and setting Penny Doll on the stage in front of the toy shop, Tim was prepping the doll as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, Natalie was looking back with a pleading smile.
It took a good amount of time to explain things to Natalie: there were several talks from Janet about the park, a few more magic tricks involving turning Penny into a puppet in front of her, and once or twice where Nat passed out again from shock. Still, with regular reassurance from Tim and Penny, Natalie eventually came to terms with things. Though part of it was a feeling of inclusion being in on Tim and Penny’s secret, Natalie eventually found herself as a real friend of the couple, getting close to Penny as a person and not just a toy. She even found herself hanging out with them after work and joining in on their occasional movie nights. Tim was even nice enough to share his toys, letting Nat cuddle up to a plush Penny while she was over. Penny wasn't surprised as the stuffed doll felt Natalie feel her up under the blanket while the three watched through another Wonderland movie, but the toy didn't mind. 'One more owner to play with me, I guess'
Now, Natalie was looking to Tim, though instead of her usual apron from the store she wore a bit more of a costumed get up in line with other actors from the park. “Hey, Tim. Mind if I take the shift with Penny and you work the register today? Pretty please?” she asked in a playful tone, even doing a slight pouty lip to sell her pitch. Rolling his eyes, Tim handed his strings to Nat, getting up from the stage. “Alright, alright. But play nice with her!”
Feeling as Nat took her strings, a familiar magic coursed through the two of them, Natalie gathering her bearings before standing up and hoisting Penny up with her. The puppeteer spoke out in a familiar tone of voice: “Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls. Who will stop and watch the beautiful Penny the Puppet’s performance, accompanied by Nat the Puppeteer?” As a crowd of park goers began to gather around, the same feeling of warmth began to course through the wooden puppet, the smile on the doll’s face becoming very real. Hearing as Nat whispered in her ear, chills went down her wooden spine, and she knew she couldn’t be happier.
“Show time.”