The soft snow fell gently. In the dark sky, it was like all the stars were falling at once. The two young ladies walked in step, their boots quietly crunching in the snow that was starting to accumulate. Aster, on the left with her long brown hair going down the length of her back, looked at all the lights of the Christmas village as she walked with her warm sweater, mittens, and beanie hat. Sam, on the right with her short black hair visible around her ear warmers that sat on top of her head, was also "ooo"-ing and "ahh"-ing at the decorations of the seasonal "town" without a sweater but sporting a warm jacket similar to Aster's. The two friends walk slowly as the Christmas lights hang on each "house" where shopkeepers in Victorian-style outfits sell their wares. Each year, the downtown square of their small town is blocked off and turned into a Christmas Village, where locals can sell their homemade goods, or buy homemade goods, or just walk around and sip hot chocolate. There is even a Santa's house where you can sit on the "old man's" lap and get your picture taken. He might not be the real thing, but he certainly acts like he is. To add to the decorations, each vendor has a set of fake walls and shop fronts that are hastily erected for the event. With the costumes and decorations, the "village" has an almost magical feeling.

The two friends had made this a tradition the last couple of years, as this was the place they became friends. Both of them barely knew each other before, but they were dating best friends, so they got to know each other a little. They stop walking to look at the "Classic Toy Store" shop, where it all fell apart (or maybe came together). The front of the store is a fake wall and large "window" on the sidewalk like all the others, with the back of the shop being the front of an actual store that is darkened from being closed. They look in the "window" to see if the giant teddy bear is there, where they caught their boyfriends hitting on the same girl. Was she cuter than them? No. Was she younger than them? Probably. Did she look fabulous in that toy soldier costume? Well, yeah. Anyway, the two ex-girlfriends walked away arm-in-arm and have been best friends since.

So, they reenact the scene with mock tears and screams each year, making the story more fantastic than it really was. Just for fun, they usually get one of the oversized dolls to be their ex-boyfriends looking on while they storm out. Unfortunately, this year, the toy shop seems emptier than usual. The couple that made and sold their homemade toys were there, but the tables were not arranged as full as usual. And where was the giant teddy bear in front of the Christmas tree?

They walk up to ask the owner, when Aster grabs Sam's arm, "Uh oh, trouble coming this way." Sam turns to look the way Aster is and wipes her smile from her face. "What are they doing here?" As sure as the snow was falling, there was Cal and Cam walking with two new girlfriends on their arms. Aster notes, "Must be a blonde convention," she jokes based on each of their hair color. Sam then adds, "Or maybe a cloning experiment gone wrong, are they all wearing the same jacket?" Both girls start to giggle mockingly, when their ex's look their way casually.

Not wanting to be seen here, the girls turn their backs to them quickly. "What are you doing?" Sam asks Aster, to which she replies, "The same as you. You turned around as fast as I did." They both breathe a heavy sigh, so maybe they are not quite over being jilted like that. To make matters worse, they are at the exact spot it happened. Looking to the sides, they see there is no way out of the "store", even with its fake walls and no ceiling to keep them "inside". They either make a scene or hope they are not noticed. Looking down, Sam notices a box of costumes. "Quick, put this on," she says while handing Aster an outfit. Aster looks at the outfit strangely, but then notices Sam putting hers on. Leave your jacket on, it will make you look fluffy in the costume." Aster mouths the words, "I don't want to be fluffy". Stealing a quick glance, the foursome are distracted but definitely walking this way. "Ugh, why does this happen to me?" Donning the costumes is quick and easy, as they are simple rag doll outfits with floppy hats and mittens, and simple one piece coverings that were probably sewn by the owner herself. Taking just a few seconds, the girls take up their positions "under the tree", sitting with their arms hanging loosely to their sides and their heads slightly tilted. Sam whispers, "Make sure your hair is tucked up in the bonnet." Not to be outdone, Aster adds, "Exhale through your nose slowly...don't want them seeing your breath in the cold air." They both take a quick moment to glare at each other, trying to lay blame on why they are dressed like rag dolls sitting under a Christmas tree in public, as their ex-boyfriends bring their new girlfriends to that place of the "dumping".

"It's the biggest teddy bear I've ever seen," Cal says loudly, "We have got to see it." Cam nods his head, "Yeah, and we can take a selfie in front of it." The two twins (or maybe they really are clones) giggle, as they snuggle into their dates. The foursome enter the toy shop, but they do not see the teddy bear. In the middle of the "store", there is a large fake Christmas tree, as usual, that has lots of wrapped presents underneath. Amongst the presents, there is a life-size couple of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Their floppy hats and clothes match, each with bright red yarn for hair dangling down their smiling faces. "Bummer, man...not here this year." The other friend frowns, shocked by the missing fluffy doll. The girls bend down, "Aren't they adorable? Let's take a selfie with them." As the girls bend over in front of the guys, the young men quickly forget the teddy bear. Nothing like having two sets of tightly covered rear ends in front of you to make you forget whatever you were just thinking about.

As the foursome start to position themselves, the shop owner, who had been watching this whole time, walks over. "Hey, kids, hang on," he says with a paint brush and can in his hands. "I did not have a chance to finish these dolls, so before you take your selfie, let me add something," The foursome step back, surprised he was paying attention to them. "Don't worry, this will only take a second." Kneeling down, he stares into Sam's eyes as he adds some red dots to her cheeks, "They just need a quick touch," he says with a wink. He then adds a little to her nose, then scoots over to stare at Aster. "Yep, a perfect rag doll couple, right here." After adding the red to her face, he stands up. The two clones look again, "Oh, that is much better. So cute!"

Sam and Aster were not expecting any of this. One minute, they are walking and laughing, now they are sitting and keeping very still. Sam feels the one clone snuggle up close to her, then pulls her arm around her shoulder, her mitten hand falling on something soft. "Oh, Andy, getting a little personal?" At that point, Sam did not need red paint for her cheeks. Not to be out done, the other clone does the same with Aster, snuggling up to her, and making Aster's mitten hand rest on her soft chest as well. "Well, I've got Ann over here interested in me." Cal and Cam are having a hard time not showing their excitement from watching this scene. Who knew two kid's toys could be so hot around their girlfriends?

They kneel next to them, with Cal and Cam both holding their phones out. As they look at the camera (well, Sam and Aster don't), they both take a few selfies. Laughing from a joke the dolls missed, Cal and Cam help their dates up, letting the dolls arms fall loosely to their sides. "Well, it wasn't a giant teddy bear, but it was still cool." The friends agree and walk out into the street. Sam glances at Aster, under her floppy hat and red yarn hair, to see Aster doing the same to her.

They start to get up, when two small kids jump in their laps. The unsuspecting "rag dolls" try not to show any expression as the young children turn away from the rag dolls and say, "cheese". As soon as they were there, they were gone. But once again, Sam and Aster are pounced on by another kid. For the next 30 minutes, every kid in town must have heard about the Raggedy Ann and Andy doll display. Sam had never smiled so much, and with the cool temperatures, she thinks her face might actually be frozen that way. Aster tries not to sneeze, as each time a kid gets up, her long red braided pigtails get flipped up into her face. So how do they get out of this without terrorizing all the small kids in town?

As if their question was heard, the shopkeeper steps in front of them. "Sorry, kids, these dolls were just sold, so I need to box them up." Unable to see past the man in front of them, the girls could hear several "awe's", but that was not the scary part. Sold? He turns around and kneels down, saying softly, "I'm taking you behind our curtain to pretend that you have been sold. I figure you need a break." And with a wink, he scoops up Raggedy Ann and drapes her over his shoulder. Aster keeps her limbs loose, so her arms swing back and forth as he walks. He gently lays her on a table behind a curtained wall that acts as their "back room", so that she is hidden from view and facing the front of the old hardware store's brick front. Within a few seconds, Sam joins her, pretending to be just a floppy Raggedy Andy doll.

This time, a woman steps in front of them, "I'm not gonna ask why you did that, but I want to say thank you. You made the evening so much more pleasant with your little stunt." Sam and Aster are not sure if they should talk or not, until she pulls their hats off. "It's okay," she starts, "If you hurry, you can change real quick before anyone sees you back here. There are not a lot of places to hide when everything has been put up temporarily." Sam and Aster look both ways and can see people in the distance through gaps in walls, but they are shopkeepers busy doing their thing and not paying any attention to them. Away from the direct public eye, the two girls quickly get their costumes off. "Thank you, miss. We saw someone we didn't want to see us." The man comes around the corner with their purses he found under the tree, "Must have been Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, right?" His wife elbows him, "Dear, that isn't nice to say." Aster adds sheepishly, "Well, we don't know the new girlfriends at all." The man says without smiling, "I was talking about the guys." Sam and Aster could not help themselves but to laugh loudly.

While wiping the paint off their faces with make-up wipes that Aster had in her purse, the girls chit chat with the couple after coming back into the "main area" of their shop from behind the curtain. Dressed back in their normal clothes, it seems normal for the shop owners to be talking to two female customers. The owners said that their regular truck broke down, so they could only bring a small portion of their goods. They will rent a truck for tomorrow, so the teddy bear will make his big entrance tomorrow night. The girls smile and say they are sorry about their car problems. The couple are not, as they had the privilege of getting to see how much the two girls brought such laughter and fun to their store, which had been sort of drab today. The girls apologize again for "highjacking" their display, but they admit that it was fun if not a little scary, too. The man adds, "Let us know if you want to be rag dolls again." Sam and Aster can see his wife elbowing him in the side again as they wave back.

With their goodbyes, they walk back into the street. "Surely, they are gone by now, right?" Aster asks. Sam responds with, "Gotta be. We could never keep them here long anyway. Let's get some hot chocolate to celebrate." As they walk together, they begin to blend in with the crowd, enjoying the cool evening. "Can you believe they brought them to our spot?" Aster says while taking the hot chocolate from Sam, who had just bought some from the food truck just off the main road. "I know, right? We are the ones that introduced them to it in the first place." The girls' moods sour a little, but they cannot let those thoughts damper the fun they have had so far this evening. Feeling refreshed by the warm liquid, they get up and start anew.

Over the next hour, they do not buy anything, but they visit most of the shops. There are so many things to see and feel and experience, that they know they will have to come back again. But, with classes at the junior college winding down, finals will keep them busy, so they might not make it back for a week. They turn right to go down a dead-end alley that has several bright displays on both sides. At the very end of the alley, there is another photo op set-up. There are a bunch of large boxes with clasps on the front and handles on the side. Aster says, "Oh, they brought back the jack-in-the-box photo stop. I have not seen this since the first time we came." As they get closer, Sam notes, "Why is nobody getting their picture taken?" Walking past the busy vendors and customers on their left and right, there's a sign to the right of the display saying, "Photo Stop: closed".

Curious and quickly looking around to make sure nobody is paying them much attention, they walk upto the boxes. Turning the crank for one, they can hear the calliope music as the handle spins in their hand. At the right moment, the lid pops up a few inches, but no one comes out. Even more curious now, Sam opens the lid to show brightly colored fabric and a large spring seated underneath, but no jack or jill. Aster does the same for the other two boxes, with the same result. "Huh, that is too bad, this was always kinda neat, but also kinda scary." Sam nods her head, "Yeah, I always jump, even when I know it is going to pop out." As Sam presses the lid back down, she hears Aster say, "You have got to be kidding me!" Sam looks up to see Aster looking back up the street. As if right on cue, the much-to-be-feared foursome stand at the alley's entrance, blocking it. They do not notice them yet, as they are animatedly talking to each other. "Maybe they will keep walking past?" But, the foursome start slowly walk down the street towards them. The girls turn around to see a brick wall behind the photo stop backdrop. "Uh, dead end."

"Well, it worked before, right?" Sam says while pointing to a box. Aster shakes her head, "You're joking, right? How would this even work?" Opening the lid again of the red box, Sam pulls out the fabric. It is bright yellow and shiny like satin or silk. "Well, I see the hat and mittens and I think we can slip into the material like a night shirt and tie it on tight." Aster is shaking her head, as Sam takes off her coat, gloves, and earmuffs. She puts them behind the backdrop and steps back to the box.

Stepping inside, she positions herself in the neck hole of the yellow fabric. Pulling it up, she puts her arms in the sleeves and ties the string around her neck and waist. Unlike the rag dolls, the costumes are more form fitting, so there will be no mistaking "jill" for a "jack". On the front, there are fabric buttons that jingle when she moves. She dons the tall hat and secures the chin strap. The mittens go on, but she needs help tying them. So far, no one has really paid them any attention, as they are all busy shopping and talking, and the main lights to this display are turned off anyway. Standing in front of Sam, Aster says, "Huh. well, you look pretty close, hang on." Reaching into her purse, she pulls out some lipstick, and adds some color to her cheeks and nose and eyebrows and lips. "Wait, is that the blue lipstick with glitter in it?" Aster chuckles, "Yeah, mom thought it would be awesome. I just keep it hidden in here, so she doesn't know I hate it."

"You better get in one of the other ones," Sam warns. Aster nods and breathes another heavy sigh, as she puts her coat and hat and purse behind the backdrop with Sam's. Like Sam, she steps in the blue box, which has bright pink fabric inside. Following her best friend's movements, she steps into the fabric and sits on the spring, which has a small seat or plank on the end with string attached to it. Like Sam, she pulls the fabric up over her and ties it off tightly, and feels a little self-conscious with its tight fit. She puts her jingling hat on and then adds some color to her face, using the purple glitter lipstick from last Christmas. She cannot tie the mittens on tightly, but she does get them over her hand. "You know I just thought of something," Aster whispers. Sam nods her head, "I had the same thought: how do we get ourselves down in the boxes."

As they ponder that, a teenage boy wearing an ill-fitting Victorian-era suit walks up to them. His head buried in the cell phone ruining any magic the costume might have provided, but the girls are not complaining as he does not notice them moving as he walks up. "Hey, they found the dolls afterall. They were supposed to text me if they did." Not excited, but also not in a hurry, he slowly takes down the closed sign. He then turns on some more of the lights that he had turned off earlier. The boy steps up to Sam and grabs her shoulders, "Down you go, bimbo" he says with a laugh. Sam feels herself being pushed down into the box, the spring compressing as she slowly shrinks. With one hand on her shoulder, he folds her arms in as well, ducks her head and closes the lid. It is at this point, Sam has an amazing revelation: how are we going to get out of here without help? She tries to move, but all of the space in the box is taken up by her now. She is literally trapped like a Jill-in-the-box until someone turns "her" crank.

After seeing her friend stuffed into the box from the corner of her eye, Aster sees the teenage boy walk up to her. He tied her mittens tighter, as the strings were dangling down from each wrist. Grabbing her shoulders he says while pushing her down, "Back to bed, airhead." He chuckles at his joke, as she is compressed into the box. And like her friend, her arms are folded on top of her while her head is tucked in tight with the lid pushed down on top of her. She tries to move, but her entire body with all the fabric and the spring fill the entire space. It is a comfortable pressure though, as the satin material is very soft all around her. Since I took my coat off, she says to herself, at least I'm warmer now down in the box, but how will I get out?

Sam thinks about crying out, but then thinks better of it. If it would have been embarrassing to run into their ex-boyfriends with their new girlfriends, then it would be even worse if they were discovered as a Jill-in-the-box. Deciding it is safer in the box for now, they can work out the details later. At the moment, she tries to enjoy the quiet calm feeling of being in the box. Admittedly, she feels rather comfy, and definitely not cold anymore. She did not feel very "toy like" as Raggedy Andy, but she cannot help but feel like a helpless toy now.

The sounds of footsteps and people talking are somewhat lost on her, as she loses herself in the moment of being a life-size toy. Aster was thinking about her facial expression and whether she would need to jump up, or will the spring she is sitting on be enough? As she thinks about that, she hears the calliope music. Wait, she thinks in a panic, is someone turning my crank? The music is so loud in my ears, like it is all around me. As she tries to cover her ears to no avail, the music stops, the lid pops open, and out she comes.

She needed not worry about doing anything, as the stout spring was plenty to push her up. Like a real jack-in-the-box, she bounds out, almost flying out of the box completely. Holding her hidden legs to the plank on the top of the spring, she manages to stay in the box. Her facial expression is one of shock and surprise, so she decides to keep that. Her arms flailing around her as she bounces up and down and back and forth. To her right, she can hear a girl screaming loudly. From the three people in front of her, she knows who it is. Cal and Cam are standing in front of her, laughing and pointing at the girl next to Aster. In-between them, one of the "clones" stands and giggles as she films the video with her cellphone.

As they take more pictures, Aster keeps her surprised look on her face as she starts to slow down her movements. Her body must weigh more than the actual doll that should be tied in here, as she slowly sags forward. Fortunately, no one can see her face now, but she wonders if the box will eventually tip over with her drooping down the front.

"Well, it was scary..."

"Yeah, sure..."

"Fine, then you try the other one..."

Sam can hear the voices of two couples "arguing" over something. She could just make out the music of a Jack-in-the-box, but everything else is muffled. As if on cue, she hears callioppe music being played all around her. Wow, she thinks, that is really loud. As she wonders how long it will last, the music stops, the lid unlatches, and she is launched upward. She had not thought of her facial expression, but she decided to keep the shocked one on her face. She swings and bounces forward and backwards and side to side. To her left, she hears a girl screaming loudly. In front of her are Cal and Cam, laughing and pointing, while one of the "twins" grins devilishly with her cellphone camera taking the video.

Sam holds onto the spring and continues to let her body flop around with the spring's motion. She notices her hat that jingles has three drooping corners. One of the corners comes down to about eye level. Hopefully, no one will notice her blinking with the jingling bell right there. She does not have to worry about it, as her body slowly sags forward from its natural weight. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Aster already in the same predicament.

"Hey, man," Cal says, "Take our picture." The clueless foursome step in-between the two Jill-in-the-boxes. Reaching out their gloved hands, the guys prop the toys up with their girlfriends in the middle. Sam and Aster maintain their "o" shaped mouth expression of shock during the photo. The happy foursome laugh and step away. Deciding they wanted to try it, Cal grabs Sam's shoulders to push her down into the box, while Cam grabs Aster. Sam and Aster feel themselves being compressed again, and all goes well until they try to close the lids on their mittened hands. Both girls yelp slightly, causing both guys to look back into the boxes. Seeing the blank stares coming from both Jill's, they shrug their shoulders and fold the arms in. Unfortunately, they do not tuck their heads, so both of them have their faces flattened by the lid holding them down. Oh great, they both think, hope someone comes around soon.

The guys fist bump and return to their girlfriends. Arm-in-arm, they walk off, laughing at the videos they got. And like before, silence covers both Sam and Aster like the box did before. If we don't get out soon, I'm going to have to scream or something. This is not as comfortable as it was the first time. Telling themselves to be patient, they wait, pretending to be the toys that their ex-boyfriends thought they were.

Moments that seemed longer than they actually were, both girls finally hear the calliope music loudly again, and like before they bound out of the box. This time they see parents taking pictures of their kids who are turning the cranks. Kids squeal with delight and laugh and clap and jump up and down. As Sam and Aster continue their motion, while more pictures are taken. They recognize some of the same kids from the toy shop, enjoying their evening of seeing life-sized toys. The Jill-in-the-boxes are easily able to maintain their facial expression of shock, as they are not out of the box long, before the teenage worker puts them back in, with his usual "down you go, bimbo" and "back to bed, airhead" mumbles. He takes better care than their ex-boyfriends to fold their arms and duck their heads. While they do not know him, they are thankful he at least takes good care of "his toys".

The next 45 minutes goes by quickly, as Sam and Aster have a constant wave of families wanting their pictures with the Jill-in-the-boxes. Unfortunately, a couple of middle school boys felt them up during their picture, making some remarks that were very pre-teen boy-like. The good news: they already had their shocked facial expression on their faces, and a little color to their cheeks would not hurt. The teenage worker seemed to work as quickly as he could to keep the line moving, but when his cellphone said 10pm, he put the closed sign back up. He let the final two families get their pics and vids, then he turned off the bright lights around the display. Seeing a family in the distance looking down the alleyway at him, he turned from them mumbling, "Not staying a minute more for this kind of pay."

Noticing the vendors packing up and the street ahead of them becoming more and more empty, Sam and Aster take a chance and turn to face each other. Sam mouths, "what now?" to which Aster mouths, "Beats me." The teenage worker comes back with two tarps while talking on his cellphone. "Yeah...got them here...nope, won't put them back in the box...covered...I said, covered...covered...okay, bye." Sam and Aster both breathe out a sigh of relief as he throws a lightweight tarp over them. With the end of the alley already darkened by little to no light, the two friends are plunged into total darkness.

They both wait a few minutes, to make sure no one is still around them. They could probably have started moving sooner, as he was probably walking away faster than he moved at any time this evening. Using their teeth, they untie their mittens. Staying under the tarp to hide their movements, they slowly remove their hats and untie their tops from around their necks and waists. Leaving it all in the box, they lift one corner of the tarp to peak out. From their vantage point, there are a half a dozen people around the alley, but none are watching them, or really very close to them. They hop out of the boxes and leave the tarp over top of them. They give each other a hug, happy to be free and undiscovered. They quickly grab their coats and gloves and hat or earmuffs, as the temperature has dropped even more. Like before Aster pulls a make-up wipe out of her purse for them to clean off the lipstick on their faces. The snow had stopped falling, as they walked down the alley to the sound of the vendors packing up their wares for the night.

The friends step out onto the main street to see the entire town square winding down. Most of "Christmas Village" is empty, save for the vendors packing up. Most of the strings of Christmas lights have been turned off, giving the whole place a kind of eerie look. With more than enough excitement for the night, they decide to leave. Sam had driven them, so they make their way back to her car which is a block away past the other side of the town square. They laugh and tease each other about the great evening that came as a total surprise to them both.


*-*-*-*-* Author's note: not convinced this next sequence is needed, so feel free to jump down to the *-*-* down below. I wanted to have three "transformations", so I put this one in here. It is not as playful and fun as the other two, so if I have talked you out of it, I'll meet you at the *-*-*. If you feel the need for one more "event", then keep reading right below.

They get to the other side of the town square and cut between two closed stores. Surprisingly, they see a crowd of people just standing there. "Huh," Sam says, "That's weird, why are they just standing around. The events are all done tonight." Aster shrugs her shoulders and tries to weave her way through them. The group of a dozen people just seem to be in a clump filling the width of the alley. As she squeezes past the second one, Sam whispers, "They sure are quiet." At this point, Aster observes, "That's because they are mannequins, look." Sam and Aster stop to look more closely at the group. Each of the "people" are standing like they were having a party and milling about. They are all wearing the latest in winter clothing, like they should be just hanging out in the street like all the real people were doing just a few minutes ago. "Well, that will make it easier to get through them."

Before they can continue their trip, they hear voices from the open door to one of the stores next to them. "Officer, I'm telling you someone was in my store, and with the front door locked, they could only get out through the back, and I've been standing here until you got here." Sam says softly, "We better get going, we don't want to get mistaken for a thief." Aster nods and starts moving again, trying not to bump any of the "socializing" mannequins.

A deep voice says, "Joe, I hear what you are saying, but you have taken almost everything out of your store that someone could hide in or under or behind. There is no one in here, but if it makes you feel better, I'll check outside again for any criminals." At the emphasis on the word 'criminal', Sam and Aster try to pick up the pace, but Aster bumps a male mannequin, nearly knocking him over. She catches him quickly, then hears, "I think I saw movement outside." Sam curses and gives Aster that here-we-go-again look.

Aster strikes a pose like she is holding a bag in her right hand with her left hand on her hip. The male mannequin she bumped is leaning against her, his head on her shoulder. Sam steps next to a female mannequin and adopts the same pose, standing at attention, arms at her side. Not something she would have picked but figured she does not want to stand out. If it is good enough for this mannequin, then it is good enough for me.

Aster cannot see the store door, but Sam can. She sees Joe come out, donning his jacket. The police officer follows on his heels. They both scan up and down the alley, seeing no movement. Finally, the police officer says, "Looks like one of your 'employees' was getting cozy with another one," while pointing at Aster and the male mannequin on her shoulder. Joe walks over, "Oh, glad they didn't fall, a broken mannequin is all I would need to make this night worse." The police officer jokes, "Maybe he is the one you heard...I hear mannequins move at night when no one is around." Sam and Aster hazard a quick glance at each other. Joe does not find the joke funny and replies, "Whatever. Thanks for coming by. Good night, officer."

Aster feels the male mannequin being pulled off her as Joe carries it back inside. "Hope you have a Merry Christmas!" the officer calls out, "Let me know if you find anyone suspicious." As the officer walks away, he looks at the mannequins, his gaze staying on Sam longer than he should have. However, Sam had just blinked before he looked her way, so she was ready for him (even holding her breath as well). The officer turns around suddenly and says, "Now he has me seeing things. Idiot!" His shoes clomp on the pavement as he leaves. Sam and Aster breathe a sigh of relief with his back to them. While Joe carries another mannequin inside, they decide to bolt. There is no way they are standing around here any longer.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*


They did not stop walking until they get to Sam's car. Once inside, they finally laugh at the whole evening, congratulating each other on "fooling everyone in town."

"Not gonna lie, most exciting evening I've had in a long time."

"That's right, most fun I've had in months."

As if in sync, they both say together, "Glad it's over." They laugh at each other as Sam drives away to drop Aster off at her apartment. But in the back of each one's mind, they wonder: could they do it again? Do they dare to see if they could get away with being on display in full view of everyone? The Christmas Village will be open for a few days after their last final...hmmm.


Epilogue
The next day, the twins are showing the pictures on their phones to some of their friends. One of them remarks the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls look a lot like the Jill-in-the box dolls. As they zoom on the pictures, they do see some similarities, but then one of them says, "They can't be the same...Raggedy Andy is a boy." The friends laugh at that and put the thought that two random dolls could have the same face out of their minds. Impossible, right?