Celia relaxed as the cop left her aisle again, turning a corner in his lackadaisical patrol. Not that she moved much, but she knew she had to be extra doll-like when he was around, or else her cover might be blown. She felt ridiculous in her dolly dress with its frills and collar, and the beige bodysuit she wore underneath that gave her skin the appearance of cloth. But it had been necessary to blend in.

Three days of sewing and one day of cramped patience would finally pay off. All she needed was for this stupid cop to leave. But he had been patrolling the store for most of the day, even as the customers finally began to wane and go home. Soon, though, the store would close, its safe and register full of cash would—

A shadow fell over Celia, interrupting her thought. She panicked, freezing as she sat, not even blinking. A teenaged girl, tall for her age, probably taller than Celia, stood in front of the blue playset. She tilted her head curiously toward the “toy.”

That was a loaded question if Celia had ever heard one. If she answered, she would prove she wasn’t. If she didn’t answer, she would prove she was. Celia had no intention of blowing her cover, so she kept silent, trying not to even breathe.

But the teen was undeterred. She held out a finger and slowly pointed it right toward Celia’s eye, coming larger and larger in her view until Celia snapped back and batted her hand away. “Scram, kid!”

Unfortunately, coming to life only seemed to delight her. “So, why are you hiding in that dollhouse?”

“I am not someone you want to mess with,” Celia glowered, trying to make herself look intimidating in her doll costume. It had no effect.

“Oh, are you hiding out in plain sight, waiting until closing time, then breaking into the safe to steal all the money the store made before Christmas?”

“Then you’ll know I am a dangerous criminal and will hurt--” Celia stopped, just as the officer walked past the aisle. It was strangely automatic by this point. See the cop. Freeze. The teen noticed it, too, looking between the officer and the “doll.” Then, her eyes flicked down, at the price tag dangling from Celia’s collar. A tag given to her by an employee who was more busy chatting on the phone than doing her job.

“Hey, you’re pretty cheap. Do you come with the house, or does the house come with you?”

“Do you really want to make a criminal angry and take her into your house?” Celia said, trying to go for threatening again.

“I don’t think you’re that kind of criminal. Otherwise, you would have just smashed some windows instead of playing dolly.”

Celia frowned. She hated the way teens could be so observant. “You really think you can keep me as a doll?”

She shook her head. “No, you won’t. See, once I’ve bought you, you’ll change. It’s a mystical-legal thing. You’ll realize you’re a just toy who needs to stay close to her Owner.” The teenager smiled and booped Celia’s nose. “Which will be me.”

While that sounded too wild to be true, Celia decided her cover was too blown, she was too exposed like this. She’d figure out some other way to get the money, and began to clamber out of the playset. The teen tilted her head, a wicked smile on her face, and she called out.

Celia froze. “What are you doing?” She said through gritted teeth, pulling herself back into the playset, going limp by the time the cop arrived.

“Officer, I’m sorry to ask you this, but could you help me get this dollhouse and doll to the front counter? Pleeeassee?”

From inside her blue plastic playset, Celia glowered even while maintaining a happy dolly smile. She would take her chances with the teen. How hard could it be to get out of being a doll?