Sabrina couldn’t believe her plan was working. Sitting there, posing, while person after person walked by thinking she was nothing more than an object. A pretty object, to be admired and adored; an entertaining object, to be played with and posed. Strangers would touch her, feeling the softness of the suit she wore. They would make her wave. One accidentally knocked her over. Sabrina had to accept this and remain placid and still, or her plan would be ruined. Thanks to her friend Puck, it was surprisingly easy.

She had heard about the craft fair a few weeks ago, and Sabrina lit up when she read it had a craft doll contest among its many other offerings. The prize was paltry, a hundred dollars or so. But it would be a chance to get her designs out there and make a name for herself. Perhaps with too much confidence, Sabrina decided to make a spectacular life-sized doll.

Unfortunately, she ran out of time. While she completed the costume, making the doll body was considerably more difficult than she had anticipated.

While modeling the costume for Puck last night, Sabrina had joked about entering herself in the contest. To her surprise, he took her seriously and asked why she didn’t, expecting her to say that it would be cheating. Instead, Sabrina mentioned the practicality of remaining still for hours and hours. But Puck had an idea, if Sabrina really was interested. She was.

When Puck arrived this morning with a pallet of makeup, he told her he wasn’t going to help Sabrina cheat, so she had to promise to pretend to be a doll as long as necessary, and promise to follow all the rules of the contest. She agreed, wondering how Puck was going to pull this off.

As he applied powder, eyeliner, and lipstick to her, Sabrina had gone from giddy, excited chatter, to quiet, peaceful silence. The makeup tingled and tickled, like real magic. Not that Sabrina knew what magic felt like. But she was somehow sure it would feel like this. Warm. Comforting. Cared for. She never wanted those feelings to go away.

Hours later, and Sabrina sat on a table with other dolls, like them and unlike them. To Sabrina’s quiet mind, time passed so easily it didn’t feel like she had been there more than a few minutes. Her only real source of excitement came when the judges walked by and pinned a blue ribbon on her, declaring Sabrina the Best Toy at the craft fair. If she didn’t have to maintain appearances, she would have jumped for joy. As it was, she continued to stare blankly into the world. That was part of what she agreed with Puck, to maintain her doll façade.

Sabrina even continued to vacantly stare when she heard the announcement that all winning toys were being donated to local toy stores for sale. This vacant stare, despite the swell of panic she felt. The riot of wanting to get up and run out of here. But something held her fast, kept her sitting like a perfect doll. Something warm, comforting, and cared for soothed her, calmed her plush heart.