It had been half an hour, maybe more, since Stephanie had seen Dina. She came into the cluttered attic, and saw no sign of her best friend. There were odds and ends packed away, not just Stephanie’s, but items that belonged to her parents, her grandparents, and Aunt Tilly, who always claimed, but never proved, that she was a witch. And in the middle of it all, open and beckoning, was a toy chest, a soft glow emanating from inside.

But she wasn’t here for weird toy boxes. “Dina, you up here?” Stephanie called, “the people from the donation store will be here any minute.” Still nothing. Not a creak, not a laugh or giggle from a hidden Dina. The light in the box pulsed a little, and Stephanie had the oddest thought.

What if Aunt Tilly was telling the truth about being a witch?

Drawing closer to the box, Stephanie looked inside to see an unexplainable swirl of green light coiling upon itself, shifting and dan…

“In you go!” Dina said, as Stephanie felt a soft, but forceful shove. Not enough to knock her over, but enough to bring her over the toy box, pinwheeling her arms as that impossible green light whipped out from inside. Snaking around Stephanie, she was tugged like on a leash until she was squeezed into to the toy box with a muffled yell.

Inside was a kaleidoscope of color, greens and yellows, a fleeting stitch of thread, and woozy, lightheaded cotton. Stephanie had no control of herself, barely an awareness of the changes happening to her, as she faded to sleep…

Stephanie’s eyes fluttered open, staring into the bright eyes of Dina. But something was different about her; she had bright red circles on each cheek, and was soft and round all over, wearing a ridiculous princess dress. She was both Dina and not; a Dina Doll version of herself. And at that thought, Stephanie’s stomach twisted.

“Dina, why are you a doll?” She asked, her voice unintentionally sing-song and pitched up.

The princess’s smile grew double then as she stroked back some of Stephanie’s brown yarn hair. “The same reason you’re a doll.”

Stephanie shook her head, refusing to look and see, but knowing it was the truth. “We need to call Aunt Tilly. This was her toy box, and she really was a witch. She can…”

Dina shook her head and laughed, “The people from the donation store are almost here. We’ll need to be ready for them to take us.”

“I…wha?” Stepanie’s mind could barely form words at that, let alone her mouth. “But they’ll take us to a store to sell!”

“Well, we are objects now. We’re supposed to be sold, supposed to have an Owner.”

“Owner…” Stephanie said, her eyes going wide. That word felt heavy and imposing inside her. “Dina, why did you push me? We could have figured this out, we could…”

The door bell chimed.

“That’s them! To take us away, to put us on a shelf!” Instead of worry, there was a mania in Dina’s voice, and Stephanie had to wonder if a similar mania was building in her cotton-filled head. Would she also begin to think like a doll?

For now, though, she didn’t, but could imagine herself held on a pegboard by a hook, reduced to an item to be bought and sold.

“Oh, God..” she whispered, turning to the delighted Dina Doll, “Why did you push me in the toy box?” She asked, and the answer, strange as it was, was sweet.

“You’re my best friend. And if I was going to be a doll, you should, too. This way, we can be best doll friends forever!”