From her perch on the glass shelf, Ruby watched as Caliegh and a girl she didn’t recognize walked into view. Caleigh, her Owner, stayed back as the newcomer’s eyes lit up, walking with awe toward the display case filled with dolls, including Ruby at the center of it all. She was younger than Caleigh by a few years or so, a head shorter and more gangly.

“Wow,” she breathed, starting from the left and inspecting each doll in turn, asking questions, making comments, falling in love, until her gaze fell right on Ruby. “It’s so life-like,” she said.

“That’s because she is,” Caleigh said. Ruby was stunned. Her Owner had never admitted that to anyone before. Why now? The girl looked over questioningly, and Caleigh continued. “She was my babysitter back in fifth grade. One day, I convinced her to take me to Ye Olde Toys. While we were there, I watched her play with that key. I guess it was magic, because it latched onto her, and, well, that’s what she became.” She gestured to Ruby, who stood frozen in an awkward mid-step. Frozen where here key had left her when it ran down.

“C’mon, Cal, everyone’s heard those stories. But no one’s actually transformed at Ye Olde Toys.”

“It’s true, Jinny, I swear. Look at her face, her eyes. They follow you, right?” Jinny turned back to Ruby, staring fixedly at her, moving to the left and the right. Ruby followed her movements, and the girl’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my God! She’s alive.”

“Yep.” Caleigh said, coming forward and opening the display shelf door. A hand almost Ruby’s full height reached and tight fingers gripped her, pushing her skirt down, pressing her arms inward. She was carried from her perch to Caleigh’s desk nearby.

“Why didn’t you turn her back?” Jinny asked, moving to get a better look at Ruby as she was set on the wood desk, set beside a laptop the size of a patio, though she was long used to these things after being small for nearly a decade now.

“What, why didn’t I, at ten years old, try and learn dark magic?” Caleigh said. Her fingers clutched Ruby’s key, which Ruby could feel every bit of as if was her hand or a foot. Her key was wound once, twice, and a third time for good measure. And when it was released, her little motor whirred to life. She stared ahead, smiling, as she walked stiffly forward.

Jinny frowned, “Well, you’re not ten now.”

While the girl was right, Ruby didn’t blame her Owner for what happened and understood why she hadn’t worked harder to change her back. It was odd, even though she had been Caleigh’s doll for years now, she still somewhat saw her as the kid she babysat, even as she was about to be older than Ruby had been when she was transformed. But hearing Jinny wonder about it gave Ruby hope that soon she wouldn’t have a key anymore.

“You’re right, maybe I should have done more research when I got older, but by then she’d been a doll for years and…and, well, it feels right.”

“Feels right?” Jinny asked.

Ruby had to wonder what that meant, too. While she was used to being inches tall, used to be handled, put away, played with, it didn’t mean it was right. She still was a human somewhere, still yearning for a life she controlled.

“I mean, look at her. Isn’t she perfect? It’s like she was meant to be a doll. Ruby isn’t even her real name; it’s one I gave her because her old one didn’t fit anymore.”

Ruby blinked, the memory of that day floating back, when a much younger Caleigh gave her this name. But for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what she had been called before.

“What is her real name?”

“Ruby,” Caleigh said, emphatically at first, but then softened. “If you’re asking for her original name, it was Violet.”

Violet. The doll tried out the name in her mind, remembering when she had been called that, but felt it slip away just as quickly. That was what she used to be; Ruby was who she was now. Why couldn’t she be Violet again, though?

“Why are you telling me all of this? Aren’t you about to head off to college?” Jinny asked.

Ruby blanched. She had been dreading that day; Caleigh was good about getting her out of the display case most days, winding her up, or just letting her stand nearby while she studied or played games. Once her Owner left for college, who would do that for her?

“I was hoping that, while I’m gone, you could take care of Ruby. And after, if you want.”

Wait, you’re giving me away? Ruby thought, the idea startling her. Outside of the first few hours when she was left in Ye Olde Toys on a shelf, she had been Caleigh’s doll. Why hadn’t her Owner told Ruby about this? Why hadn’t she asked her?

“You want me to take her…” Jinny’s voice trailed off. How Ruby wished she could see the faces of her Owner and potential Owner, to see how they were standing and reacting. But she was focused on walking forward, endlessly forward, as the edge of the desk approached. The conversation that was deciding her future was taking place without her.

“I like to play with Ruby once a day or so. Do something with her, keep her mind active. Dolly enrichment time,” she said with a laugh. “And I can’t do that when I’m in college, and I don’t want to take her with me. I know you still have that huge dollhouse, and still probably play with it.”

Jinny stammered while Caleigh went on, just as Ruby took a few more steps to the edge of the desk. She felt like she was careening hearing all of this, her life changing before her eyes, and all she could do was walk forward.

“If you promise to keep her safe, to play with her as often as possible, I’ll give her to you. When I’m back, you can return her to me. Or keep her, your choice.”

They had made no notice that Ruby was out of control, that the edge of the desk was just an inch away, that she would fall without help. And yet Ruby was more focused on who would be her Owner in just minutes time. She had long come to some acceptance of being a doll; but she wasn’t used to thinking of herself as a possession that could be given away.

Just as one of Ruby’s soft, small shoes lifted over the gap beyond the desk, a hand reached out, slender fingers gently gripping her, and hauling her into the air. Yet Ruby’s mechanical body and unrelenting motor kept her moving. Jinny turned her over in her hands, looking down at the ever-smiling doll.

“Could I change her back?” She asked.

“She’ll be yours to do what you want with,” Caleigh said, her voice somehow more distant. No, not distant, just less important. As if she had already changed hands and Caleigh was now her former Owner. And in the first time in years, she dared to imagine having her old body back, able to move without a key, and do what she wanted. Jinny continued to stare at the doll whose fate she now held in her hands.

“So, will you do it?” Caleigh asked, “I just want to know that she’s going to be taken care of.”

Jinny gave no answer for a moment, then said, “At first, I thought nothing could make me keep her this way. But holding her…” Jinny said, squeezing the toy somewhat, “I realized you were right. She’s meant to be a doll. And I promise to give her a good home.”