Just keep smiling, and everything will work out, Eve thought. She ignored the other, smaller voice in her mind; the one that reminded her that’s what she had been saying through all of this.

It was supposed to be a simple toy commercial photoshoot, until a stage tech picked her up and set her with the props while packing up. She didn’t say anything because she thought she would be able to wait it out. Then came the backing board and twist ties, then the doll box, then the display. And all the way, whenever she was seen, touched, and handled, Eve thought to herself:

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

Now she was planning on waiting out the store closing. Get out of the box. Hide in the back. Wait until morning. Sneak out to freedom. She just had to make it till closing.

But the customer stood in front of her with other plans, reading an information card to a friend. “Oh, its got a little wind up key that makes its wings flap!”

Eve did have that, and it did make her wings flap. It was really cool little prop that she had loved. Though, loved a little less now that someone was talking about it like a play feature she came with.

“Too bad we can’t try it.”

“Oh, the card says that it has ten stock phrases that are voice activated. I wonder what it says.” The customer looked at Eve, but not really seeing the human woman beyond the doll costume. “Who are you, fairy?”

Eve found her voice in an instant; she had practiced that sweet, fairy voice for an hour to get it pitch perfect. “I’m Lyric, the Sky Dancer. Welcome to fairyland!” She went back to smiling, staring after she had spoken, and only afterward, seeing the delight on the customer’s faces did Eve realize she should have stayed quiet and pretended to be a broken toy. But that didn’t sit right with her. She wasn’t a broken toy. As worry bubbled in her, she Eve reminded herself:

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

“How much is it?” The friend said, looking at a tag beneath the box. “Oh, its pretty cheap!”

“The thing is, where would I even put it? What would I do with it?”

For the first time since they arrived, Eve relaxed. Those were good questions, ones that would keep her on display, instead of heading to the sales counter.

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

“Who cares!” the friend said, “It’s a life-sized fairy doll. Keep it until it gets in the way, then donate it to a secondhand store or something.”

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

The mantra had become an automatic response, and Eve felt it more acutely whenever she began to worry. And now, she was very, very worried. Because she had a feeling that if the customer took her to the register, if she bought Eve, something fundamental would change about her. Like her status as a person would be revoked, and her status as a doll would be enforced.

At that point, speaking up would no longer matter. What could a toy say to stop being a toy? What could an object do to own itself? What could…

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

“You’re so right. Let’s get it down and take it to the front.”

No! No, she’s not right! I’m a person, not a…. Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

The customer and her friend took either sides of the box and worked it off the shelf. There was only one thing Eve could do, the one thing she had to do, before it was too late. She had to…

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

Her box was placed in a cart, she needed to…

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.

She was taken to the register, this was her last chance. Speak up, or be a doll forever. But then, she’d have to explain how she let herself get put on display, get put in a box, get tied to a board. She’d have to explain why she hadn’t spoken up before now. Eve knew what she had to do.

Just keep smiling, and everything will work out.