“Damn!” my boss shouted, loud enough that she could be heard on the showroom floor from where ever she was in the back.

I turned to Monica, the other sales girl on duty and said, “I'll check it out.”

With a roll of her eyes, she continued shaping her nails with an emery board and just nodded in acknowledgment.

In the back area of the store I found Dana, Mrs. Brookes when customers were around, ready to throttle one of the store's mannequins. “Problem?” I asked cautiously.

“Yes, Amanda, there's a problem. The stupid arm won't stay on the mannequin. I looks like the bolt was sheared off. “

“That mannequin is only a few months old, can't they ship a replacement?”

She stood up and exhaled tiredly. “I called and our rep is out until Monday but the girl I spoke with made it seem like there could be a problem. Seems these pieces of crap are in high demand.”

“Well, sure, they look realistic and have a wide range of poses.”

“That's why I bought it but now I have no mannequin for the sales display this weekend. I don't want to have to rent one and pay to overnight ship it. That'll cost more than the sale will probably bring in.”

It occurred to me that this was not a big problem. “Dana, you can get a mannequin faster than that. We can just go down to the Venn Machine and turn me into a mannequin for the weekend.”

She looked at me as if I had two heads. I know this because I once had two heads thanks to the Venn Machine so I have experience with how people look at you when you have two heads. The Venn Machine can transform humans into almost anything, living and non-living.

“I don't know.”

“You haven't Venned?” I was surprised. The machine had been in the mall for a couple years now.

“No, I haven't had time for such frivolities.”

“Well, let's get down to the Machine and get me turned into a working mannequin so you can see the Venn Machine is not only for frivolity.” I stepped past her to grab the hand cart.

“What's that for?”

“Do you want to carry me back up the escalator and through the mall once I'm a mannequin?”

She blushed then reasserted her authority by pointing out the door. “Let's go.”

On the way to the Machine I told her about times I had been clothing, shoes, and similar things for my friends and vice versa. She seemed a bit worried about liability but I explained if someone's new form were destroyed, they would revert to normal unharmed when the time limit on the transformation expired.

When we reached the machine, I put a coin in the slot and set the time cycle to two days, explaining the symbols to her as I did. Two doors opened on opposite sides of the Machine. “Now you go in one door and I go in the other. Just think about me as a working version of that mannequin in the shop and the display showing my image will change to a mannequin. From there you can refine it. When you are satisfied, hit the red button. I will be transformed and the doors will open. You'll then have to put me on the cart and wheel me back to the store. Monday morning, around now, I'll be flesh and blood again.”

“That sounds deceptively easy.”

“It is actually simple. One more thing, when you imagine me as a mannequin, be sure to think about how I'll be aware of my surroundings. Being inanimate and unaware is not nearly as interesting as being aware.”

Again reflected in her expression, it appeared as though I had sprouted a spare head but the look went away as she stepped into the machine. I entered the other side. An image of Dana appeared for me to modify. I ignored it to avoid the temptation to prank her. For a few moments I could only hear her making “Hmm,” “Ahh,” and “Oh” sounds. Then she said aloud, “Oh, wow, you can be taken apart as a mannequin.”

“Of course,” I called over to her. “Otherwise it would be hard to dress me.”

“Oh, I didn't know you could hear me.”

“It's okay. Take your time. The interface can be frustrating at times, I know.”

After another few moments she called out, “I'm ready to hit the button. Is this good?”

“I can't see what you are going to do to me. That's why some people call these things Trust Machines.” I made sure I was looking at the mirrored wall. “If you think it looks right, just hit the button.”

After a short hesitation I could feel the transformation occur. My body and limbs became slightly thinner, I felt lighter, hollow. My breasts flattened a little, my skin paled to almost white in color, my face thinned as well. I could feel a piece of metal poking me in the butt. When it was over I could still basically see even though my eyes looked painted on my face. There were cuts in my body where I presumed my arms, head, legs, and torso could all be separated. I guessed my clothes had become the metal stand holding me upright.

I heard my door open but I could do nothing about that. Dana peeked in the door after a moment and gasped, “You look perfect.”  She maneuvered the cart to the door. She lifted me up by the waist, causing the stand poking out of my butt to stay behind. “So light, too.” She leaned me against a wall and put the stand on the cart and then put me on the stand again.

I was feeling elated from all the attention as she pushed the cart through the mall. Mannequins apparently get off on being looked at. I lost track of how many times I could feel eyes checking me out. We arrived back at the store and Dana left me alone in the back as there were several sets of customers that ditsy Monica could not keep up with by herself. Alone in the back room was boring and I think I zoned out as the next thing I know Dana is removing my left arm.

“Oh, you are going to spoil me, Amanda,” Dana said. “Can you even hear me? Well, assuming you can, I am going to regret losing you when your time is up. I always wanted those expensive mannequins with push button detachable parts but could never justify the expense.” She continued as she just popped off the other arm.

Within minutes she had a dress on me and my arms back in place. Apparently she had managed to turn me into a highly articulated mannequin as she was able to adjust the angle of my elbows and maneuver my arms into an interesting pose. Soon I was back on the cart and headed out into the showroom.

The front window was bare at the moment so she was able to get me situated in the window quickly without incident. “This is your new home for the weekend,” she whispered. “I hope you are enjoying yourself. And I hope you don't expect to be paid for all forty-eight of these hours.”

I should have worked that out with her beforehand but I was too excited to be able to Venn at work. I did not think that through. I would have sighed if I could breathe.

The first moments in the window were wonderful. With her moving about, checking the lay of the dress on my body, people noticed the mannequin in the window. I drank in their observation like it was ambrosia. I had no idea being inanimate could feel so good. After a while the elation faded and I was just standing in a store window. Being unable to move was familiar from other transformations I had done. But they were usually objects someone was going to use, a dress or a coat. This was my first standalone inanimate object transformation. There is a strangeness to having the purpose of just existing. Occasionally I would be aware that someone was looking at me and it would feel nice but after a while the time just slipped away.

Later I heard Monica behind me. Her hand, presumably her hand, touched my bare calf oddly, “Is that really you, Amanda? Always doing something to get on Dana's good side.” Her voice was strangely angry. I did not know she resented my rapport with Dana. That had me thinking for a while. Time for thinking was one of the perks of being inanimate.

At some point before closing, Dana spoke to me from behind, “Amanda, thanks for doing this. We're closing up so you'll get to have some alone time.”

It was at this point I realized I could have just set the duration to like eight hours and gone home tonight. We could have gone back to the Venn machine before opening the store and I would not be watching the mall shut down.

The shop lights went out and soon half of the mall lights were shut off and I was in near darkness. No people moved in front of me any more and I felt my mind drifting off. I remember seeing a mall security officer strolling by with a flashlight once or twice. But otherwise night time passed quickly.

Sunday was more of the same. There was a certain meditative quality to not being able to change one's gaze, staring at the same points in space as people drifted or hurried by. Near the end of the day, the sale must have been great as they even sold the dress I was wearing. Getting taken out of the window Sunday afternoon was a surprise. I was standing naked in the back room for a while when the lights went out. I guessed it was not worth the effort to get me back into the window so close to closing time. I spent the night mostly unaware of its passage that evening.

Dana came in early and said to me, “Oh, Amanda, we were so busy right near closing I guess you never made it back into the window.  Oh well, it's almost time for you to transform so I'll just leave you here for now.”

About an hour later, I could feel my body filling out and gaining heft. I was wearing my bra and panties set from when I had entered the Venn machine. I casually entered Dana's office and said, “I'm back.”

She looked up at me hopefully. “I talked to the supplier and they can't replace the part on our mannequin due to a backlog for at least two months. And they can't send me a replacement mannequin of the same model for the same reason.”

“That sucks,” I said.

“Would you mind being a mannequin for part of that time?”

“Part of the time? Not the whole two months?”

“I didn't want to suggest that but if you were willing to, I can't believe I'm saying this, if you're willing to be inanimate for a couple months that would be great.”

“This time, let's discuss payment ahead of time.”

Dana laughed and we worked out a mutually acceptable rate of pay. She even gave me half of it up front. We also agreed I should transform for three months, which might have been my suggestion, just in case the estimate of two months was too short. I also suggested that if the mannequin was replaced sooner she did not have to revive me earlier than the agreed upon three months. Dana gave me the day off to get my affairs in order. I went home and arranged to put my life on hold. This was depressingly easy considering I shared an apartment with two other women who were more than happy to hear I would be paying my third of the rent ahead of time and not be around for awhile.

“You're gonna get paid to be inanimate?” Michelle asked. “That so unfair. You don't like being inanimate as much as I do.”

“The weekend I just spent as a mannequin made me see how serene it can be.”

“Exactly.”

“You're both bonkers,” Mary interrupted. “Michelle, maybe when Amanda is back you can try to steal her job from her.”

“Yeah, you're only doing it for months. I'd go for a year or more.”

“I'll tell Mrs. Brookes you're available.”

I returned to the store just before closing and Dana had a robe for me to wear on the way there. I changed into my skivvies and put the robe on for the quick walk to the Venn machine. Once there I set it to three months, draped the robe on the cart, and stepped into the machine. Dana got the machine to understand she wanted a mannequin much faster this time as it only took a moment before she asked if I was ready. This time, as I watched the change in the mirror, I noticed I was now taller and more of a size zero than I had been over the weekend. Even my face looked less like me and more artificial.

She put me on the handcart and wheeled me back to the shop where she quickly dressed me and put me back in the window. The whole time she was gushing about how pretty I looked. The complements made me feel ten times better than the good feelings I got from being stared at. I was on cloud nine when she left that evening.

The first few days were glorious. Dana spent a lot of time whispering her thanks to me and fussing over me. My mind was overloaded on feeling good about being a mannequin. But as the first week ended, Dana spent less time with her pet mannequin and more time running the store.

Michelle and Mary stopped by a couple times to check me out. Michelle was obviously jealous.

In the second week, she changed my clothes for the first time. That was a great distraction from what was becoming a bit boring. The attention I felt during the changing dispelled the boredom for a short time.

It was about a month into the gig that I noticed Dana had not been around at all for a few days. Not that there was anything I could do about this aside from worry. But mannequins never worry so I did not.

Maybe I should have. A week or two later, the lights in the store did not turn on as the mall started filling up with customers. The store was closed the next two days in a row. Still I did not think it was too important until a couple construction workers started boarding up the windows of the boutique. By noon, all I could see was the unlit back of a piece of plywood that had been placed in front of my window.

I think it was another week before the lights turned on again. Voices were loud in the store and the wood still covered the window. A man's voice, one I had never heard before, was directing several people to pack stuff up. Late in the process I was picked up from my roost in the window and placed on a cart with a bunch of other display objects. The dress was removed from me and then I was being wheeled through the mall's back alleys to a loading dock. A rental truck was in the berth and I was placed inside along with the rest of the store's inventory of clothes and retail displays and racks. The door to the truck was closed. The trunk rode for about twenty minutes before parking somewhere. When the trunk was opened it was apparent that the store inventory and I were being moved into a storage facility. Since I was one of the last things put on the trunk, I was one of the first things places in the storage locker.

The hand truck apparently did not fit between the lockers so I was carried by two men to the locker and placed inside. I was able to watch a few more things get placed in the locker, including several other mannequins placed next to me. Shortly into packing the locker someone threw a sheet over us and I was no longer able to watch the movers. At least I would not collect dusk. After an indeterminate time, I heard the locker door roll down from the ceiling. The interior of the locker became pitch black. After a moment, someone padlocked the door shut and after that there was only silence.