$3 Clearance Decoration

She got me about three months ago. I was sitting pretty on a grocery store shelf when she rushed in, grabbed me and a few friends, and rushed back out. Now I sit on her TV stand facing toward the room, my fake green pine needles with faux snow on the tips. I couldn’t figure out why she’d be so hurried in buying me at first. She had been so quick that I’d barely gotten to appreciate the light snowfall outside in the brief walk back to her apartment.

Generally, her routine was pretty simple. She didn’t leave the apartment all that often. When she did, it wasn’t for very long at a time. She was cleaning a lot that first week especially. The TV stand around me was dusted, the floors were mopped, and the counters were all cleared. She seemed to get stressed easily when it came to those tasks. It would start out normal as if she just wanted to clean her space, but within a few minutes I’d notice her counting each finger by tapping it with her thumb. Her eyes would dart around the room as if she couldn’t focus on one thing, and sometimes she’d even get so overwhelmed that she’d just go to sleep instead.

She sat on the couch a lot. I was always facing it so I didn’t know exactly what she was doing. I assumed watching or playing something with the white controller she always keeps on standby. I’d get worried on occasion as well for her. She slept a lot or didn’t eat when she should, she also didn’t seem to have many friends or go out all that much. She had little things that seemed to make her happy. A pair of cow slippers that she constantly wore. There was a larger pair under the dining room table beyond the couch, but she didn’t ever wear them. She also enjoyed her rotation of mugs that I could only assume was coffee from the smell. I wondered why she was so worried about cleanliness when it was seemingly just her coming around. I believed a pet could do her well and enjoy the space at her side.

A few days after she bought me is when I learned her name, Hailey. She’d been antsy all day, making sure the apartment was spotless; I noticed a knock at the door at the same time she did. Upon opening it, I heard her voice exclaim to another and they sounded happy to be seeing each other. I discovered it was her best friend visiting. The friend, whose name was eventually said as Morgan, paid attention to me. She picked me up and turned me over, finding my miniature ornaments pretty and appreciating my wooden stand. I fit just a bit bigger than her hand with my prickly plastic pine needles indenting her palm. Her excitement extended to my identical friends as well, and to the red velvet bows adorning the walls around me. I guessed at that point that Hailey had wanted to decorate the little she could for Morgan. After all, the snow outside of the window was becoming a more frequent sight, and I supposed I did look joyful.

That same night, the women had chatted on the couch for a while. I got to see Hailey interacting with someone for the first time. Her fingers didn’t twitch, her eyes stayed singularly focused, and she was smiling so much I wouldn’t have thought that she usually never does. They had laid out their day plan for the morning, and wanted to sleep early. I prepared for a night of quiet when they retired to the bedroom and out of my sight. I was happy for Hailey that I could still hear them talking and laughing until the barest break of dawn.

Morgan’s time with us was the happiest I’ve seen Hailey. After her departure, Hailey had a glow about her that dimmed in the coming weeks. At some point, she reverted back to her old routine but without the stress cleaning. The apartment didn’t get dirty or particularly messy, but it was easier to notice when she’d glance at a mess and decide it wasn’t worth the effort to fix. She would call someone every now and then. Describe what she’s been up to and sound shockingly satisfied at her station. For some reason it always sounded off to me.

A few weeks ago the snow stopped coming altogether. Hailey had been behaving much the same as usual, though with a slightly better habit. While she had a knack for ordering food from the outside world, she became entranced with her version of avocado toast. I just thought at least she was eating something energizing for a change. She still slept though, somehow she always managed to sleep the majority of the day away. I accepted it though, since many days were dark for far longer than they were light.

About five days ago, Hailey began reorganizing the TV stand. Though I had never seen them, it appeared that she pulled out eight empty picture frames from the shelf below me and placed them all around my base. In the chaos of moving the frames, then the printer, and then the cords for each electronic, I ended up on my side. It was easy enough to adjust my sight, and I’d hoped for her to notice and upright me. She hasn’t noticed yet.

It’s now that I sit here and watch her. She’s on the couch where most of her days find her, with a large mug in her lap that she sips from intermittently. I still lay on my side with my flecks of snow rubbing on the wood of the TV stand. I must be slightly in the way of the screen she’s clearly so devoted to but it doesn’t seem to bother her. She hasn’t even looked at me in weeks. My friends went away a bit ago. I haven’t been able to see where or if they’re still with me. I certainly have a smaller radius of sight from my current position than I used to.

But I can still see some things. I can see the trash bag on the floor leaning against the dining room table. And the open one next to it, still in use. I can just barely see half of a red velvet bow on the wall in my peripheral, hanging off center and drooping forward. I can see the piled dishes in the kitchen sink. I couldn’t before, but their height has grown enough to allow me to be aware of them. I can see the takeout trash sprinkled about the counter, and that she no longer makes avocado toast in the morning. I can see that she’s home almost all the time now, and doesn’t bother with brushing her hair or changing her clothes. I can still see her, in the same place she’s been on the couch now for weeks. I can see that I won’t be placed upright anytime soon.