The Doll

“I’m going to miss him so much, I wish I could visit.”

There was so much pain in that statement that Elizabeth felt a reaction.

A tear rolled down Elizabeth’s plastic cheek, her heart starting to beat.

What is happening?, she found herself thinking.

“Wha..”? Her voice was coming out, Stacey shrieked and dropped her in response. Stacey picked her up in a hurry and gasped when she saw Elizabeth’s very animated face.

“You can talk?!” Stacey’s enthusiasm was in her usual booming cadence which shook Elizabeth for a minute.

“I think…” Elizabeth rasped,it was harder to work vocal chords than the humans made it look, “yes.”

Stacey’s eyes widened to the point where Elizabeth was worried they’d pop out of her head. Stacey placed Elizabeth delicately on her bed and Elizabeth adjusted her legs to sit. She could move and talk, it was a miracle. There are many things she wanted to say to Stacey. She could see the girl before her and she no longer looked like a large beast hellbent on dragging her or flopping her around like she was a ragdoll. She saw a little girl with tears spilling out of her dark eyes for her grandfather and the juxtaposing happy expression she wore as a result of Elizabeth’s transformation. This was a child who believed in miracles and Heaven and Elizabeth knew that Stacey connected her grandfather being in Heaven with Elizabeth coming to life. But Elizabeth wasn’t sure exactly what happened. Dolls were trapped in a plastic body, experiencing, thinking, but not able to move or talk. Yet, here was Elizabeth. Was it a wish that Stacey had made or an unspoken thought on Elizabeth’s part?

“I have to tell my mommy and daddy,” Stacey said, ready to run and tell her parents.

“NO!” Elizabeth found the strength to shout, “I need time.”

Stacey nodded, looking around with uncertainty about what to do next.

“Did you wish for me?” Elizabeth asked slowly.

Stacey shook her head as she started to chew on her ragged fingernail, thinking.

“Maybe it was Grandpa’s last wish,” Stacey postured.

Elizabeth knew that wishes never came true, she had wished for decades to be alive or at least for a nicer owner. Stacey’s mother, Samantha, would burn her and remove her head on occasion when she was a kid. She also did other things when she became a teenager that she could not even see Stacey doing. Stacey was just a kid, her mother was a psychopath. That was what the child psychologist and Samantha’s own parents had claimed at least while Samantha held Elizabeth under the table, taking her irritation out on Elizabeth by bending her body in painful positions. Elizabeth could only endure the pain and the internal screams were deafening to her own head.

Stacey beamed at her, “I’m just glad you’re here. Now, you can tell me what you want to play!” Elizabeth felt an unexpected delight in the fact that she could play with Stacey without being the plaything. Stacey went to grab another doll and Elizabeth stopped her.

“Please, no. All of your toys need a break. Let’s watch cartoons.”

Stacey looked a bit sad, but placated Elizabeth, turning on the television. It was a sudden blinding light to Elizabeth’s new blinking eyes. She found herself in momentary pain as her eyes adjusted, but what she saw fascinated her. The moving pictures were vibrant with colors she had never seen before and the sound was no longer muffled, a slow background noise now became the center stage. She was awed and Stacey watched her with amusement.

“This is so cool!” Elizabeth looked over to Stacey, smiling a wide smile at the girl. The girl smiled at her as well.

They watched the cartoons all day, only talking a bit as Stacey was curious what it was like to be a doll.

“You can’t speak or move, you can only observe. I wouldn’t hope for that life for anyone. And sometimes, people hurt you. They set fire to your hair or drag you around. You’re an inanimate object so you can’t do anything but exist.”

Stacey showed a compassionate side that she had never shown before, it made Elizabeth happy to be hers. She could see Stacey becoming a great mother and role model one day. She would only hope that she could be herself with Stacey’s kid. She couldn’t exactly work or become famous in this body, but to be a companion to Stacey’s amazing bloodline would be more than enough.

A car pulled up suddenly, breaking Elizabeth’s revelation about her future.

They could hear the door slam and the footsteps as Elizabeth made her body go slack. Stacey looked at her in confusion until Samantha stepped into the room.

“Who were you talking to, dear?” Samantha’s voice was lined with suspicion as she glanced around the room, her eyes locking on Elizabeth.

“The dolls, Mom. We’re watching cartoons.”

“I swore I heard another voice.”

“That was me, I’m practicing ven… ventra…”

“Ventriloquism, darling. That’s a pretty good word.”

“Grandpa taught it to me.”

Samantha smiled sadly at her daughter, smoothing the little girl’s hair, “You’re not a good liar, Stacey,” Samantha’s smile turned sinister as she picked Elizabeth up.”

“What do you mean, Mom? Where are you taking Elizabeth?”

Samantha did not answer, just taking Elizabeth to her room.

Elizabeth was so close yet so far away from freedom and love, but she should’ve guessed that Samantha would want this.

“Wishes do come true, Elizabeth.” Samantha said in a haunting voice.