Archive of Our Own

Taking a deep breath in and out, I knocked on the apartment door. There was the sound of someone moving around inside, footsteps approaching the door, and then a voice called out.

“Whoooo is it~?”

I smirked.

“Special delivery!” I said, in a fake deep voice.

There was the sound of the latch being unlocked and then the door swung open, revealing Stacy standing there, who I immediately held out a bouquet of flowers to.

“Did someone here order a boyfriend?”

Stacy giggled excitedly, flinging her arms over my shoulders as she pulled me into a hug, and gave me a peck on the cheek. Not even a kiss on the lips yet… but it was fine. I could be patient.

“Oooooh, I can’t believe you’re really here!!” she said after letting go. “Are those for me?? You’re the sweetest!!”

“Of course, babe,” I said, grinning. “Lilies for my lily…”

It was complete nonsense - was calling someone a lily even a compliment? - but sure enough, Stacy’s face lit up with joy anyway. Taking the bouquet into her hands, she pressed them up to her face, taking a long sniff.

“Oh, they’re beautiful… Come in, come in! You should relax after your trip.”

Picking up my bags, I stepped through the door. As soon as Stacy turned to lead me inside, I couldn’t help but stare at her ass. She was wearing these tight jeans, and she looked amazing… just like in all of her Instagram pics.

She placed the flowers down on her kitchen counter, and started rummaging around in the cabinets, maybe looking for a vase? I wasn’t sure why you’d keep a vase in the kitchen… but Stacy was a bit ditzy.

Or maybe she just didn’t have enough space to put it somewhere else. Her apartment was pretty small… Tearing my eyes away from her perfect ass, I took a moment to take it all in.

The living room was in a backwards L shape; there was a kitchenette with a little kitchen island tucked into the top of the L, opposite the entrance. To the left of the kitchen area was a tiny nook with a couple doors; the space behind the kitchen was smaller, so that must have been the bathroom in the right door, and the bedroom in the left one. To my right, in the bend of the L, was a small dining table only big enough for two people, with a couple of chairs. And to my left was the lounge, with a sofa flat against the wall next to the entrance, a TV against the opposite wall, a short little coffee table between them, and…-

I froze, dropping my bags to the floor with a thud.

Against the other wall, there was a display shelf. And lined up along the top of the shelf were a bunch of dolls.

Five really creepy looking dolls.

They were like something out of a haunted house in a horror movie. They were about a foot tall, maybe a little more, with realistic human body proportions, although their faces were a little exaggerated, with small noses and mouths and big eyes. They were all made to look like women, with long, elaborate hairstyles, flowing dresses, and visible, although kind of small-chested, busts. Their outfits were mostly black with white trimmings, like that ‘gothic lolita’ thing I’d seen online sometimes, and they were all arranged seated on the shelf with the legs dangling at the knees, their hands folded politely on their laps, the joints in their elbows visible.

But it was their faces that were really unsettling… Their skin was carefully painted to look dolled up in thick, but perfectly applied makeup, with lots of foundation, a deep pink blush, and mascara making their eyelashes long and luscious. And their eyes… They were so detailed, and had this glossy finish to them, just like real eyeballs.

It felt like they were all staring at me.

I shuddered as Stacy made her way past me and placed a vase with the lilies down on the coffee table.

“Oh, you found my babies!” she said, oblivious to my discomfort. “Aren’t they gorgeous?”

“You, ah… never mentioned them before when we talked online.”

Stacy tilted her head, confused.

“Wow, really? It must have just slipped my mind… They’re more of a me thing anyway, I don’t expect you to help take care of them, don’t worry.”

She giggled, taking a hold of my hand and guiding me down to sit on the couch with her, snuggling up against my shoulder.

“I still can’t believe you moved out here, just for me…” she said, sighing happily. “Getting a transfer at your job and everything… It’s so romantic…”

“Y-yeah… I mean, it was no big deal.” Even staring straight ahead at the TV, I could still feel the dolls watching me, boring holes into the side of my head.

She gripped my arm a bit tighter, and I tried my best to relax. A hot girl thought I was hot shit, and I wasn’t going to let a bunch of weird dolls ruin that… No matter what strange hobbies she had, that didn’t change the fact that she was still hot, and any day now was definitely going to put out for me.

… I glanced furtively at the dolls again. It almost looked like their brows had furrowed slightly, their lips curled just the tiniest bit. Disdainful. Judging me…

I-I must have been imagining it.

~ ~ ~

“How’s work been? It must be tough getting used to a new place full of strangers.”

Stacy took another bite of her food, before giving me a sympathetic look marred only slightly by her mouth being full of spaghetti. I chuckled.

“It’s been fine, really. When you work in sales, you’ve gotta be good at charming people. And I just used that same skill set on my co-workers too; I get along great with everyone.”

Stacy gave a chubby-cheeked smile before swallowing her spaghetti.

“Already?? That’s amazing, sweetie!”

I smirked.

“Just goes to show how good of a salesman I am.”

Stacy put a finger to her chin in thought, then stuck it in her mouth when it was smudged with the spaghetti sauce on her chin.

“I was worried you’d end up being kinda lonely during the day, after the move… Leaving all of your friends and family behind…”

“I’m never lonely as long as I’ve got you, babe,” I said, winking, which caused Stacy to blush. “Besides, I didn’t really have anyone I was leaving behind, don’t worry. Most of my friends are online, and I don’t really have any family left. Well… family I care about, anyway.”

Stacy gave another sympathetic look, but didn’t pry further, instead finishing off her spaghetti. As she went into the bathroom to clean herself up, I offered to wash the dishes; it was annoying, but I had to keep playing the part of the perfect boyfriend.

Then we sat down on the couch together to watch some TV. I’d been expecting some cuddling; it was a bit frustrating that we still hadn’t progressed any further than cuddling, but it was still better than nothing. But, much to my disappointment, Stacy instead grabbed the middle doll from the shelf and a small hairbrush, and sat down with it in her lap.

I put an arm around Stacy’s shoulder, but she didn’t even react, focused on brushing the doll’s hair. I couldn’t believe a stupid doll was getting more attention than me right now… Even after two weeks, she’d never combed my hair before… Or scrubbed my face, or cleaned lint off of my clothes, or any of the other myriad care routines she had for these dolls.

… Had I really sunk so low that I was jealous of a doll?

“Wh-where did you even get these things?” I said, desperate to interrupt my train of thought.

Stacy perked up instantly at the question.

“Oh, my babies? The first one was a gift from a friend, and then I ended up loving her so much that I had to get more, so she wouldn’t be lonely when I wasn’t at home!”

“You… you do know they’re not… really alive, right?”

Stacy giggled.

“Of course, silly! I’m just having some fun… It’s like when someone calls their dog their fur baby.”

I frowned, unsure if it was really the same thing at all.

“I’ve got Daisy, Lisa, Tina, and Lacey… And this one is Miranda.”

She held up the one she was holding proudly. It was the most morose of the set, with thick black eyeshadow and black lipstick, and black hair cut into a sheer flat fringe that covered the top of its eyes, so it always looked like it was scowling. I didn’t really know a lot about fashion; I figured that ‘gothic lolita’ had to have something to do with being ‘goth’, what with the name, and how much black was in their outfits. But the other dolls had splotches of colour, either in their hair, on the trims of their dresses, and there was even one with red lipstick; this one though, ‘Miranda’, was the most ‘goth’-looking of the bunch, with no colour at all except for the blush on its cheeks, and the red of its eyes.

… I stared for a second, perturbed. I’d never noticed before that its irises were blood red, since I’d been trying so hard to avoid looking at any of them.

“Miranda… was the first one…” Stacy said, and there was a tinge of sadness to her voice. “My friend was into, like, occult stuff. Witches and curses and spooky things. She was awesome… She… passed away though. So Miranda is all I’ve got left to remember her by… She even looks a little bit like her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry babe…” I said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “I didn’t mean to stir up bad memories…”

Stacy sniffed, wiping her eye with her hand.

“No, that’s okay… It’s mostly good memories. But it was rough when it happened… Before that, I’d just kept Miranda in a box as a fun gift. But after, I wanted her out on display to remember my friend. But then she’d get dusty, or her dress would crinkle, or her hair would get tangled… Getting into doll maintenance was really grounding, it helped calm me down. And it still does, whenever I’m stressed out, taking some time to take care of my babies always makes me feel better…”

“That’s… nice, babe,” I said, giving her another reassuring squeeze. She snuggled in a bit closer to my chest, but resumed brushing the doll’s hair.

I felt bad for her, but I couldn’t help but wish that she’d gotten into a more normal hobby to deal with her grief… And maybe it was for the best that her friend died, she sounded like kind of a freak, if she dressed like this and was into the ‘occult’. A bad influence… If she was still alive, she probably would have turned Stacy into a goth too, and then I definitely wouldn’t have been interested in her.

There was a prickle along the back of my neck, and I glanced down. The doll was looking right at me; I felt a lump form in my throat as I silently panicked. I didn’t believe in hauntings and curses and evil dolls… but for a moment, it really felt like the thing was mad at me.

And then Stacy shifted its position and it was looking away from me again. I let out the breath I’d been holding in; of course, i-it was just a coincidence… Dolls don’t move… and they definitely don’t get mad at people.

… But why was it getting harder and harder to convince myself that that was true?

~ ~ ~

Tossing and turning, I finally gave up and pulled the covers off, sitting up on the edge of the bed, my head in my hands. Sleep hadn’t been coming easily to me lately, and there were a couple of possible culprits; either it was because of those stupid dolls making it impossible to feel relaxed in my own home, or it was because of Stacy still holding out on me… Sure, my dry spell had already lasted several years at this point, but it was harder to ignore how pent up I was when I’d been living in the same apartment as a beautiful woman for a month and still hadn’t gotten any…

Stacy was still sleeping away peacefully on the other end of the bed, blissfully unaware of how crazy she was making me feel… Sighing, I stood up and made to go watch some TV until I finally passed out. If I kept it quiet enough, Stacy wouldn’t be able to hear it through the bedroom wall, and if I left the rest of the lights off it wouldn’t shine through the gaps in the door and wake her up.

When I reached the bedroom door though, I hesitated, remembering what was out there next to the TV… It was bad enough having those things staring at me during the day, but in the middle of the night with only the light of the TV to illuminate their faces in the darkness? I shuddered at the thought.

… Wait, what was I doing?? They were just dolls!! I wasn’t fucking scared of a bunch of dolls. This whole situation was making me into a gigantic wuss… Well, I was no wuss. Determined, I opened the bedroom door and went out into the living area.

As I’d expected it was pitch black… I figured if I was quick, I could turn on the kitchen light for a second, find the TV remote and turn it on, then turn the light off before it could disturb Stacy. Reaching blindly to my left, I found the switch and flicked it on…

Only to let out a scream of terror as I fell backwards onto my ass.

It only took a few seconds for Stacy to come stumbling out of the bedroom.

“What!? What’s- hyaaah!?”

Still on the floor as I desperately tried to calm down, Stacy collided into my back, tumbling over my head and to the ground in front of me.

“Owww… Jeremy?? What the heck is going on?!”

I pointed up at the kitchen counter.

“Wh-why is it in the kitchen…?”

Frowning in confusion, Stacy looked up at the counter to see Miranda sitting there, perfectly poised, facing the direction of the bedroom. Getting up off the floor, she took a hold of the doll.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I must have left her there by mistake… She had a hair stuck in one of her joints that I couldn’t get out, so I went looking for some tweezers… I can’t believe I forgot to put her back when I was done.”

I stared at her, my heavy breathing slowly calming down, my heart pounding. It… was just an accident…? The doll wasn’t out to get me…?

Stacy laughed.

“I guess it would be kind of scary suddenly seeing a face in the dark you weren’t expecting… I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“... No.”

“... Huh?”

I stood up, putting my hands on Stacy’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry Stacy, but this can’t go on. I have something I need to confess.”

Stacy looked worried, but didn’t interrupt, clutching Miranda to her chest.

“I… hate the dolls. I’m sorry! But they’re just… creepy! I can’t relax at all when they’re around. They’re driving me nuts!”

Realising that, in my desperation, I’d definitely gone too far, I flinched away in preparation of the inevitable outburst of either anger or tears. But… no outburst came, and when I hesitantly looked back at her, Stacy looked a little hurt, but not too upset.

“I… I see…” she said. “I guess… they are a bit much, aren't they? I’m sorry I didn’t notice how uncomfortable you were…”

I blinked. Was she… really going to take my side on this?

“If it makes you feel better, I can… p-pack them away.”

The way her voice cracked, I could tell that she really didn’t want to… but I was too ecstatic to argue just to make myself look better.

“That’s great!” I said, smiling in relief. “I mean… You can still take them out and play with them sometimes, just… when I’m not here, okay? Thanks babe, I love you so much!”

Giving Stacy a big smooch on the cheek, I turned to head back to bed. I had a feeling I was finally going to get a good night’s sleep here…

“Yeah… I love you too…” I heard Stacy say quietly behind me.

~ ~ ~

Laying back on the couch, my feet up on the coffee table, I was in a good mood. Sure, Stacy had been a bit cold since that night… but I was sure she’d get over it. And today, Stacy was spending time with some friends, so I was spared the awkwardness for a bit, and finally got to spend a whole morning off relaxing properly… Being a good boyfriend was hard work.

I glanced to my left. No more creepy dolls staring at me… just an empty shelf. It occurred to me that I should probably get some stuff to fill the space; I could give it all to Stacy as a gift, maybe that would cheer her up.

… There was one thing ruining my lazy Saturday morning, though… Resting my feet on the hard coffee table was starting to hurt. It was too warm today to wear slippers, and if I turned to rest my legs on the couch, I’d just end up straining my neck looking at the TV… Why did my life always have to be so hard?

I did recall seeing a few flat cushions stuffed into the bedroom closet... Despite the small size of the apartment, Stacy had a whole walk-in robe with enough space for two people to stand inside comfortably. She also used it for extra storage space, and it even had a full body mirror on the wall.

… I was pretty sure the dolls were in there too, but as long as they were hidden in a box they couldn’t bother me. I wasn’t scared.

With an annoyed huff, I jumped up off of the couch and went into the bedroom. Approaching the closet, as I held the door handle I found an icy dread gripping at my heart.

This… this was ridiculous! It was nuts that these stupid toys had me so spooked…

Gritting my teeth, I opened the closet door and switched on the light, turning as I headed into the closet.

Only to scream in shock and stumble up against the open door behind me at the sight of all five of the dolls sitting in a line in the middle of the closet floor.

Wh-what were they doing out?! There was no way that Stacy had just forgotten again after what happened last time. 

I stared at the dolls in horror. These things were cursed… They were going to haunt me and terrorise me as long as I lived. Unless I did something about it, right now.

A white hot rage stirring within me, I lunged forward at the dolls and started smashing them into pieces with my bare fists. They were surprisingly fragile, made of porcelain or something rather than plastic, the material thin and easy to break. I felt hot blood drip down my hand as the sharp, broken edges nicked my skin, but I was in too much of a frenzy to stop. Once the dolls’ bodies were in shards too small for me to destroy any further, I ripped up their dresses too, straining as the fabric refused to give up as easily, but eventually tore apart.

Breathing heavily, I kneeled over the remains of my rampage.

…

Suddenly, looking at the shattered leftovers of these dolls… they didn’t seem so haunted anymore. In fact, they’d been as easy to break as… plain old, regular toys.

…

I was so fucked.

~ ~ ~

“I’m home!”

Seated on the couch, I gave a halfhearted ‘hey’ as Stacy dropped her bags on the counter and busied herself with the contents. Maybe I could get out of this… Maybe if I just pretended nothing was wrong, she’d think she misplaced them… Maybe she wouldn’t even notice for a while.

My hopes were immediately dashed, though, when she pulled a small, ornate necklace out of one of the bags, too small for her to wear, and excitedly rushed into the bedroom.

There was silence. I tapped my foot on the floor nervously. I could feel sweat beading on my neck.

And when Stacy slowly walked back out of the bedroom, her expression pained, my heart plummeted when I saw what she was holding in her hand; a small shard of porcelain. I’d missed a piece.

“Wh… what happened…?” she said, her voice quavering in shock.

“It-it wasn’t my fault!” I cried out, leaping from my seat. “Th-the dolls-! They were… I was… I was scared! I was just defending myself!”

Tears were welling up in Stacy’s eyes. 

“You… broke them…? My babies…?”

Despite myself, I felt another flare up of anger.

“They weren’t babies, Stacy!” I said, exasperated. “They were fucking toys! And you’re a grown woman! I was doing you a favour! Now you can be fucking normal! You should be thanking me!!”

She didn’t look grateful though, and as she sniffed sadly, I immediately regretted my outburst.

“I-I-I… I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “But… I don’t think I can… b-be around you right now…”

I stared at her, gobsmacked.

“You’re kicking me out?? Because of some dolls??”

Stacy simply stared at the floor, her gaze hollow… I couldn’t believe how much she was overreacting.

“Fine!!” I shouted, storming out of the apartment and slamming the door behind me.

Before I was out of earshot, I could have sworn I heard sobbing… but I didn’t care anymore.

She deserved it for putting me through all of this crap.

~ ~ ~

——————   NEW MESSAGE   ——————

stasecase13: i think we should break up

——————————————————————

That was it. No call, not even bothering to tell it to my face. Just a few days in a hotel and I was dumped in a chat message.

Because of a bunch of dolls. Even after they were gone, she was still choosing the dolls over me.

It all just made me want to scream.

… Fine. If that was how she wanted to be, then I didn’t need her. She was a wacko! I’d dodged a bullet getting out of this relationship before we’d really gotten committed. I’d done myself a favour by proving where her loyalties lied.

… It sucked being alone again, though…

Frustrated, I jumped into my car and drove over to her place. As soon as I got there, I pounded the door with my fist, but there was no response… Pulling out my spare key, I opened the door to her apartment.

“Stacy?” I called out. “I’m just here to pick up my stuff… Don’t go calling the cops or some bullshit.”

But it didn’t look like anyone was home… Either she’d just left, or she’d dumped me while she was out… The idea of her just casually sending the message while doing her groceries, or sending it after being cajoled to by a gaggle of friends, somehow made it hurt more.

Grumbling, I went into the bedroom to grab my travel bags out of the walk-in robe, but when I went in, I noticed something else lying in the middle of the closet floor.

It was the little doll necklace that Stacy had brought home that day.

I stared at it for a moment, still struggling to comprehend how our relationship had been ruined by a bunch of dolls.

There was a part of me, when I stopped to think about it for too long, that did feel a little guilty… Especially with the whole thing about one of the dolls being a memento from her dead friend. But there was another part of me, the louder, more insistent part, that still thought she was being ridiculously childish…

They were gone now! Did she really have to ditch me over it?? Couldn’t we just move on??

… I’d take it all back if I could.

But it was too late… and if it was too late, then it didn’t really matter what else I did, did it? And as the angry, bitter part of me took over, a sadistic smile graced my lips before I bent over and picked up the necklace.

She wouldn’t be needing this anymore… but at least I could let off a little bit more steam before leaving.

Gripping each end of the necklace with both hands, I pulled, trying to snap the thing apart; but it was shockingly strong. After straining myself for a minute, I gave up, gasping in exertion. What the heck was this thing made out of??

I held the necklace up to my face to examine it… It looked like some kind of metal, but the links in the chain were so thin, even if it was made of titanium there was no way I wasn’t strong enough to break this thing. It had a tiny pendant dangling off of it, too… a round, metal amulet with like… a little fake ruby made of red plastic.

At least, I thought it was fake… It had to be. It was well made, though, the red colour deep and rich…

And then it blinked.

Yelping in shock, I flung my arm away, trying to throw it. But I was too late; the necklace had already jumped from my hand and clasped itself around my neck.

I let out a gasp, clutching at my throat. Except, it came out as more of a gurgle… because a necklace designed for a doll was way too small for me!

I desperately tried to get a grip on the thing so that I could rip it off, but it was so tight that I couldn’t find any purchase. Choking and wheezing, I collapsed to my knees as the oxygen was slowly cut off from my brain… I was going to die, in a closet, with nobody here to help me or save me… Because I’d chased her away…

Falling to my side, my body going limp, I only had time for one last thought before I faded into unconsciousness.

I knew those fucking things were cursed…

~ ~ ~

When I finally woke back up I was surprisingly calm, no panic or gasping for air or anything. I was still on the floor of the closet… but I was alive. I shook my head in a daze, my body feeling stiff and sore from lying on the floor. What the hell was that?? Did I have a stroke?? And then, what, have a guilt-induced coma dream about the necklace??

Instinctively, after thinking about the necklace, my hand went to my throat… only to feel cold metal under my fingertips. Looking down in shock, I was immediately distracted by something else that was glaringly wrong.

My clothes had changed. Instead of the t-shirt and pants I’d arrived in, I was now wearing… a dress?? A frilly black dress, with lots of lace and ruffles and over-designed little accents and…

It was then that I realised that I recognised the dress. It had been hard to tell at first since I’d never seen it this close and from this angle before… But there was no doubt in my mind that this was Miranda’s dress. The fucking doll.

A creeping dread started to drip down my stomach as I tried to prop myself up to get a look in the mirror. My body felt so stiff, like the feeling you get when you sit on your foot and it falls asleep, except all over… but eventually, with a bit of a struggle, I managed to get onto my knees and half-crawl over to the mirror.

And what I saw there was a perfect replica of what I’d imagine Miranda would look like as a real person. Big, red eyes, long luscious lashes, the rosy red blush, the long black hair with the fringe cut straight; her arms were thin and dainty, and although she was small-chested, she definitely had breasts too.

Or rather, I did. Because somehow, that was me I was seeing. 

“N-no…”

Even my voice sounded higher… What the hell was going on?? Was I really cursed??

I had to get help. Stacy would know what to do.

I went to grab my phone, but it looked like when my clothes had changed it had taken my phone with them; it didn’t seem as if this dress even had pockets. Then I tried to stand up and run, but I still felt so weak… I tried to crawl again, but my joints were stiffening even more than before, and after turning slightly and placing a hand on the ground to steady myself, I quickly found that I couldn’t move anymore.

“Mmmgph!”

Even my lips had hardened shut; I couldn’t yell, or scream, or call out for help. But I was still able to move my eyes, glancing around the closet for something, anything that could help me.

Only to realise that the room was getting… bigger?

No wait… I was getting smaller.

As my body started to shrink down, I watched as my skin seemed to harden, gaining a glossy look to it, and as thin grooves started to form on my elbows and wrists, it finally clicked what was happening. I was turning into a doll. I was turning into her doll. I was turning into Miranda.

Panicked, I struggled and squirmed and tried to force myself to move, but it was useless; I kept shrinking until I was only a little bit bigger than one of Stacy’s shoes, and then the rest of my strength gave out and I collapsed to the floor, completely immobile, not even able to blink anymore.

I’d never felt so terrified and alone before in my entire life. Trapped like this… I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t even do that.

All because of what happened with Stacy… I begged and pleaded with any god or ghost or curse that could hear me that I was sorry. That I’d never meant to hurt her… Please, forgive me! Don’t… leave me like this… 

But then, in the distance, I heard the telltale sound of a key turning in a lock.

S-Stacy… Stacy was home! She could save me!

I listened as she walked slowly into the apartment, into the bedroom even, and there was a squeaking sound from a mattress… She must have sat down on the bed. I tried to call out to her, but of course I couldn’t say anything… How could I get her to find me??

… But then I heard… sobbing.

Stacy… was crying? I didn’t want her to cry…

There was the sound of someone blowing their nose, and then footsteps again, heading away from the closet… No no no no!

But then she paused. And I heard the footsteps coming back in my direction.

“Did I leave this light on…?” she mumbled to herself from the doorway.

Only to let out a sharp gasp when she finally spotted me on the floor. I would have fist-pumped if I could move.

“M-... Miranda…?” she said, incredulously.

No, wait… I wasn’t Miranda! Stacy, it’s me! Your-

I felt a pair of hands pick me up from the floor, and I was turned to face her. Jesus, Stacy was big now… or rather, I was so much smaller than her now. There were still tears in her eyes, and my heart hurt to see it… but she was smiling too.

“Miranda, you’re okay…! He must have missed you, accidentally shoved you behind something… I’m so happy to see you!”

… Wait, she was happy to see me?

Stacy pulled me close to her chest, sandwiching me between her arms and her breasts. I blushed; although I had a feeling it probably wasn’t showing on my face right now, my cheeks still felt hot. Maybe it was because of how warm Stacy’s body felt against my cold, porcelain skin…

“I’m so sorry about what happened to all of your sisters, Miranda… but I’ll never let anything like that happen to you, I swear. I’ll protect you…”

My… my sisters…? She was… going to protect me…?

My head felt strange, and it was getting harder to think… I wasn’t sure how any of this had happened, or why. All I knew was that it felt good to be held by Stacy… And she wanted to take care of me… Isn’t that what I wanted, too? I vaguely remembered wanting something like that…

I couldn’t see it, but I felt Stacy leaning over, still holding me to her chest. One of her arms moved away from me, and I heard the sound of her rummaging around in a box. Then she stood back up, and started walking. I still couldn’t see anything… but I could tell we must have left the closet; Stacy was so big, it would have only taken her a few steps.

Good… I hated that closet. I didn’t want to ever be put in there again.

Then suddenly, I could see again. We were in… the living room, Stacy sitting on the couch with me on her lap facing the same way. And then she started to brush my hair.

It felt so nice… I sighed happily, at least in my head. Stacy was so nice… I loved her. She was such a good owner…

… Wait. Owner? Wasn’t she my girlfriend…?

I tried to shake my head to clear my thoughts, but it was lucky I couldn’t move anyway, or I would have messed up Stacy’s brushing.

Something was weird about all of this… but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Sure, I loved Stacy… but dolls couldn’t date humans. Even if I really wanted to be her boyfriend more than anything…

… And there it was again. Another weird feeling of déjà vu… I was a girl, so that should have been ‘girlfriend’, right? I wanted to be girlfriends with her… but it was just a fantasy. After all, I was just a doll.

I was still happy, though. As long as I got to be her doll…

“There’s my pretty girl…” Stacy said, and I felt a happy tingle run down my spine at the praise. “I already feel so much better… I’d be so lost without you.”

She turned me around to face her, and the look of adoration on her face made my heart flutter. I was so glad I could make her feel better… I wanted to be there for her forever.

She pulled me into a hug again, pressed against her chest, and my face quickly started to heat up again as well.

“I think I’m done with boys for a while, Miranda…” she said sadly. “I just don’t understand how they think…”

That’s fine by me, I thought. I never liked that loser she was dating before anyway; I’d gotten a bad vibe from him since the first second he’d walked in the door… It was terrible that my sisters had to get broken for Stacy to figure out how much he sucked, but I was glad that he was gone now, at least. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I didn’t like how him leaving still made Stacy sad, though… You don’t need him, I wanted to tell her. You’ve got me!

“At least I’ve got you, Miranda…” she said, as if she’d heard me.

Even though I was just a doll, it really did feel sometimes like she loved me… Feeling the warmth from her chest envelop me, permeating through my cold, lifeless body, I closed my eyes and relaxed in her embrace, a content smile on my face.

I loved Stacy so much… I was so glad I got to be her doll.