Play House

Something jostled me from my slumber. I felt myself being picked up, long fingers wrapped around my torso. Opening my eyes, the world around me moved in a blur, too fast for anything to focus on.

I tried to move but I couldn’t. The grip around me was too tight, too forceful. I could only go along for the ride.

“There, there. We’ll find a nice story for you to be in next,” a voice boomed above me.

It took several moments to realize that I was being carried by it. The ride ended suddenly as I was set on top of a table, plastic-like structures surrounding me.

I looked up at the giant. The room was too dark to see who it was. It looked amused after placing me among this weird collection of toys and paper crafts.

On my right were building blocks shaped into a row of houses, ending with what appeared to be a school. On my left, origami of trees and bicycles and other everyday things littered the area to give it some variety.

And all around the massive room I was in were shelves on every wall. Filled shelves with dolls looking down at me. I looked back at the giant, wondering what sort of play he had in store for me.

Why was I chosen? What was my role? Who was I supposed to be?

It paced the room back and forth, looking up and down the shelves at the dolls, until it reached out to fetch one.

“Here we go. You will be the sister, the perfect one for him.”

A baby doll was plopped right next to me.

It went back to pacing around the room.

“And you two, a perfect family, the one I lost. Having only a single parent doesn’t feel right.”

Another two dolls were set down by me.

One by one, the giant carefully chose more dolls for the stage, until I was staring at a circle of them. Eight in all, nine including me.

By now, the giant was merrily humming a tune, one that was all too familiar to me. My mind filled in the humming with the words that accompanied them normally.

Unravel! Unravel!

Yet, it was not time for that. The giant was simply humming, like it the tune gave off a sense of endearment.

It turned back to the table, an armful of little toys, placing them down with eyes glowing eagerly. There was a hint of loneliness mixed with anticipation.

“There. The perfect life. Perfect family. Perfect friends.”

It let out a chuckle, grinning ear to ear. And then, it picked me up and started bouncing me around the place, bending my arm to greet the other dolls, traversing the buildings.

It brought another doll right up to my face, putting our lips together for a moment of intimacy. A grunt of satisfaction came from it.

“A perfect girlfriend to go along with it. The last one was no good. No good at all. I think I’ll call this one… Velvet.”

For a moment, I thought I saw Velvet shift. It had to be my imagination as dolls didn’t move. I couldn’t move, so how could she. Helplessly, I could only watch the events unfold, unsure why I was even sentient to it all.

It eyed the other dolls on the table, like it had realized that they all needed names as well.

“Let’s see.. you can be Janome, and Mr. Dodger, and Michael, and Joann…”

One by one, the dolls shivered slightly as their names were called. This time, I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t see it. Their chests heaved like they had drawn their first breath. And as my gaze turned back to Velvet, I could see that she trembled with fear.

The giant before us had granted magic, bringing us to life, solely to play its game.

And now, it stared at me again with a cheeky grin.

Why was there so much attention on me? But as the giant brought me close enough to see its face, I finally understood.

“The perfect me,” he concluded, and like it was a spell, I felt my body invigorated by the spell.

Slowly, the room around me started to look different. The walls of a dark room full of dolls faded away, a blue sky replacing it. The toys and buildings made of plastic no longer looked fake, but as real as any other place.

And even as I looked down at myself, the woven arms and body stitched from yarn turned into skin. Once again, I had turned into a human. Once again, I was put into a fictional setting – a perfect one meant to appeal to the giant’s dream.

But that moment of clarity wasn’t meant to last. After all, why would the giant let a mere doll spoil his desires?

I felt myself growing sleepy. An unknown force beckoned me toward the bed in my tidy room. Nothing mattered anymore but the soft hushing that came from above, encouraging sleep.

The moment that I woke up next meant that I would forget everything that happened here, and that the play would start once again.

But in the corner of my mind, I knew what would eventually happen.

The dolls would get dirty and fall apart.

The giant would grow tired of them.

The scissors would come out, and the ritual would begin again.

Unravel… Unravel…