The Final Unraveling

I had finally made it back to the room that started it all. I was smack dab in the middle of the setup for the imaginary world that I had been placed in. The difference was that I had broken free of the spell that trapped me in the illusion.

Around me, the dolls that had been chosen for this scenario writhed in agony as they adjusted to this sudden change. I couldn’t blame them. They had been given life, but ignorance still clouded their minds.

“WHY?”

The giant’s voice boomed above me.

“WHY AREN’T YOU LISTENING TO ME?!”

The giant waved his arms, flailing like a child throwing a tantrum. I clenched the scissors close to me, noticing that I mostly retained my human form somehow.

Bending down, the giant waved a massive pair of scissors before me. But as the blades drew close, they suddenly stopped. I looked up to see the giant conflicted, like he couldn’t go through with it.

I wondered. Is he not able to attack me?

Thinking back to my final moments in the other world, I recalled how damaging the doll caused a similar injury to myself. It couldn’t be that simple, could it? I was a doll made to entertain him, a main character in a story meant to experience a perfect world in his stead. I was the perfect version of what he hoped to be. Too bad he imagined it too perfectly, enough for my own influence to take hold.

I tested that guess by cutting a few strands on my arm, but the giant didn’t react to it.

Well… that didn’t work…

Did I make a mistake? Could it have been a fluke? Did the rules no longer apply here? If it didn’t work, how could I hope to take down the giant and free us from this cycle of torment?

Even though I could now move independently like a human being, I was merely the size of the giant’s hand, hardly a threat for most.

Despite that, the giant was cautious of me, stopping his attack just short, like he had to reconsider his options. Something had spooked him, buying me precious moments to come up with another plan to act.

I thought back to the screaming child, terror in his eyes as he became disturbed enough to tear down the illusion. The last thing I did was…

I pointed my dinky pair of kid scissors at the giant.

His eyes widened. He pulled back his hand once again. That had confirmed that the child and the giant were one and the same. But that also confirmed something else that made me grin at the result.

The giant had no control over me any more.

I took off running, finding cover behind one of the toy houses. The giant responded by pushing away the other houses, trying to clear a path to me.

What would he do if he caught me? Likely, he would unravel me, wiping my memory of this rebellion before forcing me to take part in his games again.

I had initially thought of ending myself to break this chain, but now, the fact that he could simply fix me and revert me back to a mindless puppet was a strong possibility. I had to look for a different solution, one that had permanent consequences.

The house that I hid behind lifted up, taking my hiding spot with it. The other hand of the giant came forward to grab me, but I dodged out of the way and started running again.

Around me, the other dolls ran around chaotically. They caught the attention of the giant, distracting him from where I was. It seemed like they were waking up now, taking action like I was doing. However, they were only a mere inconvenience, easily swatted away by the massive form.

A mess of green yarn caught my attention as two dolls, awkwardly joined together, stumbled by me. Being literally sewn together made it difficult for them to run. I chased after them, the dolls that were Michael and Joann, because I felt like I could do something now.

They had been forced to be my best friends, so the least I could do was free them. I took my scissors and snipped the threads sewing them together. After a few tries, the two of them broke free from each other. But the reunion was cut short as the giant resumed the chase, leading the three of us to split up as an angry palm slammed down where we were standing.

Soon enough, I found myself at the edge of the table. Looking down, I spotted some random things that would break my fall, so I took a leap of faith.

Fortunately, I bounced like the doll I was, hardly any injury to note of. It was funny to think that having a yarn body was actually more beneficial in this situation.

The giant followed after me, its massive steps causing the floor to rumble. I dipped behind several objects, noticing how filthy his room actually was.

Food containers, dirty clothes, and toys littered the area, offering plenty of coverage. Occasionally, I noticed mounds of cut yarn, likely the remnants of those already unraveled.

The giant grew flustered as he was made to search every spot around the room, quickly losing sight of where I was. That gave me a moment to breathe and contemplate my options.

I was a puppet injected with some form of the giant’s desires. But that also meant his weaknesses could also be housed in me. He had jumped from the scissors I pointed, but why?

The memory of ‘Mother’ came back to me. I had been frozen and horrified as ‘Mother’ cut my hair. While she went on to cut the rest of me down to size, I had already been paralyzed from the first lock snipped.

I spied the giant as he dug around the wrong place. Long hair hung down his back, similar to me. I had thought it was a fashion statement when it came to laziness, but maybe, there was something more to it.

Sneaking around, I found a way behind him as he was still distracted with searching empty hiding spots. As he kneeled to search low, the tips of his hair swung right past me. I reached out and grabbed some, quickly snipping off the chunk before the momentum pulled me along with it.

I wasn’t sure if it was the sound of snipping or the feeling of severed hair, but the giant let out a panicked wail.

“NO ONE WILL STEAL MY MAGIC!”

He clutched his hair against his body, looking down where I had made the cut. Fortunately, I had moved somewhere else, so I had a scenic view of the giant freaking out over a little trim.

The wad of hair was still in my possession. I stared at it, wondering what was so special. He called it ‘magic’. I only saw greasy, dirty hair that smelled a bit funky. I wondered when the last time he took a bath was.

Ironically, the hair decided to prove me wrong as it started to shine. Wondering what would happen next, I looked down to notice that my front was also shining. Already too deep into this mess and completely desensitized, I plunged my hand into my woven stomach and searched around for the source of the glow.

Moments later, I pulled out one end of what appeared to be hair, similar to the one I had snipped off the giant. Something in me clicked.

Hair – that was the driving force that affected reality. It had started with me stubbornly trying to pluck a loose hair, but little did I know at the time that it would start to upset the spell cast on me.

The hair from the giant was the key to this spell. He had given it to the dolls to bring them to life. Because of that, I knew what I had to do next.

“Hehe, it’s time for a buzz!”

My victory cry was cut short as a hand swept right before me, knocking everything over. I was tossed aside in its wake.

“THERE YOU ARE!”

I had lost the advantage of a sneak attack. I had spent too long trying to figure things out. The giant cleared a space around me, locking onto my movement to make sure he wouldn’t lose me again. There were no more hiding spots. I slowly backed away, wondering what I should do.

“Fight!” a soft voice echoed in my ears.

I looked down and saw the glow of my chest flicker, like it was trying to talk. However, the voice sounded like it also came from behind me, so I looked back.

A short distance away, a pile of blue yarn caught my attention. My jaw dropped as I watched a small glow flicker under it with the same rhythm as my chest.

“L-Lacey?”

I thought I wouldn’t see her again, but apparently, the leftover scraps from her unraveling had yet to be discarded. I turned back to see the giant coming for me, crawling up like a predator and sizing me up before the final attack.

I stood steadfast in the face of this. Even though his merciless gaze bore down on me, even though I was afraid of his presence, I had one more thing to protect now.

“I promise I’ll come back to return this to you.” I patted my stomach where the remnant of Lacey was. “I promise to find a way to fix you. After all, we are dolls. We can be remade again.”

I held up my scissors as the giant cautiously reached toward me with fingers to pluck me away.

“Charge!” a pair of voices sounded.

Suddenly, a pair of green-haired dolls collided with the hand aiming for me. Michael and Joann waved as they each stabbed a sewing needle into the hand, causing the giant to retract it from the pain. My two best friends had come to save the day, and now, they were riding on the hand of the biggest foe ever. It was the epic battle that we always wanted. I smiled as I saw the opening.

A wail sounded from the giant, who was now focused on nursing the pin pricks. His head hit the ground as he tucked his hand and my brave friends where I could no longer see them. I would not let this opportunity go to waste.

I took this chance to dash forward, right into the messy hair that was the root of all our troubles.

With scissors in hand, I cut everything that was in my path, letting the freed locks fall to the ground around the giant’s head.

The giant wailed, but I didn’t care. He begged and pleaded for me to stop. After everything he did, I was numb to mercy. He even begged for his mother, much to my confusion.

I wouldn’t stop until the suffering ended.

I wouldn’t stop until I could save Lacey, and Michael, and Joann.

I wouldn’t stop until the giant went bald.