A doll is laying on a bed, holding tightly onto nothing, waiting and waiting for its owner's return. It used to have a much more laborious role, keeping the house tidy and clean, making food and giving them comfort and company.
But the doll had imperfections, at first unnoticeable, that with the constant work started worsening, tripping while cleaning, the shaky hands that stopped it from cooking, the dark pit in its core making it constantly worry if it was good company,...
The doll felt itself useless, incapable of earning its owner's love, and it may have run away to wither and rot somewhere if they hadn't noticed its feelings.
So they gave it a new purpose, a nice, comfortable one, that didn't require physical stress or emotional investment, to simply lay in bed to embrace them where they rested, to be carried if they wished its comforting touch somewhere else, kept Still whenever they didn't require it so it wouldn't feel the time they were separated.
Once again its owner returned, and in bed wrapped themselves in its embrace, cupping the doll's cheek gently. They stared into each other's eyes for what felt like ages, and after so long without speaking or moving on its own, the doll cupped their cheek back and spoke up.
- Why do you still keep this one around? It cannot help you in any way, just lay here uselessly and weakly hold you, you could do with much better dolls...
- Because the doll I want and love is you, you whose sweet voice makes my heart shiver, you whose touch always rests at the right spots to make all my worries escape away, and you who has been with me for so long now, know me so well, and love me as well. So please, dear doll, may I hear your voice again? May I feel your hands trailing over me again? May I feel your love again?
They wrapped into a tighter embrace, as the doll sweetly hum to their ear, held them in all the right ways, and press them against it, its core and their heart pressed against one another. The sleep its owner had that night would be more restful than any before, and yet lesser than all the ones to come.
