Chapter 23 - LUCY GETS HER STUFFING BACK
Chloe fixed Lucy at twenty-one.
Not before.
She came home from college for winter break carrying a bag of hypoallergenic stuffing.
“I decided.”
“On what?”
“Lucy.”
We opened the memory box.
The doll smelled like old cotton and cardboard.
Harrison watched from the doorway.
“Can I help?”
Chloe considered.
“Yes. But Mom sews.”
Correct.
I repaired the stomach seam.
Harrison restuffed the body.
Chloe replaced the missing button eye with a mismatched blue one.
“Why blue?”
“Because creepy dolls need personality.”
Lucy became whole.
Not restored to original condition.
Changed.
One arm still had Harrison’s old repair.
One eye new.
The secret cavity gone.
Chloe placed the doll on a shelf.
Not bed.
“She’s retired.”
“Fair.”
That evening, we made pancakes for dinner.
May you like
Harrison burned the first batch.
Some traditions survived conspiracy by being ridiculous.
