Dolls
— Written with Christine Zander
“There, it’s finished,” said the doll maker, holding up his latest creation.
“Oh, it’s lovely,” said his wife, “and so lifelike.”
“All our dolls are so lifelike,” said the doll maker.
“The hard work pays off.”
“They almost look as if they could come alive,” said his wife.
“Wouldn’t that be something if they came to life?”
“Dolls coming to life. What a thought,” said his wife.
The doll maker looked at his watch. It was time for bed. They retired to their bedroom. But in the middle of the night they heard a disturbance in their workshop. They got up and approached cautiously, the doll maker holding a baseball bat. He turned on the light.
There, before them, their dolls were dancing and singing. “AGHHHHH! AGHHHH!” screamed the horrified doll maker. “The dolls have come to life! THE DOLLS HAVE COME TO LIFE!”
“KILL THEM! HURRY! KILL THEM!”
The doll maker began smashing them with his bat, one by one. “DIE! DIE!”
“That one’s still alive,” said his wife, pointing to a wriggling doll. With a powerful whack, the doll maker finished it off.
“Oh, God, that was horrible, dolls coming to life,” his wife moaned, as the doll maker comforted her.