The uncomfortable opposition of the paintbrush left four indistinct lines with no sympathy. I sat still for a moment, staring at the brush, and what had become of its split ends. The once bold character had become weak and divided among itself. I had to buy a new brush. Lazily, I rotated with my chair left toward the foggy window. Beyond lied the sage colored leaves and dried rain. It seemed as if the clouds finished its time of the month, shedding their tears for a week, leaving the earth glowing. I watched as a young girl counted her steps in between the sidewalks as she was walking them. She held up the number one by her side. Then she held up two fingers, then three, then back to one. I was slightly intrigued, yet she reminded me of myself. Her feet were crunching under the leafs and her lips were moving but there was no one around her. She was singing to herself. She reached down to pick up a leaf, and her straight dark hair fell in front of her like a mop. In between her little fingers, she scrunched the leaf until it was too diminished to make sound. I watched the back of her head until it was out of my window’s view. I wondered where she was going. Later that night, I visited the craft store, glancing at every overpriced art supply on the shelf. None of them seemed to be a perfect match, so I settled with the three dark blue brushes. A safe choice, yet it was nothing I would paint a masterpiece with. I sighed and made my way toward the checkout line. I glanced at the orange packaged chocolates and sweets on the shelf and instant realization came over me. Tonight was Halloween. I quickly grabbed the bag of mixed candy and moved up to the counter. To my surprise, no one was there. I had yet to see another person in this store. I impatiently walked to the self-checkout section. There was no one there either. How could there be no one other than me in this store? I decided to find out for myself, so I set the candy and paint brushes on the white counter and headed to the back. I watched the big light beams reflect on the grey tile as I moved across the floor. Near the back wall, eight foot tall wooden slabs were resting on one another, and next to that were all different kinds of wooden boxes in all sorts of shapes. Most of them looked dusty and outdated. Some looked like birdhouses, while others looked like they were used for storage or decoration. My eyes were suddenly drawn to a wooden doll in one of the open boxes. It held out its hand with a bent posture. Its black hair shimmered. Her green eyes were big for her proportions and her mouth rested in a mischievous smile. Oddly, the features on her face were almost identical to the glimpse of the little girl I saw walking along the sidewalk that morning. I picked the doll up and observed the wooden figure closely. Its creepy eyes stared back at me as if it were looking into my soul. A weird chill came over me and I gently set the doll back where I found it. I spotted double doors on the right side of the wall and headed straight for them. Past the doors was a room full of dolls exactly like the one I had in my hand. All of them were organized and seated facing me, thousands of them. Their eyes were all equally as large and intimidating. I immediately started backing away letting my back hand feel for the handle on the door. There was something different on the door that I felt. The handle was now made of wood, but not any wood that I’ve ever felt. It was sticky and smelled awful. I turned my head and saw that the wood was covered in dried up blood. I quickly withdrew my hand and screamed. How could the door handle possibly change to something so horrific in a few seconds. How could blood have been absorbed into the wood in such little time? Was someone else with me? I

grabbed the handle once again and winced. After making it past the door I never looked back. I started sprinting to get out of the store as quickly as possible. Just as I was about to reach the front entrance, I tripped and fell straight on my face. With my upper lip kissing the floor, I stared into a pile of my own blood. My gums had a pulsating pain that was indescribable, and it made it impossible to keep from tearing up. I could taste the silvery blood and saliva building up in my mouth till it started drooling out. When I finally had a chance to stand up, I noticed one of the dolls right by my feet. I had tripped over it trying to leave. I rubbed the back of my hand up against the bottom of my nose and felt an intense stinging sensation. I tried to ignore it, but it was taking over my vision, until I couldn’t see or hear anything, and the world became dark. I woke up dehydrated and lethargic, unaware of where I was. After noticing I was still in the store, I stood up and looked around for the doll. It was nowhere to be found. I checked in the room where the thousands of dolls lay and they seemed to have disappeared just the same. I walked to the women’s bathrooms and pushed open the door. I slowly made myself towards the old dirty silver sink and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I looked exactly like her. I had her dark straight hair, and green glowing eyes, and her pale doll-like complexion. My light brown hair and blue eyes had no resemblance whatsoever. In shock I stared at my face even more looking for an answer within, and slowly watched her skin start to burn and flake off. I pinched a part of my skin with my fingers, and felt nothing. Normally I would look away but I only wanted to keep looking into her eyes as if I was locked into some trance or hypnosis. I started to question my reality, and whether I was even real. I splashed water on my face and looked in the mirror again. I looked down at myself. I was still the little girl with burn marks all over her skin. Giving up, I cried for what felt like hours folding my hands around my neck and screaming and peeling off dead flakes hoping someone could fix me. I was broken, in a different form and I had no idea how it happened or what to do to fix it. When I finally calmed down, I convinced myself that I was a schizophrenic and that I needed help. I pushed open the doors of the bathroom and back into the aisles of the store. On the front counter were the brushes and bag of candy just as I had left it. I didn’t even bother to grab them. I went straight for the door and carefully watched for any dolls that I might trip over. Once reaching the front entrance again, I pushed open the doors and walked outside to the fresh air. I was sure that a full 24 hours had passed since the fall. In the brought daylight, I started making way to my car. The parking lot was deserted. Empty shopping carts were scattered and not another soul was in sight. I hopped in my grey Nisan, and turned the key in the ignition. I saw cars were parked everywhere but none of them seemed to be driving. The roads were empty of animation. The falling leaves were at a pause. The world was quiet. When I finally made it to the corner of my street, I could see that it was just as I had left it. It felt awfully weird pulling into my driveway after the horrific experience. I pulled my weight out of the car and slammed the door. I looked into the car window to check my reflection. I was still in the same small body with cuts and burns all over. Although the pain was non-existent, the appearance was traumatizing, and I found myself fidgeting with my skin, picking at the scabs and rubbing the dead skin off. Once I finally tore myself away from my reflection, I glanced toward the window of my house. Inside the dark room I saw myself sitting as I was this morning, except it wasn’t me.

It was a host of my body, who was carving a wooden doll. Then she looked up at me and smiled with her green eyes.