The Doll by Georgia Leeman

Second Place, 6-9 Grade Fiction

The rain tapped on the rooftop. Mei slept through the cracks of lightning. Her light snore seemed to distract her ears from the weather outside, until a loud boom! A hit of thunder jumped her awake. She gasped for air, her messy hair making her shadow look disfigured. She turned on her light to clear her head, when she noticed something on the blue bedside table. Mei took her glasses off the nightstand and looked at the thing. It was a doll… that looked exactly like her.

“How did you get here, little doll?” Mei asked the doll, knowing she wouldn’t get a response. “I don’t remember seeing you when I went to bed. I guess you can stay here one night, but then I’m taking you to the elementary school down the street to see if you belong to anyone.” Mei set the doll in its original place, took off her glasses and set them down. She kept her lamp on for comfort and went to sleep.

The morning sun woke Mei up late. 

“I forgot to set my alarm! I’m so late! And I still have to feed Chief!” Mei ran around her room, changing her clothes, brushing her hair, her teeth, making her bed, packing her work bag. She finished in record time and ran out of her room into the kitchen. Her basenji, Chief, ran up and down the trailer waiting for his breakfast. 

“I’m multitasking right now, you can’t expect it that fast,” Mei said as she put two scoops of dog food in Chief’s bowl. He gobbled it up as Mei left for her car. She dropped her bag as she was putting it in her car and one thing came out of it. The doll. It fell on the driveway on its right arm. Mei’s arm started to feel like it was burning. She yanked her bag off the ground to get the small water bottle she had packed the day before. She poured it on her arm, but it didn’t do anything. She thought it was stupid, but she took the doll off the ground to see if it would help. To her surprise, it did. 

“This doll is magic, it has to be,” Mei said as she set the doll on the passenger seat. She started her car and drove to her job at the supermarket. Her mind went off and on about where the doll had come from, but most of all, if it could do more than what she had already seen.

It was 8:30 a.m. when she got to work. Mei got a quick lecture from her boss, Amanda, about how she needs to be on time or else she would lose her job. 

“This store isn’t easy to run by myself. Do better next time.” Mei nodded and she started the day with stocking shelves. She was stuck doing that until lunch break, then her job was to get carts and bring them back to the store.

At 4:30 p.m. she got to go home. Mei was feeling hot and tired by the end of the day, but she didn’t remember doing much to make her like this. Then she remembered the doll. She ran her sweating body to her car and threw open the driver’s door. She jammed her car keys into the ignition and the AC filled the car. Her head started feeling better, and she became comfortable in her own skin. She started driving and then she realized what she needed to start doing.

At home, Mei was careful where she placed the doll. She only placed it on clean, room temperature surfaces and only placed the doll on safe areas. When Mei was cooking, the doll was on the table. When Mei was doing laundry, the doll lay on her bed.

That evening, while Mei was getting ready for bed, she set the doll on her nightstand. Suddenly, Chief whimpered by her door. Chief usually slept in the living room so he could let himself outside, but Chief extremely wanted to be with Mei. 

Mei opened her door and whispered, “You can’t be barking, but I’ll let you sleep with me tonight.” The night was thundering again. Mei read a manga as Chief lay on her feet to keep them warm. Mei patted Chief’s head and started talking to herself. 

“I hope that one day we can live in a place with a big yard so you can run around and we can play games till sunset. In this trailer camp, we can’t even step off the porch without hearing an argument.” Mei set the book down and got up to brush her teeth in her bedroom’s restroom. Chief started whining as she walked away from the bed. 

“I’m just brushing my teeth. I’ll be done in a minute.” Chief rolled over to where Mei was sitting so he could get warm.

Mei’s bathroom was always pristine looking. She opened her organized cabinet and took out her toothbrush and toothpaste. She squirted some toothpaste on her toothbrush and set it back in the cabinet. She started brushing, when her left shoulder started really hurting, as if something was being pierced into it. She lifted her t-shirt’s sleeve and saw bite marks on her shoulder. 

“Aaaaahhh!” Mei screamed as she fell on the tiled floor. She stopped and remembered. “Crap! I forgot to put the doll in a safe place!” She flew open the door and saw Chief chewing on the doll’s left arm. “Chief, stop it! Stop now!” Chief stopped and looked at Mei. He saw the way tears streamed down her face. She jumped up and ran to her. He saw the bite marks and started gently licking them to make Mei feel better. He whimpered and laid by her side.

“It’s okay, boy,” she kissed his forehead. “My wounds will heal eventually.” Mei got up and threw the doll on top of her dresser. 

“Don’t you dare go and chew on this again,” she pointed a finger at Chief, who laid on the bed, half asleep already. Mei went back into her bathroom and got her first aid kit out. “I’ll go to the doctor in the morning,” she whispered as she took out bandages. She wrapped them around her shoulder, struggling with one hand. 

“What did I do to deserve this? I’m not mean to anyone. I always leave a tip. I’m never late to work…” she paused. “Oh my gosh, is this punishment for always being late to work? Universe, I know it’s my fault, but I’m trying! I am trying to be a better person.” Mei started tearing up. Not just from the painful bite marks, but also the thought that she wasn’t doing enough.

“I know what I have to do tomorrow.” Mei put the med kit away and hopped into bed. Chief rolled onto her legs and they both fell asleep.

The next day, Mei got up early. An hour before she usually did. She made herself look good by showering and putting on light makeup. She grabbed her work bag and the doll. 

“I’ll be back a little later than usual Chief,” then left. Mei tapped her left foot as she drove to work.

When she arrived, she jumped out of her car, leaving her work bag in her car. As she entered, she looked around for Amanda, but couldn’t find her anywhere. She checked the front desk, the backroom and the deli section. Mei looked in the last place she could think of, in the parking lot. She wasn’t there.

“Amanda isn’t here. This is wonderful! Why world?! I’m trying, but I can’t really try without her being here!” Suddenly, Mei felt this awful pain in her chest. She started sweating as she clenched her shirt, but as she grabbed it, she saw a red stain spreading. She ran to her car, hoping to find that something had just fallen on the doll.

When she reached her car, there was a person standing next to it. “Hey!” Mei yelled. It made the person jump and they turned around. They had a mask on so she couldn’t see who they were. Mei eyes filled with tears of anger and being afraid. The person was stabbing a knife in the chest of the doll.

“Stop, please! You don’t know what you’re doing!” The person took of the ski mask.

“I know exactly what I’m doing, Mei.” It was someone that Mei never thought she would see again. “Yes, it’s me. Your crazy ex that you left because you thought he was too crazy.”

Mei’s head couldn’t comprehend what just happened. “Alex… was it you?”

“Yes. I still had a key to your trailer after we broke up. I kept it, waiting for the moment I could bring you down hardest. And don’t worry, I already took care of the dog.” Alex stabbed the knife through the doll.

“Now you can’t hurt anyone else.”