"Would you like to join us, Lucy?" Mona asked sweetly, gesturing towards the tabletop game they had laid out before them.
"Ooh, yes please!" you grinned, taking a seat on the floor next to her.
Unfortunately, the game was a bit too complicated for you to handle. There were a lot of rules and numbers involved, and Heather could obviously see the confusion playing across your doll-like features as she explained the basics.
Mona chimed in, "Sorry Heather, I think this might be too complex for a doll. Could we try something more simple?"
"Sure thing! We can put this game on hold for a while. Timmy, could you fetch the toy chest?"
The purple monster growled in the affirmative and dutifully retrieved a rainbow patterned chest from the far side of the room, dropping it in front of your small group.
"Let's each pick a doll and then we can decide what kind of story we'd like to play." said Mona, popping open the lid. "You first, Lucy."
You kneeled in front of the chest and saw a collection of colorful plush dolls, some resembling humanoid characters and other resembling animals and monsters. One in particular caught your eye.
You withdrew a cute cloth doll of Mona herself!
"Haha, you want that one? Well, I'm flattered I suppose." Mona giggled.
The others each took their turns. Mona selected a cute plush bat, Heather picked out a white cat character, and Tim seemed happy with a tiny plush version of himself.
Heather couldn't stop giggling at your final selections, "How come two of us are playing animal characters and the other two are playing as members of the group?"
You all laughed together and then began your collaborative game of make believe.
Each member of the group had wildly different ideas of the kind of scenario they'd like to play. Mona wanted a spooky mystery story, Heather wanted a fantasy adventure, and from what you could gather Tim seemed to want to play a cutesy, conventional household story.
As for you, you just went with the flow, as you didn't really have any particular preference. You were just happy to play.
Spending only a brief moment to dwell on the strangeness of a doll playing with dolls, you lost yourself in the game that unfolded.
Because of your conflicting story ideas and your strange choice of characters, the make believe session turned into a bizarre mish-mash of tenuously connected plots.
The story's trajectory went from investigating a haunted mansion to sailing a pirate ship to attending a normal day at school. As you slowly realized that you weren't quite sure how to role-play as Mona, you decided halfway through the story that your character was actually an unrelated witch girl who just happened to LOOK like Mona, but this change of character was barely noticeable, as everyone else went through similar spontaneous improvised changes as the story twisted and turned.
As silly and nonsensical as the play session had become, you still found yourself getting absorbed in the story and it got you thinking about what Jingles had said to you earlier. If you couldn't tell the difference between a fake story and a real one, did it really matter? Wouldn't it be the same amount of fun regardless of how "real" it was?
Eventually your tale ground to a halt just as your characters were about to graduate from culinary school.
'Oh, shoot" Mona said, checking the clock on the wall, "We need to prepare for the rest of the show."
"Oh wow, we really got carried away." Heather replied, turning to smile at you "It was nice to meet you, Lucy! Feel free to drop by any time you're not busy and we can play some more."
At the mention of the word "busy" you remembered you still had a job to do. Well, two jobs if you counted marking your map with points of interest. Hopefully you could make up for your absence by entertaining lots of kids today.
You waved goodbye to your friends and ventured back out into the park. As your mind slowly returned to reality after your long session of playing pretend, those old doubts and worries began to re-emerge. Thinking about Zoey and Jingles and Mona and old memories that might not even truly be yours, you felt like you were on the verge of a panic attack.
You spotted a familiar face at a refreshment stall, Matilda the bovine barmaid. She had always been so kind to you, and you felt like you could talk to her about anything.
"Well hello there, sweetness!" she chirped as you approached, "What brings you here?"
"Hi Matilda... u-um..." you stammered. There was an awkward pause.
"What's the matter, little doll? Something on your mind?"
You fidgeted with the hem of your dress for a moment then forced yourself to speak up.
"Matilda, did you... choose this?"
She seemed puzzled. "Choose what, sweetheart?"
"Did you choose to forget your old life? To become a mascot forever?"
The cow's eyes went wide and she glanced around nervously, "Lucy, you're not supposed to talk about -" she began to scold, but then she noticed the tears welling up in your huge round eyes.
"There there, calm down..." she soothed, stepping out from behind the stall and pulling you into a hug. Her bulging udder poked right into your stomach, somewhat ruining the emotional impact of the moment.
She took a step back and tilted your head up so that you were looking each other in the eyes.
"I hate to break character even a little bit, but I know you're brand new and new experiences can be scary.
Yes, I did choose this. But I chose it because I realized it's who I really am and who I want to be."
She raised her arms into the air and performed a twirl.
"Look at me, I'm perfect now."
She gave her udder an affectionate pat, "Well, as perfect as a dumpy old cow can be. But I'm perfectly happy, that's for sure, and that's what matters. I'd give up those rotten old memories a thousand times over."
She pinched both of your cheeks like an overly affectionate aunt, "And you're perfect. You need to realize that. Never in my life have I seen such a cute, sweet, innocent little doll. Now, I can't tell you what to think our how to feel, but the least you could do for me is wipe those tears and put on a brave face for old Matilda. You're strong, Lucy. And you'll adapt."
She let go of your cheeks and pulled you in for another squishy hug.
Finally she released you and placed a hoof-hand on your shoulder "Any time you're feeling down in the dumps, you come to me, you hear?"
You nodded and mumbled your thanks. Matilda smiled, tousled your hair and then returned to her stall.
You were still less than a third of the way through your work shift and already it had been a roller coaster of emotions.