“It’s so soft… this skin feels so real… and the detail is amazing!” she said out loud to herself. I tried to speak, but nothing would come out. She finally put me down on the counter, and I stumbled. I’m not sure she noticed me. I fell down. After a moment, I finally got up the strength to bring myself back up to my feet. I guess she saw that, because now she’s staring at me, wide-eyed and curious. “A-are… are you…” she reaches for me again. I flinch and she takes her hand back for a second, before slowly cupping her hands around my body.

“Are you... alive?” she asks me. I manage to look up at her and nod. Looking into her face, I realize she’s beautiful, even prettier up close. “C-can you speak?” she adds. I nod again, a bit faster this time.

“O-oh, are you scared? I’m sorry!” she sets me down immediately. “I must look huge to you… It’s okay, I won’t hurt you! My name’s Olivia.”

“I-I’m… R-rosa…” I manage to squeak out.

“There you go! So, Rosa, what are you doing here? And… well, you know… the, uh…”

“M-my height…”

“Yeah… What’s the, er…” Olivia asks me. I explain to her the gist of it, my life up til this point, the whole hiding in the Dreamhouse thing, you get the picture.

“S-so I’m… I need… I need someone to… help me… I-I-I’m all alone and frightened… th-the world is too big… I can’t… I can’t survive on my own…”

“I get it.” she pats my head with her finger. I shudder, but in a calming way. Like all the anxieties are just flowing out through her fingers. I like this feeling. “Look, my shift’s about to end. Do you… Do you want to come home with me tonight? I’ll get you some food and stuff…”

“Umm… y-yeah, I think I’d l-like that…” I say, still unsure. She gently places me down, walks to the back of the store for a minute, and returns shortly. She places her hand down and I step onto it. She cups her other hand around my body and heads outside. It’s dark now, and cold. I shiver. Soon, we approach a car, and Olivia gets into the driver’s seat.

“So, uh… how do you… want to do this?” She asks me.

“What do you mean…?” I respond.

“I mean… do you want to sit in the passenger seat or… like, in my lap…? I’m sorry, I don’t know the, er, protocol…”

“I’ll, uh, feel safer in your lap, I think… b-but if you want me to sit in the seat I can!”

“No, no, it’s fine! Wherever you feel most comfortable.” She sets me down gently on her pant leg. Let me tell you, sitting on denim feels kinda weird. I can’t even really describe it. As she drives, I sort of lose my balance and end up falling down onto the seat in between her legs. She looks down and smiles at me, before returning her gaze to the road. I think she just wanted to make sure I was okay.

“So, a few things you should know before we get back to my place…” she started talking after a few minutes of silence “I have a cat. She shouldn’t bother you unless you bother her, though. Just want to warn you, since, well… cats eat, uh… small… animals…” I nodded. “Second, my roommate, Chanelle, she’s… look, she’s probably gonna hurt you at some point. I’ll try to keep you safe, but… her sense of humor is kinda… fucked up. She doesn’t really know when to stop. I promise you, she doesn’t mean to hurt you, but she probably will. Fair warning. Okay, we’re here.” she stops the car. She gently lifts me up and walks inside. I can see a girl sitting on the couch drinking from a beer bottle, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties playing some sort of video game. Olivia walks over and sits in a chair next to the couch and calls her name.

“Chanelle! I want you to meet someone.” she glances over at Olivia, then returns to focusing on the game.

“Who? Where are they? All I see is you.” she hits the pause button and takes a big swig from her bottle. Olivia opens up her hands so Chanelle can see me. I slowly reach an arm up and make a small wave at her. Suddenly, without warning, Chanelle grabs me out of Olivia’s hands and holds me by one leg. I’m freaking out here, I let out a small yelp and try to keep my skirt from showing too much skin. Chanelle just laughs.

“Oh my god, you found a tiny little bitch! That’s great! She’s so fucking small. I could probably eat her in one bite…” she chomps her teeth mere centimeters from my face and I yelp again. Slowly, she lowers me toward her mouth. I can feel her warm breath on me. It smells of alcohol. I can see down her throat into the dark abyss of the human digestive system. My whole head is past her teeth before Olivia grabs me out of her hands.

“Damn it, Chanelle! I knew this would happen…” she holds me close and walks into the other room, closing the door behind her. From the looks of it, this appears to be Olivia’s bedroom.

“I am so sorry for that… I shouldn’t have let her grab you… Please, Rosa, forgive me…”

“I-it’s… it’s okay, Miss Olivia… I’m, uh… I’m fine now. Don’t.... don’t worry.” I try to smile up at her. She smiles back.

“Hey, you know, I think I have some old doll stuff you can use… if, uh, you want to, that is. I have a bed you can sleep in. And some clothes that may or may not fit you. We can try, I guess. Right?” she starts digging through her closet and finds a box labeled ‘DOLL STUFF’. She brings it back to her bed where I’m standing and starts going through it.

“Here you go, this is perfect. It’s just your size!” she pulls out a bed and places it on her nightstand. She gently scoops me up and places me on top of it. “I’ve got some fabric you can use for blankets, too. And, uh, here’s some clothes!” she drops a pile of dresses, skirts, shirts, pants, and the like all next to me. “You can sort through that and try it on if you want.”

I search through it and do find some clothes I like. I think I may actually like living with Olivia. I could do without Chanelle, but who knows, maybe she’ll mellow out when she’s sober?