952 Written by Unknown

I tell myself that the apartment I’ve moved into has character. The wooden floorboards creak and seem to give a little when I walk on them. There are rust stains in the tub and toilet. Something is also definitely wrong with the fridge. Some nights I wake to the noise of it, sounding as if it’s attacking itself. When I go into the kitchen to check, there is water everywhere on the floor. I know it’s coming from the fridge, that there is a leak somewhere, but I have yet to figure out what’s causing it. I’ve called the super, and each time he comes he is equally baffled, explaining that maybe I left the freezer door open by mistake? Each time he suggests I not worry, that it’s probably nothing. But the water still comes, and I am tired of mopping.
“How interesting,” Janice says once she sees the doll. Janice is my only friend left after the split from Noel. When I told her about the doll she insisted on coming over, to see what it was like. “Having a little fun I see.” She licks her lips.
“I told you it came in the mail. I think it was for the tenant who lived here before me.”
“Yeah, but look, you blew it up and everything,” she says, picking the doll up to look at it. “You should prop it by the door. It could be a greeter for when people come in.”
“Like you, you mean?”
“Well, you never know.” Janice stares hard at its plastic face. “It’s kind of good-looking, for a toy doll.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Oh come on. It’s like when you’re a kid and you had a crush on one of those animated characters, like Prince Charming in Snow White or Cinderella. You can’t tell me you didn’t like one of them.”
“Hmmm, I never thought of it that way.” I look at Janice holding him, his toothless grin smiling back up at her. “We still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with him,” I ask.
“Isn’t that what the directions are for?” she says.
” I’m serious. I can’t throw the thing away. What if my neighbors see?”
“This thing could be handy,” Janice says. “Just think of the uses. You could do yoga with it.”
“Or Pilates,” I say.
“Or practice the waltz,” she says, laughing.
“I could take it in the car and drive in the carpool lane.”
“Especially these days,” she says. “You could take it swimming at the YWCA and use it as a flotation device.”
“We could jump off a window and see who lands first,” I say.
“Oh, now don’t do that,” Janice says, not laughing.

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Posted on February 9th, 2009 in Fiction

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Sharing is good for the soul

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Mr. Stud

952 Written by Unknown

Comments by 952 People

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