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The chaotic city streets are filled with people noisily bustling through the crowd to their destinations. Perhaps they are going home from work, to visit friends, or to something less mundane, like an adventure. How interesting would that be, to have an adventure.Molly pats my hand with her paw, drawing me out of my thoughts, and back to the fragrant smells of sweet pastries and freshly-brewed coffee.
“What is it Molly? We sit outside the café all the time. You usually love it,” I wonder aloud to her.
She lets out a little whine, pushing my hand again with the top of her head. I reassuringly pet Molly, although she is usually the one reassuring me. As my hand brushes against her vest, I smile.
“Pardon me, do you mind if I join you?” a woman questions.
I’m rather taken aback, for her voice is so lovely. Like a bird’s, sweet, delicate, and song-like. I wonder if she sings. “No, please, go right ahead,” I hastily reply, realizing my hesitation might have been taken as rejection.
The woman’s chair screeches against the concrete ground as she pulls it back. “Thank you.”
Molly pushes up against my leg and whines again.
“It’s alright girl,” I tell Molly, “She normally likes company.” I turn my head towards the woman, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable.
“It is fine. Animals usually do not like me.”
I realize, listening through the lovely tones of her voice, she sounds rather somber. “I wouldn’t take it to heart. Molly usually comes around to everyone. She can be a bit protective. After all, it’s her job.” I pat Molly’s head proudly.
“My Creator had a guard-dog.”
“Your what-?” I begin to ask, but I am interrupted by the waiter Tom.
“Hi, bro! It’s nice to see you and Molly again. Will it be the usual...” Tom trails off, “H-hi Miss! Wow, is she with you?” Tom asks, elbowing me in the side.
“Yeah, yeah she is, Tom,” I reply, a little confused at Tom’s sudden strange behavior.
“Man, you’re one lucky dude! Anyway, welcome to the Coffee Castle, Miss! Would you like to order?”
“No thank you. I do not drink coffee,” the woman answers.
“That’s okay. We’ve got some other drinks. Tea, water, and smoothies. We also have a variety of pastries, if that’s more your thing,” Tom offers.
“I do not eat,” the woman retorts, brushing off Tom’s offers.
“Oh, you girls and your diets. Are you a model? I could never do that. As is obvious, heh,” Tom laughs awkwardly.
“No. I am not.”
“I’m sure you could model if you wanted, Tom,” I comment, not wanting Tom to put himself down.
“No offense, man, but you’re probably not the best person to judge,” Tom pauses awkwardly. “So, just your usual, right? I’ll bring it right out!” Tom states, rushing away.
“Is he your friend?” the woman questions.
“Yeah. I visit this coffee shop quite a bit, so we’ve gotten to know each other. We also hang out sometimes away from the coffee shop.”
“I would like to have a friend...” the woman murmurs longingly.
“I understand. I went through a time in my life where I had no friends. I was completely alone, until Molly came along. Not only was her company invaluable, but she helped me to meet others. I would hate for anyone to feel as alone as I did.”
Memories of my time before Molly flood back to me. I was utterly alone, and people who I cared about left me. I felt that life was not worth the pain of living. Molly helped me to turn my entire life around. If it wasn’t for her, I most likely wouldn’t be here today.
I decide that I want to help keep the woman away from that dark and miserable place. No one deserves to feel the way I did. “By the way, I am John Rook.”
“My name is Colette.”
“Well then Colette, you’ve just made your first friend,” I smile.
“Thank you, John.”
From some other tables I overhear a man say, “Man, what a looker, wasted on that guy!”
I stiffen, feeling embarrassed and angry at the man’s comment. Why must people be so rude and thoughtless?
“I want to know what kind of skin care she uses. Her skin is flawless!” a woman comments.
Colette sighs, “I have never been able to make a true friend before. When I thought I had made a friend, I would always find that they only liked me for my looks.”
“I promise you, I don’t care one bit about how a person looks,” I assure Colette.
“I have never met anyone who has said that and has not succumbed to vanity. However, you do seem different than most others, John.”
“People care far too much about perfection,” I remark as Tom arrives.
“Here’s your usual iced coffee,” Tom says, arriving at our table. “And here’s water for you, on the house.” Tom places our drinks on the table with a soft clink against the smooth wood. “I also brought a sausage for Molly, can she have it?”
“Of course!”
“Here you go, Molly!”
Molly gobbles up the sausage loudly. She barks happily for Tom, showing her appreciation for the snack.
“Aw, you’re welcome Molly. Well I’ve gotta go now, rush hour you know. Enjoy your drinks!”
Tom’s presence reminded me of what Colette said when he interrupted my question earlier. She mentioned a creator. What a peculiar word choice. What on earth did she mean?
“What did you mean before, when you mentioned your creator?” I ask. Sliding my hands across the table, I pick up my glass and take a sip of bittersweet coffee.
“It is quite a long story, John,” Colette says quietly, “I would not want to burden you with it.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world. So, are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? You seem as if something is weighing on you.”
“Well then, I suppose I should clarify something first. You see, I am not what I appear to be. I am not simply a beautiful woman. In fact, I am not even human,” Colette explains, although she only succeeds in worrying me further.
What on earth has she gone through to make her think of herself as less than human? “Um, I’m afraid I’m only more confused now, Colette.”
“I will try and explain to the best of my ability. You see, I am actually a doll,” Colette says bluntly.
She thinks she’s what!?
“Um, Colette, what are you trying to tell me? Is this a metaphor of some kind?” At least, I sincerely hope it is a metaphor.
“No. I am a literal doll. My Creator wanted the perfect wife, so he created me to be his companion.”
“Oh, Colette...” I sigh. She is insane. This poor woman has more problems than I could have imagined. Why, she believes that she isn’t human! I think I might need something stronger than coffee for the rest of this conversation.
“You do not believe me. Are my looks not enough? No human is so perfect. So flawless and beautiful.”
“Colette, I’m sure you are beautiful but-”
“I suppose I will have to convince you in another manner,” Colette interrupts and, grasps my hand. Her hand is cold, hard, and smooth, just like porcelain. I gasp, instinctively jerking away.
Molly growls, bristling beside me. “It’s okay, girl...” I murmur in shock. I suppose this is the reason Molly has been so distrustful of Colette. She can sense what I cannot see.
“Do you now see? Do you now believe? No human is so hard, cold, and untouchable. Well, to everyone except my Creator that is.”
“My god, Colette,” I mummer, still in shock. I hold the hand she touched in my other, up to my chest. “Yes, I do believe now. I’m sorry I didn’t earlier.”
“It is alright.”
“How is this even possible!?”
“It will be easiest to explain if I start from the beginning. And the beginning starts with my Creator. You see, he was a lonely man, with extraordinary abilities.”
“Magic?” I ask, unable to keep my intense curiosity tamed.
“Yes. With a combination of science and other things I do not know. I do not think it was an easy task for him to accomplish. He did discuss the difficulty of the feat quite a bit, as well as magnitude of his accomplishment. However, he never told me exactly how he did it. He said that such knowledge was beyond a woman.”
“What a moron!” I interject. “It’s the 21st century last time I checked.”
“He was quite old, although he did not look it, and had old ideals. He used his abilities to keep himself young. In the beginning, I was more than happy to stay with him. I had everything in the world, clothes, jewels and entertainment, as long as I pleased him. But then, I began thinking for myself. I started learning about life beyond his mansion, and I longed for that life”
Colette pauses, engrossed in her memories, “I began yearning for what I did not have. I wanted to be free. I wanted someone to love me for who I was, not for my perfection. I wanted to be touched by someone I chose. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to experience more than his mansion’s walls. I wanted to live the way humans do. I wanted to be human.”
“That sounds like an awful existence, Colette. Never able to choose what you wanted to do,” I say, finding myself angry, reminded how people can be so cruel and selfish. Poor Colette. No one should live that way.
“Thank you, John,” Colette replies, taking my hand again. This time, I do not pull away. As we sit, hands interlinked, Colette continues her tale. “I eventually managed to come up with the courage to tell my Creator what I wanted. He was furious that I was dismissing his affections, and wanted to ruin his greatest accomplishment by becoming human.”
“He doesn’t have the right to say that! Why, it’s your life. Just because he created you doesn’t mean that he owns you. What a jerk,” I object.
“Nevertheless, he berated me over the stupidity of my request. He told me how I would no longer be beautiful, and no one would want me. How I would grow old and die one day,” Colette sighs. “Still, I persisted. Disgusted with me, he said that I deserved the curse of humanity. However, he would not simply make me real. He gave me a way to become human, but it was a challenge. He hoped the challenge would be so difficult that I would give up and come running back to him.”
“What challenge? How can you finally obtain your wish, Colette?” I ask, delighted that, despite her miserable life, there may be a happy ending for Colette yet.
“The challenge seemed very easy at first. I readily agreed to it, thinking it would take no time at all. I was wrong. You see, the challenge was to find someone who would wish for me to become human. However, the wish had to be completely honest, and come from a person pure in heart. I have approached others to try and help me. So far, none have been up to the challenge. No one understood my wish, and none were willing to give up my perfection. Will you help me, John?” Colette asks, sounding so hopeful.
“Yes, of course! What do I need to do to help you?” I ask eagerly. I am thrilled that I may be able to help Colette. She deserves for someone to be kind to her, instead of simply using her.
“You must speak into my locket that you wish for me to become human. You must mean what you say in its entirety, and not have any alternative motives. You must state the exact words, ‘I wish for Colette to turn human.’ You also must say it in Latin.”
“Okay, I think I can do that, I studied Latin in college. Is this truly all I have to do? It seems a little underwhelming, doesn’t it?” I seriously hope my Latin is accurate enough for the spell to work.
“There is a bit more. A memory of yours will be needed. A memory of great emotional importance to you. A memory that shows what it is to be human. You must be thinking of this memory as you prick your finger, and then let a drop of your blood fall onto my picture in the locket. The enchanted locket will do the rest,” Colette explains, with hope in her voice.
Colette places her locket in my hand. I raise it to my lips and mummer, “Volo enim ut facta hominum Colette.” My memory is easy to decide. A moment in my life that was so human, and brings with it overlapping crashing waves of emotion. Colette then gives me a small yet very sharp blade. Holding my finger over the locket, I pierce it with the blade. I feel a small pinch of pain, but I am distracted from it when the locket suddenly begins to grow warm in my hand. It rises in intensity quite rapidly, until it becomes so hot that I drop it onto the table. It lands with a small clatter.
“Did it work, Colette?” I ask hopefully.
“Y-yes, oh yes it did, John! Oh, thank you so much!” Colette cries joyfully. Her voice is no longer as perfectly song-like as before, but now she speaks with happiness, which is far more important than any beauty. She takes my hand again, and it is both warm and soft. I twist my hand slightly in her palm, noticing what had been missing before, a pulse.
“Oh, it truly did work!” I say, feeling my chest swell with joy for Colette. I helped her achieve her dream. Perhaps there are happy endings in this world after all.
“Oh, I don’t know what to do first! I know, I want to drink something for the first time!”
“Here, try some of my coffee,” I offer, sliding my cup over to her. Colette picks up the cup, her fingernails clinking against the glass. “Ugh...” Colette groans, quickly setting the cup back on the table with a thud.
I chuckle, “On second thought, perhaps coffee isn’t the best drink to try first. You can wash out the taste with the water Tom gave you.”
“John, what will I do now that I am human? I will need food and a somewhere to sleep.” Colette asks worriedly. She takes my hands again in her now soft ones.
“Well, if you want, you can stay with me until you get used to being human. I can’t imagine how overwhelming everything must be. I have an extra bedroom that you can use.”
“Oh, why thank you, John! You have helped me yet again,” Colette says, briefly tightening her grip on my hands. “I have been wondering John, what was the memory that was responsible for turning me human? Could you tell me, please? I’m sure it is a lovely one.”
I take a steadying breath as I respond, “I was remembering the last thing I saw before I lost my sight. It was a good memory, because what I saw was a beautiful sunset through a car window. All of those vivid golds, pinks and reds slowly descending into the horizon as the pale blue sky faded to dull grey. It’s also bittersweet; because it reminds me of how I will never see a sunset again; never see color. I miss color.”
Colette gasps, “W-what? You are blind?”
Molly presses against me protectively. A deep growl rumbles from her chest.
Embarrassment for my disability overcomes me, along with awkwardness that Colette did not know from the beginning. Didn’t she notice Molly’s special harness, and her service dog vest? “Yes. I lost my sight in a car accident. I assumed you knew, from Molly’s special vest.”
“What? No! I had no idea! Now I understand that man’s comment and why he said I was being wasted on you,” Colette hesitates, and then mumbles, “I do not know how to be with someone who cannot admire my beauty.”
“Colette, don’t you know that you are more than your beauty?”
“Still, you cannot see. If I live with you, what would be expected of me? Do you need someone to take care of you? To lead you around? Is this why you are being so generous with your offer to let me stay with you?”
My embarrassment turns to anger. How dare Colette accuse me of trying to use her, when I have been nothing but kind. “No. I look after myself, Colette. Molly is the one who guides me.”
“That animal is another problem,” Colette’s voice becomes cold in contrast to her warm hands. She pulls her hands from mine. “I have decided, John, that I cannot live with you. I need to discover who I am. I cannot be held back by you.” With that, Colette shoves her chair back with a screech, and she leaves.
I sigh. I suppose Colette truly became human after all. What I fool I was, to think this would end happily. Molly whines and places her head on my lap.
I smile. “But I’ve got you, huh, girl? You warned me from the beginning, didn’t you? Let’s go home, Molly.”
~Thanks for Reading!~
