Paris, France.
There was a doll in the window with a steady ticking heartbeat. She was antique and battered, her was dress creased and her eyes were lost to the perils of time. Rose lay on display without a word.
A tall girl strode towards the shop with what could be called a spring in her step and paused at the door. She turned her head to the window and saw her reflection in the glass pane.
She had no face. In place of human features there was a mask framed by long silver hair with purple tips. The girl tilted her head and pulled an old bronze pocket watch from the pocket of her faded jeans.
What is it?
The girl looked up at Rose and smiled, though who could tell when there was a porcelain grin on her face? "I'm just guessing here, but I think it tells the time." She spoke as if her voice hadn't been used in a long time with an accent that seemed to be from everywhere.
Rose was surprised to say the least. Never before had a human acknowleged her existence, not since the eighteenth century. Of couse, she couldn't move or speak, so she did have some difficulty. She couldn't even see.
"Bonjour madame." The masked girl spoke with ease and reached down the top of her turtleneck sweater and pulled up a key and an ebony locket. She stared at the trinkets she held in her hand, then shook her head sadly, replacing the locket. "You have waited here for so long," she whispered. She walked to the front of the shop to face where Rose was. "And so have I."
The key found itself in the lock of the door and turned slowly, giving a click. The door creaked open and showed the pitch black room inside, full of mechanical marionettes.
Wake up.
She hummed as she wandered into the darkness and held her finger out like a baton.
Wake up. Have life. Take what is yours.
The ticking grew louder and louder until there was a crash as a doll fell to the ground.
That's the spirit.
More dolls began to get to their feet and at that moment Rose's limbs felt as nimble as they had when she was created. She rose, decades of dust falling at her feet. She turned and saw the lady in the mask.
You are free.
How can I be free like this?
The girl shrugged. She took a silk napkin from her sleeve and placed it on the solid pine table. It was a dull blue, and on it there was the initials: 'H.M'.
She spun on her heels and headed for the door, the dolls following at her ankles.
"Anything is possible, " she breathed. "After all..."
She reached for the locket again and lifted her head to see the moon as she used her free hand to sweep open the door. "I'm not human."
