text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, fantasy]
  
  We can't leave Uncle Shrevnetz, you pleade
  
  Very well, we shall stay here, agrees Wilky. I suppose it's safer this way.
  
  And so the two of you settle on staying with the kindly old man who's doted on you for all as long as you can remember being in this universe.
  
  Six months pass.
  
  Today, you notice someone yelling from the front of the shop. The door leading to the doll room is only opened a crack, but you can definitely make out a man's voice. "Open the register or swore I'll blow your fucking brains out!"
  
  "Okay," says a nervous Uncle Shrevnetz. "I'll do what you want. Just please, young man, can you put that gun away? I won't put up a fight so there's no need for you to threaten me." You hear the sound of the register opening. "Here. Take all the money."
  
  "No, old man. I want you to take it out. Slowly."
  
  Wilky looks to you, his gloved hands held out. We have to protect him.
  
  What can we do? We're just little dolls, you insist.
  
  > stay where you are and hope the burglar doesn't get violent
  You're right, says Wilky. We are just little dolls.
  
  Let's just wait, you reply. I'm sure Uncle Shrevnetz will by okay. He's a sensible old man.
  
  "There," says Uncle Shrevnetz. "This is all the money I have. Now please just leave me in peace."
  
  "No," says the robber. "I'm gonna search the place for any valuables I can sell."
  
  "Oh, come now, young man..."
  
  "Shut the fuck up, grandpa, or I'll blow your fucking brains out!"
  
  You and Wilky listen tensely as the two of you hear banging and slamming sounds as the burglar looks through the shop. "What's this?" he asks.
  
  "Those? You don't need those. Those are my syringes. For my diabetes. Those can't be of any use to you."
  
  The burglar laughs. "Like Hell they aren't. What else you got in here?"
  
  "Nothing. This is all there is. Now please leave."
  
  There is the sound of a struggle with both men gasping. Then there's a loud bang that makes you and Wilky jump. Silence, followed by some ruffling sounds and then footsteps. They get louder. The door to the doll room creeks open and a lanky, unhealthy looking blond man with a green jacket and a cloth bag slung over one shoulder stands in the doorway. He regards the room for a moment and then enters. Quickly, he grabs a fistful of dolls from your shelf and shoves them in his bag. Then he grabs you and Wilky and you feel yourself hurled into darkness.
  
  > The Aftermath
  You and Wilky are jostled about with the bag, pressed up against other dolls and getting poked with Uncle Shrevnetz's syringes. It seems like hours before you hear another human voice.
  
  "What have you got for me, Marcus?" asks a woman.
  
  "Only the best for you, Alma," says the burglar. You are pulled from the bag and set on a glass countertop along with Wilky and the other dolls. "My aunt died recently and she left me these antique dolls. I'm sure I could get a good price for them."
  
  The woman is dark-haired and heavy-set and wears lots of jewelry and a lime green blouse. She pokes at Wilky and then picks him up and examines him with a critical eye. "And you say these were your aunt's?"
  
  "Yeah, she was really into collecting dolls. These look pretty valuable, right?"
  
  Alma sets Wilky back on the countertop. "I don't know, Marcus...Knowing you, these could be hot."
  
  "Ah, come on, Alma. You know I don't pull shit like that no more." Marcus brushes back some greasy blond locks from his forehead and stands up straighter. "And I need the money to swing rent for this month. Those dolls are priceless heirlooms."
  
  Alma isn't having any of this. She offers Marcus ten dollars for you and Wilky and the other dolls. He reluctantly accepts and leaves. Alma than places the lot of you dolls onto an aluminum shelf on a wall of the shop.
  
  Several days later, a tall dark-complected middle-aged woman comes into the pawn shop with her young granddaughter. The little girl sees the dolls and excitedly runs up to where you and Wilky are sitting. "Grams," says the little girl. "I want this one. She's so pretty!" She points to you.
  
  "Let me check," says the woman. She walks to the counter. "Hi, Alma."
  
  "Mrs. Alvarez. What can I do for you?"
  
  "Please, Alma, call me Lupe. My little Estrude had a birthday recently and I've finally saved up enough plasma money. Seems she wants that doll up there."
  
  They agree on a price and Alma reaches up to take you from the shelf. She grabs you and you realize Wilky is not going with you.
  
  > squirm out of Alma's hand and try to get back to Wilky?
  Alma is shocked when you force yourself out of her big hands. You fall to the linoleum tiles of the floor and run to the wall the doll shelf is mounted on. Alma exclaims in words you don't understand. You can't seem to reach the shelf. Wilky leans over the edge and looks down on you. Then Alma grabs Wilky and throws him in a bag. She grabs you too and throws you and the other dolls in the bag. The bag is carried somewhere and set down on a surface. A door closes and you can hear it lock.
  
  It is a long time before you or Wilky hear anything again. Then the door opens, someone picks up the bag and you can hear footsteps as the bag is taken somewhere. When the bag opens, Alma's hand comes in and grabs a doll. The she grabs you and Wilky. You are horrified to see you and Wilky and the other dolls are being tossed in a huge metal can with a fire smoldering inside. Both of you burn and then there is blackness and silence. Wilky thinks to you and the two of you wonder what will happen now.