DARE TO BE YOU

JANIS THE RAG DOLL Hello, my name is Janis I’m a rag doll. They say I’m not but I know I am. Red braided wool hair. Button eyes. Sewn red lips, curled up. All stuffed inside with warmth and smiles. Cheeks red. They locked me here in this hospital they say I am crazy. I make stuffed animals. I would sell them to the toy store near where I use to live. Not factory toys they seem so dead. They're all the same, toxic and not at all pretty. If you want a child to understand beauty you have to expose them to beauty. Why give them a factory made toy. It would be better to give them a stick at least it has life. Sometimes when I find toys thrown out, broken, I bring them home, I fix them and I breathe life into them. They let me bring my favorites with me to this hospital. I hate the smell, here at the hospital it is toxic. My toys their like my family, here they are on the shelf I made them all. I must brush them please. Hello, Bibs he’s the youngest so I brush him first! He has a bushy squirrel tail. I used seventeen different colors in his tail just barely different each one. There you go Bibs all done. (Whispering) I have to do Wendy next she’s a Fox but she gets very jealous that she’s not first. Shhhh, it’s adorable she is so finicky.(Janis lets out a loving laugh) Everyday I brush them all and we talk and play. I know their toys but they live within my heart. These are the ones I could not sell. Never! I don’t know why they locked me here. It’s as if they knocked the stuffing from within me. I try not to get angry but I am angry. Why would they do this to me? I know I’m different but that’s alright because I’m me. I think they’re afraid of me. People are always afraid of what they don’t understand. I’m just Janis. I’m a rag doll, long red hair button eyes rosy cheeks a sewn own smile. I make handmade toys; I breathe life into each and everyone. Please why am I here? Why won’t they let me be free? armandhamouth