The doll was very old. Its dress had faded, its hair was tangled into a clump, and one of its eyes had fallen out, leaving a dark, empty socket. But I noticed that the doll’s other eye had no pupil, only white plastic.
I instinctively remembered selling fire safety equipment and holding a fire drill at a toy store. The owner told me that dolls made by legitimate manufacturers had to have pupils and irises in their eyes. It was a toy safety standard enforced by the state.
