Your Doll Is Ready for Pickup

"Delivery. Please sign for it." The doll he'd bought online had arrived. He opened the package. The doll had delicate features and looked lifelike. An Cheng kept it by his side, spending every day and night with it. They watched fireworks beneath the stars, shoulder to shoulder, and nestled together in a corner of his little home. Sometimes, just before bed, he would even give it a casual goodnight kiss. "Good night." The doll sat where it was, perfectly still and unresponsive. After all, it was only a doll. And yet An Cheng often fell into the same dream. A figure carrying the damp scent of rain and dew pulled the blanket back over him after he'd kicked it off, held him close, and kissed his hair, whispering: "Good night." Work kept An Cheng busy, and the time he could spend with the doll grew shorter and shorter. The doll that had once been with him day and night was forgotten in a corner, gathering dust. Then one day, when he came home, An Cheng found the doll sitting at the dining table, where a steaming meal had been laid out. A black fountain pen rested on the tabletop, pinning down a slightly yellowed sheet of paper. It was the instruction sheet that had come with the doll: 1. Take good care of the doll. Do not damage it. 2. Stay by its side at all times. Never abandon it. Beneath the neat printed text were handwritten words in ink that hadn't dried, as if they'd just been added: 13. Eat three meals together. 14. Watch a movie together every weekend. 26. A goodnight kiss before bed. Blurb registered: 2023.07.06 Theme: To be added later