Mannequin
My wife asked me to come to the mall, but I wasn’t in the mood for its crowds or life-like mannequins. “Careful,” I said, “last time one of them tried to grab me.” She laughed, left and never came back.
I reported her missing: “She has a green handbag and a scar on her forehead,” I told police. “She’s beautiful.”
They promised to find her. They never did.
Sometimes, I pass the store where she was last seen; one of its mannequins carries a green handbag and has a mark on its forehead. For a piece of plastic, it’s beautiful.
Note on Mannequin
I wrote Mannequin for Off the Shelf’s competition Retail Tales. The word limit was 100 words. It came runner up and appeared on the Off the Shelf Festival of Words website in 2014.
Featured mannequin photo by Razoomgame.
Inkposts 
A brief masterpiece, Akeem; it made me smile, think and shiver just a little. Thanks for leading me here by reading and commenting on my mannequins post. I’m glad to find you and Inkposts!
Good stuff. It was good to see what others had to say about these objectively harmless servants of capitalism ;). Thanks for sharing it as well, and, of course, I’m glad you like Inkposts.
Cool story! Sinister!
Great piece – I’m not surprised it won a gong. Nicely writ.
Reblogged this on Bookheathen's Right to Read and commented:
This is a wonderful example of how few words are needed to tell a story!
Beautiful!
A wonderful piece – very ‘Tales of the Unexpected’/ ‘Twilight Zone’. Its brevity helps in its overall effect!
I’ve never read Tales of the Unexpected or Twilight Zone but thanks to your mention I’ll add them to my reading list.
They were TV shows from the 70’s/ 80’s – some definitely worth checking out, and I’m sure ‘findable’ on the old internet!
A TV show? I thought you meant Roald Dahl’s short story collection. I’ll give them a watch.
Yes to the Roald Dahl. Many were made into 30 minute TV dramas. Twilight Zone was an American show.
Wonderful! Would you mind if I passed this on?
I wouldn’t mind at all, and thanks for sharing it.