• “Please god, let me out of here,” the young girl whispered as she lay on the glossy wooden floor. Shadows danced around the large glass dome, their forms sliding through the darkness, pale purple eyes staring in at the girl. A soft slow music box melody drifted through the air. A soft light illuminated the interior of the glass dome. “No, please,” the girl pleaded, as silver strings attached to her joints and pulled her from the ground. Her body twisted into a graceful, but forced, pirouette. She slowly turned in graceful circles without moving and inch, like a ballerina in a music box. Long black human-like forms danced in the dim light. The melody stopped; the strings binding her snapped. In anger, the girl threw herself into the glass walls surrounding her. Tears streamed down her face, her dark-doll like makeup running. The girl screamed as she pounded against the glass, the shadows around her faded into the surrounding darkness. The world around her was swallowed by darkness as she slowly sank back to the ground, her short ruffled black dress sliding smoothly against the glass. “Please, just let me out, just let me out.”

    A soft light flickered on, a large cloaked figure stood on the other side of the glass. “My dearest girl, why do you cry?” The figure said. His voice seemed to drift through the air rather than come from the cloaked figure before her. She slowly looked up at him, “Please, just let me go. I haven’t done anything, I don’t even know who you are,” she pleaded in a quiet voice. The figure smiled, his sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. “Do you even know who you are?”
    The girl shook her head, her eyes bright with fear and confusion. The figure chuckled, the smooth velvety sound echoed through the glass dome. “Silly girl, you don’t know anything do you? You don’t know your name, where you are or even why you’re here.” The figure chuckled again as he pushed his hood down, his vibrant blue eyes sparkled in the light. “Please, just let me out of here,” she pleaded as more tears rolled down her face. “My dear girl you sound like a broken record. Oh well, at least you can talk. It was so boring when you just mindlessly spun in circles. It was much quieter, but boring none the less,” he said as he ran a hand through his long black hair. The girl stared at him in confusion. She placed her hand on the glass as she stared at him. The man crouched in front of her, his beautiful eyes staring at her through the glass.
    “Please let me out.”
    The man laughed and stood. “Sorry my darling but, I cannot,” he said as he began to walk away. “Good bye my sweet Ciara,” he chuckled as the world was thrown into darkness. “Ciara,” the girl whispered as she closed her eyes. The man with black hair danced through her mind, a human sized wooden doll with bright green eyes and a short black ruffled dress in his arms. The girl drifted into a deep sleep as the strange couple danced through her thoughts.



    The man and doll faded away as a new image took its place. The doll was lying on a shelf, her body broken, her long auburn hair falling in front of her face. “Master,” the doll whispered in a soft voice, her arm clicking as she reached towards the man in the center of the room. The doll fell from the shelf. The man turned and looked at her as she lay in a broken heap on the wood floor. He slowly walked over to her, and lifted the human sized doll to his chest. She looked up at him lovingly. “My poor sweet Ciara, soon you will be complete, soon you will be able to walk and dance. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” the man said as he stroked the dolls face. The doll nodded, a smile on her wooden face.

    The girl’s eyes snapped open as a soft music box melody drifted through the air. Silver strings pulled her from the ground; her body contorted as she began to spin. “Please, please let me out!” She screamed as the strings on her left arm snapped. With her free arm she pulled at the strings connected to her right arm.
    “Stop. Stop!” Whispery voices called, human-like shadows stood against the glass, their pale eyes peering in at her. The strings snapped, the music came to a halting stop. Lights came on in the room around her. “Ciara stop!” A man yelled as he walked through the old fashioned ballroom. The girl slammed her fists into the glass, the shadows around her vanished.
    “Let me out!” she screamed.
    “I cannot let you out! Not yet, you are not complete yet, just be patient.” He said, his blue eyes shinning in the light. The girl shook her head as she backed up to the other side of her glass prison. “Don’t,” He warned his expression darkening. The girl threw herself, running into the glass in front of the man. Her prison rocked forward.
    “Ciara stop!” He yelled as he backed away. The girl threw herself into the glass again, her prison tipped forward. The glass dome slammed into the marble. The girl fell onto the glass as the dome cracked. The glass above her shattered, she slowly sat up. The man stood beside the remains of the glass dome. Sorrow filled his eyes. The girl reached towards him. She froze when her hand passed the edge of the broken dome. Her fingers stiffened, her elbow creaked, her skin curled and peeled like old paint. She fell back on the glass, her body creaking as it hit the ground. “Stupid girl, if you had just waited you could have left. You stupid stupid girl, you could have had a real life,” the man said, as he lifted the wooden doll from the broken glass, the dolls green glass eyes stared up at him. The image of a man holding a small glass music box with an emerald eyed ballerina, spinning gracefully in the center flashed. through her fading mind. A large unfinished wooden mannequin stood in the corner of the room. “M-master,” she croaked in a fading voice, reaching towards the man’s face. Her eyes went blank as her hand fell back to her side, all life gone from the once living doll.

    Shadows slowly creeped around the man and doll, “The deals off,” he said through bitter tears. One of the shadows chuckled, “the deal is still on, we gave her life. We gave you what you wanted. So, now we get what you promised.” The shadows grabbed at his legs, laughing maliciously as they dragged him into the ground.


    A man slowly danced around the dark clearing, the woman-like doll in his arms, hanging limply as he spun it around. Shadows danced around him as a soft melody played. The man lifted his head to the blood red moon, a manic laugh ripping from his throat. Blood dripped from his scratched out eyes as he continued to dance.