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Cold red noses and prints of tiny hands on the glass, the sound of small humans and the joy that only carols, presents and hot chocolate can bring. Everyone seemed busy to stop and at least wish you a merry Christmas, yes, it's the most beautiful time of the year though everyone seems to be in a rush. The store was quiet and you seemed to start to feel bored, feeling like nothing interesting happened and only had the dolls to talk to, it was then that a tall figure walked by and it felt like time had stopped, as if snowflakes had decided to surround him and make him glow like an angel.
Through the clear crystal and under the tears of the cold winter you saw him walking, with eyes that shone as Christmas lights in the rooftops of the houses, with admiration and a new feeling in your heart who you thought to be static. Pulling down his scarf and as his breath condensed in big clouds in front of him and a big smile who showed that he had found the perfect place, you kept seeing him with big sparkling eyes: one that showed the color of wheat fields during fall and other that could only be found in the clearest of waters. The shop window displayed the most beautiful dolls of all sizes and types, antique ones, newer ones, and those that had been made with a special touch, those that seemed to have a soul, what he thought to be the most beautiful of them all, those handmade ones, for they had been made with patience and love, but only an eye of an expert could see these differences. Eyes like his.
As the little bell rang, he crossed the door.
"Wel–" and you were interrupted, with a knot in your throat, you couldn't finish your sentence. Not only because the owner had spoken first, but because you couldn't shake off the bewitching feeling as he shook off the specks of snow from his shoulders. Hair of the colour of a sunset and eyes of dusk. With a soft voice he pronounced his greetings and you could notice the owner knew his eyes were those of a scholar, someone who knew of details. Of course, a refined client. He asked about the dolls on display, and about models, and years and though you'd been there for a long time, you still had no idea what was he talking about.
He noticed your eyes who wouldn't stop staring at him and with cheeks that burned you averted your eyes, he made a little triumph noise as you looked away. Embarrassment. The owner only let you stay because he owed your father some favors and he had said he needed someone at the counter, and though a couple of months had passed you didn't feel like you had learned something. You sighed.
The young man kept looking around the place, stopping at those who seemed to catch his eyes, but waved his hand in front of him as if he wanted to dissolve a cloud of ideas, he kept looking at the dolls looking for the perfect one. Your eyes followed every single one of his movements because he moved with grace as his steps made a knock-knock sound on the wooden floor while his heels traversed the shop. You felt like all that time you were holding your breath and had to remind yourself to keep inhaling, and exhaling.
He sighed.
"These won't do" he finally said in a soft but defeated voice, and as he started to walk towards the door, the owner rushed and happily announced that he could have at his service the best artisans in town, he could ask for a custom order and whatever he imagined and desired, he would have it. This put a smile on his face, and right there you really thought you were seeing an angel.
"Would you like to place an order?" Asked the owner enthusiastically.
"I would" he replied. And your heart skipped a beat: he would come back.
The details were written and you realized he had an exact idea of what he wanted, you considered the owner to be an expert on the area but even he couldn't keep up the pace with the young man's ideas, but there you were able to see his name, a name you would pronounce even in your dreams...
The order was placed and it was a long list with such specifications that made the owner sweat, but excitement was what he showed: a challenge.
The young man with eyes of dusk put on his gloves and scarf again and with an elegant manner set out to the way to the exit, without thinking from your mouth escaped:
"Come back soon!" he turned around to see you, red cheeks behind the counter, but that time you held his eyes and you felt you were becoming of the color of Rudolph's nose. He didn't answer but you were sure you had seen a smile behind that scarf.
As he walked out, your heart couldn't stop its rate, thump thump thump, but wait, what was that your little heart felt? Obviously admiration as he was everything you wanted to be, a distinguished youth whose bearing could make people fall to their knees, an expert in his area, someone who spoke with wisdom and knowledge of the arts and the world... and smelled good. Sandalwood, you noticed. But yes, admiration is what you felt... right? You thought to yourself that even if it wasn't just that, you would convince yourself of it.
As the days passed and the snow pilled on the street and big boxes where carried every single day as the day of the birth of the Savior approached, you kept seeing at the street waiting for him. Every single time the door opened and you heard the bell, you would immediately turn around expecting to see him, but it was a father looking for a perfect present, a woman whose dream of holding a doll in her arms could only become true now. Empty hearts and bellies whose desire to cradle a soul in their arms, could be fulfilled with those in that shop.
A great motto on the door that portrayed perfectly what that place was: We make dreams come true.
Clients came and went and they all were different, but none of them gave away the same feeling or left the resounding tap tap that his steps made on the wooden floor that still sounded in your head.
Finally, the order placed by him was finished, the owner prepared her right on the counter and you thought it was the most beautiful doll you had seen in your life, long golden hair and gorgeous emerald eyes.
"Look at this" he rose the doll up and brought it close to you, "look at these details, every single thing has been handmade and with the best materials in this world to top it!" You thought the owner resembled a peacock, so proud of himself that he wanted to show the his creation to everyone "Oh, how I wish I could put you in a glass cabinet and show the world just how perfect you are" said to the doll as he placed it into a pink box with the same care you treat a newborn. "But he is coming to pick you up tomorrow! Right on Christmas eve, it will be probably the busiest day of the year, but he said he'd come that day"
Thump, thump thump, you felt your heart would explode. He would go back the next day, but you didn't know if that meant your suffering would end or start. What if he never came back after that day?
Christmas eve came and those with busy lives came running to make other's dreams come true, as time went by you saw how many of those dolls that had been your company during your lonely afternoons were leaving, one by one, you felt happy for them.
"A home" you thought. You had been left alone in the store for such a long time, that you had forgotten what a home felt like.
As the last rushed sales of the day were done, the night had fallen and the street was empty, the owner looked at the clock and it was way past closing time, but the young man still hadn't shown up, you knew that if it was his own desire, he would leave the store open until he showed up, but he had to go back home because a warm dinner and the laughter of two children were waiting for him. He looked at you and shook his head, the owner definitely saw your worried eyes but couldn't do much. It was really late and the store was the only one open on that block. He let out a big sigh as he closed the door.
"Maybe later" he said as he patted the pink box. And in that moment, as the place went completely dark, you felt as if your small heart would crush. The owner left you to tidy up here and there, and as you were about to finish as well, you heard it: the sound of his steps. He came running down the street and although there was snow on the sidewalk, you had been able to recognize his steps. He stopped right in front of the store and you heard him trying to catch his breath.
"No..." you heard him say and he tried knocking the door. You wanted to open it. You wanted to open the door and hand the doll to him just to see the joy in his face, but you knew it, you couldn't do that and if you tried, the owner would kick you out, no questions asked. All you could do was listen to him, to the sound of his breath and his steps going from one side to another, and you could swear you could also listen to his accelerated heartbeats.
You felt a pain in your small heart as you heard him walk away and thought to yourself that you would never allow this to happen again.
Christmas morning came and the store remained closed. The owner had set an announcement outside since it was the only day of the year he actually rested and fully spent it with his family. And all day long all you could do was to think about him.
It was the day after Christmas, and it was a calm morning, the store was open again but there weren't as many clients as the big day has already passed. And then you heard them, the unforgettable sound of his steps as the little bag rang.
"Good morning" he said, and you felt your heart would escape through your mouth.
The eyes of the owner shone as he crossed the door, he then explained he had waited for him until late hours of the night.
"My deepest apologies," he said "I'm afraid an event I did not expect happened, and held me busy the whole day" the young man seemed embarrassed, but the owner brushed it off.
"Don't worry, Sir. I think it was better this way, Christmas eve was very busy and people came and went, I wouldn't have been able to show it to you with detail. She's ready." And the face of the young man lit up.
He was so excited he didn't even noticed you, but it was fine. Just to be able to see him again was enough for you. The owner showed how every single request and detail he had asked for had been fulfilled.
"She's perfect" he said with a smile. And the last arrangements were done. A big sum of money had to be paid, but this didn't seem to bother the young man, and you thought the owner would fly away from the happiness.
And that was it, the process had been finished and the thump thump your heart had been making the past days had turned into the sound of smashing glass. He grabbed the big box and started to walk towards the door and you felt like screaming, you wanted to tell him to stop but nothing came from your mouth. Silence, only silence. A desperation you have never felt in your short life, the desire to run to him and confess your heart out, but you stayed there, quiet.
As he was about to cross the door. He stopped, and walked again towards the counter. Your small heart felt it could beat again just at the sight of his face. He looked straight at you, finally he had noticed you, he examined you from head to toe and you felt like he could see through your eyes into your soul.
"What about that one?" he asked as he pointed the doll with two eyes of different colors and pink cheeks.
"Oh no, not this one, Sir." The owner said as he grabbed the doll and moved it around in his hands "Kids think it's weird, specially for those weird eyes that seem to be alive, they don't like it"
The young man's eyes narrowed and scrunched his nose and anger was visible in his face.
"Are you perhaps insinuating that my mind and taste are alike of those of a child?" the owner went red.
"N-no! No, of course not, Sir! it's just that your taste is so specific and refined that I don't think a doll made by a mere amateur would suit your taste"
"Hand it" he ordered as he extended his hand, the owner had to give up and gave it to him. He placed the doll in his hands. A small doll with a ceramic head and a body made of cloth. Dressed with a simple white shirt and black pants.
You looked directly into his eyes and he looked into yours. Your two different colored eyes had been a recurrent topic and a joke "The maker ran out of both colors and just placed one of each" you had heard that so many times, you had convinced yourself of it. It was until now that he was holding you in his hands, that he had finally noticed the color of the trees in fall and the sky after a storm, your eyes like two beautiful gems. A warm feeling invaded the face of the young man.
"If this is the product of an amateur, why have it on display and the counter?" The owner scratched his head.
"This was made by a friend of mine, and though he's a dear friend, he only made this one to sell it and be able to afford gifts for his children, you see, he has an orphanage and makes toys for the kids, but this doll... he wanted to specifically sell this one." He shrugged "He thought he'd venture into the doll-making world but still hasn't produced anything worth of being sold" and the owner pointed again to the dark haired doll he held in his hands, and he didn't notice but you felt like your eyes were wider and brighter than ever, as if you tried to capture every single moment even if it meant to go back to the corner in the counter where barely anyone saw you. A dream: the warmth of his hands, because he took off his gloves to be able to feel you. He touched your hair and face and examined your eyes and you thought your cheeks were redder and redder everytime he handled you. You felt like you were floating and somehow you were. A dream, that's what you thought, just a mere dream.
"How much?" He asked as he put you down on the counter. Thump thump, the sound of your heart. The owner opened his eyes wide.
"What?"
"How much does your friend ask for this doll of his?" the owner hesitated as he realized he wasn't joking.
"H-he never stated a price, he just asked me to sell it, so... I don't know. You see it, if it was mine, I wouldn't even charge you but–" He raised his hand and gestured him to be quiet.
"I'll pay you the same amount I've paid for the other one" and the owner choked. The work of an amateur valued exactly as the collectible one, the detailed one. He couldn't believe it, his friend would be ecstatic.
"Yes, of course! Let me wrap it for you"
"Unnecessary" he said and from his bag he pulled out a case with a tiny outfit, one that was worthy of a prince and right there in the counter he changed your clothes. A big difference. You now seemed like the tiniest of princes and he could notice the owner's eyes couldn't believe the change.
"He definitely looks different now, much better boy!" he said to the doll, now using He instead of it.
"Every soul deserves an opportunity"
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing" and he smiled, a big smile that showed pure satisfaction. An opportunity given to the one that was almost thrown away, an opportunity given to the one that was forgotten and left to collect dust in a corner, an opportunity given to one that had the potential to become like those others that were displayed with pride.
And the day after Christmas a new boy was born, out of the rags and clothes and dust from the counter of a doll store, one with a soul and not just a doll.
As he held you in his arms and the owner waved you goodbye, as you crossed that door and the snow also fell in your hair and clothes you felt how a new life had begun. A new world for you to see, along with the one who had seen the potential in you. He looked at you again and smiled.
"Happy birthday" he whispered to you, as the day after Christmas marked your new beginning.
The young man didn't know, but he gave it.. he gave him an opportunity to make his big entrance to the world and had decided this one would be the one he'd show around and brag about it. A great discovery. A diamond in the rough... no... an amber and a lapis lazuli in rough.