Dolls

It started off by accident.

I had always been good at crafts; my mother said that my long fingers and sharp eyes made creating things easy for me. However, it never really occurred to me to make dolls of any kind until I was fourteen and the bullying began.

At first, I thought that I could handle it. Name-calling and small pranks were mean-hearted and stung, but they were insignificant enough that I could shrug it off. Hair-pulling and homework-stealing I could take. Being ostracized and looked down upon by all my classmates, sure. But then the girls - those mean, vicious things - just had to start getting violent.

I'll have to admit, cutting off my hair was something I could probably have handled, though they did a terrible job of it. Of course, they got what they wanted: Me crying and screaming, but still helpless and resigned in the end. Punching me where the teachers could see it.... Well, that was stupid. But no one said anything, and my parents didn't believe me, or were just too busy to care. Force-feeding me dirty laundry though, now that was the last straw.

Never did I believe in supernatural things, least of all voodoo. But making those dolls gave me a sense of calm, of peace. Of vengeance. They were perfect replicas of their human counterparts. Originally, I was going to leave it at that. But one of the girls just left her brush and spare shirt there. Holding her doll to an open flame was somewhat vindictive, I'll confess, but cathartic too. It's not my fault she was found dead in her burnt out crisp of a home the next day.

It started off by accident. But then it became a hobby. Now.... Well, now things are just getting out of hand.
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This piece was written for a small contest to win a book. 

I was supposed to write a short story inspired by one of the titles in the book I was competing for (and won, but that's irrelevant). The title was 'Dolls', but was apparently changed to 'Playtime', I think. 
Here's the link to the book: KL Noir: White. My friend, Anne Lim, was also published in the book, so it'd be great if you can check it out!