Before Auri could even figure out what was happening, the rag doll on the ground started to change.
The little scissors on its back swelled first.
Metal blades extended outward along both sides, and in the blink of an eye they'd become a pair of giant shears taller than a grown adult.
Then the doll's body began to grow.
Patchwork fabric stretched larger piece by piece, stuffing inside it inflating fast. The palm-sized toy stood up from the grass and kept rising, until it became a tall, stitched rag doll.
It gripped the giant shears with both hands.
The blades opened, lined up with where Auri had just been standing, and snapped shut hard.
Crack!
The air—and the dead grass on the ground—were cut cleanly, like someone had sliced a straight seam through the world.
The doll held the finishing pose, then slowly raised its stitched-on face.
There was no one in front of it anymore.
Auri clung to Ethan's back, head lowered, peeking past his shoulder at the tall rag doll.
