There, left in a dusty corner of the consignment shop, wings and antlers trailing sticky cobwebs, lay an abandoned noktoa doll. Picking it up, I noticed that it was slightly out of sorts- slight damage in odd places, a bit of fading from being left too long in the sun on one side, touch ups made haphazardly, and repairs started but never finished, just enough to keep it from falling apart from decay. This was a doll that spent more time forgotten than looked at or loved. The young woman who ran the shop was so eager to have it out of her shop she didn’t even bother dust it off or to write a receipt before she dropped it in a bag and sent me on my way, forgotten by the time the door closed behind me.
When I was young I had toys like this: cute, solidly made to take rough handling, carefully stitched together from the still good parts of tattered old clothes and the skins of older, torn up toys. As I grew older they were passed to others to enjoy, as they were meant to be. Cherished partners in crime to child after child, until they too were recycled into a new toy when they could no longer be repaired.
Arriving home, I put the doll on a table and went to collect some supplies from the linen closet. Nothing special was needed. Just a sewing kit, some scraps of flannel pajamas and sheets that had yet to be used as washrags, and a bit of stuffing from a burst pillow. Gently wiping off the dust and cobwebs with a damp towel, I found a name written in faded pen, nearly worn off by age. Xuraki. Not knowing if that was the person who made it, one of its past owners, or the name given to the doll itself, I decided that, at least for now, that was what I would call it.
It took a couple evenings of careful work to bring the doll back to life again. Though, perhaps a bit selfishly, it was not for it to be passed again to young hands to enjoy, but rather to be kept for myself as a quiet companion to an evening’s brandy and the news. To spend this time remembered and loved.
Profile and story by frederick. Adopted from Saturnine.
Background pattern from Toptal
Thanks to Princess for their profile guide and sample code.