MOVED — Chloe Cole

“I didn’t look anything like the enthusiastic actors who unboxed Clara Dolls in commercials. The lid didn’t pop off instantly like a gasp but came off slowly, as though it had claws.

The doll lay stiff in a vacuum-sealed bag surrounded by gray packing peanuts. The plastic material blurred her face, which was an exact copy of mine. Her familiar round bulb of a nose pressed against the inside.

When I had asked Parker if he would like me to buy him a Clara Doll before I moved away, he said yes too quickly. I suspected he thought he could get her to do sexual positions I didn’t like, specifically the Farm Girl, which always made my leg cramp. The Farm Girl wasn’t his favorite, though; his favorite was the Divorced Woman, which was me touching myself in the shower as if I were alone...”