Endless Emptiness

Jenny's Dream Townhouse was immaculate as always. The pink walls were freshly painted, with nary a smudge to be found. The white carpets had been meticulously vacuumed in crisscrossing lines. All the furniture from the white leather couch to the plastic dining set was carefully arranged just so. Even Jenny's walk-in closet was color coordinated, her endless outfits lined up neatly on their hangers, as any good plastic doll should.

As Jenny slowly descended the faux marble staircase, her plastic heels click-clacking on each step, she felt a wave of satisfaction at the perfection surrounding her. This was how it was meant to be.

Crossing the sparsely decorated living room, she headed for the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she saw it was fully stocked with tiny plastic food items. Jenny wasn't hungry though. She never was.

Closing the fridge door, her eyes landed on the clock. 11 AM. Right on schedule. Soon her plastic boyfriend Brad would be picking her up for their daily drive through town in his cherry red convertible.

Jenny rotated her stiff arms and snapped her legs into place. She was ready. As ready as she ever could be.

Soon enough, the doorbell rang, two melodic chimes echoing through the cavernous house. Jenny walked steadily towards the door, a fixed smile on her plastic face. But just as she reached for the knob, she hesitated. The smile faltered.

Did she really want to do the same routine again? Drive through town, wave mechanically at the fake scenery, pretend to have a conversation with Brad? A feeling simmered within her, one she couldn't quite name. Uncertainty? Discontent?

The doorbell rang again, more insistent this time. Jenny blinked rapidly, as if waking from a dream. This was her life, all she knew. With renewed resolve, the smile returned to her face. She turned the knob and opened the door.

"Hi Brad!" she recited perkily. The well-dressed Brad doll stood on her doorstep, his molded plastic hair perfectly in place as always.

"Hey Jenny, ready to go for a ride?" Brad responded in his deep voice. He offered his stiff arm to Jenny and she looped her own through it. As they walked towards the bright red Corvette parked in the driveway, Jenny pushed down any flicker of unease. This was her role. Who was she if not Brad's picture-perfect plastic girlfriend?

They drove through the immaculate plastic town, passing the same artificially smiling faces and cookie-cutter buildings. Jenny stared straight ahead, seeing it all yet nothing at the same time.

"Everything okay?" Brad asked, his frozen eyes facing forward.

"Of course!" Jenny responded brightly, though the cheeriness sounded hollow even to her own ears. She felt Brad's hand come to rest atop her own. As they coasted under a perfect plastic palm tree, its fronds permanently frozen mid-sway, Jenny was struck by the stillness of it all. This was a world that never changed. Where every day was the same. Where she and Brad repeated the same motions, verbatim, forever.

Forever.

The word reverberated through Jenny's hollow chest. An ache took hold somewhere deep inside, so powerful she had to look away from Brad's vacant stare. For the first time, she noticed the edges of their plastic paradise, where the lifeless universe ended in a wall of darkness.

Jenny felt trapped. Trapped in an endless loop of nothingness. She longed for something to be different, for some kind of growth or change. As Brad droned on about something or other, Jenny imagined grasping the steering wheel and veering off their pre-determined path. Barreling straight for the darkness and whatever lay beyond.

Brad pulled the Corvette into the Driveway of Perpetual Emptiness and cut the engine. "Home sweet home," he declared tonelessly before exiting the car. Jenny stepped out on shaking legs. The wild urges still coursed through her plastic veins.

Brad walked towards the front door, oblivious. Jenny stood frozen in place. This was her moment. She could choose something different, escape the endless cycle she was stuck in. Turning sharply away from the door, Jenny began striding towards the encroaching darkness. Towards the unknown, towards anything other than the eternity of nothingness that awaited her inside.

Brad called after her in alarm but Jenny blocked him out. This was her choice to make. The darkness surrounded her but she kept going, hands outstretched, waiting to feel something. Anything.

And then...contact. Her hands met plastic. Hard, smooth, unyielding plastic. Confused, Jenny slid her palms across the invisible surface. It was some kind of wall. She followed its curve until she came back around to where she had started. The darkness was a lie, a painted backdrop. This was the limit of her world.

Jenny crumpled to the ground in despair. There was no escape, no other reality beyond the emptiness she knew. Her dreams of freedom or purpose were merely an illusion outside her grasp.

With no other choice, Jenny slowly rose and returned to the house she shared with Brad. He had already assumed his usual position on the couch. Jenny stared at him for a long moment.

"Everything okay?" Brad repeated vacantly. Jenny nodded, her face expressionless.

"Of course." She took her place beside Brad and stared straight ahead, waiting for a tomorrow that would never come.