Mariettes life consisted of two things. Waiting to perform and performing. It was always so dark, waiting, always oh so dark. She would sit, twiddle her thumbs and fidget with her pale pink tutu. Sometimes she would stand up and try to peek outside through the little keyhole in her box. She never saw much though. She liked to listen instead. She stretched, practiced, and waited for her human to come and watch her perform. While she waited, she liked to think about the past.

She adored her human. She had known her since she was a grubby toddler who's jam covered hands would press the button that made Mariette perform and would dance alongside her in a sparkly tutu of her own. When her human was small, she would talk to Mariette.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a ballerina too!"

If she could have smiled, she would have. She remembered when her human had given her her name.

"You're names Mariette! My name is Lily! We're both ballerinas!" The toddler giggled and then pressed the button to make Mariette perform again. She performed almost all day back then.

As Lily grew older, Mariette performed less and less. She heard more and more though. Lily arguing with her mother, Lily playing pretend with her friends, Lily blasting music from a radio, Lily crying about a bad grade, and Lily excitedly talking about some boy to her friends. Mariette knew everything about Lily, she watched her grow up and she loved her like a sister. Lily had seemed to forget about Mariette though.

Now, Lily was a senior in high school. Mariette hadn't performed in over a year or so. She only knew because she counted the times the keyhole went dark, then light. 405 since the last time she performed. She thought about her last performance. Lilys friend had opened the box and pressed the button. Mariette jumped up, and danced with so much energy she thought she might fall over once it was over. She was proud of that performance. Lilys friend had just laughed, and said something like,

"I used to have one of these. I don't know what happened to it."

Lily just smiled.

Now, Mariettes life consisted of waiting. She wondered if she would ever perform again, or if she forgotten about. Lily was using a new word all the time. "college". Somehow, Mariette knew that her end as a ballerina was near. The thought made her want to cry, but she couldn't.

She was just plastic after all.