I sat on a dusty thrift store shelf far from the view of any windows. My only companion was Fairbanks, a TY bear who had arrived not long ago. I had been here for a while. Other newer toys came and went as children smiled with astonishment. A few glanced smiles at me, but in the end decided a scruffy brown bunny with a pink ribbon around her neck was not the kind of toy they wanted to bring home.

I often thought about the days when I still had a home. My last owner had grown old and I was eventually forgotten about and given away. Before that I had been passed on from parent to child through multiple generations. Being passed on from child to child gave me many hours of play time every day. Now, I could only sit on this shelf and collect dust.

But then a girl came down my aisle, looking up and down the shelves as if searching for something specific. She wasn't a child but she didn't have an old face either. Her eyes stopped moving right as they landed on the little basket both Fairbanks and I sat in.

I wasn't surprised when she reached over to grab Fairbanks instead of me. She started fiddling with his arms before a smile spread over her face.

"He has rotatable joints!" She proclaimed as she looked for his name on his tag.

The girl looked back into the basket and brought me out as well.

"This one also has rotatable joints!" She looked between Fairbanks and I, "But I only need one of you."

I understood now that she would definitely pick one of us. Fairbanks was always the one to be picked up and admired so it was obvious what the decision would be.

The girl smiled sweetly at Fairbanks, "Sorry, you're just too cute for my plans."

Fairbanks was placed back into the basket as I stayed in the girls hand shocked. She smiled gleefully down at me and started walking towards the front counter. I was still completely confused why she chose me over Fairbanks. However, the excitement of finally getting out and the mysterious plan this girl had in store for me outweighed my confusion.

I was paid for with a handful of coins and brought outside in a plastic bag. It had been such a long time since I had seen the sun lit sky! I couldn't wait to have more picnics and tea parties on freshly mowed green grass and to splash through puddles after a rainstorm. I couldn't wait for slumber parties, snuggling at bedtime, and cuddling after a bad day. There was just so much to look forward to now that I was off the shelves of the thrift store.

The drive was far from silent as I could hear multiple other people, some who sounded like children, talking about everything that crossed their minds. While ignored, I tidied up my pink ribbon and tried to smooth out my ragged brown fur without making too much noise. As soon as the drive was over, I couldn't help but imagine how fun today would be once we started playing.

I was brought inside and to a table with a sewing machine surrounded by fabric and different sewing materials. Were we going to play a game of dress making or was she just going to check me over for any tears? I wasn't sure.

The girl sat me down on a section of the table that was cleared of any materials so that I was facing her and the machine. She gathered pieces of fabric she had already cut out and started pinning them together. Looking closely, I could tell the pieces were carefully labeled with parts such as arm, body, and head. She was making me a friend!

I sat, patiently waiting as I watched her pin and sew one section before pinning and sewing the next section. I had been made long before this girl was even born, but I could still remember coming to life just as my last stitch was put into place. It would be so exciting to watch as this new toy slowly gained life as well.

This continued for many hours. The other members of the home had already said their goodnights and the girl was still sewing. I couldn't blame her though. She was playing an audio book about adventuring dragons and it was enjoyable to imagine myself as one of the dragons on the adventure. Though, even after her phone had died, she still continued sewing as if in a trance.

I watched silently until the girl finished sewing the arms and looked over at me. The toy she was making looked close to being finished, so why had she stopped now? She lifted me up and smiled down at me.

"These are going to be a great help." She said, rotating my arms in circles.

It crossed my mind that maybe she would have me help to finish the new toy and I grew excited once again. However, after spinning my right arm around a few times she started pulling on it as if to test its strength. Of course I knew it wouldn't hurt me. I had been through the hands of many children and stood through all the hard core play sessions.

The girl hummed in thought before reaching into a drawer. However, I had expected her to pull out a hair brush. Not a pair of scissors. She carefully brought the scissor blades behind my head and snipped my ribbon off. However the front of the ribbon was still superglued to the front which brought a frown to the girls face.

She then brought the scissors near my face and slowly cut through the fur that was glued to the ribbon until it fell into her open palm. I had rather liked that ribbon, but I was confident in the decisions she made for me.

The girl finally smiled once again and I felt relieved. Though I was still perplexed as to why the scissors were still in her hand. She held me firmly and brought the tips of the scissor blades just below the base of my arm and started cutting.

At first, she could barely cut through my thick brown fur. However, she opened the mouth of the blades wider and progress was being made.

I was horror struck. In no time at all, a hole had been cut near the base of my arm and my bead stuffing was close to falling out. The girl seemed to expect this and had a ziplock baggie ready as she cut the rest of my arm off in one final motion from the scissor blades.

If I could, I would have screamed. My arm was removed and the beads giving my arm structure poured into the little bag. What terrified me even more was the look of content written over the girl's tired expression.

After my arm was emptied of all beads, the girl picked me up once again and started doing the same thing to my other arm. Pretty soon, I was completely armless apart from the stubs that my rotating joints held in place.

Understanding washed over me as the girl inspected my old joints carefully and hummed, "Not what I was expecting, but they'll have to work."

She took the scissors once again around her fingers and started cutting away just below the rotatable joint in my neck. My agonized mind could do nothing as the scissor blades cut deep into my body. Was this the end? Is this how toys met their ends?

So many questions flooded my mind all at once now that my life seemed to be coming to an end. I never even thought I'd ever reach the end. I had thought I would live on for many more generations and play with many more children. Why did it all have to end now?

The scissors snipped the remaining fabric holding my head to my body and let my head fall into her open hand. The girl smiled at me but it was sad and apologetic. What was just as strange was my life not ending. Was this a blessing or a curse?

She gently placed my decapitated head onto the table surface to where I was still facing her and emptied my body of its bead stuffing before grabbing the scissors once again and cutting around the joints that once held my arms in place.

The girl studied the outdated joints and twisted them around as she figured out how they worked. She sat in silence for a minute before leaving the room and returning with needle nosed pliers.

I watched as she tirelessly pried at my cotter pin joints and slowly got them to loosen and release. She then spent an equal amount of time using the joints to fit the new arms to the toy's unfinished body. By the time she was finished connecting the arms, she seemed tired but very pleased with her work.

The girl tested the old cotter pin joints in the new unfinished toy and was pleased with the results. Her bright smile reminded me of happy memories before I came crashing back down to the terrible reality I was in. I realized I was never going to see a smile like that ever again once this girl was finished with me.

The girl leaned back in her chair and tiredly collected her thoughts as she inspected the little ziplock bag with the majority of my bead stuffing inside. She shook it around a little before sitting up as an idea came to her.

With ideas circulating behind her calculating eyes, she poured the entire bag of beads down the neck of the toy and they fell all the way to the feet to give them stability. Once she realized all the bead stuffing was too much, she started pouring it back into the little bag.

I could tell she was trying to be careful, but fatigue was starting to get to her causing her hand to jolt and all of the beads fell onto the hardwood floor. The girl stared at the fallen beads with a look of utter betrayal.

With a heavy sigh, I watched her get out of her chair to kneel on the ground and started picking up the beads with great care. Her movements were slow and meticulous as she sorted through dust and fabric scraps to get to the tiny beads.

As I watched her work, I came to a slow realization. Her expression and actions were gentle and caring like she had dropped a fragile vase and she was picking up the pieces to put them back together. To her, this wasn't just another annoying mess that needed to be cleaned up, it was an act of respect.

An act of respect for me.

From the moment I had entered that thrift store, I had lost my purpose. I was old and children stopped smiling when they saw me. But this girl, she had a purpose for me. A way I could still make children smile even if the face they were smiling at wasn't mine.

The girl picked up the last bead and put it back into the little baggie. She slumped into her chair and yawned before lifting up the unfinished toy and picking up where she left off.

I still didn't quite understand why I would meet my end in this way, but I was content. I had lived for long enough and it was time for another toy to take my place.

A blanket of calm washed over me. I had fulfilled my purpose and was passing that on through small pieces of myself.

The toy was nearing completion and soon it would come to life the same way I had. Stuffed with cotton filling and all the pieces sewn neatly together, I watched in awe as the girl slowly stitched the last hole up.

The girl smiled wide as she tested the arms movements held in place with my joints and stood it up on its feet with the stability given by my bead stuffing. She then hugged and squeezed it to test its ability to cuddle and snuggle before setting it down to just admire her own handwork.

I was happy just to see a bright smile before I passed on, though she surprised me one last time as she turned to look at my disassembled form, "Thank you."

I had never wanted to tell someone those exact same words more in my entire life as I let myself slip away to wherever toys go when they reach their end.