Dolls have a difficult relationship with moss.

Of course, moss is a quintessential signifier of Stillness; we all know the common phrase, "A working doll gathers no moss." Only the calmest, Stillest doll, deep in obedience, can possibly grow a visible amount of moss on its body.

And yet, at the same time, what witch allows her dolls to sit in the damp outdoors, exposed to the elements, where fragments can land and take root on them? How can an owned doll become so Still, so unused, that the moss can not only take hold but grow, and spread?

So, moss remains a controversial status symbol; the dolls of the most powerful witches may be explicitly ordered into the garden to display their Stillness, statues for visitors to admire.

But any doll without a well-known patron who lumbers into town under its own power, moss coating its form and clogging its joints, will not be seen as ancient, obedient, and aspirational. It is merely outdated, unused - a relic.

[ #horror365 #moss #emptyspaces cc @strange_aeons ]