Member-only story
Dating Is Not Like Build-A-Bear Workshops
You can’t just assemble a dream partner
Hiding in American malls, an evil creeps. Oh sure, it’s disguised by cheerful employees and happy kids, but beneath the cheerful exterior, a heart of darkness lurks.
Adorning the walls are the furs of stuffed animals. Trophies, to be hunted and decorated.
The “Build A Bear Workshop” looks like the deranged den of a stuffed animal serial killer to me. Skins of creatures are displayed in neat little rows, all labeled by a meticulous hand.
I see shades of Silence of the Lambs in the hulled-out husks, waiting on the walls for their stuffing. There’s a torture device in the corner of the store, ready to inflate the skin. You can pick a heart to put inside your chosen victim. Others, stuffed already, sit on shelves, their naked bodies waiting for someone to come and dress them. The staring eyes look at you accusingly and you think: huh. I wonder if that could happen to me.
If you’ve ever been on a dating app, it has happened to you. Except in this dystopian nightmare, it’s the bears on the wall who build themselves to try to attract you.
