Names much like yours

   Jonas stepped backward and almost bumped into Madame.

     “I’m so sorry, Jonas,” she said. “Mimi! In the corner, I told you.” The doll was stiff, only three feet from Jonas. It blinked its eyes, big like owls’ eyes, and then spun back to where it had come. Its arms went down, straight at the elbows, and its eyes snapped shut. Jonas wondered if the doll was waiting, like he did.

     “Why do you have the skin of a mouse, Madame?” he asked, as a first question.

     Madame grinned. “I have many things, simply because I like them,” she said. She was wearing a bright blue suit, with short sleeves.

     “You like dolls,” he said. “How does Mimi move when you tell her to?”

     Madame strode across the carpet and pulled Mimi’s hair from her neck. “She’s a robot, see?” Jonas blinked at the wires that came from the back of Mimi’s head.

     “What’s a robot?” he asked. He was beginning to feel a little dizzy.

     Madame’s mouth drooped. “Never mind, Jonas. A machine, that’s all.”

     He nodded, disappointed that she couldn’t explain. His stomach rumbled.

     “Let’s go eat dinner, shall we?” Madame smiled again. He followed her through the fancy door.

     “Didn’t Lily tell you? Family emergency,” she said. “She won’t be back for a week.”

     “Why didn’t she wake me?” Jonas asked.

     “I don’t know, Jonas. Let’s not worry about it,” she said. “Dinner awaits.”

     Jonas wondered how dinner felt about waiting all the time, and wished there weren’t so many new things around him. It was clear that Madame was what Papa had used to call a ‘collector’. He saw a room full of jars, and another of brilliant yarn. They went down two flights of stairs, and Madame didn’t speak. Jonas wondered if Lily was still here. He looked behind him a lot, expecting Mimi to be following, blinking her dead eyes.

     He was relieved to see three men in the dining room. They had grey hair, and white skin, and their eyes were very dark. Jonas wasn’t relieved anymore when they all turned to him at the same time, and said ‘hello’, one after another, in the same voice. Wasn’t anything normal in Madame’s house? He bowed and said ‘hello’. Madame became very happy, and showed him to a seat across from the middle man.

     “How are you feeling, Jonas?” the middle man asked. “My name is Jones, much like yours.”

     “I am fine,” Jonas said, though he wanted to say that Jones wasn’t much like his name, and he wanted to see his mother, thank you.

     “Have you recovered fully, Jonas?” the man on the left asked. “My name is James, much like yours.” Jonas nodded and stared at him.

     “Are you well enough to eat, Jonas?” the man on the right asked. “My name is John, much like yours.”

     Jonas said, “Yes,” very shortly, and wanted to roll his eyes and stuff his mouth with the rolls that the maid was putting before him. The men watched him for a few minutes, and finally began to speak with Madame. He didn’t hear much of what they said, being concerned with the steaming ham that was on his plate.