The only real things in life is the unexpected things. Everything else is just an illusion.

- Watkin Tudor Jones

Koa sat there on her couch. Staring directly at the manilla envelope she received about an hour and a half ago that was on her coffee table.

Outside, the sun was starting to set. The bright orange and red colors of the sky barely lit the room, but her lamps made up for it.

Koa knew there wasn't anything dangerous in the package. It was too light and too small, and there was no smell of any explosive powders or oils. Deciding to look, she got up from the couch, retrieved a switch knife that was kept around the house and cut open the end of the envelope.

Carefully and slowly, she opened the envelope…

"Huh?" Koa said with absolute confusion.

The contents of the package was a piece of paper and a VHS tape. Pulling out the tape, she noticed it had the words 'Vintage Poppy Commercial' written on it in crayon. Setting the tape aside, she pulled out the sheet of paper.

What caught her attention immediately was a small graffiti poppy flower, and what appeared to be a splatter stain in the corner. Like the VHS tape, everything written and drawn on the paper was crayon.

'EVERYONE THINKS THE STAFF DISSAPEARED 10 YEARS AGO

WER'E STILL HERE.

FIND THE FLOWER'

Koa studied the letter carefully. It was as if it were written by a child, as there were obvious spelling errors a child would make. And 'find the flower' had a thick underline under it as if to add strong emphasis.

"This has to be some kind of joke," Koa said out loud to herself. "It's been ten years. Why would a call for help be sent out now?"

She turned her attention to the VHS tape. Sighing, she picked up the tape and walked to her VHS player. Before she placed the tape in, she paused.

"What if it's some kind of snuff film? What if its some kind of threat?" Koa asked herself.

Deciding not to take the chance, she set the tape down for a second, ran to her bedroom, and retrieved her MODEL 350 Smith and Wesson revolver her father gave her a month after coming home from the hospital after the bear attack. Returning downstairs, she turned on the TV, set it to the right setting, placed in the VHS tape, returned to the couch, and braced herself.

On the screen, a middle-aged man appeared on the screen. His face full of love and pride. The face of a loving father.

"You are about to see the most incredible doll ever invented. Her name is Poppy, and she is the first truly intelligent doll in the world. A little girl can talk to her, Poppy gives her answers. She is the first doll actually able to have a conversation with a child. Hard to believe? Just watch."

Then he faded from view and an image of the Poppy Playtime doll appeared on the screen. Then a group of children called out "Poppy Playtime!"

Then again female narrator spoke up.

"Poppy's as lovable as a real girl, and she talks like one, too!"

A child's hand is seen pulling a pull string on the dolls back, and then you get a frontal view of the doll as she spoke in a bubbly voice, "Hi! My name is Poppy! I love you."

The scene then showed Poppy's black shoes, and the doll asked as she lifted her foot., "can you help me polish my shoes?"

"Why, of course Poppy!" the narrator responded joyfully.

The scene cut again to hands polishing her shoes as the narrator said, "just like a real girl, Poppy always wants to look her best."

The doll then stood in front of a drawing of a sunny day outside, "perfect! Thank you."

The scene then cuts to a child's hand brushing one of Poppy's ponytails with a brush. "Her hair is sturdy and won't come out when you brush it," the scene then cut to a real poppy flower in a field, "and smells just like a poppy flower!"

The scene cuts again to the doll standing there with the dolls name and a price of $5.99 next to her on the screen. The narrator finished with "is there anything else you'd like to say, Poppy?"

You get a frontal view of the doll, who responds, "I'm a real girl, just like you."

The screen then cut again, broadcasting words on the screen which the narrator read, "what's the time?"

Again, a group of children responded, "Playtime!" as the Playtime Co. Logo appeared on the screen.

The original male spokesman spoke up again as the video showed different rooms of a toy factory containing various doll parts, showing how the dolls were made, finishing with a photo of the whole factory from outside.

"And, if you've ever wanted to see how all of the nation's favorite toys were created, Playtime Co. is now offering factory tours at just $2.99 a person. An entire hour in the most magical toy factory on Earth. What are you waiting for? Come visit the factory! We can't-"

The video cut, obviously spliced with a new photo. A large graffiti poppy flower, similar to the one on the letter, in a back room full of catwalks. Then the screen went black.

Koa sat there in shock. It didn't take long to figure out the message behind the video and letter. It was some kind of secret code. Koa didn't recognize the back room of the factory. In fact, she barely remembered what the factory looked like on the inside. It's been a decade after all.

It was a lot to take in. It still made little sense. How did a package from a factory ten years abandoned find its way to her doorstep? Everyone disappeared without a trace. Surely there wasn't anyone left to send a distress signal.

'But what about their families? Playtime Co. is a restricted area by the state's government. Maybe the letter is a secret code from a family member of one or some of the workers asking for help?'

Somehow she doubted that. She needed to think about it. Besides, it wouldn't be wise to leave just yet, with nightfall approaching fast.

After having her dinner, cleaning around the house, leaving the letter and VHS tape, retrieved from the VHS player, on the coffee table, she showered and got ready for bed. Before settling in, she looked on her nightstand. There sat a DogDay plush, a gift from a co-worker who dressed as the mascot DogDay of the factory's Smiling Critters line while visiting the orphanage. She picked it up, and sniffed it. It still held a faint scent of vanilla despite running out of its spray scent years before.

Koa set down her plush, said her nightly prayers, and climbed into bed.

But sleep eluded her.

She just laid there. Memories and thoughts flooded her mind for the next several hours.

She thought about the friends she made at Playtime Co. for the first time in a long while. Everyone she met were very friendly and thought well of each other. Even though Koa had only been with the factory a few months, everyone treated her like they knew her for years despite her introverted nature. But she had to say her closest friends were the workers who dressed as the Smiling Critters mascots in Playcare.

She never learned their names or who they really were. She had assumed that with the children always around, they wanted to stay in character. Koa admired their devotion. Especially with them wanting to make sure the children were happy and having fun. So Koa just went along with it.

That was when the thought of the children came into mind.

'What happened to those little orphans of the factory?!'

Koa looked back over to her DogDay plush. Frowning, she grabbed the plush and hugged it close. She decided then and there that she didn't need to sleep on it after all. She would return to the factory to figure out what happened. Not just for the families of her co-workers, but also the babies of PlayCare.

She closed her eyes, and tried to sleep, but it was a fitful sleep. She could not control her anxiety she felt as her mind went over uncomfortable theories on what could've happened to everyone in the factory.

She didn't wake up until 11 AM the next morning. After brunch, she prepared herself for her quest. She dressed herself in a dark long sleeve shirt, cameo pants, tactile hiking boots, braiding her hair, her eagle feather that once belonged to her great-grandmother hooked into her hair at her left temple, and putting on a belt that contained a holster for her revolver and a sheath for her 17 inch tactile hunting knife. Going around the cabin, she turned off the heat, made sure everything was put away and locked up. She then retrieved her gun and knife and put them in their respected holders. After a bit, anxiety started to build and she had to take a moment to breathe. She focused on the memories for a few hours to give herself confidence and reassurance to remind herself why she decided to do this.

Before she left the house, she gave a prayer for her safety and for success at learning the truth about what happened. Then she stood up, grabbed her keys, and made her way to her front door. Once she opened the door, she paused. She turned back to her coffee table, and glanced at the letter and VHS tape. She thought about leaving a letter incase someone came by. But her parents weren't due home from their trip for two-and-a-half more weeks. And she doubted she would be gone that long.

But, if anything happened, no one would know. But then again, the letter and VHS tape should be obvious clues to where she was going.

"I'm an adult. I can make my own choices. I'm not a fragile porcelain doll," she reassured herself as she stepped out the door, closing it behind her.

She made it to her truck and hoped in. Once she started the engine, she backed out of her driveway, and made the hour long trip to the factory.

During the drive, she continued to pray for her safety and success for her quest. She knew she had to do this. She reminded herself that she had military training. Survival training. She could handle it.

By the time she got close to the factory's property, about four miles out, she saw the road was blocked. She decided it actually wouldn't be a bad idea to hide her truck somewhere in the woods. If someone spotted her truck out here, especially the authorities, then she would be in big trouble, and she would not hear the end of it from her father. Koa was not one to break the law, but this was desperate. If no one else was going to figure out what happened, she was.

Turning her truck to the left, she drove about five miles through the woods until she found a group of trees and bushes that could conceal her truck. It was hunting season and there were wild pigs out here. Of anyone did see her truck, they would think the owner is out hunting. Turning off her truck, she decided to leave her keys in the center console so as not to lose them in the factory. Making sure she had everything with her, she left her truck and made the rest of her journey on foot.

After a few hours, she was back on open road. The sun was starting to disappear beyond the horizon. After another half an hour, there in her view, was Playtime Co.

She staired long and hard. It was bigger than she remembered.

Shaking her head to refocus, she carefully approached the front doors of the factory, surprised to find them unlocked.

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

- Paulo Coelho