[As you touch the question mark, you see a memory...]
You're in a nursery, very similar to the one you left in the Past, but with toys scattered about the floor. You sit in the corner with a skin-horse that quietly rocks itself, the both of you watching the other toys as they continue their play. But a question tumbles itself way back and forth in your mind, before it finally escapes through your voice.
"What is Real?" you ask. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real."
There was one more question tumbling through your mind back and forth and back and forth and back and then it tumbles out of your mouth. "Does it hurt?"
Re: THE FUTURE
You're in a nursery, very similar to the one you left in the Past, but with toys scattered about the floor. You sit in the corner with a skin-horse that quietly rocks itself, the both of you watching the other toys as they continue their play. But a question tumbles itself way back and forth in your mind, before it finally escapes through your voice.
"What is Real?" you ask. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real."
There was one more question tumbling through your mind back and forth and back and forth and back and then it tumbles out of your mouth. "Does it hurt?"
[The memory ends before you hear the answer.]