Small steps at a time

The next morning, the sun streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow over the room. Ashley stirred in her sleep, the events of the previous night feeling like a distant, surreal dream. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and spotted her outfit sitting at the edge of her bed.

"Oh my god," she whispered to herself, "It wasn't a dream." She took a deep breath and looked around the room, making sure she was alone. She looked at the outfit, sitting in the same position as she last saw it before going to sleep, it was 'looking' down at the ground.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked, looking at her outfit with a mix of concern and curiosity.

Ashley's outfit shook its collar along with its chest as if saying 'no'.

"Is there something wrong?" Ashley asked, getting out of the bed.

Her outfit nodded in the fabric equivalent of a nod. The outfit's shoulders, slumped slightly as it pointed to itself with one of its sleeves.

"You are wrong?" Ashley asked, confused, "I don't think I understand."

Ashley's outfit looked up at her, its collar moving in a way that resembled a sigh. It pointed to the notebook with its sleeve.

"Oh right," Ashley said, reaching for it. She paused, thinking, "But I need to know what's wrong, and I don't thing that this yes or no thing is going to cut it." Ashley grabbed a pen and started to scribble down ideas. The outfit looked at her with a hopeful 'expression', it seeming to perk up at the possibility of having another way of communicating with her.

"How about this?" she said, tearing off a piece of paper from the notebook and handing it over, "You can point to letters to spell out what you want to say."

Ashley's outfit looked at it for a moment, its shoulders fell down again, as if sad again.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked, "You don't know what the letters mean?"

Ashley's outfit shook from side to side 'no'.

"Oh, I see," Ashley said, "Well, I guess we're going to have to find another way then." Ashley sat down on the bed, her outfit next to her, both of them staring at the wall. "Think," Ashley murmured, tapping her finger against her chin, "How can we communicate without words?" She glanced around the room and her eyes fell on her phone. "Maybe emojis?" Her outfit's shoulders perked up, showing interest. Ashley opened her phone and scrolled through the emojis, holding it out for her outfit to see.

"What do you think?" she asked, pointing at a smiling face emoji.

Her outfit nodded 'yes'.

"Okay, let's try this," she said as she offered the outfit a electronic pen with which it would be able to operate the screen.

Ashley's outfit took the pen, its sleeve wrapping around it to hold it. It then stared at the phone for a moment. It was a bit wobbly at first, but after a few clumsy tries, it managed to select the emojis on the keyboard. The outfit began to tap out a message. It started with a series of question marks, followed by a sad face and a heart.

"Ehm... I am not sure if I understand that. Maybe be more specific? use more emojis?" Ashley said, trying to figure out how to solve this situation.

Her outfit nodded and started to tap away again, this time with more confidence. It selected a thumbs down, followed by a lock and key, then a sad face.

"Oh, it has something to do with the secret?" Ashley deduced.

Her outfit nodded vigorously, It then deleted the message, typing out a new one. It just pressed the emoji of broken heart a bunch of times.

"You feel heart broken because you accidentally revealed the secret to me?" Ashley asked, feeling a pang of guilt, "It's okay, its not that bad," she tried to cheer up the outfit, "I am the only one that knows that, right? So, as long as I keep it secret it is like nothing ever happened. And now that I know it, you don't need to hide before me in a fear of being discovered. Isn't that better? Less stressful? Ashley continued. "Now you have kind of a safe space in my room." She chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

Her outfit's shoulders fell again, it seems that there was something more to it than just secret being revealed. It pointed at the door, then at the heart and finally at the sad face emoji.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked, her voice quivering slightly.

Her outfit tapped out a series of emojis again : a boy and a girl holding hands, then a zipped mouth, and finally a sad face.

"Sorry...I don't think this is going to work. It is just a lot of guessing we need something more direct." Ashley says her head falling into her hands in disappointment from an another failed attempt.

Her outfit, seemingly understanding her frustration, pauses for a moment, then lifts the sleeve holding the pen and starts pressing the letters instead, producing gibberish, but the message was clear. It wants to learn how to write words.

"Huh?" Ashley says confused.

Her outfit then points at her then at itself and then produces another string of random letters.

"Oh! you want me to teach you how to write?" She asks as the realization hits her.

Her outfit nods eagerly.

"Alright, but it will be a long process..." her mind trails of as she tries to think of the best way to approach this situation. "Okay...I think this could work," she says as she grabs her notebook. "So, from what I gathered until now, you understand what I am saying, right?"

Ashley's outfit nods.

"And you seem to know what things are visually, well...at least I think you know what the emojis you used earlier meant, right?"

Ashley's outfit nodded again.

"Okay, let's do it this way," she said as she grabbed her pencil. She drew a small heart on the top left of the page. "So, this is a heart, but I am sure you definitely know this one," Ashley chuckled. "but it could also mean love," she said as she drew a heart with arrow pointing to a stickman underneath the heart she drew earlier.

Ashley's outfit just observed in silence, focusing on Ashley's every word. Ashley then moved to the right side of the page and wrote the word "heart" in the same row as the heart she drew first. And then moved down to the row where the heart with arrow pointing to a stickman was drawn, writing the word "love" on the right side. "...and this is how you write it in words," she said. "Maybe you could try it yourself," she said, pointing at her phone.

Ashley's outfit nodded and took the pen and proceeded to tap out the letters 'H-E-A-R-T', looking away from the phone at the notebook after every letter to make sure it copied it correctly.

"Good job!" Ashley exclaimed as she clapped her hands in excitement. "Okay, so I was thinking that we could do it this way, so you can eventually learn to type out anything that is on your mind. Sounds good?" She asked.

Ashley's outfit looked at her with excitement, but some semblance of doubt was still present. Ashley could almost tell that the outfit was a little bit anxious.

"...I-I know that is a lot of learning...and it will probably take some time, but don't worry, if you ever forget something you can always use the notebook to find the word you are looking for and how it is supposed to be written down," Ashley said with a reassuring smile.

Her outfit looked at the notebook and then back to her. It nodded, showing it understood.

"Now, let's try another one," Ashley said as she thought for a moment, "How about we try 'hello'?" she then drew a hand waving and wrote the word down next to it, the same way she did with the earlier words.

Her outfit nodded eagerly, carefully tapping out the letters 'H-E-L-L-O' on the phone's screen.

"Perfect!" Ashley said, "Now, let's try something a bit more...abstract," she said. She then proceeded to teach her outfit the word "what". She thought that it is definitely one of the more important words alongside the words like "and", "the", "that" etc. But she had to get a little bit more creative with the images as she knew that the outfit probably doesn't know these, and she needed some way to explain it to the outfit. Her outfit nodded, ready to learn.

"So, 'what' is a question word. It's like when you want to know something, you ask 'what'. It's like looking for something, like this," she said, drawing a magnifying glass over the word 'what'.

Ashley's outfit studied the drawing intently, then looked up at Ashley. It seemed to understand, and then proceeded to type out the word on the phone as well. They went on for 2 hours, it was exhausting, pages filling out with words and images. They didn't go over all words, obviously, not even close. But she tried to teach it the most important ones so they could have some semblance of conversation at least. They went over 50 words together, some more difficult to explain than others. It felt right to stop there, she didn't want to overwhelm it and she knew that it's better to take it slow.

Ashley looked at the time, "Oh my god, it's almost 8 AM, I have to get to school! Sorry for this, I totally forgot...Stay here okay I will back soon, Okay? But I'm really happy we did this...Uhm...You can study the words while I am away," she said frantically trying to get ready for school.

Ashley's outfit nodded, still clutching the phone. It looked up at her with a hint of confusion about what is happening. Ashley frantically managed to get ready for school and was about to leave, when realization hit her.

"My phone! I need it with me...But how is my outfit supposed to study without it?" She thought, time running low. Then an idea came to her mind, Her laptop! She scrambled into the room, grabbed her laptop and turned it on. Ashley's outfit stared at her in confusion.

"Ehm...I need that," she said pointing to her phone, "but don't worry, I have something else for you to use...much better for typing." Ashley grabbed her laptop from the desk and placed it in front of her outfit. "This is a laptop, it's similar to the phone...It's just controlled a little bit differently," she said, opening a new Word document. Her outfit looking at the laptop with a mix of curiosity and excitement.

"You can use this to practice typing. It's like the phone but with more room to write," she explained, placing the pen down next to the laptop.

Her outfit picked up the pen with its sleeve and approached the laptop cautiously, then tapped the keyboard with it, the tip of the pen clicking against the keys as it tried to recreate the words it had learned.

"Perfect!" Ashley exclaimed, watching as the words 'hello' and 'thanks' appeared on the screen.

"You're welcome," she said, "But now I really need to go. Remember, you can always use the notebook if you forget something. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

Her outfit nodded, its collar moving slightly in what almost looked like a smile.

With a sigh, she grabbed her backpack and dashed out of the room, locking her room so no one would accidentally walk in on the living outfit. The outfit paused for a moment, but then picked up the pen and began to tap away at the keyboard.

While Ashley was at school, her outfit sat at the bed, tirelessly practicing typing. It had a lot of time to kill, and it was determined to learn to communicate with her better. "Hello," it typed out slowly, then "How are you?" and "What your name?" It paused, reading the words back to itself, the pen in its sleeve moving more confidently with each keystroke.

As the hours passed, her outfit grew more adept at using the keyboard. It practiced forming sentences. It tried different combinations of words, sometimes getting it wrong, sometimes right. When Ashley returned home from school, she unlocked the door of her room and walked in. The outfit's 'gaze' landed on her immediately.

"Hi!" Ashley said with a smile, "How are things going?" She asked.

The outfit looked up at her with excitement and tapped out on the laptop, "I learned lot."

"Really?" Ashley walked over to the bed to see what it had been up to. She noticed that the outfit had written down numerous sentences, some grammatically correct, others not so much. But she couldn't help but feel proud of its progress.

"Wow, you've been busy," Ashley said, picking up the laptop to get a better look. "You've learned so much in just one day!" She exclaimed.

The outfit beamed, the collar moving up and down in a way that resembled a nod.

"Okay, let's test out how good you've gotten," Ashley said, setting the laptop aside. She took a deep breath, trying to think of a question that wasn't too complex. "What did you do today?"

The outfit paused for a moment, then slowly tapped out, "I learned words."

Ashley chuckled, "That's a good start, but try to tell me more."

Her outfit paused for a moment, thinking hard, then it began to type, "I sit, I watch, I learn."

Ashley's heart warmed at its earnestness, despite the limited vocabulary. "You sat and watched while I was gone?" she asked, trying to encourage more conversation.

The outfit nodded its collar in the affirmative and typed, "Yes, I watch."

"What did you watch?" she prompted.

It paused again, then with a bit of hesitation, it wrote "out house."

Ashley tilted her head, "You watched out of the window?" she asked.

The outfit nodded, it's shoulders moving up and down slightly. It proceeded to type, "I see people."

Ashley leaned in closer, "What kind of people?"

The outfit took a moment before responding, "Walking people. Different colours clothes."

"What else?" Ashley smiled.

Ashley's outfit looked around the room, its eyes lingering on the locked door. It tapped out, "I was... trapped."

"What?" Ashley said shocked by the unexpected sentence. Wondering if maybe it used wrong word?

"Room locked," it typed, its shoulders slumping.

"Oh...I'm sorry for that," Ashley said, feeling a twinge of guilt for leaving her outfit alone, locked in her room all day. She made a mental note to find a way to give it more freedom without causing any trouble. "What would you like to do now?"

The outfit perked up, its sleeves moving eagerly. "Talk more," it typed out.

"Talk more?" Ashley repeated, "You want to learn more words?"

Her outfit nodded its collar, **** to improve its ability to communicate.

"Alright," Ashley said, sitting down beside it on the bed, "Let's keep going."

For the next hour, they went through the notebook, with Ashley speaking and her outfit typing out words as she spoke. It was a tedious process, but the outfit's dedication was unwavering. It listened intently to every word, trying to associate sounds with the letters and symbols it had learned. As they progressed, the outfit began to string together more complex sentences. It talked about the weather, the colours it saw outside the window.

"You are doing great! You're learning so fast!" Ashley said, patting the outfit's shoulder.

Her outfit responded by typing out "thanks". It had come so far in just one day, and it was eager to learn more. The desire to communicate and understand the world around it had grown tenfold.

"Alright, let's try a new word," Ashley suggested, flipping through the pages of the notebook. She she wrote down another word into it : "friend". "This is a very important word. It's someone who you care about and who cares about you," she said, drawing a smiling face next to two stick figures holding hands.

The outfit studied the image intently, then looked up at Ashley, tapping out "friend" on the keyboard.

"Yes, that's right," Ashley said, her voice filled with warmth. "I consider you a friend," she added, watching as the outfit's shoulders lifted in what seemed like a sign of happiness.

Her outfit paused for a moment, as if processing the new word and its meaning. Then it began to type, "Ashley... friend... good."

Ashley couldn't help but laugh at its earnestness. "I'm happy to be your friend too," she said, placing her hand on its sleeve. The outfit leaned into her touch, the fabric of its shirt feeling almost comforting under her palm.

Her outfit then tapped out, "What friends do?"

"Well, friends spend time together, share stories, laugh, and support each other," Ashley explained, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "And since we're friends, I'd love to help you learn more about the world. But, I have a question for you," she said, tilting her head slightly.

Her outfit looked at her curiously, its collar moving slightly as it awaited her question.

"What was bothering you last night?" Ashley finally asked, her voice gentle, hoping not to upset it.

The outfit's shoulders slumped, the fabric seeming to droop. It took a moment before it began to type out its response, "Secret. Sad."

Ashley's heart sank, knowing that she shouldn't push further, but she wanted to know more, there had to be something more to it. "But it's all good now right? No body knows about this except me, and I am not telling anyone. So, it's same as before, right? I am your ally, your friend." She said with a smile, hoping to get more information, but trying her best to not make it uncomfortable for her outfit.

The outfit looked at her, seeming to contemplate her words. It took a deep breath, which was quite strange because it didn't have lungs to breathe, but it was a habit it picked up from watching her. It tapped out slowly, "Scared. Last night. Sad."

Ashley felt a pang of guilt. She didn't want her outfit to be afraid or sad, she wanted it to be happy and comfortable. "What are you scared about?" she asked gently, her hand still resting on its sleeve.

The outfit paused, the fabric of its shirt twitching slightly as it thought. "Another... clothes... friend," it finally typed out.

Ashley's eyes widened in surprise, "There's another living outfit?"

It nodded its collar to confirm.

"Where is it?" Ashley asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Away," it typed out, "Different house. Different human."

Ashley's mind raced. Could it be possible that other clothes had come to life as well? The thought was both exhilarating and a bit overwhelming. "What does it look like?"

Ashley's outfit paused. "not have the words," it tapped out, not knowing how to describe it.

Ashley nodded, understanding the limitation. "Okay, let's try something else," she said, her mind racing. "Could you draw it instead?"

Her outfit looked at the pen and paper, then back at Ashley, as if considering the challenge. With a nod, it picked up the pencil with surprising dexterity and began to sketch. The paper crinkled slightly under the pressure of the pencil as it drew an outline of what looked like a pair of pants with a pair of socks underneath and a long sleeved shirt. It was crude, but the love and care that went into the drawing were palpable.

"Is it a male outfit?" Ashley asked curiously, looking at the drawing.

Her outfit nodded. Ashley didn't know if she should ask this, but curiosity got better of her, "do you like him?"

Her outfit paused for a moment, its fabric fluttering slightly little unsure if it should type it out. It then typed just one word, "Love."

Ashley's eyes widened in surprise, "You love him?"

It nodded again, its collar moving up and down.

"I know that you probably don't know how to write it down, but I am curious do you know who the outfit belongs to?"

The outfit nodded its collar.

"Wait! I have an idea!" Ashley said as she took the laptop in her hands. She opened Google and searched for alphabetical list of male names. "Okay, this might take us a while, but... I will read out these names one by one and you will stop me when you hear the one that matches his owner," Ashley said, her eyes scanning the screen.

The outfit nodded eagerly, its sleeves twitching in anticipation.

"Alright, let's start, " Ashley began reading out the names one by one, going down the list.

The outfit's sleeves remained still, listening intently as Ashley was reading out the names. "...Adam... Aiden..."

At the name Aiden it tugged at Ashley's hand, the fabric of its sleeve brushing against her skin. Ashley's eyes snapped up to meet the outfit's 'gaze', "Is that him?"

Her outfit nodded its collar, confirming. Ashley felt a peculiar mix of emotions. "So, that is Aiden's outfit?" she asked, pointing to the picture that her outfit drew earlier. The outfit nodded in response. Her mind raced. Aiden was her classmate, an unassuming boy who she had never really talked to before.

"What's wrong with Aiden's outfit?" Ashley asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, "What made you sad?"

Her outfit paused, its fabric seemingly tense. Then it began to type again, "secret reveal... trust broken."

Ashley's heart ached for the outfit. "Oh," she said gently, "But you don't know that. Maybe Aiden's outfit could be fine with it when it learns that the secret is safe with me?"

Ashley's outfit looked at her with a glimmer of hope. "You think?" it typed out tentatively.

"I'm sure," Ashley assured, giving it a comforting pat, "We're friends, and we'll keep each other's secrets. Now, tell me more about Aiden's outfit. What's his personality like?"

Ashley's outfit paused, then began to tap away on the keyboard, "Shy. Curious."

Ashley nodded, trying to get a better picture of the Aiden's living outfit. "What else?"

Her outfit typed thoughtfully, "Nice, gentle."

"It sounds like nice guy...I mean outfit," Ashley said with a chuckle.

Her outfit nodded its collar, a hint of a smile in its fabric. "It is," it typed out.

Ashley leaned back, "So, you and Aiden's outfit have met?"

It nodded again, "Yes, one."

"How did that happen?" Ashley was intrigued, her eyes never leaving her outfit.

The outfit looked like it was uncomfortable with answering this question, it took a deep 'breath' before responding, "Your window. night. We talk. He was... lonely," it typed out, avoiding the main thing that happened that night.

"Oh," Ashley said, "When was that?"

"two days back" It typed out and paused for a moment, and then continued typing, "Want to see him again," it typed out.

"That's sweet," Ashley said, "But we need to be careful. We don't want anyone else to find out about us, okay?"

Her outfit nodded, the fabric of its shoulders seeming to tighten. "I know," it typed out.

"But for now," Ashley said, standing up, "Let's focus on improving your communication skills." She placed the laptop aside and picked up the notebook. "What do you say we try to learn some new words?"

The outfit perked up at the suggestion, happy to move away from the uncomfortable topic. "Yes, learn," it tapped out with renewed enthusiasm.

Ashley flipped through the pages of the notebook, searching for a good starting point. "Alright, we did most of the simple words, I guess its time to go little more specific," she said, happy with her outfit's progress. "Maybe it would be more productive to learn the words you would like to learn to write?" she said.

Ashley's outfit nodded eagerly, "Good idea," it typed out.

"Okay, then tell me, what would you like to learn about today?"

The outfit paused, thinking hard, "Learn words about... feelings," it tapped out.

They spent the next hour going through various emotions, from happiness to sadness, anger to love, and everything in between. The outfit listened carefully, trying to grasp the nuances of human feelings and how to express them. As they worked, Her outfit grew more confident in its ability to communicate, asking questions about the words it didn't understand.

"Why people have that many feelings?" it typed out, looking up at Ashley with curiosity.

Ashley laughed, "Well, because we are complex beings. We have the ability to feel a wide range of emotions, which helps us understand ourselves and connect with others," she said, with a smile.

Her outfit considered this for a moment, then nodded, "Makes sense," it typed out.

The lesson ended with the outfit's ability to express its feelings through words. Ashley felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. "You're doing great," she said. "Now, I have an idea for a little activity."

Her outfit looked at her with excitement, "What is it?" it typed out.

"We're going to play a game," Ashley said, "I'll give you a situation, and you'll write down how you would feel in that situation."

Ashley's outfit nodded, eager to put its newfound vocabulary to the test.

"Okay, here's the first one," Ashley began, "Imagine you're lying on the bed, and someone comes in unannounced."

Her outfit paused, then began to type, "Surprised."

"Good," Ashley said, "Now, what if that person was someone you liked?"

The outfit took a moment before typing, "Happy. Nervous."

Ashley giggled, "Alright, what if you saw something that was really funny?"

Her outfit thought for a second, then tapped out, "Amused."

"Perfect," Ashley said, "Now, what if someone you cared about was in trouble?"

The outfit's fabric rippled, as if it was truly feeling the emotion it was trying to convey. "Worried. Protective," it typed.

"Very good," Ashley nodded, "And what if you saw two humans... kissing?"

The outfit paused for a moment, before typing, "Curious. Jealous."

Ashley's eyes widened. "Jealous?" she repeated, "Why would you be jealous?" she laughed.

Her outfit looked down, the fabric of its chest rippling in what looked like embarrassment. "Because...I want...kiss too," it tapped out.

Ashley couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, you little flirt!" she exclaimed, playfully poking its chest. The outfit's collar bobbed up and down.

"But remember," Ashley said, her smile fading slightly, "It's important to respect boundaries."

Her outfit nodded, "Understand," it typed out.

"Let's move on," she said, changing the subject, "What if you saw something that was really beautiful?"

The outfit's fabric grew a bit more relaxed, "Happy. Peaceful," it replied.

"That's lovely," Ashley said, smiling at the innocence of its response.

The game continued for a while longer, with Ashley throwing out different scenarios and her outfit expressing how it would feel in those situations. It was a strange bonding experience, one that she never could have imagined happening.

"Okay. I think that's enough for today. We still have a long way ahead of us, but we will get there." Ashley said with a smile on her face.

Her outfit nodded in agreement, the fabric of its shirt stretching slightly. "Thank you, Ashley," it typed out.

Ashley leaned over and hugged her outfit, feeling the softness of the fabric against her. "You're welcome," she replied, "Now, it's time for us to get some rest."

Ashley's outfit nodded again, its fabric seemingly relaxing in her embrace.

They lay down on the bed together, the outfit curling up next to her. As they lay there, Ashley began to feel a strange sense of comfort from her animate companion. It was like having a warm, snuggly blanket with a mind of its own. The outfit's sleeve reached out and began to trace patterns on her arm. The sensation was odd, but oddly soothing. It was as if her outfit was trying to communicate without words, telling her that it felt safe and happy with her.

Ashley closed her eyes, her mind racing with thoughts of the living outfits and their abilities. She wondered if they could ever truly understand each other. She slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling her outfit's fabric against her.