The Velveteen Rabbit

Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play witj, but really loves you, then you become Real. It doesnt;t happen all at once. It takes long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you re Real, most of your hair has beeen loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But those things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly… Once you are Real you can't become unreal again.