In this story, children have begun falling victim to early onset "doll's disease" which causes them to slowly turn into doll-like structures incapable of movement or speech. When a young girl named Maria falls victim to the disease, her parents try to console themselves with the thought that she will always look like a beautiful doll, and can remain with them forever. They cannot understand why the parents of other victims of the disease throw their children away. However, when Maria continues to grotesquely decay and mutate, including growing tentacles and hideously elongated limbs, her parents are forced to finally lay her to rest.