We open the box and look down at the child, moist and naked, blinking, hunched in its sealed jar. Hair shade 4, Summer Honey, and eye colour 6, Warm Mocha - as we ordered.
His habit of squatting down with his thin, pale arms wrapped around his knees, eyes large and head bent awkwardly to one side, soon begins to grate. It’s irritating enough that he flinches when spoken to, but this obvious physical peculiarity simply embarrasses us.
When we take him back to the showroom, the salesman shrugs, and directs us to the jar’s label: “Contents may settle in transit.”