Price and Trace

Porcelain dolls line the shelves, each displaying a small price tag that shifts with every glance from the passing crowd. A doll with chipped paint on its hand draws particular notice—not despite the damage, but seemingly because of it. The marketplace hums with reflected light and quiet murmurs as observers’ attention warps values within this closed circuit. This relentless reassessment implies a cost inherent in simply assigning worth; something is always exchanged beyond coin, even when banks remain stable.