“Lowering the book to my lap, I smoothed my palm over the hard, glossy surface as I thought about the Skin Horse's words. They could be interpreted in so many ways. To me, they were all about letting go of the fear of being imperfect. Accepting that it was okay to be wanted and needed and loved, to be heard and seen.

Rider and I were a lot like the little boy and the rabbit who wanted to be real. Both of us spent so long relying on only each other. We'd been tossed aside, unwanted. And we wanted nothing more than to be cherished, treasured and loved. We wanted to feel real. Both of us were afraid of the opposite. To some the opposite was death but to me–to us–it was being stuck forever. Never changing. Never seeing ourselves or others around us differently.”