Mary Anne's mother fell apart after her father left them for a thinner, prettier woman. Mary Anne follows her mother's example and starves herself, hopeful her thinness will make her worthy of having a father. She envies her best friend Katrina, who comes to school with patches of gauze covering her arms and explains her father loves her so much he takes a piece of her skin from her every night. Although Katrina seems disturbed by the behavior, to Mary Anne, the love of a father is worth any sacrifice - and a piece of skin is nothing compared to the starvation she endures. Mary Anne tells Katrina how lucky she is, and Katrina agrees to allow her to watch. Hiding in a closet, Mary Anne witnesses Katrina's father cut a piece out of her shoulder and disappear with it into another room. Enraptured by the sight, Mary Anne wishes she could cut a piece out of her belly and become the thin creature her own father desires her to be. A few days later, consumed by her longing for a father's love, Mary Anne doesn't go to school. She sneaks out of her house and into Katrina's instead, into her father's secret room. There, she finds Katrina's father sitting beside a doll pieced together from pieces of Katrina's flesh. Her father explains he's being driven mad by his desire to sleep with his own daughter. Horrified of the impulse, he's created a doll to use in her place, but there are many pieces missing and he doesn't know where to get them. Mary Anne tells him she is enough and offers her body. He cuts a chunk out of her abdomen. Freed from her body image issues and gaining a semblance of fatherly affection, Mary Anne happily embraces Katrina, who calls her "sister."