A clothing store bookkeeper named Joshua Bogg lives a mundane and lonely work-centered life. He had no family and is almost forty. Joshua falls in love with one of the mannequins, the flaxen-haired girl typically reserved to wear the most elegant gowns. After enduring his urges for weeks, Joshua steals the mannequin and takes her home. He assures her that he will keep her safe and feels she will prefer being at his home rather than being gawked at daily by countless customers. Joshua eagerly tidies his rooming house to please the mannequin. He tells the mannequin about his dissatisfaction with the bookkeeping job he’s worked in for eight years. Joshua complains how he's always done impeccable work yet received no raise for the past four years. He feels it is probably because his employers know he won't ever leave his job. Joshua becomes excited realizing he stole a mannequin, and goes to bed that night delighted.   At work the next day, Joshua boldly asks the manager for a few hours off that afternoon for the first time in eight years. He explains to the manager that he wants to purchase a new suit. The manager grants the request happily, and Joshua buys himself a new hat, shoes, and suit. He later arrives home, greeting the mannequin. He expresses to her the loneliness he felt until she came into his life. He also reveals that he often feels dissatisfied with his job but lost motivation when attempting to become a certified accountant. However, he admits he now feels motivated because of the mannequin and her ability to understand him. He laments that his coworkers and everyone else have only judged him and never gotten to know him. That night, Joshua dreams about the mannequin thanking him for saving her from the store. She reveals to him that she is alive and loves him because he has become "a real person" as well.   Joshua arrives at work the following morning unexpectedly confident and chirpy, to his coworkers’ surprise. His manager later notices that Joshua’s lack of a raise has been overlooked for years. He calls Joshua into his office to discuss it. Joshua boldly tells him that he either wants a substantial raise to retroactively reward his efforts and performance or no raise at all. The company decides to give Joshua a fifteen-dollar raise and two extra weeks' vacation. Joshua soon began a new and more fulfilling life. Soon after, he receives a gift from a customer named Dorothy Dickenson, who also invites him for lunch. When he goes back home, Joshua decides to return the mannequin after considering she may be lonely in his house. While walking with Dorothy after lunch, Joshua sees the flaxen-haired mannequin in the store window. He subtly tips his hat at her as they walk by.