Velveteen Rabbit

• Rabbit:  What is REAL?
• Skin Horse:  It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.
• Rabbit:  Does it hurt?
• Skin Horse:  Sometimes.When you are Real, you don't mind being hurt.
• Rabbit:  Does it happen all at once, like being wound up or bit by bit?
• Skin Horse:  It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
• Rabbit:  I suppose you are real?
• Skin Horse:  The Boy's Uncle made me Real. That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.
•  ---
•  I read the book several times and I still find myself bawling like a child.