What is real
asked the Rabbit one day
When they were lying
side by side.
Does it mean having things that buzz inside you
and a stick-out handle?

Real isn't how you're made
said the 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.

Does it hurt? asked the rabbit.

Sometimes, said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful.
When you are real you don't mind being hurt.

Does it happen all at once like being wound up, or bit by bit?

It doesn't happen all at once. You become,
It takes
a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen
to people who break easily or have sharp edges
or 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
at the 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.