From PRX, this is the Moth Radio Hour. I'm Meg Bowles. Today we have four stories,

navigating childhood, surviving loss, enduring the trials of love,

and understanding the things that haunt us most.

Our first story comes from Talea Moore.

She told it at the Aaron Davis Hall in New York City.

Here's Talea, live at the month.

My obsession with brats began when I was eight years old and I was gifted one for my birthday. So brats are dolls, kind of like Barbies, but better.

They didn't have these unrealistic dimensions.

Instead, they stood about 10 inches tall with these huge heads, full lips, curvy physique,

and they had the coolest makeup.

And also they had these glittery punk rock boots that I loved.

I knew I was hooked and I wanted more, but I could not ask my mom for more because

we were homeless. We had been homeless for over a year and she had bigger worries. Like if she

had enough money for train fare or food, what burrow we would end up sleeping in and if I had clean uniform for school. So I knew that if I wanted

these dolls, I would have to get them myself. So in the shelter, I started selling paper fans that I

made and decorated to the guards for 75 cents. And they would give me more money because they saw I was

hustling. And I would take that money and I would buy pens, pencils, loose leaf and candy

and sell it to the kids at school for a markup price, which I was good at.

And I also braided hair in the shelter.

And when I saved up enough money, my mom took me to the

big toy store on Times Square. When I arrived, I ran straight to the Brat section, searching the

shelves for Sasha. Sasha was the Brat stall that I really wanted. I had read about her in a pamphlet

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