fleshball

human skin can be grown in a petri dish in a lab. so maybe you could grow enough, in a round shape the size of a baseball (hardball), with a proper outer skin like our skin. not a seeping blob of tissue, but a proper self-contained, resiliant, soft, warm, cuddlable ball that looks like (and is) skin on the outside.

it would be living tissue, but not a living being because it's just skin. so you wouldnt have to worry about hurting it or animal cruelty.

it would need nourishment of course, or the cells would die. this could be done two ways: by injection or by soaking, say, overnight in a nourishing solution.

it they catch-on big like rubik's cubes (except they will be spherical and nonrubikal), and i know that they will, then these phenomenon might occur:

- does the fleshball have hair like most skin? would it be like your arm hair? should it have only a hemisphere of head-hair so you could give it a haircut and draw a face on it? you could use yours to express yourself. you could give it a mohawk. you could shave it smooth and put baby lotion on it.

- the fleshball can bruise so dont drop it. bruises take a couple weeks to heal.

- yes, you can tattoo your fleshball. pick it up the following day. a cheaper alternative would be to ornately decorate your fleshball yourself, with hickies.

- yes you can pierce your flashball, but it will probably leave a scar...

- they can scar, so be careful not to throw them where they can get abbrasions or "raspberries" from the sidewalk. a scarred flashball can be an early warning sign to parents of a troubled teen. if a troubled teen has obviously pocket-knifed his fleshball, no harm has been done because it is not a living being (perhaps it has no nerves). but alert parents can act quickly to discuss the evidence of violent behavior.

-if your flashball does get an abbrasion or accidental injury, DO NOT PICK THE SCAB. this will only promote scarring and delay healing.

- you can make them available in any race (skin color) that the market demands from white to black.

- flashballs are harmless, meaning that they are also edible at the time of sale. afterward though, infections are a possibility as their immune system is either very weak and primitive or nonexistent. so you should not eat them. the taste is probably not good anyway because there is no muscle tissue (meat).

- each flashball is unique. you can recognize yours by its hair pattern or birthmark.

why the fleshball? only because they're fun to have and hold, and people will buy them.