"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?" The new little trailer asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become real. It takes a long time.
"That's why it doesn't happen often to trailers which break easily, or have sharp edges or wooden walls, or who have to be carefully kept.
Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your newness has been loved off, and your cushions are worn and your
tires get worn (and occasionally pop), and sometimes, your gleaming-white solid
fiberglass exterior gets chipped. The chips aren't bad chips, just an occasional little chip, from people who love you towing you down the road.
But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real Trailer, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."