"The lost doll"
(A story from Columbia, South America)
Little Maria del Carmen was the only child of her parents, Roberto and Rosa Soto." Carmen", as everyone called her, was a beautiful child. She was also bright, kind, and loving. However, the little girl was sick from the day of her birth. As time went on, her condition becomes worse. By the time she turned four, she was very weak. A few days later, the frail child died.
Almost everyone in the village attended Carmen's funeral the next day. As they all passed by her small casket, only by one, many of them said, "She looks like a little doll."
After the funeral mass, Carmen's father, Roberto, but the small wooden coffin on his shoulder. Then, with his wife behind him, he led the silent, single-file procession to the cemetery on the hill outside the village.
A few days later, Carmen's mother, Rosa, put all the little girl's clothes and playthings in a small box and gave them to a priest from another village. When her husband, Roberto, came home from the field that evening, she said to him,"I gave away Carmen's things today."
"You did?" he said with a look of surprise.
"Yes, I did," Rosa replied. " I gave them to the priest from one of the villages down the valley. He was glad to have them for..."
" But why didn't you save them for a while, at least?" Roberto interrupted.
"There's no reason to save them," she said, as she stood in front of him and took his rough hands. "You know what the doctor said after I gave birth to Carmen."
Tears came to man's eyes as he held her close. " I know very well what the doctor told you. But he doesn't know everything. Only God knows who can and can't have children." His voice cracked with emotion as he added. " I still have hope."
Rosa stepped back and looked into her husband's eyes. "My dear Roberto, it's good to have hope, but false hope is not good. Indeed, the doctor doesn't know everything, but you know that in these four years..."
" In these four years," he interrupted, "you had your hands full of a sick child. God knew that. That's why He didn't send us another child."
Rosa didn't know what to say. She sat down at the table and put her hand in her hands. Roberto walked over to the window and looked out to the backyard, where little Carmen often played. Then he turned I Rosa and asked. "Did you give away the little doll, too? The one Carmen always gas in her hands?"
As she raised her head and looked at her husband, Rosa said, "No, Roberto, that doll wasn't with her other things."
"It wasn't?" he asked with a look of surprise on his face.
" No, I'm sure it wasn't! I wonder what happened to it."
" I remember that she had it in her hand when she closed her eyes the last time."
"Yes, you're right; she did. But what happened to it after that?"
They looked everywhere in their little house but could not find the doll. They also asked friends, the neighborhood children, and even the undertaker. No one knew anything about the lost doll. Roberto and Rosa talked about it for weeks, but they never did find it.
Soon, however, they forgot about the lost doll. They had something else to think about. The doctor, who said four years earlier that Rosa couldn't have any more children, found out that he was wrong.
On the first anniversary of the death of little Carmen, Rosa gave birth to another baby girl. It was a very happy occasion. With the child in her arms, Rosa said to her husband,"I think God gave our baby back to us. She even looks like Carmen."
At the baby's baptism, they named her Evangelina, which the priest told them meant"good news."
As Evangelina grew, she looked more and more like her sister, Carmen. Her actions and her characters were similar to Carmen's too. The big difference was that Evangelina was healthy.
One day when Evangelina was about two years old, the parish priest said to Rosa, as he watched Evangelina play," Rosa, sometimes I think that God took your sick child, healed her, and gave her back to you."
"It seems that way, doesn't it?" answered Rosa. " This child is so much like Carmen!"
One day, when Evangelina was almost four, she said to her mother,"I was very sick a long time ago, wasn't I, momma?"
" No my child," Rosa answered with a smile," you weren't sick. Your sister, Carmen, was."
" But momma," the child insisted,"I know I was sick!"
" No, my child," she said, as she took her by the hand,"you were not sick a long time ago, and you are not sick now. You are in good health. I thank God for that.
" But I remember, momma! I remember!"
" I think we talk about your sister too much, Evangelina. That's what makes you think you were the one who was sick."
A few days later, Rosa's sister came to visit from Bogotá. The two sisters talked together about many things. Once, when little Evangelina came into the room, Rosa's sisters said, "How much she looks like the child you lost, Rosa!"
"Yes,"replied Rosa,"and Evangelina not only looks like her sister but also is like her everywhere. The difference, of course, is that Evangelina is healthy."
Evangelina listened to her mother and aunt as they spoke about her. She then walked over to her aunt and said, "Auntie, I was sick a long time ago, but now I'm well. I thank God for that."
" I'm sure Evangelina hears us talk about her sister too much. Now she thinks she was the one who was sick," Rosa said to her sister.
The little girl started to cry. " I was sick, auntie. I know I was! And I remember that I had a Dollie, with blue eyes and a red dress!"
Rosa smiled. " Imagine that!" she said to her sister. " Evangelina even remembers what someone said the little doll looked like."
" By the way," asked Rosa's sister, "did you ever find the little doll that Carmen always had with her?"
"No, we didn't," she answered. " We don't know what happened to it."
Little Evangelina's eyes opened wide. " Now I remember, momma!" she exclaimed excitedly. " I remember where I put that Dollie!"
" Where you put it?"laughed Rosa. "My dear, dear child, that Dollie, was not yours! You never saw it in your life!"
" But I did, momma! I did! That Dollie, was mine when I was sick. And I didn't know what to do with it, so I put it under the big tree in the yard!"
Evangelina took her mother and aunt by the hand, and together they worked into the backyard. " It's right here under this big tree!" She exclaimed, as she pointed to the hard, Stony ground next to the tree. " Dig it up, momma! Dig it up! It's right under here!"
The sisters looked at each other. Neither knew what to say. Then, for some reason, Rosa took a shovel from nearby and started to dig. A few inches under the ground, they saw what appeared to be the arm of a doll. Rosa's heart pounded as she carefully dug deeper. In a minute, she took the doll from its shallow grave and shook off the dirt. She couldn't believe her eyes. Evangelina jumped for the joy. "I told you, momma! I told you it was there! Didn't I, auntie?"
Rosa didn't know what to say. She looked at her sister and then turned to Evangelina and said,"my child, please tell me who put this Dollie, in the ground here. And tell me how you knew it was there?"
" I put it there, momma! I really did! I remember now. I really do?"
Rosa couldn't say another word. Then her sister said to the little girl,"Tell us more, Evangelina. Tell us everything you remember."
" Well," the child began, "I remember that I was very sick, the priest came and prayed with his hand on my head. Then I went to sleep. Then somebody woke me up! A real nice man walk me up and took me by the hand. But when he saw the Dollie, in my other hand, she said, 'I'm sorry, but you can't take that with you. You don't need it now,' or something like that. So I asked him if I could bury the Dollie, in the yard. He said' yes' and helped me put it under the ground, here under this tree. He didn't even have a shovel."
Then little Evangelina looked up at her mother, "are you alright, momma?" She asked. " You look kind of sick."
You must be logged in to post a comment.