A Story for Sunday

Fresia.

Once there was a little 6 year old girl named Fresia. She had big brown eyes and thick long eyelashes that matched her long, wavy hair. She was a bright, spunky girl whose wide eyes took in much of the world around her. Sometimes they took in a little too much of it. She lived in a small thin walled house with her mamma and little brother Willy. There wasn’t usually a poppa there. It seemed to Fresia that Willy and Mamma had a special bond. They seemed to read each other’s minds and Willy was attached to Mamma at the hip. Fresia was on her own, free to come and go as she liked. Her bond was with the dogs in the neighborhood. They all followed her down the street as if she were the pied piper. It made her happy.

Usually things were meager but they did have food in Fresia’s home. Mamma had a hard time finding ways to make ends meet and was often busy and distracted. One day Mamma brought home the most beautiful gift. It was a real live baby. A real live baby boy for Fresia to love and comfort and take care of: He had big brown eyes just like her. They understood each other. She had her new soul mate. Changing and feeding her little live baby doll made Fresia forget the rumbling in her own tummy. She loved her little baby brother. Her life was so much brighter. Then one day she was sent to the market to buy some bread. When she came home, the baby was gone. Where had he gone? It was time for him to go, was all she was told. He wouldn’t be coming back. The world changed that day and a part of her joy dimmed forever. Now she knew true sadness. For the rest of her childhood, she would sit at the doorway and wonder: Where had her baby boy gone to? What had become of him? How big was he now? She missed him. She even wondered if he had been a dream. But it wasn’t a dream and there was always an empty spot deep inside, a missing piece in her heart. The years went by and she never knew the answers to those questions.

P.S. I've just joined Soap Opera Sunday at Brillig's. More stories there! See part 2 of my story here.