My name is Evelyn, but most people call me Lynn. I’m 34, married to John, 39. We have a daughter, Sarah, who’s 4 years old. I work at the town school as an English teacher and my husband works for social services.
I have to tell you my story, before it’s too late to share the truth.
It all began a month ago. I was preparing dinner when John came home from work. And, as usual, he brought a gift for Sarah. A beautiful porcelain doll, with curly brown hair and a red dress with black stripes on it.
I told Sarah to let it rest until we ate dinner. She did, grudgingly. Once the dinner finished, Sarah just rushed immediately to the doll. She hugged her and kissed her. And just for a second, I had this shiver crawl down my spine. Nothing really, but still. As we went to bed, I told Sarah to be careful with the doll since it seems fragile. To what she answered “Edith is already broken” I took a quick look at the doll, and indeed, there was a finger missing from one of her hand and a little crack on her skull. I thought it was a brand new doll. Weird.
I was about to ask John about it but he was already asleep when i came to our bedroom. I joined him, still thinking about the name Sarah chose for her doll. Edith. So…outdated. How did she even thought of this name?
I fell asleep quite quickly. And then, in the middle of the night, something woke me up. A faint sound. Like a cry. But so soft. I immediately think “Sarah”. I got up and went to her room. Only to find her sleeping quietly. The sound didn’t stop however, I could still hear it.
I scanned the room and my eyes stopped on the doll, she was on the floor. I picked her up and suddenly the crying stopped. I checked the doll to see if she had any sort of voice mechanism, but nothing. Her body was made of tissue, except for the head, arms and legs, which were porcelain. I looked at the crack on her skull and I watched in horror and disgust a worm coming out of it. I threw the doll on the floor, waking up Sarah doing so.
“Mom? What are you doing?” She asked me with a sleepy voice. I was still catching my breath. “I’m sorry hon, I just heard something, it’s ok.” “Why did you threw Edith on the floor?” “I think she might be infested with worms, I’ll get rid of it” At this moment, the crying started again. “No mom! Please, she won’t like that!” “Honey! This thing is dangerous, no to mention disgusting!”
She started crying and tried to reach for the doll, which I pushed away with my feet. “I said no Sarah, let me at least clean her! I promise I won’t throw it out ok?” She nodded. “Now, back to sleep” I took the doll, carefully, and the crying stopped again. I wonder if Sarah could hear them. Am I going crazy? I tried to find the worm but it seems to have disappeared. I looked at the crack but it was clean. I could see inside the doll’s head and nothing was inside. Just for safety, I put the doll in a plastic bag, and the crying resumed. But they were muffled.
I was unable to find sleep after that so I just laid down on the couch with the tv on.
John woke me up the next morning. He had the bag with the doll in it in his hand. “Care to explain?” He asked me with a smile. I had to take a few seconds to remember everything from last night.
“Oh, this, I said, I saw a worm coming out of her head” His smile died on his face. He opened the bag and proceed to examine the doll. “Where?” I pointed to the crack. “There’s nothing there” he said. My eyes opened widely. I couldn’t believe it. There was no crack on the doll’s head. I took the little hand and the missing finger was here! I must have been dreaming. But Sarah too?
“Edith is already broken” I whispered to myself. “What did you say?” John asked me. “Nothing, I replied, you can give back the doll to Sarah, she’ll be thrilled” At this moment Sarah appeared downstairs. “Where is Edith?” She asked, before even saying good morning. God, she must really love this doll. John turned to her. “Who’s Edith?” “The doll, I said, there you go sweetie, you can have here back”. She smiled while hugging the doll. And again, I felt just for a second this weird shiver. What is that all about?