She came to me shyly, saying: I want to buy a doll, my daughter. And why a doll now? She said: I want to play with it like my friends. So I said to her: Is playing with a doll necessary? She said: Yes, I wish I had a doll to change her clothes and make her shampoo her hair. So the father said: I will try, God willing.
So I went to the doll shop, hoping to find a cheap one. I wished I hadn’t bought some fruit this morning so that I would be able to buy the doll she wanted. For my little daughter is smart and sweet and shy. She dreams all the time of having toys like her friends, and I always postpone it with many excuses. She doesn’t get angry but stays silent and submits. The excuses didn’t work this time, and there was no trick left, so I must buy her a doll.
So I went to the toy store and scrutinized the prices. The dolls were very expensive, and what was required for them exceeded my capacity. I wished to find something suitable to bring joy to her heart. There was a very simple toy with nothing to attract any child. It seemed as if it had been neglected in its place for a short time without attracting anyone’s attention, but it attracted my attention.
Because the money I had was enough to buy it, so I held it and turned it in my hands, hoping to find something in it that would make my daughter love it. There were dozens of precious dolls arranged carefully, and each one had different qualities. One carried her clothes, another carried her accessories, and a third carried her bag, and each one had a different color, competing in beauty with the other colors. These were mute dolls that possessed all these things, while my daughter barely possessed anything.
For my daughter wants a doll now, and tomorrow she will grow a little and her demands will increase. She will ask for a computer like most of her friends. They play with it and watch what they like, but my daughter will not be able to do what they do. So I bought the cheap doll and returned home as quickly as possible. I was afraid she wouldn’t like the doll. I was afraid she would say to me: I wish you hadn’t bought me anything. I said to her: I will save this month and we won’t buy anything but necessities so that you can have a beautiful doll. I arrived home and called her and heard no answer, and called in a louder voice but no reply.
My wife asked me: Whom are you calling? I said: Our daughter. My wife looked at me, tears drowning her eyes. Control yourself, man. Where is our daughter? My wife’s crying rose, and I didn’t look at her. I felt a silence falling over my head, and my feet carried me to a place I didn’t know how I reached, and the sound of bullets that had settled on the threshold of our house again was bleeding my heart.