Worry Dolls

“Laura come down for breakfast!” Cynthia yells this upstairs and has no idea that it shakes the walls. She is only directly below the bed that Laura was trying to stay in.

If depression was a person, we could call it Laura. As a baby she was the epitome of mopey and that hadn’t changed in the slightest with age. What we could say is it aged like fine wine. There is a deepening of wrinkles on this young’s girl face that has you question is really only 12 because that face looks like it's heading towards ninety two. The Marianna trench looks flat compared to her worry and frown lines which are featured even when Laura believes she has a neutral facial expression.

Laura’s mother is something else entirely, maybe the direct opposite. What do they say, “a bucket full of sunshine?" More like an Olympic size pool or possibly ten stadiums of water would size up her optimism and cheer.

It is tenuous to say if they got along or get along. Cynthia smiles through everything while her daughter frowns through it all. It could be utterly pointless to try and figure it out. Thankfully that is not my job nor is it yours.

What is exploring the very curious event that happened last week. A new tech company has come up and it makes devices that we could call worry dolls. These dolls are designed to soak up the energy that is near them. They can literally take the worry out of you.

Cynthia ordered one and gave it to Laura as a birthday present. As usual she frowned at it and her mom said it could help you with your emotions. With a roll of an eye she said “Who said I needed help?”

Cynthia smiles almost concerningly wide. Her face seemed like it could crack at any moment. “It’s just look on your face.”

A dead eye stare from Laura said “Have you seen yours? I swear you're on the verge of falling apart. Like one more smile and you will simply be a pool of tears.”

“I am fine really.” And she turns away with shock that smile won’t end despite the desire to punch her ungrateful daughter.

This time may be the last straw for Cynthia and it seems like the first one for Laura because something is changing in the household.

Laura feels less worry and concern and Cynthia is showing signs of feeling. In the morning Cynthia is slowly crawling out of bed, whereas Laura is up and about. She throws some bread in the toaster and offers some microwave bacon to her mother.

Cynthia declines the food. She has no appetite at all. Laura looks at her curiously and finds herself amused.

After years of feeling locked up with the cheeriest person in the world, she was faced with actually being in the room with a normal human being. A little skip had hit her step. She was surprised and her face hurt in a brand new way. And a little neighborhood kid looked startled and out of place because he saw the unexpected. He saw a smile on her face.

Laura felt lighter during her first class. Her teacher asked if she was feeling alright. “Yes, I feel fine. It’s like a heavy burden has been lifted off of me.” The teacher nods slowly and sends her off with a note to see the school nurse.

At the nurses office, Laura is checked but nothing seems to be different so she gets sent to the school's counselor. Who is surprised to see that Laura is not only smiling but seems to have a bright glowing light following her. It's like sunshine literally follows her around.

“Laura, are you doing anything different or new? Have you been trying new foods or medicines with your peers?”

A startled and confused look briefly flashes across Laura’s face before she says “Nothing notable has changed in my life.”

The counselor looks down at her notes which state that Laura had been contemplating suicide for a long time and had just admitted to solid plan yesterday. “I see.” She pauses for a long time. “I notice something seems to be different. Is everything ok at home?”

Laura pauses and says “never been better. Can I go now?”

The counselor nods as she cannot locate a problem with a child suddenly being happy. “Hey before you go, I would love it if you gave me a pee sample. It's really just a simple check on your health. The school nurse thought of it but just forgot to ask for some reason.”

Laura shrugs it off the request and does it. There is not a concern on her mind.

The next day her counselor is baffled and her mom is struggling to go to work so she calls in sick. It seems she is being hit with depression and congestion all at once.

The test results show no signs of drug usage and the counselor is left baffled.

Back at home, Cynthia can barely move and requests that Laura answer any calls, mail, or requests of her at the house. Laura has gotten used to the month long routine of handling things.

A loud knock rings through the house and Laura skips down the stairs. Her cheerfulness is overpowering when she says “hello.”

“Hello youngster, I was looking for your mom Cythina.”

Laura shrugs her shoulders “Sorry she is incapacitated."

The man tilts his hat and asks to come inside. Laura gleefully allows him in. He sits in an armchair.

“Please bring your mother down.”

Laura yells in a sing-song tone "Cynthia come down, we have company.”

Cynthia slowly moves down the stairs and sits on the couch with Laura.

“Mama, I am so sorry. It seems we have sold a defective batch of worry dolls. The one you bought is not clearing the energy but has moved it around. As a result I am happy to give you two new ones that should resolve the issue for you and your daughter.”

He puts the dolls on the coffee table and walks towards the door. Laura follows him and closes the door behind him.

When she comes back, she notices that one doll looked like a teenager and the other looked like a woman. Laura picks them up and puts the woman in Cynthia's hands and the other in hers.

There was a glow that they both emitted. The young doll was emitting yellow and the other light was blue.

Laura felt her unreasonable happiness lessen and her mother started to sit a little taller.

The next day both seemed different from how they had been lately. They were no longer extremely anything.

Cynthia went back to work and Laura to school. The comically optimistic mother was gone along with the hopeless sad Laura.

About a month later a very strange thing happened. The dolls both moved towards each other and destroyed each other.

Neither Cynthia nor Laura noticed it as they were busy living normal lives.

I don’t know if it was the dolls or the inevitable passage of the time.

What I do know is they are both more content than they had been before the dolls had come into their lives.