Student Essay 27: A Talking Doll by Chung Hye Won

A Talking Doll, by Chung Hye Won, Year 8, Sayfol International School

When I was in Year Seven, I experienced an amazing incident. It was ten years ago. I often like to think back about it. I bought a doll at a flea market. It looked really pretty and precious but it was free for anyone who wanted it. I felt uneasy about it at first but I forgot every uneasy feeling as soon as I looked at it. When I stood in front of the doll, the hag who was selling the doll put her face close to mine. I flinched because of the fiendish face and foul breath. Her face was in complete contrast to that of the doll which was her possession. I didn’t want to talk with her but that doll was too precious to give up. I felt like the doll was dazzling me.

While I was being hypnotised by the doll, the hag’s metallic voice woke me up from my fancy. “Will you have this pretty doll? It is not just any normal doll. It is uncommon and extraordinary.” I looked at the doll again for a short few seconds and when I looked up again to tell the hag that I would take it, she was not there anymore. Only the doll was sitting quietly and haughtily on the table. She looked very lonely so I felt I needed to take her with me. Automatically, my hands moved forward to take it. I went home and observed it for a long time. Her hair was a captivating blonde and her fair skin contrasted with her ruddy lips. Her dress was a little worn out but its antique characteristic was enough to fascinate me.

“Why have you been looking at me for such a long time?” she asked me.

“I am looking at you because … Aaaaahhh!” While I was answering her, I realized that no one could have spoken except the doll! I blinked my eyes in shock. Her eyes were flickering.

That was the last memory I had of that day. I fainted. I woke up when the morning sunlight pricked my eyes. I blinked a few times. I rearranged my hair and coughed a few times. Then I moved slyly towards the doll and talked cautiously to her, “H .. He … Hello …”

She answered arrogantly, “Hey! Stop treating me like a ghost. I am just a normal person like you but I am trapped in here because of that horrible hag. But I can predict everything about you.” It was such a special doll. From that day, I started to discuss everything with her and she gave me great solutions to my problems. The time passed like a second hand. I went to high school and college and I realized that she was getting older. Some days, she didn’t say anything because of her pain and sorrow. It continued for about a few months so I decided to find the hag to help her. The doll cared about me like a mother and a friend. So I couldn’t leave her like that. I packed my things and some money. Then I put her inside my bag. I made a hole for her to breathe and to talk to her. When our money was finished, I told fortune for people with her help and we earned some money that way.

Finally, we found the hag by enquiring here and there. When we arrived at her hut, we frowned because of the mess at her place. We approached her and saw that she was scruffy. Beside her, liquor bottles made a small hill. I snatched the liquor bottle from her hand while she was drinking from it. She saw me and laughed like a beast. “Oh, aren’t you that little girl who took the doll from me? How is it? Ah! I know you are here to help her, right? Well, you need to give me everything you have.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like your money and the house which your parents gave you. Do you know why I gave you this? It’s so that I can take money from you like this! You don’t have any relatives so I knew that you would rely on this doll and finally you would come to me to help her. Isn’t it true?”

I signed all the documents for her to take my house away. When the doll came back to me, I forgot my losses. The doll was so pretty and so precious to me. When I went back to town, I started to study and she helped and supported me. But two years ago, she left this world and I am now all alone.