Opinion

The skull, the doll and the little girl: a little story about the wonders of everyday life

The skull, the doll and the little girl: a little story about the wonders of

By Enver Robelli/ One day at the age of 40, Franz Kafka was walking through a park in Berlin. On that occasion he met a girl who was crying because she had lost her most beloved doll. She and Kafka looked for the doll, but couldn't find it. Kafka told the girl that they would meet the next day at the same place in the park to continue the search for the doll. The next day, after they did not find the doll, Kafka handed the girl a letter "written" by the doll. The letter said: "Please don't cry. I set out on a journey to see the world. I will write about my adventures".

Thus began a story that lasted until the end of Kafka's life (he died at the age of 40). During the meetings, Kafka would read the doll's letters to the girl, which were carefully written about her adventures and conversations. The girl was fascinated. Kafka once brought the doll and said that it had returned to Berlin. (Actually Kafka had bought another doll).

"This doll doesn't look like my doll at all," said the girl.

Kafka gave the girl another letter in which the doll wrote: "Travels have changed me." The little girl hugged the new doll and happily took it home.

Kafka died that same year.

Many years later the now grown girl found a letter inside the doll. On that piece of paper, signed by Kafka, it was said: "Everything you love is likely to be lost, but in the end love will return in a different way. Accept the change. It is inevitable that you will grow up. Together we can transform pain into miracles and love, but it is up to us to create this connection consciously and with purpose".

The account of the doll's letters written by Kafka can be found in the volume "Als Kafka mir entgegenkam... Erinnerungen an Franz Kafka" by Hans-Gerd Koch.