Linh

Nothingness
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When I was young, I used to see my grandmother carry a small, black bag. It was strange how protective she was toward this little bag. But once in a while, she allowed her grandchildren to glimpse the marvels that lay inside. She would pull out a handful of black and white photos, an ivory rosary, and some beautiful gold leaves. The items were mesmerizing but more so, were the amazing stories that accompanied them.
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One night, I noticed something strange peeking from the bag. I could barely make out a small figure-like object. When I questioned her, she claimed I was imagining things and convinced me there was nothing else in her bag. Though I believed her, every time I saw the bag I noticed a faint impression of the nothingness.
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As I got older I forgot about the bag. Not until my uncle became deathly ill, did it reappear. As he recovered in the hospital, my mom stripped, cleaned and prepared the family home for his return. During the process, the black bag was found. Everything that once was so dear to my grandmother was gone – the photos, the ivory rosary, the gold leaves; everything except the small nothingness. It was a strange little thing. I don’t know why she was so secretive and protective of it. Hoping to find answers, I contacted my great aunt #6. She was my grandmother’s youngest and last surviving sibling.
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The story goes… my grandmother had thirteen children. After the birth of my mom, the next six children died mysteriously and the eighth and ninth became deathly ill. Fearful of bringing death to her entire family, my grandmother went in search for something to break this curse. People from her village told her about a doll that would prevent the owner’s family from becoming separated. No one knew if she found the doll, but the deaths stopped.
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Strangely, after the death of my grandmother the string of deaths began again. My aunt, child #8 and my uncle, child #9, passed away. Then my uncle, child #10, came close to death. Now my great aunt believes my grandmother did possess the doll. When I questioned her why, she told me more about the doll’s magic. Depending on the type of love projected onto the doll by the owner, the doll’s power could exist on two planes—the living and the non-living.