Legend has it that Franz Kafka encountered a little girl in the park where he walked every day. The girl was crying. She had lost her doll and was inconsolable. Kafka offered to help her find the doll, so they agreed to meet at the same spot the next day. Since he didn’t find the doll, he wrote a letter in the doll’s name and read it to the little girl.
“Please, don’t grieve for me. I went on a journey to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures.”
This was the first in a series of letters. When he met the little girl, Kafka would read to her these carefully crafted letters about the imaginary adventures of her favorite doll. It brought comfort to the girl. When the encounters came to an end, Kafka brought the doll to the girl. It, of course, did not resemble the lost one. Attached to the doll was a message that read: “Travels have changed me…”
Many years later, the now grown woman found the hidden letter in the doll. The essence of that letter would say: “Everything you love you will eventually lose, but in the end, it will all come full circle.” love coming back in some other form.”
Selected by: Vesna Perhat
Taken from the book: Mirjana Nazor. Small Stories 7.