Written for Pancreatic Cancer UK , to help fundraise and raise awareness of this terrible illness after losing my dad in November 2020.

Crolly doll word prompt from Gloria Mcbreen

Crolly doll

Part two of five

Pushing scrambled egg around my plate, I thought of the pile of paperwork on my office desk. Surely school can do without me for one day. I don’t want to go to my meetings or see the parents. I had been feeling low for a while now, I have had a constant feeling of being watched.

The voice in my head keeps telling me that something is wrong. The doll is dangerous, but how can it be? I’ve returned her back to her box, she makes me uncomfortable.   My grandmother didn’t know the dolls history, I’m sure I am overthinking it but opening up my laptop I want to know more.  As I type in ‘Crolly Doll’ I regret my actions.  The headline from 1940 struck me, ‘cursed dolls in doll factory’ and ‘woman seen in workers visions.”  Reading the article, the woman seen was unknown. Aoife Mcmann, working in the County Donegal factory, had claimed that she was working on the head for the ‘Rosie’ doll when she had seen the woman.

Looking up ‘Crolly doll, Rosie’, I found my doll. Could this be connected? Looking up Aoife Mcmann, I found a news article of her in a nursing home in Limerick.  Looking up the phone number I now dialled.  As the phone was answered, I questioned what I was doing.

Aoife

“Hello, I’m just wanting to ask if you have a lady there called Aoife Mcmann?”

“Who is asking?”

“My name is Laura and I think Aoife might know me from years ago and I’m trying to find her.”

“Yes, she is here, but she can be confused.”

“Does she ever talk about the Crolly doll factory and the visions in her news articles?”

“She gets distressed about it and cries out.  She has done since she moved here about ten years ago.”

“I’m going to visit, but I think I’m the woman she is seeing in her visions. Don’t want to cause distress but maybe I am why she is crying out.”

“If you come it will be a supervised visit, her daughter will also want to meet you.  Aoife has possibly spoken a lot about you over the years.”

“That’s if it is me, but I think there is something strange happening.  I will try and visit as soon as I can as I really need to meet her. “

“When might you be here?”

“How about Wednesday afternoon?”

“That’s fine, I will let daughter Niamh know.”

“Thank you, and what’s your name?”

I’m Brigid, we will see you Wednesday.

 

Putting the phone down, I emailed work for leave and checked flights to Ireland.

Limerick

Two days later I’m paying for a taxi outside the Limerick Nursing Home.  I hoped I wasn’t about to walk into an elderly lady’s nightmare and scare her.  Ringing the doorbell, I was greeted by a young woman, Brigid.  She was excited to meet me.

“Aoife and Niamh are ready for you. They have waited years for this day.”

Nervous, I smiled and followed Brigid along the narrow corridor. Arriving at her room she knocked and then opened the door.

Sat side by side were two elderly women, both smiling.

‘Mum is this her, is this who you saw in the factory?”

I sat next to her patiently.

“Sorry, Brigid, please can you leave, we need to talk in quiet.”

Brigid smiled, “I will get some tea and cake.”

Watching her leave, I felt my stomach lurch.

“Dear girl, what is your name?”

“It’s Laura.”

“Come closer.”

Moving my chair, I was getting scared, what was happening.

Rosie

“Do you still have Rosie?”

“I do, but she is back a in a box as she scares me.”

Aoife smiled kindly, “the doll was destined for you, but I’m not sure if that’s good.”

“Why is that?”

“Over the years I have seen you many times. I saw us here now, back in 1940 in the doll factory. What do you think that means?”

“That we are supposed to meet, but why?”

“In recent years I’ve seen you, your children and your husband. I saw what happened to him, but I’ve also seen other stuff, stuff you don’t know.  The last few days I’ve seen everything in your home.  I think I’ve been seeing you through Rosie the dolls eyes.  A few days ago, I stopped seeing you as well, that’s when you put her back in her box.  I’ve spent years trying to understand what is happening, I think that’s why I’m still here.  I have a message that I need to share but I don’t know what it is”.

“Is Rosie sat on top of her box?”

“She is, why,”

“Because I can hear your family.  They are worried about you and there is a lady telling them that their mum is fine.”

“Have you heard many of our conversations?”

“I’ve seen and heard many things and seen your arguments over the years.”

This was getting stranger, what really is going on?

 

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Written for A story a day for Pancreatic Cancer UK