The doctor gave the girl five months before her body would give up; Alexandra was in the waiting room playing with the other child waiting for their check ups. The doctor looked at the mother saying, “I am sorry but Alexandra has tuberculosis and there is no cure we know of.” The mother began to cry and the father was shook up but held his wife for comfort, “How long does our daughter have to be here with us?” he asked.

“Hard to say, this is August. Five more months give or take.” The doctor said very serious. “I really wish for this not to happen to her but what this disease will bring to her is pain. She will be coughing up blood and she will be complaining of not being able to breathe.” This made the mother cry even harder to know she will be seeing this. “May I ask, is her bed near a window for the sun?” the doctor asked.

“No it is not. Why, will this help her?” the father asked the doctor almost in tears.

“The recent experiments have seen a big difference in breathing for the patient. They breathe easier, so I suggest for you to move her bed to the window so the sun can shine on her” the doctor said with a sad look on his face. “I have seen too many people with this disease and I wish …, “the doctor sighs. “I wish Alexandra was not another victim to this disease.”

“Don’t we all Dr. Rogers.” said the father still holding his wife. “We must be going. I have to go back to work and my wife has to take her home.” There was silence in the office and the father finally said, “Thanks so much Dr. Rogers. We will get to you if there is anything else.” The father let his wife go and rose to shake the doctor’s hand. The wife wiped her face of the tears, straightened herself for her daughter to see her.

*****Three months gone by*****

Just being two months from her birthday, two months all the time she had left to be a child. Two months to live with tuberculosis and in the last month this will be hard on her the mother knew.

“Mommy, Mommy!!!” a young girl full of life said.

“Yes little one” a woman in her mid-twenties answers the young girl.

“Mommy, I like that dolly. Can I have the dolly in the store window?” the child said pointing and dancing, excited like a leaf blown in the wind in all sorts of directions. The mother looked into the window shielding her eyes from the stunning sunlight. There were many dolls in the window of the toy store. She did not know which doll she was speaking of, “Which doll sweetheart?” she asked in her sweet, loving mother voice.

The mother picked her daughter up on to the ledge of the window holding her steady not to let her fall. The girl moved about but made the point clear to which doll she desired to be her own. “That one!” the girl said happily “The dolly in the red dress with the brown hair.”

Her daughter had taste all right; it was a very beautiful doll. The highest priced tag hung on the hand of the doll, out of five dolls in the window. This doll was near the end of the row of dolls. The other two toy stores on the main street of their little village, nothing from the two-toy store’s windows appealed to her. A cute teddy bear with a white ribbon making a bow around the neck was in the first store that stirred a bit of interest to her. The second toy store’s toy quality was poor and very cheap in price. The girl looked into the window with a disappointed look on her face. All the boys’ toys were like trucks and a wooden car on a string to pull the wooden car wherever the child ran to. A few wooden animals with the string like the wooden car for the girls she thought. She was not going to lose hope in knowing there was another toy store on the street.

The little girl had a homemade doll made by her mother for when she was born, age seemed to attack the material of the doll making it look worn. The seven-year-old girl asked the mother once again, “Mommy can I have her for my birthday. Mommy, pppplllleeeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeee!!!!!!!!” jumping up and down excitedly making her shoes making a tapping sound as each foot touched the ledge of the window. The mother tightens her grip on the child’s waist afraid she will fall and break as a fragile vase.

“Okay Alexandra, ok let’s see what mommy and daddy can do for your birthday wish, ok?” the mother said with a smile on her face. She gave her daughter a kiss on the check and a tight hug bringing her to the ground.

“Okay.” Alexandra said “I hope you can please make this wish come true.” smiling up at her mother. This broke the young mother’s heart to hear Alexandra say those words in that manner. She made it sound like she was going to die some time in the near future.

When they finally arrived to their home, Alexandra told to go up clean her room; she did, running up the stairs to her room. The mother sat on the couch to gather her thoughts and the rearrange her budget. Still in the back of her mind was what Alexandra said, “I hope you can please make this wish come true”, she knew why her daughter said that and wondered how she found out. She started crying, placing her hands up to her face to hide her pain.

“Honey are you ok?” her husband asked her coming in the door. He put his hat and coat on the hanger on the wall near the door.

“Yes, dear. Just thinking what to do for her birthday since it is just a few more weeks and hope for more time for her.” A tear came down her face; her husband came to hold her. “I know we have not told her, but I just know that she knows what is in her.” She pauses and catches her breath. “She read me like a book when we came out of the office of the doctor and seen what the doctor said from his face when he followed us out. I know it” she ended.

The young mother paused a moment to catch her breathe. Her husband placed his hand on hers to comfort her. “Every since Dr. Rogers told us what would happen to her, I really wish this was just a bad dream and I wake up from it. I go to her room to see if she is ok and she would be, but I know this is just an illusion. I do awaken at night thinking this is all a dream and I go to her room to see her,” her tears came harder to fight back “I only see her struggling to breathe while she sleeps, and the cloths covered in red on the floor. Sometimes at night I heard her coughing and crying from all the pain she is in.,” she could not continue anymore from all the terrible images flashing in her head of Alexandra crying out to her “Mommy why can I breathe? Mommy what is wrong with me?”

“Alexandra does not know, she is acting normal and…she is happy.” her husband stopped short. He moved his arm over his wife’s shoulder pulling her close and continued. “Alexandra is happy. That is all that matters now, and we will see what will happen. Remember she is strong and I believe she will impress us all before she leaves us. When she becomes ill, she will impress us all.” He finished just looking out into space rubbing his wife’s arm. “We will see”

*******Alexandra’s birthday two months later******

Alexandra’s parents set things up for her birthday; there were few family and friends to celebrate her eighth birthday. Her father took her out of the house while everyone set up the decorations and food. Alexandra was taken to the same toy store where the doll was and she did not know why, but she had a feeling. The snow fell lightly as they walked to the toy store; to her surprise, the doll was still there. She then just smiled and her father caught her pretty smile, “I can not believe she will be gone out of my life,” he thought to himself, “Why? She had done nothing wrong; she is young and do not need to have death at her side.

A bell rang from the door opening and sounded once again as it shut behind then to block off the cold winter air. He held her hand while they walked around the store and he walked up to the counter. The storeowner had his back turned away from the counter fixing a broken wooden puppet; he turned his back and smiled at Alexandra’s father. “Sorry for not noticing you, but may I help you sir?”

“Yes you may sir, I was interested in a doll you had in the store window. It is a gift for my daughter.” He ended with a smile looking down at her. The storeowner looked at her father and nodded his head. The storeowner walked to where the dolls were and asked, “Which doll were you planning on?”

Her father bent down still holding her hand and asked, “What doll were you wishing for?”

Alexandra’s health was starting to decline but on her birthday, she seemed, as she was not even ill. “Daddy, the doll has a red dress and brown hair.” Alexandra said. She let go of his hand and pointed to the doll “Here she is,” with a smile. The storekeeper then smiled and shook his head. “I am sorry sir but you may not have this doll. She is already sold to someone else,” he said.

As the words were spoken, Alexandra felt her heart drop to her feet and a tear came down from her brown eye. Her father said “I do not understand, I checked with the store just yesterday and the doll was not bought. I was told to come in at this time to buy her. I simply do not understand,” he said with anger in his voice “I thought we had a deal.” The storekeeper looked at him and said, “I am sorry Mr. Gark, just this morning the doll was sold for a higher price and it will be picked up later on today.” He looked down at the girl and said, “I am sorry but is there something else you would like?”

Mr. Gark looked at his daughter and watched as she said her answer, “No there is nothing I would like. I was wishing for her and I see my wish will not come true.” She shut her eyes as the last two tears fell from her checks; they landed on her red dress and left a dark spot. “Dad can we go home?” she said as she looked up at him. The look in her eyes is what killed him the most, and the way she spoke as her mother commented about before when speaking of her wish. “Yes sweetheart, let’s go home and have a good birthday, ok?” Mr. Gark said with a smile wiping her face of tears, she smiled a bit, but her sadness was recognized.

He carried her home and she did put on a happy face for her family and friends. Her mother and father knew how she really felt and really wished she did not feel this way. At the end of the party as the guests left their home, there was a knock on the door. The family of three was in the living room looking at all the things given to Alexandra, some dresses, a teddy bear and some one-dollar bills. “Who could that be?” her mother asked and rose to answer the door. She opened the door to see a man wearing a formal black suit ready for an opera; he had a top hat and carried a package in his hands. His face hidden from his hat rim down slightly, he was a quiet man by nature, but a feeling of fear came from him. He raised his head and his blue eyes are what caught her off guard the most.

They were the clearest blue she had ever seen in her life. He had a fine trimmed mustache and beard that made his face look firm, strong, but gentle. He was very quiet when he looked at her making her more interested of what he may say or do.

“May I help you sir?” she asked curious of his reason for being there.

“Is this the Gark manor?” the stranger asked.

“Yes.”

“I have a package for Alexandra Garks. Is she here?” he questioned in a deep voice.

“Yes she is. Would you like to come in and give it to her yourself?” Mrs. Garks said motioning with her hand for the man to come in.

“No Mrs. Garks I must be going. Please give this to her.” the man said handing her the package. He tipped his hat to her and walked away before she could say goodbye.

She shut the door behind her and wiped the snow off the package to read it, her husband came up to her and asked, “Who was at the door, Emily?”

“It was a man delivering this package for Alexandra,” she said curious of the package. “Should I look to see what this is before I give to her or just let her open it,” she asked her husband. He looked at the package, his wife and then back to the package. “Well I think it would not hurt for her to open it, this seems safe. You want me to give it to her or you?” he said with a smile.

The mother caressed the package and felt the right thing was to give their daughter this gift. “No Edward, I will” Emily said and made her way into the living room. Alexandra was on the floor coloring in her coloring book. Her mother bent down and said, “Sweetie, you have a package. Would care if I opened it for you?”

Alexandra looked up from the book shocked and said “No, I will open it” Her mother handed her the package and as the brown packing paper came off, the mystery was solved. The doll with the brown curly hair and red dress was inside. Alexandra’s face lit up and she said in a happy voice to her mother, “Mommy look! My dolly! My dolly!!!!!!!!” She took the doll out of the box. Her mother watched in the state of shock as the doll was in her daughter’s hands. Her mother held her hands out so she could see the doll for herself and her daughter gave her the doll. She wanted to make sure this was not a dream and not a joke. Sure enough, the doll was real; she could feel the red velvet under her fingertips and the cool smooth porcelain of the dolls face. Her express was of a simple smile with ruby red lips.

Walking over to her husband she asked, “Honey, did you buy this?” looking at the beautiful doll. Mr. Garks looked at his wife and said, “I’ll be. No, I did not buy the doll and I do not know who did.” They both looked at each other and questioned themselves on who got the doll.

Everything was cleaned up and their daughter went to bed with the dolly, they kissed her goodnight, the night changed to day. The next morning the father went to wake her and looked at Alexandra as she slept. The doll was in her hands as she slept, he touched her face lightly to wake her and noticed she was cold. He went to get his wife in their bedroom and he told her the news. “I am sorry Emily, our Alexandra is gone.” He said in sorrow began to tear up. She looked at him with a look of shock and wanted to ask why but already knew the answer to her question before she could ask. She took her husband into her arms said “We need to be strong for her. I want to see her one last time.” They held each other as they walked back to their daughter’s room. There laid a letter near her body; Edward picked it up and read it aloud:

“Mommy and Daddy-

You are wonderful parents and I wish you well in life.

Please do not miss me. I am in a better place and I will love you forever.

Love, Alexandra.”

He sat on the bed next to his wife they began to both cry.

He looked up after wiping a tear from his eye, looked at his little angel. He reached for the doll, examined the doll more closely, and realized something. The long brown curls, the face, eyes, and the outfit looked like Alexandra on her eighth birthday; even her smile. He then cried harder coming to the realization of who the visitor was.