The Treasures of Brocante

A few months ago, a dear friend gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Not long after, during my weekly wander through the local brocante (flea market), I found myself searching for a small gift to mark the occasion. Among the usual curiosities stood a stall of old dolls, hardly an unusual sight, yet one in particular drew me in. She was remarkably well-preserved, with a gentle, kindly face and modest, conservative dress.

I have never liked dolls. Even as a child, I found them faintly unsettling, as though they carried something shadowed and mysterious. And yet this one felt different – though I would only understand why later.

“This will do,” I thought, handing over five euros and carrying her home. Almost immediately, doubt crept in. I can’t give her away. She belongs to me. The feeling arrived as a quiet but unmistakable nudge, warm and enveloping, as if I had stumbled upon something long missing.

I placed her on the mantelpiece in my bedroom and simply observed. Her dress was Edwardian in style, trimmed with lace, and a hat concealed her long hair. Her expression was modest and unadorned, utterly free of glamour. That, I realised, was what I loved most.

Then one morning, without warning but with complete conviction, I removed her hat. The gesture felt urgent and necessary, a small act of liberation, as though something hidden needed to be revealed. When her fringed hair fell free, it created an unexpected sense of connection between us. She became, in some quiet way, more a part of me.

Weeks later, I found myself speaking to her, confiding doubts, sharing concerns, even asking her advice. One evening I happened to read the tale of Baba Yaga, in which the heroine, Vasilisa, is guided by a small doll who helps her accomplish impossible tasks. The doll represents her intuitive, untamed essence.

In that moment, I understood what I had found. Tears of gratitude welled in my eyes. The mysterious presence I had once sensed in dolls was not something dark after all – it was something ancient, protective, and profoundly wise.