Every year my mother-in-law secretly gave me a porcelain doll: at first I thought they were harmless gifts, but one day my husband accidentally found them and ordered me to burn them đ±đ±
Every year, my mother-in-law, behind her sonâs back, gave me a porcelain doll.
At first, I thought they were just innocent presents. They reminded me of the dolls my own mother had given me in childhood, and for that reason, I even felt a little pleased.
I didnât understand why a grown woman would give dolls, but I accepted them so as not to offend her, and hid them away in a box in the attic.
The second time, the same thing happened: the same porcelain doll, the same face, and again the request not to tell my husband.
â âYou remember,â my mother-in-law said sternly, âmy son must never know about these dolls.â
â âYes, of course,â I replied. âTheyâre all in a box, he doesnât know anything.â
I didnât think much of it. I thought maybe she was afraid of her sonâs mockery â that heâd say these gifts were silly and useless. And so ten years passed. Ten identical anniversaries, ten identical dolls.
But one day my husband accidentally discovered the box with the dolls. His face changed. He turned pale, as though he hadnât seen dolls, but something terrifying.
â âWhat is this?â he asked sharply.
â âYour motherâs gifts⊠for our anniversaries,â I stammered. âWhy?â
â âBurn them immediately!â he shouted, recoiling in horror.
I didnât understand why. But when he told me the truth, a chill ran through my body. đ±đąÂ To be continued in the first comment đđ
It turned out that many years ago his mother had lost a child, one no one had ever known about.
In their family, there was a belief: every gifted doll replaced an unborn child. The woman who accepted such dolls risked losing her own ability to have children.
â âDo you understand now?â my husband looked at me with pain in his eyes. âShe transferred her fate onto you.â
At first, I refused to believe it. I thought it was just a grim superstition. But in ten years of marriage, we had never been able to have a childâŠ
We burned the dolls. All ten. Their porcelain faces cracked and melted in the flames, while fear and relief battled inside my heart.
And the incredible happened a few months later: I became pregnant.
I will never have the courage to tell my mother-in-law. But even today, sometimes, in the silence of the night, I think I hear the faint crackle of porcelainâŠ


