DOROTHY’S DREAMS Chapter 1 Introduction

                           

                                             CHAPTER 1

                                         INTRODUCTION 

                      Childhood is frequently viewed as the golden era of our lives, a period when our innocent young eyes saw the world as a realm filled with goodness, beauty, and perfection. In those carefree days, the simplest of things—like a sunlit garden or a gentle breeze—sparked wonder and joy, allowing us to embrace life with an open heart and boundless imagination. We believed that there were fairies and fantasy lands. We thought the moon could hear our stories, stars could grant us wishes, trees could walk, and animals could talk. Ignorance of childhood was indeed bliss. Our imagination had wings. Like Alice, we could fall into an endless pit without getting hurt. We could fly on dragons’ backs without being burnt. The impossible was possible back then. But as we grew older, the burden of knowledge and knowing everything crushed our beautiful imaginations and left us with a barren land of reality.  

                       Thanks be to God, stories can take us back to our childhood and its fantasies. They can transcend time and space, possessing the power to change the world around us and create endless possibilities that bring us joy, happiness, laughter, hope, and faith. Although they present unreal events, stories have served as an ancient tool for passing down knowledge, moral values, and ethics from one generation to the next.

                         This story is about a girl named Dorothy, whose wonderful imagination brought life to many dead lives in her world. Dorothy’s childhood, which should have been full of joy and happiness with running, jumping, playing and laughter, was filled with sighs and tears. Confined to a wheelchair from infancy, Dorothy was always in tears when she looked at other kids running and playing. To keep her from crying and getting depressed, her parents often kept her isolated from other kids. Although this is not the appropriate way to handle it, they chose this route because they couldn’t bear to see her cry. After all, children’s tears are parents’ fears. 

                     James and Jennie Cornwall, Dorothy’s parents, provided her with everything best that money could buy to compensate for the weakness in her legs. They gave her the best and beautiful clothes, toys, education, and everything to the best of their ability. To some, these might seem presumptuous, but to parents who see their kids in pain and can do nothing about it but stand by and watch them suffer, this is a way of showing their helplessness. 

                       Mr. James has searched extensively for every possible treatment to help his daughter. Despite exploring various methods and medications, the doctors informed him that her condition could not be improved, as it was congenital. Since Dorothy was a young girl of five years old, it was hard to make her understand that there was life ahead despite these pains. Therefore, most of the time, her parents let her have her way in many things. This made Dorothy feel good but couldn’t truly bring her joy. Every time she threw a tantrum and got what she wanted, she felt satisfied, but her parents' painful and frustrated look sure brought guilt into her tiny little heart. From what she could understand, she knew that her parents knuckled under her wishes because of her ailment, and she took full advantage of it as kids of her age do.

                             Since Dorothy was homeschooled, she had more time to engage in activities that other kids her age couldn’t pursue. She was good at everything that kids do sitting in one place. She was good at spelling, reading, drawing, playing board games, block puzzles, and playing the piano. Her parents scheduled her daily activities to keep her mind engaged and entertained.

                                Every day after breakfast, she was brought out into the garden to sit under the huge Indian laurel tree. The tree provided enough shade for her to sit and play her board games and blocks. And there was also enough sunlight to warm her up. This time of the day was her favourite because she was left alone without any nagging by her parents, nannies and tutors. It was just her, her toys and her world. As for the rest of her day, she was usually fussy, cranky and irritable. She was fussy at meals, cranky at bedtime and irritable during lessons, yet all the adults just put up with her. She made life hell for everyone around her, as she felt she was living in one herself and didn't understand it because she was young. More than her disability, it was her attitude that worried her mom the most. Even if she couldn't have a walking child, she longed for a happy one. So this often became her sighs and prayers. On one such night, when the day was filled with one of Dorothy’s worst tantrums, her mother went to bed in tears crying and praying, “Dear Lord, even if You don't want to heal Dorothy, I pray at least make her smile. I couldn't take this anymore as her mother.” She sobbed and shed tears. James tried his best to comfort her, and eventually, they both fell asleep. 

....... to be continued