How little Jenny stopped crying.

 

Jenny was crying her heart out hiding her head deep into her shoulders which were shuddering by an emotional wave. Her light blue almond eyes couldn’t stop running tears while deep sighs followed every now and then , from the depths of her soul.

 She was sitting all alone, under her favourite  lemon tree , a little further from her home where the rest of her family , were having lunch.

After she had cried for quite some time , she felt much better and looked around through the mist in her eyes.

She saw the Sun up in the sky, she saw the sea sparkling a few meters away, she saw the seagulls having a parade on the banks of the little stream which was flowing into the sea , and a couple of elegant swans, sailing idly away.

Jenny was just ten years old, but as long as she remembered herself, she cried for every possible reason. For example, she cried because her mum had told her off, because her brother had teased her, because her father had forgotten to kiss her goodnight, or because, her best friend ,played with other children without her.

That particular noon, she was crying because her teacher had told her that she had to try more and study harder.

That was a huge offense for her little heart and felt embarrassed and unhappy. However, after crying for almost half an hour , she still couldn’t decide if she was crying because she felt offended or because she didn’t have the slightest intention  to try more and become a better student.

At last, she went back home and sat at the table with her family. They were all talking and laughing at the same time and she got confused. “What is going on?” she thought. “What have I missed?” She was ready to start crying again when her father showed her an ad in the newspaper.”Look Jenny! This mostly interests you!”

So Jenny, started reading the ad which was about  a CRY DOCTOR.!

“A Cry doctor, the paper said, is for the children who cry for no reason” Specifically it was like this. “Do your children cry for no obvious reason? Do they cry every two or so minutes and you have never guessed why? Does this hinder his or her everyday school and family life? If this is the case do not hesitate to call now! Tel. 6990009999.”

Her father had already held out to his phone while the others were excitedly waiting for the call. Jenny was confused and she even had forgotten her mouth open.

She listened to her father talking to the doctor and inviting him to stay for a while  with them at their quest room. Obviously the doctor had accepted his invitation because  her father said “All set! He will be here at nine! Maria!! We have a guest!”

Her mother still half laughing, started moving around , tidying and cleaning , throwing glances  at her and teasing her every now and then, “Lucky you!” 

It was too much for her. “This would  be too much  for any child” she thought. She starting weeping again sitting once again under her lemon tree.

“A total stranger in our house! A total stranger  because of me and nobody seems to be a little bit upset! How strange!”

It seemed very strange indeed and Jenny lost three sighs in a row. Her brother Phil, a twelve year old handsome  blond boy, called her in the house as the time had passed  and she had to do her homework for the next day. Jenny dragged her feet home, but as soon as she realized that it was Tuesday ,which was the worst day of the week loaded with maths and History- which she hadn’t studied yet-, she felt once more a wave of tears coming up from the back of her head.

From her window she had the view of the sea which started to look grey under the afternoon dim Sun- the same grey felt inside her heart-after so much crying and homework and a strange stranger doctor, just for her, in her own home. She tried hard to concentrate on her homework  and the time flew as the swans sail in the sea. The ring of the door bell, came as a thunder to her ears and she collected that the doctor was probably standing  at their porch. She listened to her mother calling her with a reassuring voice and Jenny went to meet her fate.

 There he stood, in front of her , a smiling young man in his thirties. “Hello” he said.  “ You must be Jenny. Isn’t it right?” “Yes, I am Sir!” she replied timidly and lowered her eyes to the floor.  “Don’t be afraid  young miss! I am only here to help you”. His voice was gentle , his voice tender, and her bystanders parents full of confidence. So, she decided to be more positive about the whole idea and collaborate with him.

“ So Jenny, the treatment is simple and without any medicine. We will start just now and we will work together for the next two days. I want to ask you something  first. How many times have you cried today?” Jenny started counting with her fingers and to her amazement she realized that both hands weren’t enough to finish counting.

“That many!” said the doctor. “So, for today, you have to find out, if it is possible, how often you cry in a day. “Have a good night and I will see you in the morning”. The doctor, -his name was Sam-, had a long long talk till very late into the night with her parents about her and her habits. Her character and her relationship with family and friends. She couldn’t listen very well what they were saying . Just a few words, her name now and then, but, what she heard and she was quite sure about it, it was something about onions. “What do onions have to do with my case?” Then, she fell  asleep and dreamt of endless onion fields and herself watering them with her own tears. In the morning she woke up surprisingly happy. She felt secure and light as a feather. Everybody was calm and smiling and she was ready to go to school to face the math monster and the nightmare History. She went on food  while her brother rode his bike.  Her mum, dad and Sam were talking like old friends at the kitchen table  and waved her goodbye through the open window.

Her good mood didn’t last for long that morning, as the teacher started attacking  them with questions that she couldn’t answer , but she didn’t  cry as no question was for her. Something was going on with her because the teacher was more sweet with her than usual ans she was looking at her as she knew the answer.  By the end of the day Jenny was certain that her teacher knew what was going on , as it was the first time after a long time that she didn’t cry when her best friend didn’t invite her to play hide and seek with the rest of their classmates. She felt a little upset of course, and she felt like crying, but she didn’t. Jenny was sure that, by that night she could be able to count with her fingers of her one hand the times she will have shed tears by bed time.

When she went back home she told everything to Sam and her mum, and after lunch she started searching for her old favourite trainers to go to the beach to search for shells. She couldn’t find them anywhere so she started crying again and it was a quite on going sobbing.

“ Come here Jenny, come to the sink!” Her mother told her firmly. No sooner had she approached the sink , than her mum gave her a knife and a few onions urging her to start peeling them.

“But  I can’t!”She mumbled. “I am crying” “You will have a good reason to cry then!” her mother told her still smiling. Jenny felt deeply insulted but she didn’t dare to resist since Sam was watching closely and her mum gave didn’t seem willing to show any sympathy to her ordeal.

“How cruel can adults be!” Jenny thought as she was trying to distinguish which tear was coming from her new misery and which from the onions.  “ So, Jenny, this is part of the treatment. Whenever you cry for something so simple, you will peel some onions to give a good excuse for your tears. I have suggested to your mother that you should take some with you at school.! Wouldn’t that be great!?”

Jenny felt furious ! What has just happened!?” Where is her softly-pleading mother begging her to stop crying? Where is the attention and the question about her feelings? Sam had only been with them for half a day, but had he transformed Mrs Kay into a kinder person and her mum into a tougher mum?

That was such a strong sock that it made her  stop crying and thinking about where her trainers might be. Finally she remembered putting them in a box under her bed and after she had finished peeling onions, she run to put them on and then she went to find shells on the beach.

That night she had a lot to think about and the next morning she woke up feeling even better than the previous one. By the third, a lot had changed and Jenny felt emotionally stronger , not to mention a much better onion peeler!

When Sam waved Sam goodbye , she smiled at him with all the warmth of her heart, and she knew that she owed it to him. She had more friends at school, and her best friend has started to invite her to join every game.

The lemon tree wasn’t a hiding place anymore and she knew that she was going to be a far better student!

Life, is an amazing adventure and for the first time she felt ready to start her own!