琳达的瓷娃娃

inda was more of a best friend than a cousin. We shared nearly everything―except her passion for collecting porcelain dolls. Linda collected more than a hundred and thirty of them. I never understood her hobby，but I admired her dedication―how she displayed them so beautifully and kept them all so clean. Still，I was surprised how much those dolls meant to me after Linda lost her battle with cancer. Her mother donated the dolls to the local historical society. In fact，I wished I could have kept just one to remember her by.

One day my mother asked me to drive her，my grandmother and my aunt to the county fair. On the way home granny needed to use the restroom， so I pulled off the highway at the nearest rest stop and she dashed into a fast-food restaurant. Next door was a gift shop. I only had twenty dollars in my pocket，but I figured I would browse around while I waited. Inside were cards，snow globes...and one whole wall full of shelves and shelves of porcelain dolls. Just like Linda’s. For some reason，I felt drawn to one doll in the middle of the second shelf―with deep brown eyes，wearing a shiny pink-and-white dress embroidered with pink roses.

“I want it.” I thought. Then I glanced at the doll’s price tag：$14.99！

A sale associate assured me the price wasn’t a mistake. What luck！I plucked the doll of the shelf and brought it to the cash register.

I handed the doll to the cashier and fished around for my twenty-dollar bill. But I immediately started to question myself. What am I doing？I thought. I don’t collect dolls. Why this one？I almost cancelled the sale. Then，casually，I flipped the doll’s price tag over. There， printed on the other side，was the doll’s name：Linda.

琳达与其说是我的表妹，倒不如说是我最好的朋友。我们几乎不分彼此，我的就是她的――唯一不同的是她热衷于收集瓷娃娃。琳达收集的瓷娃娃有130多个。我对她的这种爱好始终不理解，但我很敬佩她这种奉献精神――她总是让这些娃娃优雅而整洁地“站”在那里。然而，直到琳达被癌症的魔爪击倒时，我才惊奇地发现，那些瓷娃娃对我来说是如此意味深远。她的母亲把琳达生前收集的所有娃娃捐赠给了当地的历史协会。其实，我很想收藏它们中的一个，以表示我对琳达的纪念。

一天，妈妈要我载着她、外婆和姨妈一起去镇上的集市。在回来的路上，外婆突然很想去洗手间，我便在离公路最近的一个休息的小站上停了下来，外婆冲进了一家快餐店。快餐店的隔壁是一家礼品屋。虽然我兜里只有20美元，但是我觉得与其等着，倒不如进去随便看看。那里陈列着卡片、雪球……在一整面墙的壁橱里，每一层隔板上都摆满了瓷娃娃，就像琳达的那些一样。不知出于什么原因，我感觉有一股力量把我拉向了第二层隔板中间的一个瓷娃娃――她有一双深邃的棕色眼睛，身上穿着一件绣着粉红色玫瑰花边的亮闪闪的粉白色连衣裙。

“我想要她。”我对自己说。于是，我瞥了一眼贴在瓷娃娃上的价格标签：14.99美元！

售货员再次帮我确定这个价钱不是我的错觉。太幸运了！我把这个心爱的娃娃从隔板上拿下来并带着她一起来到收银台。

我把这个娃娃递给收银员后，开始在口袋里摸索那20美元。突然，一个问题滑过我的脑海。我到底在干什么？我想。我并不喜欢收集瓷娃娃，为什么我会买这么一个瓷娃娃回家呢？我准备把她放回货架上。就在这时，我无意将瓷娃娃身后的价格标签翻转过来。就在那里，在标签的另一面印着这个瓷娃娃的名字：琳达。