Dolls of silence

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It was an autumn afternoon when Maximus Draganas took his family and left Greece on the very first plane. During that time, there was dictatorship in Greece. Maximus was a Resistance fighter, which meant he risked his life with  imprisonment and torture if gets caught, and even worse, exile. To avoid all this, he found refuge in the provincial town of Salem.

In Salem, he had gone with his pregnant wife Alkmini at the time, as his parents had passed away early in life and she was the only family he had, until the fruit of their love was born.

Maximus opened a business with toys. He enjoyed creating everything from wooden puzzles to porcelain dolls. His hands were skilled. Children would sit for hours outside his shop window, admiring his handmade toys. Every time there was something impressive and new, displayed in the glass window of the toy store, he  did not remove the first toy he had created, he had placed it high, it was a tiny fabric ball, he had made it for his daughter Callisti.

Alkmini stayed at home to take care of the little Callisti. Alkmini was a teacher, but with the dictatorship she stopped teaching and devoted herself to housekeeping.

- Mom?

- What is it, Calli?

- Can we go to dad's shop? Please!

She asked with her sweetest and tender gaze. She crossed her arms over her chest, after putting today's newspaper down first. She looked at her from top to bottom, her little Callisti had grown up.

- Did you read, my dear? Bring the book so I can examine you.

- Oh come on mom, it's Sunday, why don't we go to church first to light a candle and then to dad's shop, I want to see what he will make today!

- Alright, just for today, but tomorrow you won't get away with it.

She announced after hugging her tightly and kissing her tenderly on the forehead. Callisti pretended to be offended and turned to hide her laughter, but Alkmini understood and laughed too.

In a few minutes, Callisti came down the wooden stairs from the upper floor wearing a red lace dress, her white sneakers that she only wore on special occasions. Her curls fell loosely on her shoulders.

-How do I look?

-Just like I did in my youth.

-But mom, you are still young.

-Are you trying to butter me up to get out of tomorrow's exam, my dear?

-No, mother.

They both got on their bicycles and headed to the church. They sat in the church for half an hour, lit a candle, and then sat on the wooden benches and prayed.

-Calli?

-Before we go to the store, would you like to have a picnic, just the two of us like old times?

-Oh mom, I would love that.

-I was thinking maybe we could go to that forest near the train tracks.

Without saying another word, they pedaled and in a few kilometers found themselves at the plane tree shading the unused train tracks.

They ate, drank, and were ready to leave when they decided to take pictures on the tracks.

First, Callisti took a picture of her mother next to the tracks and then Alkmini took a picture of her daughter, who was sitting right on the tracks, when the sound of a train was heard, something unusual since those tracks had been abandoned years before. Alkmini, as soon as she heard the train approaching, ran to the tracks to save her daughter. Then they both turned and saw a bright light. It was the light from the train, which was inches away from them. The train passed over them without stopping and continued on its way. The two bloody women couldn't catch their breath. However, they managed to say their last words. Alkmini's last words before she passed away were "I love you Calli, I'm sorry Maximus, I just wanted to save her," while Callisti's last words with tears in her eyes were "No mom, what will happen to dad?"

Maximus had returned home but found no one there waiting for him as they usually did. He knew that on Sundays they went to church but returned home immediately. Every few minutes he checked his watch. The time had passed and his two beloved women had not yet returned. A premonition, a heaviness that had started to tighten his chest. He began to pace nervously back and forth, while his eyes constantly went to the door, hoping to see it open.

The time was close to twelve and there was no trace of them. He decided to go to the police to report their disappearance, but before that he thought to search for them himself. He got into his car and headed for the church, which was not far from where the three of them had a picnic. He entered the church, lit a candle, and said a quick prayer to find them quickly. After seeing that they weren't there, he ran towards the plane tree but didn't see them there either. He decided to look along the railway lines. As he approached the train tracks, a strange noise reached his ears. It was like a distant rumble, a slight vibration, like the one a train makes when it passes by. When he arrived at the spot, the sight he saw froze him. Their dead, bloodied bodies were mutilated here and there along the gaps of the tracks, his legs couldn't hold him, he knelt and fell to the ground screaming. He tried to say their names but no sound came out.

Maximos filled with anger and guilt that he wasn't with them on that fateful morning and this time he chose to go to the store to carry out his latest new game. He began to isolate himself from the outside world and closed the toy store.

Many years have passed since that tragedy and as the city begins to return to normal rhythms, something that completely disrupts them comes, children at the age that Callisti was when she died disappear mysteriously from the area near the toy store of Draganas, but no one knows what happened to the former owner or who is behind the disappearances.