When 8-year-old Mila sacrificed all her precious dolls to fix her poor mother’s broken-down car, she had no idea who she was selling her toys to.
The next day, a brand new car stood in front of their house, and the family froze in shock when they saw its owner.
The world is full of all kinds of people. There are compassionate people and those who would do anything to destroy the happiness of their loved ones. There are also people who cast out their parents to satisfy their worldly desires.
Little Mila was different. The only person who defined her life was her mother, Olivia, who was widowed eight years ago, just after Mila was born.
This single mother worked very hard to raise her beloved daughter, but their life was not smooth. Perhaps the worst thing that happened was when Olivia had an accident while driving home in her old Mustang…
“Mummy, aren’t you going to work today?” – asked the 8-year-old a week after her mother was discharged from hospital. Fortunately, Olivia was not seriously injured, but she was heartbroken to see her car badly damaged. It was her only means of transport to the restaurant where she served customers, located 32km away.
“Darling, Mummy’s car has broken down. I’m taking the bus to work. I want you to be a good girl and listen to your grandmother, OK?”.
Olivia worked very hard and her mother, Agnes, supported her emotionally through all these difficult times. But day after day, her difficulties did not diminish. She often came home tired, and she had no time to spend with Mila.
Worse still, the small savings she had managed to save were gradually being spent on bus fares, which she could not avoid. Their financial situation got worse and worse, and soon they were on the brink of an abyss.
“Grandma, why doesn’t Mummy play with me in the evenings any more?” – A distraught Mila once asked her grandmother. “I only see her sleeping every night and she goes to work before I wake up.”
‘My dear, Mummy will play with you, I promise,’ Agnes assured her. “But before that, she needs to get the car fixed. Bus rides are too hectic these days.”
The Mustang Olivia drove belonged to her late husband. It was old but functional. Unfortunately, after Olivia crashed it into a tree trying to avoid hitting a speeding truck, the bonnet and engine were seriously damaged. She needed at least $1,500 to repair it, and she couldn’t afford it.
The restaurant where Olivia worked as a waitress was far away, and she really needed to fix her car to get to work. Unfortunately, it was taking a long time, and the misery was beginning to eat away at Olivia’s peace of mind. Then little Mila decided to help fix the situation.
The girl collected all her favourite dolls in a box and labeled them “Dolls for Sale”, hoping to raise enough money to repair her mother’s car. But the naive girl didn’t know that it wouldn’t be easy and that visits to every door in her neighbourhood would result in failure and sometimes hurtful words.
“What is it?” – asked an angry neighbour to little Mila on the first day she was selling her dolls. “Why are you knocking on my door, child? You’ve disturbed me during my yoga class!” – The woman resented.
“Mrs Logan, can you buy one of these dolls? I need money to fix my mother’s car.”
“What? I don’t need a doll and my daughter only plays with imported toys. Take your nasty dolls and go away!” – shouted the angry woman and slammed the door in the poor girl’s face.
But little Mila did not give up hope. There were more than 20 houses in the area, and she had always been taught that if God closes one door, he always opens another.
Confident and full of hope, the girl headed towards the next houses with a heavy box. “Mr Charlie, can you buy a doll? It’s brand new and I haven’t taken it out of the box yet,” Mila said to another neighbour.
“A doll? Well, I’m not a doll collector. Sorry, honey!” – The man smiled, ignoring the innocent girl’s pleas for help.
Grief-stricken, Mila looked into her box and began to cry. Then she approached the last house, still hoping to make a sale.
“Who is it?” She heard a hoarse voice outside the door. “Give me a second. I’ll light the candle on the altar.”
A moment later the door opened and Mila met one of her oldest neighbours, Alex Higgs, a retired Hollywood stuntman. Children were terrified of his enormous height and ungroomed beard and never played in his backyard, so when he saw the plucky little girl at his door, the man was intrigued.
“What is it, dear?” – he asked her. “Dolls for sale? What have you got there? Why are you selling your dolls?”.
“My mother is always tired when she comes home. My grandmother told me that my mother has no money to fix our car and that she can only play with me and be happy when our car is fixed. So I’m helping her find the money to fix our car.”
The little girl’s innocence struck a chord in old Alex’s heart. He twirled his moustache and asked her how much the doll cost.
“Two dollars,” she said and added: “I have twenty dolls.”
“That’s forty dollars!” exclaimed Alex and asked her to wait. A few minutes later he returned with a wad of money and offered to buy the whole box of dolls.
“Sir, please take care of my dolls. I wash them every Saturday. Please wash them and change their clothes,” Mila said and left with the money.
That evening the girl was happy to see her mother again. She ran up to her and hugged her, telling her that she no longer had to worry and ride the bus.
“Mummy! Here, take this $40 I earned from selling my dolls. Fix our car tomorrow,” she offered.
Olivia was touched to tears. She hugged her daughter happily, but she hesitated to tell her that the $40 wasn’t enough to fix their car.
“Oh, my darling! I’m so proud of you! I promise I’ll get our car fixed soon,” she said, reassuring Mila, who still thought her mother could fix the car effortlessly with money.
As Mila spent a quiet night dreaming of her mother getting behind the wheel of their car again, Olivia was shocked that she had made a promise to her daughter that she knew she would not be able to keep.
What she didn’t know yet, however, was that the Lord Almighty had opened a new door by closing the others. The next morning she witnessed a miracle in front of her house.
Olivia had just left the house to go to work when she was startled by her daughter’s scream: “Mummy, come here! Whose car is that and what is it doing in front of our house?”
Agnes and Olivia were confused. But a few moments later they froze when Hollywood’s most famous stuntman approached them with the keys to the car.
“Darling, this car is mine,” Alex said as he handed Olivia the keys. “It belongs to you from now on!”
“Belongs to me?” Olivia exclaimed in shock. “But Mr. Higgs. I can’t accept that. I have a car. It’s just being repaired.”
But old Alex was determined to give the poor woman her car.
“I know… I know… Your girl has told me everything. Please accept the old man’s gift. ‘I wanted to give this new car to my daughter, but she was killed in a car accident on the way to her fiancé’s house last month,’ Alex said, ‘I’ve only turned the engine on a few times, but I haven’t driven it yet. Don’t say no to your father. You are none other than my daughter!”
Olivia was touched to tears by the gesture of this kind man. Even if she didn’t want the car, she couldn’t say no to him.
“After my daughter died, I have no family left. So I am giving this memory of her to someone who could have been my daughter,” Alex added with tears in his eyes.
Touched by his words, Olivia took the keys and looked around the car. When she opened the boot, she was amazed. There were Mila’s dolls in there, as well as several wrapped boxes of gifts. Alex had bought more dolls for the sweet girl as a reward for her compassion and love for her mother.
That day, Olivia began to believe in miracles again and never lost hope, no matter what obstacles she faced. Although children are inspired by their parents, the role model for this mother was her compassionate daughter Mila!
