978-1572305441

Sophie 175
branches. The mother tries not to look embarrassed, but this is a small
town, and everybody knows that little Sophie, who was adopted from a
Romanian orphanage, is a bit “unusual.” She takes tree branches with
her everywhere, and only with the greatest reluctance will she put them
down outside the library or her house. She never says hello or returns a
greeting. At the library, she refuses the librarian’s help, rushes to the
same bookshelf, and takes down the same book day after day—the story
of a little girl who always likes to wear red clothes. If, for some reason,
the book is not available, Sophie becomes upset and starts to run
around the library until the librarian can find another book full of pictures
of red things. Her mother often has to chase after her daughter to
avoid disrupting the other patrons. When Sophie leaves the library with
her mother, she picks up the tree branch outside the building and walks
home, looking for other feathers or sticks. If she sees something that
catches her fancy, she will drop whatever she is carrying and pick that
up instead. She always has something in her hands. Her mother is relieved
to be going home to make lunch. She looks forward to dropping
Sophie off at the child development center in town that afternoon and
having a bit of a rest.
* * *
Greg and Marianne led a comfortable and prosperous life. She was
a civil servant and he worked as a land registrar. They were sweethearts
in high school and stayed together through college and various job
positions, eventually settling down in a small town within commuting
distance of a large urban center. Long ago they decided not to have children.
They liked the freedom and added income that not having
children allowed them. Greg and Marianne have lived in this small
town for more than ten years. They have made lots of friends, enjoyed
giving parties at their house and chatting with the neighbors. They took
trips to Europe every two years and often went into the city to go shopping.
In 1990, as the Communist regime was crumbling, reports came
out of Romania describing the deplorable conditions in the orphanages.
Greg and Marianne happened to watch a show on TV with pictures of
babies in cribs, tiny infants who were dirty, crying, with their heads
shaven, lying listless in filthy cots. Marianne decided they should try to
adopt one of these babies. The reasons behind this decision were not
clear to her or to Greg. It is not that any maternal light went on, they