SOUL JOURNEY
Samantha couldn’t quite explain it, but she had a feeling that her mother’s soul had inhabited this little girl. Normally, she didn’t believe in such mystical notions, but the coincidences were hard to ignore. The girl was born eight months after her mum’s passing—perhaps her soul had wandered where needed before returning to the earthly realm. Even more uncanny, the child was born on her mother’s birthday, exactly forty-six years later.
The coincidences didn’t stop there. Samantha was hired as the girl’s nanny. It was her second job as one; she had previously cared for a classmate’s younger sister. Samantha didn’t plan to be a nanny forever; she had aspirations of studying psychology. Unfortunately, she hadn’t made it on her first or second attempts, just falling short, but she was determined to succeed on her third try. Working as a shop assistant or waitress didn’t appeal to her, while nannying was a joy. Thanks to a glowing reference letter, the young girl’s mother, Emily, took Samantha on with a probation period. Samantha was honest about her university plans for the following year. Emily, only five years older than Samantha, quickly offered a more casual first-name basis.
“Great, by that time Anna will be off to her special nursery,” Emily reassured her. “She’s quite advanced and could’ve started long ago, but I worry since she has special appointments every day. She has a condition—I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, and I hope it won’t be a problem. Some nannies are scared by the label of a child with disabilities or ask for more pay than I can afford.”
Samantha imagined something dire, perhaps the girl had a cleft palate waiting for surgery, or maybe epilepsy.
“Anna has sensorineural hearing loss, it’s hereditary…”
Samantha smiled and interrupted her.
“No need to explain, I’m familiar with it; it runs in my family as well.”
“That’s why I hired you. Our mutual friend mentioned your mum had it, so I thought you wouldn’t be frightened off.”
Samantha wasn’t scared; it wasn’t a big deal with today’s technology which could almost fully restore hearing. Her mum had it much tougher, communicating through sign language.
The last straw was how much the girl resembled her mum—same dark eyes, slightly arched eyebrows that gave a perpetually surprised look, unruly, curly hair. Samantha even dug out her mum’s old photo albums—sure enough, Anna was her mum’s spitting image as a child! When she mentioned this to her dad, he scolded her gently:
“Sweetie, you just miss your mum. What are these mystical fantasies? You need to start having your own kids!”
Samantha blushed—she had met a guy named Peter at a pre-university course, and they’d gone on three dates. But talking about kids was too soon. Her dad, seeing her red cheeks, probably guessed anyway.
“Did you ask if there’s any hearing loss in his family?”
“Oh, Dad!”
Her parents had drilled it into her and her brother’s heads from childhood to inquire about potential partners’ recessive gene carriers that could lead to hearing loss since both she and her brother Andrew were carriers of that gene.
“What? Asking doesn’t cost anything, right?”
She had to retreat quickly.
Whether it was the soul incarnation she imagined or the girl’s genuinely delightful nature, Samantha grew very fond of her and couldn’t bear the thought of parting. Maybe Dad was right, perhaps it was time to have her own kids? But she was so young and eager to gain an education…
It just so happened that she mentioned it to Emily one day, who spent long hours at work to provide a decent life for herself and her daughter.
“You need to focus on your studies,” Emily insisted. “I had to quit college due to my pregnancy, and it’s frustrating—I have more experience and knowledge, but they always hire the fresh graduate who can only shuffle papers.”
“And the dad?” Samantha asked cautiously. In the four months she had cared for Anna, Samantha hadn’t seen a trace of him.
“He’s not in the picture,” Emily replied.
“How come?”
“Just like that. He doesn’t even know he has a daughter. We met in a town I visited for a week, met him in a bar—it was love at first sight! We were supposed to meet again soon, but then he broke up via email—said we couldn’t be together, that I deserved better, and other clichés.”
“Wow… and you didn’t know you were pregnant?”
“No clue until a week later. But I chose to keep her,” Emily smiled. “And I’ve never regretted it.”
“Yes, Anna is wonderful. She reminds me so much of my mum,” Samantha admitted suddenly.
Emily laughed.
“You and Anna have a karmic connection; I noticed long ago.”
“I mentioned it to Dad, and he laughed. Said I need my own kids.”
“Get your degree done first, then think about kids,” Emily reminded. “Otherwise, you’ll end up like me.”
For New Year’s, Samantha and her dad planned to visit her brother in a nearby city—he ran a department in a travel agency and couldn’t get away for long. Samantha had only visited him once and loved it—he had a gorgeous flat on the fifteenth floor with a fantastic view. She thoughtfully bought Anna a plush bear, similar to one her mum had, and found the perfect match. Anna loved it and decided to sleep with it.
Relaxing at her brother’s cozy kitchen, engaged in slow conversations, Samantha received a text from Emily showing Anna sleeping soundly, hugging the plush bear. Moved, she shared the story and picture of their karmic bond with Andrew.
“Samantha, are you serious? Reincarnation of souls?”
“Just listen—Anna resembles our mum more than her own mother! Look.”
She pulled up a selfie they had taken the previous day—herself, Anna, and Emily—and handed her phone to her brother. He studied it intently, then asked in an odd voice, “What’s her name?”
“Anna, like I said. Well, it’s not like our mum’s name.”
“No, I mean the woman.”
“Emily. Why?”
Swallowing hard, Andrew asked, “And Anna… is her hearing okay?”
“You haven’t been listening? She’s got a hearing aid! Even here there’s a similarity. Emily’s father had the same issue as our mum, so it’s not reincarnation but genetics, yet think about it…”
Andrew jumped up, pacing the room. “How old is she? When was she born?”
“Why are you asking?” Samantha began, then gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Worried she might shatter her suspicion, she whispered, “Emily said he broke up with her through email and knew nothing of the child. Was it you??”
The next day, all three of them flew back, somehow securing the last remaining tickets. Her dad was wiping tears as he gazed at photos of his newfound granddaughter, while Andrew bit his lip like in childhood, tirelessly asking Samantha about Emily and Anna. Samantha alone remained calm—she knew everything would turn out just fine. And the soul journey still lingered in her heart…
