_evdoART: Φεβρουαρίου 2011

Illustration of the novel

by Eric Emmanuel - Schmitt

Little boy Oscar is ill and in the hospital. His parents visit him once every sunday, but one day he notices that they are in the hospital in between regular visits, to have a talk with the doctor . Oscar overhears that he will soon die. His parents do not visit him after the talk, they are mentally not capable of doing that. Oscar is shocked about his condition, but also furious about the doctor and his parents not properly informing him, and not talking with him about his approaching death.
He encounters "the Lady in Pink", a nurse, and talks with her about his condition. After she has left he tells the doctor that he wants to see her again, and the doctor contacts her and she talks with the boy each time she is in the hospital.
She tells Oscar that she has been hired from 20 through 31 December, which gives Oscar an indication how little time he still has to live. She tells him to consider every day a decade. This way he does not miss any stage of life, and will die normally of old age. On the day of his twenties he "marries" the girl he likes most in the hospital. Some days/decades later, after her surgery, her parents take her home, to Oscar's regret. Some days/decades later he feels weaker, but accepts that this is normal when getting old, and finally he dies. As the one he has "adopted", the Lady in Pink is upset