Prickly Pear

Lisa stepped out of bed, walked straight to her cactus garden, and began carefully packing the plants into boxes. Everyone who visited them was always overwhelmed by the sheer number of cacti Lisa and Carl had in their home garden. But those who knew them closely understood their importance.

Two years had passed since the carnival, the day their daughter Callie vanished. Every night, Lisa replayed the exact moment the stroller carrying her one‑year‑old disappeared at the carnival. The guilt was relentless. She imagined a hundred ways she could have prevented it. Carl, too, wondered if carrying Callie on his shoulders might have changed everything.

Too burdened by the memories, Lisa and Carl decided to move to the nearest town to start fresh. On their way, Lisa opened up to Carl after a long silence and said, “I think I’m ready… ready to adopt.” Carl took a deep breath, caressed Lisa’s brown hair, and nodded gently.

Once they were settled in their new home, they visited the nearby adoption center. Lisa had one special request for the agency. She told the agent, “I lost my daughter on her birthday, April 24. We wish to adopt a little girl who shares the same birthday. Is that something we can request?” The agent looked up and said she would try her best.

A few weeks later, Lisa and Carl were called to the center. The agent said, “There’s a girl here named Anna who was born on April 24th,” and handed them a picture. Lisa and Carl were moved by the child’s cheerful smile. The agent continued, “You can meet her now if you’d like.” Then she added, “There’s another little girl, Juanita. She was brought here by the immigration officer. Based on her forged documents, we believe she was also born..” As the agent was about to give more details about Juanita, Carl interrupted, “I don’t think we need to see the picture. We would love to meet Anna.” He felt it was unethical to choose between profiles of children who had already lost so much. Lisa agreed.

A few weeks later, after all the formalities were completed, Anna was brought to her new home. As soon as Anna entered the house, she saw the endless cacti and shouted, “Pickly pay!” She continued in broken language, “My friend loves pickly pay.” Three‑year‑old Anna still spoke a lot of gibberish, but Lisa adored her. 

Anna sat next to Lisa and asked why she had so many “pickly pay,” pointing to the cactus. Lisa opened up about her daughter Callie, explaining that she had gone missing on her birthday. She told Anna that Callie’s favorite toy was the dancing cactus. Lisa pulled the toy from the cupboard and said, “Callie would laugh so gleefully when she saw this. We named him Prickly Pear.” Anna jumped at the sight of the toy and shouted, “Pickly pay, pickly pay!” Lisa froze. That was what Anna had been trying to say all along. Her “Pickly pay” was actually “Prickly Pear.”

Panicked, Lisa pulled a chair close to Anna and asked how she knew about this. Anna replied, “My friend loves pickly pay. Juanita loves pickly pay.” She jumped and ran toward her toy.

Lisa immediately drove to the adoption center with Anna strapped in her car seat. She told the agent there was a possibility that Juanita might be Callie, her own daughter who had gone missing two years earlier.

The agent called Juanita into the room. A little girl with brown hair and brown eyes, just like Lisa’s, walked in. The agent could hear Lisa’s heartbeat racing. For one moment, her will to live returned. Could this little girl really be Callie? Anna on the other hand was thrilled to see Juanita. She shouted, “Pickly payyy!” and the two girls hugged tightly.

A few days later, test results confirmed that Juanita was indeed Lisa and Carl’s Callie. Carl was furious that their daughter had not been found despite living in the same state. A preliminary investigation revealed that an undocumented couple had found Callie at the carnival and decided to raise her as their own. They kept her hidden for over a year and eventually left her at the adoption center. Their intentions had been to nurture Callie, but their circumstances made it impossible.

One year later, Lisa was watering the plants while Anna, Callie, and Carl were getting ready to go to the carnival. As Lisa was about to water the only cactus now left in their garden, Callie ran to her and said, “Momma, we’re not supposed to water cactus, remember? Be careful, Mommy!” Lisa gently cupped Callie’s face and replied, “From today and for the rest of my life, I will always be careful, my love.” She kissed her forehead and whispered, “Happy birthday, Callie. Momma loves you.”