THE CHILD OF THE CAVE ... MASKS

They called her the Feline Mystery. No one knew her exact age. She was found in a cave by Yves Tingaud, whose dog had strayed during a hunting trip in the South of France. She was all curled up in the corner wearing a cat mask. It took Yves about an hour to calm her down. It seemed she was threatened by humans, although she had no fear of the dog.

After month of national media notoriety no one came forth to claim her. Yves and his wife Muriel being of mid life were childless. They decided to adopt her against the advice of all the professionals. They had no choice it was if she was a gift from destiny. They were captivated by her dark eyes and the mystery that surrounded her, and besides they had always been cat lovers. The cat mask that appeared to be tattooed on her face fascinated them; it was as if it was a part of her being. She did not speak. However she did purr occasionally but only in the presence of Yves and Muriel.

Felicity as she became known was stabilized and after considerable weight gain from all the dairy products she was fed was released from the hospital in the care of the Tingaud’s. They treated her as one of their own and over the years won her trust although she still did not speak, and still hid behind the mask that was an essential part of her being.

Over the years the health authorities had required Felicity to partake in various therapies in an attempt to get back her voice. They wanted to uncover the mystery of who she was and what had happened to her. She was resistant to all the therapies. The Electro shock treatments made her twitchy. The Prozac seemed to make her itchy, tired and withdrawn. The hypnosis made her sleep for days. Eventually and to the relief of the Tingaud’s, the authorities gave up on her.

They returned to the small village where generations of Tingaud’s have lived, back to the relative calm of the small café they ran. Felicity helped out at the café and over the year’s rose through the ranks from dishwasher to cook. The Tingaud’s secretly hoped one day she would wait on tables. Felicity was accepted by the villagers who like her parents accepted her for who she was. Although she was free to come and go in the village she still created quite a stir when tourists came upon her wearing her mask.

The Tingaud’s took her mystery for granted. Some things could never be explained. Felicity, disappeared twice a week for exactly an hour and a half. Paper also seemed to vanish in her presence. This had been going on for about four years.

Suddenly one day, out of the blue, with out warning Felicity spoke. Her dulcet tone sang out from the heavens as if to say Hallaluya shocking her parents. She only spoke a few words “ we are out of milk” but as she grew more comfortable with language a strange thing happened. The mask she wore on her face began to fade. Day by day the more she spoke and the more she revealed of herself the more it faded until eventually it was gone.

In time all was revealed, her mysterious disappearances turned out to be visits to her therapist. The mystery of the disappearing paper was also solved Felicity was a closet journaler.

Eventually her Journals were published allowing everyone to understand what had happened to her as a child. Felicity ‘s life long desire to help people who hide behind masks turned into a career. Felicity is now a self-help author who appears on French chat shows. She is now healthy and living in the South of Franc with her husband, a veterinarian. Some of her titles include, EMBRACING YOUR MASK, I’M OK BUT YOU WONT BE IF YOU KEEP WEARING THAT MASK and THE DARK SIDE OF THE MASK WEARERS. She recently gave birth to triplets; she affectionately calls them her litter.