When a Detail Becomes a Mystery
As children, everything seems bigger, more mysterious. And sometimes, a small, ordinary detail becomes a real enigma. For me, it was a scar. Not on my own body, no—but on my mother’s. Perched high up on her arm, like a small crater surrounded by tiny dips, it fascinated me. What could it be? An old injury? A faded tattoo? A secret?
I couldn’t tell you exactly when I first started noticing it. What I do know is that it stayed in a corner of my memory… until one day, life gave me the chance to solve the mystery.
A Chance Encounter That Awoke Old Memories
It was a summer day. The sun was beating down hard on the platform of a train station, and I was helping an elderly lady off the train. As I supported her by the arm, I saw it: the same scar, in the exact same place as my mother’s. A perfect copy.
At the time, I didn’t say anything. Too many people around, no time. But that image struck me. I had to understand. So I called my mother, a little nervous. And she replied with a slightly mocking tone:
— “Oh, come on! You know this! That’s the smallpox vaccine scar!”
A Common Mark… Yet Forgotten
