ransvestia

"Cleaning the windows. What are you doing?"

"But you look through them enough," he replied, ignoring my counter-request as not relevant apparently.

"Yes," I said, after asking their names, "but sometimes they get a little dirty from the smoke of the cars and the soot in the air."

"I see a smudge right there," said little Debbie, pointing with her rose-pink index finger. They stayed and chatted till I had finished. From then on I saw them regularly and now considered them good friends. We always chatted a little. It was proof of the change in my personality. I had sunk that low. Why was it that I suddenly liked to talk to little kids like them?

One day, Mrs. Weingarten had brought her daughter-in-law to the house to show off her latest grandchild. Mother had tricked me out of my room where I was hiding. Fortunately they had not told her who I really was. At any rate, I thought so, as she treated me just like another young girl. Somehow I was maneuvered into holding her baby. I felt funny all over - like my mother must feel when I hug her, or she hugs me, which is the more likely thing. The baby was so soft and cuddly ... so helpless and dependent. A whole new emotion. welled up in me. And when I realized what it was, I blushed red like a strawberry.

That darn Mrs. Weingarten noticed it and had to tease. "You'd make a good mutterchen some day, ja?"

I turned around to try and hide my embarrassment. It was true ... I actually enjoyed holding the baby and trying to make it laugh. The thought that I almost felt reluctant to hand the baby over was with me the whole week. What was happening to me? But back to the story.

One Saturday morning mother was shopping as usual. I was doing some light dusting on the windows still wearing a light blue cotton shirtdress with short sleeves and one of Mrs. Rosalia's really frilly pinafores. While watering the plants I looked idly out of the window. I saw Jimmy and Debbie approaching on their usual morning stroll. They had spotted a little stray dog and Jimmy began to leave the sidewalk to pet it. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a United Parcel truck backing up. I started to shout but because of the exhaust of the truck and the closed windows they did not hear me. I started to open the window to try and prevent an accident.