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Description
Memories

1.   I went without shoes today. It's April and you can see the grass through the limp snow now. But it still feels like leprechaun spears in your toes. I got the mail in bare feet and skinny legs like sticks under my hand me down dress. I didn't have any clean underwear so I didn't wear any. Mama was cleaning the bathtub so she didn't know I was without shoes. And because I'm seven and a half and I dress myself she raised her eyebrows about the hand me down sun dress. I failed to mention the underwear. I didn't get anything in the mail.

2.   We found a stray cat. We walked two doors down and asked the garden lady if she had lost her cat. No. She said. My cat is black and white, that cat is gray. I thought maybe her cat had been outside in the thaw too long and got dripped on. Maybe her colors ran together. Everyone knows black and white make gray. But she said this cat was too skinny. Her cat was quite fat. Mama bit her lip and I grinned. The landlady didn't allow cats. We named her Chloe. I gave her a periwinkle blanket and fed her blueberry buckle and milk. She ended up throwing it up on the periwinkle blanket. Then she hid under Daddy's spot of the bed, eyes glowing. We walked two doors down the other way and asked the skinny young man who lived above the bookstore if he would like a cat named Chloe. He said that his ginger cat needed a girlfriend anyway, so sure. They must have hit it off because later, Chloe had kittens, but she got scared and smothered them not-on-purpose. A month later I found her in our tilted garage exploring amongst the old training wheels. This time I fed her tuna salad and water. But when I scolded her and scorned her maternal abuse toward her babies she only licked her whiskers and showed me her little teeth.

3.   Our scarecrow did not work. He should have, he had a baseball cap, daddy's pants, and mama's sweatshirt. Besides, he was stuffed with plastic grocery bags and held a sign that said “No groundhogs allowed!” He was very impressive standing in between the basil and tomato stakes. But we had to borrow Mr. Schnell's trap to catch the nibbler. Perhaps he didn't read magic marker. Or he couldn't understand Scarecrow language. We let him go on the highway next to the wildlife reserve. He was fat, smelly, and waddled when he walked. How he waddled!

4.   One year there was a car wreck in front of our house on Christmas Eve. We had 17 presents under the tree and we were about to put them in the car, drive to Gramma's and give them all away. But we let the lady and her daughter come in to use our telephone. My bangs were still fluffy from the curling iron when I gave the girl a Santa lollipop. She said she didn't want it. Santa wasn't real and Christmas wasn't real either. I was very offended. I had made the chocolate lollipops myself. And refused by a person who didn't believe in Christmas. That was like the Grinch. No wonder she got into a car crash on Christmas Eve. With beliefs like that.

Description
Memories

1.   I went without shoes today. It's April and you can see the grass through the limp snow now. But it still feels like leprechaun spears in your toes. I got the mail in bare feet and skinny legs like sticks under my hand me down dress. I didn't have any clean underwear so I didn't wear any. Mama was cleaning the bathtub so she didn't know I was without shoes. And because I'm seven and a half and I dress myself she raised her eyebrows about the hand me down sun dress. I failed to mention the underwear. I didn't get anything in the mail.

2.   We found a stray cat. We walked two doors down and asked the garden lady if she had lost her cat. No. She said. My cat is black and white, that cat is gray. I thought maybe her cat had been outside in the thaw too long and got dripped on. Maybe her colors ran together. Everyone knows black and white make gray. But she said this cat was too skinny. Her cat was quite fat. Mama bit her lip and I grinned. The landlady didn't allow cats. We named her Chloe. I gave her a periwinkle blanket and fed her blueberry buckle and milk. She ended up throwing it up on the periwinkle blanket. Then she hid under Daddy's spot of the bed, eyes glowing. We walked two doors down the other way and asked the skinny young man who lived above the bookstore if he would like a cat named Chloe. He said that his ginger cat needed a girlfriend anyway, so sure. They must have hit it off because later, Chloe had kittens, but she got scared and smothered them not-on-purpose. A month later I found her in our tilted garage exploring amongst the old training wheels. This time I fed her tuna salad and water. But when I scolded her and scorned her maternal abuse toward her babies she only licked her whiskers and showed me her little teeth.

3.   Our scarecrow did not work. He should have, he had a baseball cap, daddy's pants, and mama's sweatshirt. Besides, he was stuffed with plastic grocery bags and held a sign that said “No groundhogs allowed!” He was very impressive standing in between the basil and tomato stakes. But we had to borrow Mr. Schnell's trap to catch the nibbler. Perhaps he didn't read magic marker. Or he couldn't understand Scarecrow language. We let him go on the highway next to the wildlife reserve. He was fat, smelly, and waddled when he walked. How he waddled!

4.   One year there was a car wreck in front of our house on Christmas Eve. We had 17 presents under the tree and we were about to put them in the car, drive to Gramma's and give them all away. But we let the lady and her daughter come in to use our telephone. My bangs were still fluffy from the curling iron when I gave the girl a Santa lollipop. She said she didn't want it. Santa wasn't real and Christmas wasn't real either. I was very offended. I had made the chocolate lollipops myself. And refused by a person who didn't believe in Christmas. That was like the Grinch. No wonder she got into a car crash on Christmas Eve. With beliefs like that.