[The selection below is from the novel I’m working on. It is noted in the story as an incident that may or may not have happened to a character of little interest. I’m particularly fond of it. That’s odd.]
For $13 Leslie buys a summer gingham dress with short, puffy sleeves, She thinks the blue and white pattern goes well with her blonde hair, and this may be true, but she has no real reason to think so. Leslie’s thoughts go off on their own without her encouragement or by-your-leave, enjoying an independent and fuller life than they are likely to find when closeted in her mind.
She tries to picture herself walking down Chestnut St. wearing the dress, but fails. She should have kept it on after trying it in the fitting room, but she never does this. Perhaps it’s a fear of the checkout clerk thinking she is going to steal it, put it on and leave wearing it without paying for it. But Leslie always pays for anything she wants to keep or eat or drink, she has never stolen so much as a penny in her life.
She also thinks the dress or any article of clothing she buys may need adjustment, so that wearing it in the street might make her look unkempt. It’s a funny word, “unkempt,” where did it come from? But at home, with her mother and younger sister, she can put it on again and her mother will “realign” the difficult parts. Leslie has never learned to sew for herself, though her mother has tried several times to teach her.
On the other hand, Leslie is a good cook. She cooks simple dishes, always exactly the same way every time, and always tasty. “Very tasty,” her mother will say almost every time Leslie cooks a meal. Her sister, Veronica, never comments on the food except to occasionally remove some small item that she doesn’t like, or what she will later claim is a “bug” that had fallen in.
Her mother wonders aloud why Leslie has never been promoted at Dr. Folger’s lab, though she has been working there now for at least four and a half years. “I don’t think anyone’s thought of it,” Leslie suggests, though she herself does not think of it except when her mother asks, because Leslie has all the money she needs to buy what she really wants and can always find a short-term boyfriend to take her to a movie or a small restaurant. None of these boyfriends stay with her for long, but she doesn’t mind. What would she say to them every day if they were with her every day?
Leslie shows her mother the gingham dress and her mother says, “Very pretty,” though she thinks it plain and undistinguished. She never wants to hurt Leslie’s feelings. Leslie puts the dress on, her mother appraises its length and the evenness of the hem. She suggests no improvement or rearrangement except a slight tuck at the waist. Leslie has a slim waist over average hips.
All her life Leslie had said her bedtime prayers until one night, about a year ago, she realized that she could not picture God and so could not find a way to talk to Him. She did not say anything about this change to her mother, and of course never said anything to Veronica about anything that mattered.
Now the idea of talking to God has faded to forgetfulness. As she pulls the sheet up to her chin, she pictures herself in the gingham dress but still cannot picture herself wearing it out on the street.
The picture is just Leslie, herself, in the dress.
* * * *
Recent headline: “Chess: Carlsen disqualified in New York after refusing to change out of jeans
“The world No 1 was defaulted from the World Rapid Championship”
Who set up such a rule?
The King, the Queen, the Bishop?
Did the Knight ask him to change into armor?
Did the Pawns have a say?
* * * *
Blue is the official color of conservative parties in Western Europe, with red the liberal shade.
Over here, the political colors are the opposite.
How did red come to signify the right in the US, considering the anti-communist chant of “Better dead than Red” in the 1950s?
* * * *
Back in the heyday of Morton’s pot pies, they had planned to market a one-person serving to be eaten alone, in your private room.
It would be called Morton’s Chamber Pot Pie.
* * * *
To celebrate the coming New Year, we bought a bottle of
Christian Brothers Ruby Port.
I now plan to establish my own brand:
Atheist Louts Gutter Red.
* * * *
Song of the week:
My wild Irish nose
Has the greenest snot that flows,
You may search ev’rywhere,
But none can compare
With the phlegm
From my wild Irish nose.
lickhaven 