Five
NOVEMBER–8 YEARS OLD
My eighth birthday came and went. I didn’t care. It wasn’t my birthday I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to Thanksgiving. Five days later, I sat by the back fence and waited. I was probably way too early but that was okay. We had family in for Thanksgiving dinner and I told Audrey to come get me as soon as Momma missed me.
And I waited. I wonder if he’ll still want to see me. It didn’t take long for him to appear with a smile. It was a different smile than before. It was, well, sad. I didn’t know a smile could be that sad.
“I couldn’t wait to see you,” he said in a whisper. “You look pretty.”
I looked down at my dress. It was my favorite dress. It was greenish blue with pretty pink and orange flowers on it. “Thank you. So do you.”
“Gosh, I hope
