What is Mine
Chapter One
She was walking home from school. It was nearly National Day. It would be
the first 17th of May without Mommy. Her national costume was too short. Mommy
had already let the hem down twice.
Last night, Emilie had been woken by a bad dream. Daddy was fast asleep;
she could hear him snoring gently through the wall as she held her national
costume up against her body. The red border had crept up to her knees. She was
growing too fast. Daddy often said, "You're growing as fast as a
weed, honey." Emilie stroked the woollen material with her hand and tried
to shrink at the knees and neck. Grandma was in the habit of saying,
"It's not surprising the child is shooting up; Grete was always a
beanpole."
Emilie's shoulders and thighs ached from being hunched the whole
time. It was Mommy's fault she was so tall. The red hem wouldn't
reach farther than her knees.
Maybe she could ask for a new dress.
Her schoolbag was heavy. She'd picked a bunch of coltsfoot. It was so
big that Daddy would have to find a vase. The stalks were long, too, not like
when she was little and only picked the flowers, which then had to bob ... read full excerpt from What Is Mine ebook
