The Red Dress

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"Want to go to my mom's closet?"2

"Okay!" Brandi replied. Natalie's mom had a ton of fun dress up clothes in her big walk-in closet. But Brandi and Natalie didn't call it playing dress up. Eight year olds were big girls, almost all grown up, and big girls did not play dress up. But still they eagerly ran to the closet and stood before the rows of hanging clothes.3

The two girls stood in awe before the dresses, wondering where they would start. 4

Natalie reached out and pulled a beautiful blue dress from the pole. "Mom says I can have this one when it fits me," she boasted.5

"I wish I could have a dress," Brandi replied wistfully, pulling her favorite dress to her. Clutching the dress to her, she said, "It's my turn to change in here."6

"But it's my house! You go change somewhere else," Natalie commanded.7

"It's my turn!"8

"My house!"9

The two girls fought until Natalie stomped out of the closet, slamming the door shut. There was a full length mirror on the back of the door, and a single lightbulb shining in the small room. With the dim lighting and beautiful dresses behind her, Brandi imagined she was rich and all grown up, with lots and lots of pretty dresses. Smiling, she turned her back on her reflection and undressed, then donning the dress she had chosen.10

The dress was richly red in color, a sultry red, a red made for saucy winks and smoldering looks. The shoulder bands went across the shoulder, instead of over them, though Brandi wore them over her shoulders, not having the breasts to hold the dress in place. Black lace spun around the skirt of the dress, around and around like a twisty mountain road, drifting down to hem the dress. Brandi loved the skirts, all bunched up on one side, held with a bow as scarlet as the dress itself. 11

Brandi took off her glasses and smoothed her hair. Slender, tan, hair so dark brown many mistook it for black, Brandi thought she looked beautiful in the dress. It was the only time she felt beautiful. Natalie's mom told her that in Spanish, Brandi was Lolita. Brandi imagined she was a beautiful Spanish dancer.12

"Are you done?" Natalie yelled through the door. Brandi opened the door and looked at her friend, exchanging grins.13

Natalie, porcelain skinned with long blonde hair and soft blue-green eyes looked dazzling in the dress. "We look like grown ups," Natalie said, tugging her dress up.14

Out in the big bedroom, the magic was alive as well, both girls gazing into the mirror covering one wall. Laughing they danced, and Brandi would spin, delighting in the way the skirts swirled around her. Sometimes Natalie's mom came in and did their hair, and Brandi got a red bow.15

Eleven long years later, Brandi remembers the dress, remembers Natalie, and wonders where they are. As her eyes drift closed that night, she can see herself, slender and beautiful, spinning in that red dress, and as she spins, she dreams of the future. Thinking of her future when young had always made her cry. Now, she knows why.16