Supper at the Dutchendorphs was as it always had been. Grilled Tofu, soy sauce, mung beans and alfalfa sprouts. It was no wonder Munch and his mom were so scrawny. Mitzi poked her grilled tofu and said, "Me and Puccini is lergic to toe foo."

Mrs. Dutchendorph asked, "Would you rather have peanut butter and jelly sandwich ?"

"Yes, please." Mitzi smiled.

This was not going to go well. Mrs. Dutchendorph pulled peanut butter, strawberry jelly and whole grain sprouted bread out of the fridge. When the sandwich was put on Mitzi's plate she looked at it suspiciously. Lolly waited for her to say something but she didn't. Mitzi took a dainty bite out of her sandwich. She chewed it half a second and spit it out. Disgusted, she said, "That tastes like grass and the peanut butter is yucky. I think it's spoiled."

Mrs. Dutchendorph laughed. "As Lolly knows the food around here is an acquired taste."

Mitzi shook her head, " I don't know what quired means, but I don't ever want to have that kind of taste. Can I go paint now?"

"I could scramble you some eggs," Mrs. Dutchendorph offered.

Horrified, Mitzi asked, "The ones we took from the chickens?"

"Well, yes."

"You eat your chicken's babies! That's horrible! I want to go home NOW!" Mitzi started crying.

Mrs. Dutchendorph gave Lolly a look that said, help!

Lolly reached for Mitzi's hand, and said, "If we go home now you won't get to paint on the drafting table. You want to paint don't you?"

Mitzi snuffled and nodded.

"Okay then. I have an orange in my lunch I didn't eat. You eat that and then you can paint."

"Okay."

After supper, for over an hour Mitzi totally absorbed herself in painting a portrait of Puccini while Munch worked on sketches for his show. From time to time he would pull out a swatch of fabric and put it against Lolly's cheek to see if it matched her skin tone. He was trying to find the PERFECT color. She doubted there was one. When he was rummaging through a bag of Goodwill clothes, he pulled out an old fashioned sea green dress. It looked like the color of salt water. Lolly felt an instant to connection to the dress. It was from the 1950’s and cut to perfection. She wanted it just as it was, she did not want Munch to cut it up or redesign it. She asked, “Can I try that on?”

Pleased that she finally showed some interest, Munch said, “Sure. Change in the bathroom. You know where it is.”

Lolly knew where everything was in this house. As she walked down the stairs she left the present and stepped into the past. She recalled the first time she ever came to Munsh's house. It had been for his sixth birthday party. Back then, she still had hair. It was long, spider web fine and down to her waist. She remembered how her hair took flight when she ran in the wind. On that long ago birthday, she had no idea that soon her life would change. She had not yet become an odd bird. Munch had been born an odd bird. He was loud when he should have been quiet. He talked too much and his imagination was from outer space. In the cafeteria at school, she had heard the other kids whisper that they wouldn't go to that little weirdo's party. When they asked her if she was going, she said she wasn't going either. When she told Grandma Toady she had decided not to go to the party, Grandma Toady got mad and said, "You are going young lady. His Mama told me how much he is looking forward to his birthday party and I said you'd be there, You ain't planning on making me look like a liar are you?" Lolly was forever grateful Grandma Toady made her go. She was the only kid that showed up. During that party she and Munch formed an unbreakable bond. When her hair started falling out, he was the only one who never teased her and never stopped being her friend.

In the bathroom, she slipped from past back into now. She closed the door and took off her armor of the day. When she put on the dress it fit perfectly. The dress made her feel pretty. She could not remember the last time she felt pretty and not just from the neck down. In the mirror she watched herself twirl. The skirt fanned out around her.

The bathroom door flew open. Mitzi with Puccini in tow, marched through the door. She stopped in mid stride and stared up at Lolly. Her tiny mouth formed a perfect O. She reached out her hand and touched the dress. "It's so soft," she whispered. “You look beautiful Lolly, like princess.” Then, she turned and yelled, “Munch, come look at Lolly!”

There was a thumping on the stairs, Munch and his mom arrived at the open door at the same time. Munch said, “That dress was made for you, honey.”

Mrs. Dutchendorph agreed, “It was. Let me hand wash it in some Woolite, so you can take it home tonight.”

Truth was, Lolly wasn’t ready to take the dress off. She asked, “Would it be okay if I just wore it home. Grandma Toady has some Woolite.”

“Of, course,” said Mrs. Dutchendorph.

Through the bathroom window there was a flash of headlight beams. Grandma Toady’s truck was pulling up the drive. Mitzi spun out of the bathroom and headed for the back door. Mrs. Dutchendorph ran after her. “Wait, honey!” Munch and Lolly followed.

Mitzi banged the back door open. Grandma Toady cut off the truck’s engine. The instant she opened the door, Mitzi threw herself in her arms and sobbed, “I was so scared Max was gonna die!”

Gently, Grandma Toady brushed the tears from Mitzi’s eyes. “Your brother is gonna be just fine and ornery before we know it.”

“I’m so glad.”

Lolly was too.

*

The ball could not be seen this morning. It was hiding behind the clouds of the overcast sky. Fluff jumped on Lolly’s stomach. He put his nose against hers and stared into her eyes. He seemed confused. Did he wonder where Max was?

Lolly told him, “Max is in the hospital. He is coming home this afternoon.” Satisfied by her explanation, the cat jumped off her stomach and headed for the kitchen. The aroma of French toast filled the trailer.

Breakfast was weird without Max.

After breakfast, Lolly, Mitzi, Puccini and Fluff surveyed the content of her closet. What armor would Mitzi pick out today? Her little fingers went straight to the sea green dress. “This.”

“But, I haven’t had time to wash it yet,” Lolly protested.

Mitzi pressed the hem of the dress against her nose. “It don’t stink. You can wear it.”

No, she couldn’t. The dress had made her feel so special last night, Lolly was afraid the magic would be gone this morning and she couldn’t bear that. “It needs to be washed, pick something else.”

Mitzi grunted, “Well, what ever I pick won’t be as good.”

It wouldn’t, but Lolly could not take that risk.

After several long minutes, Mitzi settle on black clogs, a jean skirt and a long sleeve purple sweater.

“Thanks.”

“For nothing,” said Mitzi. “You could’a been Cinderella, but no!” She huffed and marched out of the room.

Lolly looked back at the dress. She wished she had the courage to wear it, but she didn’t. Not now...maybe another day...maybe never.

When it was time to leave, Mitzi did not hug her or tell her she would be praying for her. Apparently, she was still mad About the the dress.

At the bus stop all of Max’s friends came up to her. “How is Max? Is he okay?”

These boys NEVER spoke to her. In their eyes she saw genuine concern. They actually cared about Max. She told them, “He is going to be okay. He has a slight concussion and a broken collar bone.”

One of them exclaimed , “Damn, that must have hurt!”

A tall blonde boy, who had come over a few times said, “I guess he is out for the season.”

She said, "Yeah, he probably is." Poor Max! He loved playing football.

“I bet he is pissed.” The boy shook his head.

In all the worry and excitement of last night Lolly had not even thought about Max being pissed off because he couldn’t play football. He was pissy even when he was fine. Would he be unbearable when he got home?

On the bus, Mrs. Anderson and several kids asked her about Max. It had been years since she had gotten this much attention on the bus. When Trevor Long stepped onto the bus, he smiled at her and asked, “How is your brother?”

Lolly’s heart started thumping hard and fast. Her face got warm and she knew she was blushing, still, she managed to say, “Uh, he’s not my brother, he’s my cousin. He’s better. He’s coming home today.”

“Good to know."

Mrs. Anderson said, "Take your seat, Mr. Long."

"Yes Ma'am." To Lolly he mouthed, "See you later,” and walked down the aisle to his seat. Lolly’s eyes followed him. When he sat down, she quickly looked out the window. In the glass, her reflection smiled back at her.