| Becky wiped her hands on her sea green dress, brushed her long brown hair back behind her ears, and continued to mop Ms. Hayden�s kitchen floor. She had been working there only one out of her nine years, but it was almost like her home though she didn�t think it was very homey. The furniture was nice and neat but very old and had faded colors of puce and orange. The stairs creaked like in the haunted house movies her friends told her about, but she could never go to. Upstairs were a big pile of boxes ready for storage in the attic that Ms. Hayden never seemed to put up there because of her bad back. The walls were an off-white color and very dingy. Ms. Hayden, being seventy-three and a widow for a long time didn�t really have the strength to clean her house so she hired little Becky. Her patience also withered away with her beauty and strength so Becky got her share of smacks and scolds. Becky minded it at first, but then she learned Ms. Hayden�s thin line of kindness so she took it only to keep her job. The Depression put her weak father out of work and no one else would hire a strong, but unhealthy girl. Becky liked some of the chores she had to perform. She liked to mop and rake the leaves in Ms. Hayden�s front yard because she could look out the window in the kitchen and outside to see the birds flying overhead. She could imagine herself sprouting wings and joining them. The leaves from the oak tree in the back yard turned seven different colors and brightened the days when Ms. Hayden was grumpy and Becky was ill. After ringing out the mop and splatting it down onto the tiled floor, she looked out the window once more. The mailman was walking down the cracked pavement street and was almost at the little white wooden gate. Becky dropped the mop, ran out the door and opened the gate to greet the mailman. �Anything that seems like a big letter today sir?� She asked in a giggly and hopeful voice with her hands barely clasping each other behind her back and her knees swaying. �Um�� the mailman hesitated, �Nope, just a couple of business letters and some friendly notes from what I can see.� The smile on Becky�s face turned upside down as she grabbed the letters and walked back inside. That evening at seven o�clock Becky finished up with the dishes left from Ms. Hayden�s dinner and went to her bedroom to receive her weekly pay. Ms. Hayden was lying in her bed listening to her favorite radio broadcast. She hated pay day and sometimes just threw the money at Becky. She didn�t think that Becky deserved her pay from all the slaps and scolds she had to give her. �Ms. Hayden it�s Friday and my pay are due. If you don�t mind I need to get home to my father to make his and my dinner so if you could just hand it to me-� Ms. Hayden turned around in her bed. Her wrinkles seemed to be deeper in her skin as her womanly strong voice spat out, �Do you think you deserve your pay?� Becky looked down at her feet. She wished she could just skip the questions and be on her merry way home. �Why, yes I do.� Ms. Hayden lowered her eyelids. �Why?� �Well, be-because I work very hard.� Ms. Hayden reached for her purse and pulled out Becky�s pay, twenty-seven cents. She tossed it up into the air and Becky caught each one of the coins, thanked her, and walked home in silence. Twenty-seven cents wasn�t even enough per week to buy all the necessities to live. Every week, she and her father would have to sacrifice something to buy everything else whether it was meat, bread or vegetables. She didn�t dare ask Ms. Hayden for more money for fear that she would be kicked out of her services. The next day when the mailman came, Becky ran outside like she had the previous day and asked the same question. �Anything that seems like a big letter today sir?� and this time the mailman handed her a bulky envelope and then the rest of the letters. She almost snatched the mail from his hands and ran to the porch as he closed the gate and went on his merry way. Becky put the rest of the letters down on the green wood and ripped the letter addressed to her open and pulled out the ingredients. Inside was a letter addressed to �Ms. Becky Madison� and a stapled bunch of papers with the title �Man and His Dream.� It was a story she loved, but not a book and she had to send it back as soon as she was finished. It was not her own. She turned to the first page and started reading out loud. Could a night have been so cold as this one when I went out to find myself. I knew it was not real, but to set my mind to stop the madness was impossible. On and on she read as she began to get more and more into the story. Keep me safe as I go back to sleep and face the monster in my head even though they could do nothing. I was all alone in my little head with a big imagination. �And I hope he can keep you safe from my wrath!� a voice yelled from the front door. Ms. Hayden hobbled outside, leaning on her cane and shaking her fist. Becky got right up and gave the letters to her. Ms. Hayden snatched them out of her hand and looked at them furiously. �You haven�t washed the walls and it is nearly five o�clock!� �Yes ma�am I�ll do that right away.� Becky replied, grabbing her letter and running inside passed Ms. Hayden, but she was not quick enough not to receive a sharp hit on the back of the legs from Ms. Hayden�s cane. That night as she walked home, she hid the letter in her ragged coat and walked home, holding her coat close to her shoulders. Ms. Hayden lived on Wood Acre Street, which was next to Main Street where Becky had to go to take the dirt road home at the end of town home. She kept a steady pace as she walked and looked at the dismal surroundings of everyday Main Street. Most of the traffic came from Main Street because that was where all the good shops were that sold goods. Homeless men sat with their blankets and newspaper to ask for change or food. All the little carts everyone wheeled in early morning were being packed up, but as people went by, the sellers asked if they would like to buy something often to be brushed away with a wave of the hand. Even Though Becky was young she was asked just as every man and woman was asked by the newspaper-covered beings if they had food or money. Some even grabbed her, but she jerked away. It was like she was in Hell and she was the only saved soul coming to visit on her way to Heaven. She past everyone with a poker face and started down |