Rowena looked after the cat while Jeryl Skleir was on holiday in France. The cat was small and white. The Skleirs were a large family with a large house on Muswell Hill. Rowena had never seen such a large house; from the attic window she could see the fields and hay bales of the green belt. Jeryl's medical tests covered the walls. A Norwegian lived downstairs. There were three Skleir children, each with a small bedroom contraining a canopy bed and matching wardrobes, chests and desks. Rowena stayed in the maid's room. On no account was she to distrub any of the maid's belongings. She had been with the family for decades and they couldn't do without her. What would they do without her? The white cat rubbed against Rowena's leg. It had a strange smudge of blue paint or something on its head. Rowena dabbed at the smudge of colour without success. She was drawn to the Skleir girls' rooms. Who would she have been if she grew up in this huge house, dusty and stacked with medical books. She opened the closets and drawers and found clothes and stacks of magazines. The magazines were full of dating and sex advice. She tore them up and pasted the to her arms and legs. She applied little girl pretend lipstick and dozed on he canopy bed. She hoped the maid would never know.
submitted by Kris Rothstein,
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