"Sorensen, Virginia - Plain Girl" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sorensen Virginia)

She picked up the letter and unfolded it. In very tall wriggly letters, Mary had written:

Dear Friend Esther:

I like you. I think your dress is pretty. Your apron is cute too. And your little hat.

Your friend,

Mary.

She sat still. What a kind good letter it was! How could Mary think such a dark dress was pretty? The white apron was very, common and plain, yet Mary thought
it was cute. A nice little word-cute! cute! cute! It was like a canary singing. She lifted her hand to her bonnet, tied securely under her chin with her
hair tucked under. It was possible that her own hair would make curls, she thought. When she took out the braids and combed it at night, it fell in wide
waves over her shoulders.

Even the Bible said, "If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her. ..."

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Suddenly she felt happy, the way she sometimes felt when she woke and the sun was shining in her window. Mary turned to see whether the letter had been
opened, and smiled.

Esther must say something, she knew. Not to say something would be unkind, and she was taught always to return one kindness with another. Or perhaps even
with two. "Thank you very much," she said. "It is a beautiful letter."

"As soon as you can, write one to me," Mary said. Then, "Do you play jump-the-rope? Would you like to jump with me at recess?"

Esther caught her breath. She had watched the girls jumping every day but never even thought of jumping herself. "I don't know how," she said.

Mary looked surprised. "It's easy," she said. "I'll teach you. Except-maybe-do you think your skirt will get in the way?"

The teacher rapped sharply with her little stick. "No whispering!" she said. "Mary, have you finished the exercise?"

"No, ma'am," Mary said.

"Then work, don't visit," the teacher said. "It's almost time for recess."

Mary gave a quick little glance at Esther, and winked an eye! She had not finished her exercise because

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she had written a letter. It was their secret. She began to write very fast on the exercise. Esther could watch the motion of her pretty pink elbow as she
wrote.

Esther tucked the letter inside her desk. She could look at it every day at school, she thought. Every day she could know again that Mary thought her dress
was pretty, that her apron was cute, and so was her little hat. "I wish I could show Mary my long hair!" she thought.

Suddenly, then, she thought about Vanity. Hair was tucked away under bonnets so there would be no thinking about brushing and curling. A cold wind seemed
to blow through her very soul. Could Mary's letter-such a kind thing!-be The First Step Away? It was impossible. . . .