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Show CHAPTER FIVE Summer came at last and I was free to do as I wished. My days were uneventful, and I lost consciousness of the individuality of days, something so clear during the school months. Dreary Monday and joyful Friday seemed the same in the summer heat, only Sunday keeping its special flavor and ceremony. I spent many hours reading under the trees in the backyard or in my grandparents' cool basement when the chiggers drove me indoors. I returned from each trip to the public library loaded with books, many fiction and many books of maps. These I poured over, my finger tracing rivers and mountain chains, my mouth sounding out the names. I saw Emily and Darby frequently although without school our relationship lost some of its zest. We had no one and nothing to talk about and were left to the resources of our own imaginations. In July, both of them went off to Bible School every day for the entire month. Mother asked me if I wanted to go. I had thought I would, but when the moment came, I realized that I didn't want to leave home this summer. Even though I would come home every evening and I didn't often see Father during the day, I somehow felt that our family had had enough of leaving and that we should all be together. So I was alone. I did not mind but relished the long, unstructured days to be spent as I wished. I resented any intrusion on my time, even for an hour, and like a miser with money, wanted to keep the hours of each day for myself. My books, Fidelio, the new kittens, the occasional trips across the street, the sounds of music from Mother's piano filled my days with lazy enchantment. |