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isn’t even out of bed yet, Marion,” Gladys replied.
    “It’s unlike her to be this late.”
    “Let the child have her rest. Poor thing is always running here or there. She needs to slow down more.”
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    She dried herself off and began to brush and blow-dry her hair. The shower was the most wonderful invention by man. Each time she used it it made her tingle all over. It was a great sensation. It also made her feel taller every time she stepped out of it, as if it propelled her growth. Why, even now she felt an inch taller. After getting completely dry and sprinkling powders and deodorants, she returned to her closet to pick out her clothes for today.
    “This one,” she said with a smile. She pulled a hanger from the closet that held a little sailor-style suit. It was blue and white, with a scarf and a white hat with a huge blue ribbon around it. “I love this one.” After slipping into the suit, she stood in front of the mirror to admire herself. I have such pretty clothes. I wonder why mother doesn’t wear such pretty things? She always wears dresses that look like uniforms in such boring colors…always black, gray, or navy blue. And she never shows her legs.
    Grandma and Grandpa are just as strange. They never seem to change their style, or their clothes, for that matter! Grandma in her bulky, fringed dresses. Grandpa with his painter’s pants and flannel shirts, and of course his trusty pocket watch. Why are they so different from everyone in town? Why don’t they ever wear more modern clothes?
    Every time Merydith attended school or went to town, she noticed how different everyone looked from her family. It was as if her whole family and house were in a sort of time warp, one that they didn’t want to escape. No wonder they didn’t have many friends that came to visit. She put aside her thoughts for another time, and after slipping two pieces into her puzzle, went downstairs to eat.
    “Well, it’s about time, girl, we were beginning to think you were going to spend this gorgeous day in your room,” Gladys’s voice was neither stern nor resilient. It was just her way of letting you know that next time you’d better move it.
    “I’m sorry,” Merydith answered. “I just overslept. I had a really bad night. Couldn’t sleep at all.”
    Gladys and Marion glanced at each other. Before sitting, Merydith walked over to the old hutch with its array of bells and daintily rang a subtle blue glass one. She listened with a keen ear, absorbing its gentle ring like someone smelling the cork of a fine wine.
    When everyone was together at the table at last Gladys began to spoon out a helping on everyone’s plate. The servings were all equal so no one got more than anyone else. The eggs looked light and fluffy, the bacon lean and crisp, the toast perfectly brown with melted butter. All cooked to perfection. Before every plate was a full glass of freshly squeezed orange juice prepared by Gladys herself.
    The family wasted no time in digging in, and the food had no time to cool off. The children were all taught to waste nothing. They always cleaned their plates. It was a strict rule they all lived by. Everything that came from the Earth had a purpose.
    As with dinner, the two women began clearing the dishes from the table. Tobey and Aaron let their mother know they were vanishing outside and Simon said he would be down in his workshop and was not to be disturbed. Merydith decided to sit outside on the porch and watch her brothers. Perhaps she would join them in a game.
    As the three children strolled outside to the porch, they were stopped abruptly by a request from Aaron. “Let’s play in the garden!”
    Merydith looked down at him, toast crumbs still clinging to his face. “Now, Aaron, you know we’ll get a chance to enter the garden…at lunch!”

5. A Trip to Town
    Afternoon came swift, breakfast was not even a memory yet, but it was almost time for lunch. Merydith entered the house to start a small pot