Saturday, March 27

   Today I called up the Kaiser's house while Luke was still at school. As I hoped, Betsy answered. She asked if I'd heard from Maryland, I lied and said that I hadn't. Then she said that I shouldn't plan to come over tonight, because her parents were going to a party and didn't want anyone over visiting.
   I wish I could stop the little lies like saying I'd not heard from U of M when I had, but it's not easy.
   Last Sunday at fellowship, Mrs. Gertrude had all ten of us sit in a circle. She took the Haskell out into the hall and told him a secret.
   When he came back into the room, he took me out and told me the secret. Then it was my turn to relate the story as accurately as possible. In this single file fashion, I told Shirley and then she told Mandy and so on.
   Rusty, who'd been last, told us the secret he'd heard. According to him, a teenage girl had run away from home because she was pregnant and afraid that her father would beat her.

 

   Mrs. Gertrude's story was of a student at St. Jeromes who attended a religious retreat with the hope of stopping herself from fighting with her sisters.
   The point was the distortion in relating stories.
   Just like with Betsy. I'd tried to tell the truth but it just wouldn't come out.
   After the gossip circle, Mrs. G let us go downstairs to the church hall. Shirley showed me how to do the cha-cha. Usually I'm too shy to dance, but she didn't give me a chance to shy away.
   I'm just a bundle of contradictions to myself. I'm too shy to dance, but I'll do just about anything if I'm dared.
   Can dreams reveal what we are? One dream sticks in my mind from when I was in the eighth grade. Betsy and I stood in the A & P parking lot, water up to our ankles like in a wading pool. No words were spoken and no action occurred that I can remember, but I awoke with a pleasurable memory. I wonder what it means.
   The Ranger sent pictures of the Moon before it crashed. Why can't I do something connected with the space program?