Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
“The thing is, we're definitely going to those big fashion balls when this Covid stuff is over, but it doesn't need to be over too soon so our brothers can get their lives together.”
This was eight-year-old Edwina Ludlow, drinking lemonade with her seven-year-old sister Amanda and eight-year-old best friend Gracie Trent, and all of them in their sun dresses, swinging their little legs at the edge of Gracie's porch.
“Well, I only have one brother who is our age – I mean, Melvin is going to be a bit awkward to dance with although he does more or less have his life together,” Gracie said.
“He would be good if it rains real hard,” Amanda said. “If there's a flood, he can just carry us through it so we get there without getting our dresses wet.”
“Ain't it the truth, Mandie,” Gracie said. “That would be good, though, for these winter and holiday balls, because the weather here is interesting.”
“Of course we are going to have ermine trim," Edwina said. "Well, Amanda, you're a vegetarian, so, we'll get you some really good thick white polyester instead.”
“Yeah, because this whole thing about killing animals for fashion – I'm not with it!” Amanda said. “I mean, people gotta eat, and, if you use the rest, uh … what's it called … uh sustainably, that's it … I get it, but just to try to impress people who don't like us and don't care and won't even remember when it's done? No.”
“I kind of feel like that too, Edwina – I mean, we already know we're cute,” Gracie said. “We ain't gotta prove anything.”
“Well, yeah,” Edwina said, “and that does keep the costs down for other things, because I need sequins and some four-inch high heels and stuff.”
“OK, that's a problem,” Gracie said, “because my brother Milton is nowhere near tall enough for all that.”
“Look, ain't nobody thinking about Milton or George for a fashion ball!” Edwina said. “They're the type of people who would be trying to figure out if tadpoles like punch!”
“That's not nice,” Amanda said. “It's true, but it's not nice.”
“Right, because the tadpoles didn't ask for all this!” Edwina said.
“I mean about our brothers, Eddie,” Amanda said.
“Oh,” Edwina said.
“How about this, if you are going to be wearing four-inch heels – just go on and ask your Cousin Maggie to let you borrow your Cousin Harry?” Gracie said. “He's tall enough for the winter balls and stuff in case of floods and thick snow.”
“Yeah, and he's stylish, too,” Edwina said.
“I can work with your brother Melvin,” Amanda said, “and really, if Milton wanted to go, I could go with him, too. He's not that bad when he and George aren't together.”
“This is why you are a special person, Mandie,” Gracie said. “You see the side of people that they are really trying to be, and can help them get there.”
“But that leaves you, Gracie," Amanda said. "We can't leave you without somebody to go with.”
“Well, y'all have three other brothers,” Gracie said. “Robert is maybe a little too young at five years old, but he does dress up real nice.”
“Yeah, Papa just kicks in on his namesake when Sunday comes,” Edwina said. “Robert is a little gentleman, so if you just wanted to show up looking good before he opens his mouth, you can't do that much better.”
“I feel like Grayson is fashionable,” Amanda said, “but, the thing about Grayson at any event is that by the time he has walked you into any new place, he really wants to be walking the building and figuring out how he is going to make a copy in Legos.”
“Yeah,” Edwina and Gracie said together.
“I mean, he's six, so, it can be hard to focus at that age,” Gracie said. “We gotta remember what it was like to be young like that.”
“Actually, Andrew is actually the best of all worlds,” Edwina said. “He's ten, so a bit older and distinguished, he has taken in so much of the best gentleman parts of Papa and Cousin Harry, and he's tall enough for you to wear a nice heel. He probably couldn't get you over a flood by pure lifting, but he also is the one of my brothers who could figure out how to hop over the tops of the right cars to get you there safely if you hitch up your dress a bit.”
“Actually we can skip all that,” Gracie said. “Let's ask Grayson to build us a boat with Legos, because plastic floats.”
“That's it!” Edwina and Amanda said.
So off they went to find Grayson, who considered all this and said, “You don't have to wait. I'll build y'all a fashion castle here tomorrow, and y'all can all come accompany me as my guests.”
“Problem solved,” Gracie said.
“No floods, no Covid, no killing little helpless ermines – it's perfect!” Amanda said.
“We can get into our cute stuff tomorrow!” Edwina said. “But no, I got a better idea: let's build it tomorrow for Sunday so Papa and Grandma can see us, and we're already wearing our Sunday best anyway!”
“Yep,” Grayson, Amanda, and Gracie said.
“That will give me time to make my blueprints right, too,” Grayson said as he went to get white crayons and blue construction paper. “I mean, it's a fashion castle, so, it's gotta be special – and tall, because Grandma is tall, and Papa is real tall!”
“Well, if it's a castle, you can always have friendly giants who just clap,” Gracie said. “I mean, that's a lot of work, Grayson, with that thing having to be ten feet tall and all.”
Grayson considered this.
“Yeah, you're right, because I only have until Sunday,” he said, “and, tall buildings take way too many steps. Fashion gets in trouble with heels, long dresses, and too many steps.”
“Oh, yeah, remember that award show?” Amanda said. “I don't know who the woman was, but she talked real loud and was putting people down until she got to those steps.”
“Her dress was too tight and too long and those heels way too wiggly to be talking like that,” Edwina said. “Those stairs broke bad and put her down for real!”
“Gots to be mo' careful,” Gracie said, shaking her little head just like her Grandma Gladys would have.
