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The rooh I couldn't say exactly why Maybe it was because she kept her drapes drawn together on such a beautiful summer day Behind the drapes theshutters were closed, s The shutters and the drapes held the heat outside at bay,her parlor

unexpectedly chill There was no real need for airconditioning in our area The nearby Pacific kept our weather cool, s a real necessity, even in the middle of summer But this house was

unnaturally cold

Again she was in that wooden rocker staring at esture to draw me closer I knew instinctively she was a threat to my parents, to my own security, and most of all to Bart's mental health

"You don't have to be afraid of s to you as much as to Bart I will alelcome you here Sit down and chat for awhile Will you share a cup of tea with me, and a slice of cake?"

Beguiled, our word yesterday to add to our growing vocabulary Daddy insisted upon "The world belongs to those who kno to speak well, and fortunes are made by those rite well," he'd said

I ad so old and yet so proud "Why don't you open your shutters, pull your drapes and let in soht and air?" I asked

Her nervous gestures brought into play the sparkling rays of the ers, each color spectrum Her jewels seemed so out of place when she had to wear that plain black dress and cover her head with several layers of black chiffon--but today her eyes were revealed, her blue, blue eyes Such familiar blue eyes

"Too ht hurts my eyes," she explained in a faint husky whisper when I kept staring

"Why?"

"Why does the light hurt my eyes?"

"Yes"

Her sigh was s time I lived locked away from the world, shut up in a small room, but even worse than that, locked up within myself When you are forced to encounter yourself for the first time in your life, you draw back from the shock I recoiled when first I looked deep withinin a htened So now I live in rooms full of mirrors, but I cover my face so I can't see too er admire the face I used to adore

"Then take down the mirrors"

"How easy youis easy I don't want to take down the mirrors I want them there to remind me constantly of what I've done The closed s, the stuffy atmosphere are my punishments, not yours If you want, Jory," she went on as I sat silently, "open the s, spread the shutters; let in the sunlight and I will take off my veils and let you look at the face I hide froone, but it is a sone, all the things I should have held onto valiantly"