They had driven home after the show. Miranda remembered passing the haloed porch. lights and snow covered lawns of her neighbor’s yards. They reached her house and Ron drove into the driveway. He turned off the car and sat silent a moment. Then he looked at Miranda. Through the dark she could see hiswwavy hair. She felt like touching it, even though she knew she shouldn’t. The Charmer by Jan Garrard they met. *: 3 “It was only a month ago,” she thought, “that icy cold morning, the first snowstorm in November, I had to walk to school. I had had so much home- work the night before, and I had to carry four heavy books back to school.” She remembered fumbling with the dial on her school locker, and the books sliding from her arm and falling loudly onto the floor. “You dropped something,” a laughing voice called. She turned quickly, but the boy was already picking up her books, She looked at the blond wavy-haired boy stopped before her. “Thank you,” she said shyly as he got up and gave the books to her. That was how it had started. She smiled and chuckled silently. He had charmed her. She looked out the window again. The gray night had turned to black, reminding Miranda of the clouded black sky and the night of her first date with Ron. They had gone to their last high school football game. The crowded bleachers and the excitement of the close game made it easy for them to talk. ey, , “Tt’s getting a little chilly,’ Ron said. “Yes, it is,” Miranda answered, hoping he wouldn’t put his arm around her, even though her skin prickled from the cold. ni Ron had laid his hand on top of her gloved one and squeezed it. “It’s too soon,” she thought as a feeling of warmth surged through her. After the game, they had gone to a drive-in. Ron ordered tacos and Miranda remembered the burning pepper taste that made her sick. She chuckled again. She’d been too shy to say she didn’t like tacos when he suggested them to her. ! Miranda curled a strand of shining hair around her finger and tugged it. She smoothed the soft flannel of her nightgown over her knees. The clock in the hall bonged again. It reminded Miranda of the night ae She and Ron had gone to the theater to see GONE WITH THE “Miranda,” Ron whispered. i “Yes,” she answered wonderingly. “Miranda, I think ...I think I love you.” The last words were rushed and Miranda felt pushed out of her contented state. fk Miranda fell heavily onto the overstuffed living room sofa and gazed out the window at the gray December sky. She tucked her knees up in her long flannel nightgown and wrapped her feet in the end of it. The clock in the hall bonged eight times then stopped, leaving the, house silent. Miranda curled a long strand of black hair around her finger: “I wish someone were home,” she thought. She picked up a copy if GRAPES OF WRATH that was lying on the end table and switched on the lamp. She opened the book and began reading: “To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.” She could not comprehend the words, and found herself thinking about Ron. She had a feeling of uncertainty about him as she remembered when “Oh,” she said stunned. “Miranda, I love yu,” he said again, emphasizing it. Miranda looked at"him. His eyes were dark in the night. She lay her hand on his, and felt it jerk a little as she touched it. He put his other arm around her. shoulder and-Jaid his hand on her meee, She felt the skin tighten on her arms. His fingers drummed softly on her neck then slid down beneath the neck of her blouse. He kissed her. Miranda’s skin prickled as he ran his fingers over her collar bone. Miranda shut her eyes tightly and felt warm wet drops seep through her eyelashes. “Don’t,” she whispered. | “Miranda,” he said appealingly. She pulled his arm from her shoulder, slid across the leather seat and opened the door. Tears blinded her eyes as she got out and ran across the driveway to her front door. She hesitated a minute, wiping the wetness from her eyes, then opened the door and walked in. The clock in the hall was bonging. The sudden ringing of the telephone jerked Miranda from her thoughts. She knew it was Ron. Slowly she straightened her legs and walked past the phone. The persistent ringing stopped as she pulled the coverlet back on her bed. ALONE | sat in the empty room With only a candle. The wall felt cool against my baek. | watched the transparent blue Surround the black wick. | blew the candle out. Darkness loomed around me. Eileen Brown