Caroline Mazeika

Today me and my dad went to the shops because it was Saturday, and on Saturdays he goes to pick up the paper from Mr Green’s. Today we also had to buy two pints of milk as next doors cat had knocked ours over this morning before we had been able to take it in. Mum said Dad should march round and take next door’s milk instead and while he’s there say what a menace their cat was screeching at all hours of the day and digging up her newly planted marigolds.

Dad said I could have 50p to pick some sweets as a special treat for helping him. I stood for a while in the shop thinking about my choices. A Kinder surprise would blow the lot on one go, but could have a really great toy inside, or I could choose a larger number of other sweets but not have the toy. I chose one box of candy cigarettes (25p), two freddos (5p each) and a curly wurly (15p).

It was a lovely warm sunny day at the start of spring so we sat on the wall outside for a bit to enjoy the sunshine. My dad had to help me up as my legs weren’t long enough to touch the floor. I saw some kids from the year above me at school playing at the other side of the parade, but they said I’m too little to play with them and only babies wear their hair in pigtails. My mum insists I wear my hair in pigtails as she says it looks cute and girly. I don’t want to look cute and girly though, I twist the curl at the bottom through my fingers and pull it out to make it stop sticking out funny. I told my mum Evie Brown is going to the salon this weekend for her birthday because she is going to be 7 and she says she’s going to get her hair cut like Farrah Fawcett. My mum said Evie’s mum can do what ever she wants but ‘no child of hers is walking round look like a tart’. Evie said once she’s 7 she’s not going to be my friend anymore because I’m only 6 and ¾. She’s going to play with the big kids. Susie Tucker rode by on her new bike and I turned my head round so quickly one of my pigtails flicked in my face and got stuck to the exposed caramel of my half eaten curly wurly. Stupid pig tails.