I Woke Up In Love This Morning by Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons

Author:Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, 1985, stories about girls, 1973, judy blume, short stories collection
Publisher: Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons

I put the Playboy back. Then a Penthouse caught my eye. I should have stopped with the Playboy, but I looked at the Penthouse. Not only did it have pictures of naked women with perfect breasts, but they were having sex with their TV installers. Men wrote about great sex they had in something called the Forum. I knew I was turning all shades of red blushing as I thought are all men like this? Telling complete strangers about having sex? I always thought sex was so private, so sacred. Didn’t they have any pride? The song came in my head again: Soft fuzzy sweaters that are magical to touch. Oh yeah, I can’t hide it. Were these Daddy’s angels? These girls?

The front door slammed. “Oona! Baby! I’m back!”

The magazine flew up in the air. It landed on the floor, I put it back. I ran to the bed, grabbing the Rabbit book as I did. Daddy knocked on my door. “Oona? Are you awake?”

“Yeah, Daddy.”

He came in, smiling. “Baby, do you know what time it is?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I was reading.” I was praying he wouldn’t find out I found the magazines. I would die if he knew.

“What are you reading?”

“A John Updike book.”

“Good. If you have any questions let me know. John Updike can be hard to understand.” He walked over to the bed and ruffled my hair. “Just don’t stay up too late, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

He kissed me on the forehead. “My baby girl. I love you.”

I looked at him. Why did he look at those girls? “Oona?

Baby? You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I reached for him and gave him a hug. “I love you too, Daddy.”

“Me too, Pretty Girl.”

When he left, I started to breathe again. I got up and straightened the magazines. The next time I spent the night, they were moved. He never said anything about it. I didn’t say anything either. All I could remember were those women, how they looked at the camera. You know what? None of them looked happy. None of them looked like they really wanted to be there. None of them looked like a girl that Peter Wolf would dance with in that classroom, wearing that soft fuzzy magical sweater, none of them looked like angels. That night I wondered if all of it was something to really envy. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was the one who really was blessed. And maybe it was okay to be more like Margaret than some girl in a soft fuzzy sweater too magical to touch.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.