Spoon River Middle School: 7

Daria d’Splay

The store was not too busy,

so I did it.

A dare,

from Jenn,

so it really wasn’t

all my fault.

(You can’t refuse a dare,

can you?)

I went into the changing room,

stripped down to

bra and pants,

slipped out into the store,

crept over to a little platform,

and stepped up on it,

posed,

froze,

just like a mannequin.

And as I said,

the store was not too busy then,

but some old guy came by

and stopped,

and stared,

for quite a while.

(I thought I’d lose it,

right there,

but didn’t.)

And finally

he shook his head,

a little bit,

then shuffled off,

while mumbling

“Thank you, thank you,

thank you” down the aisle

till I could not hear

anything

except the wildest laugh

from Jenn,

who’d hidden there behind

a rack of skirts.