The Sheet

Ages 12-15

Hindel hangs the wash on the line, and the wind takes the sheet.

It is the big one, the white one from her parents' bed. She has pegged the first corner, and she is reaching for the second when a gust comes down the yard. The sheet fills. It lifts out of her hands and flaps out sideways, away from the line, with the one peg holding the corner.

She grabs. She gets the edge in both fists, and the cloth is cold and wet and pulls at her arms.

She pulls it down. She holds it against her front, and the wet goes through her coat. The towels on the line next to it swing, and a sock falls to the grass.

She stands with the sheet pressed to her. The gust drops. The yard is still.

She takes the free corner, and lifts it to the line, and pegs it. It holds. She takes a second peg from the bag at her waist, and puts it beside the first. She goes along the top edge, and puts a peg every hand's width, until the whole sheet is held.

She steps back. The wind comes again. The sheet bellies, and strains, and does not move.

It stands out full on the line, white, all the way across, and the shadow of it lies over the grass.