"Pay Me No Mind" by Nancy Corbett

Without meaning to, she drew a picture in her mind of the figure in the window across the street. As time went by, she filled in more and more detail. The figure became a woman her own age named Misty. Where Natie was dull, Misty was colorful. Misty wouldn't feel at all self-conscious about bleaching her hair and wearing dangling earrings. Natie gave Misty a sly smile and a wit that approached crass.

Natie imagined that they had many things in common, and one day they would become close friends. She imagined that, like her, Misty had a house full of books, and they would be able to trade books back and forth in a series which would unravel a story all its own. Natie would have Misty over for long conversations home cooked meals, and they would laugh with surprise when the sky started to lighten with the dawn. As a by-product of Misty's influence, Natie would start to wear bright colors, and they would go shopping for hats.

Now that Misty had so much personality, Natie found that she was reluctant to go outside and work in the flowerbeds without making sure her hair was brushed. She traded her usual gardening outfit of old sweat pants and a threadbare tee shirt for a faded but, she thought, becoming sundress. As she looked at the gray house, her features were softened by a smile as she imagined her would-be neighbor crossing the street with a glass of iced tea in her outstretched hand.

With Misty as a friend, Natie began to go out more often. She would take Misty with her. Together, they would storm the perfume isles in the department stores. When they went to the home improvement store, she even let Misty talk her into wallpaper instead of paint for the spare bedroom. She had told herself she'd never do wallpaper.

One day, as they sifted through the cheap jewelry in a boutique on Main Street, Natie suddenly cried out. "Oh, Mist," she exclaimed. She'd started to call her Mist. "My grandmother used to have some earrings almost exactly like these. She always said that they would be mine one day. But when she died, they disappeared, along with most of her things."

"Take them," said Misty.

"No, they're $35.00."

"I didn't say to buy them, I said take them," she said.

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