She headed down the street, back in the direction that Jon had come from not long ago. She entered the Madison household. Things were quiet, but it was still early. She headed toward the bedrooms.
Jenny, like many little girls, loved to play dress-up. She walked into one of the bedroom, and caught a glimpse of a picture on the dresser of the person who lived in it. She slipped out of her clothes and loosened her hair out of the pigtails it was in.
Then she slipped on a pair of what she previously would have called big girl panties. While the occupant of the room would have normally gone for a pair of pants, that wasn't pretty enough for Jenny, who went to the closet and pulled out a skirt and blouse, slipping into them in front of the mirror, once again complimenting herself on how grown up she looked.
Then she combed out her hair and applied makeup. The last time she'd gotten into makeup, she'd heard her parents say she'd looked like a clown. This time, she very carefully matched the makeup to the photograph. Her success pleased her, and she started her day of playing house. She was the Mommy.
And her first grown-up task was picking up the clothes on the floor. Mommys liked things clean.
Meanwhile, Linda Madison, in the middle of her morning cup of coffee, suddenly put down the cup and walked out the door. She no longer felt like she belonged in that house.