Dawn Gibson woke up the next morning at 9am, took a shower, gave herself a longer look in the mirror than she ever remembered doing before, then pulled on one of the beautiful pink dresses that she’d bought with her sister the day before.
No. It felt like just yesterday, but Dawn knew she’d had this particular garment for an entire year. She squinted at the mirror. No, not just a year, it was exactly one year ago when she and Zoe and Sarah and Karyn had gone to the mall together. She could remember the conversation she’d had with Zoe in the fitting room so clearly.
But that wasn’t important. Dawn turned to the side to see herself from a different angle in the mirror. She screwed up her face in determination, and nodded.
“Mom!” she called as she left the bathroom and trundled down the stairs.
“Mom’s already out practicing with the string quartet, honey,” Roger Gibson informed his daughter as he stepped out of the kitchen. “You know she always leaves the house by 8am on Sundays.”
Oh yeah, Dawn had forgotten. Somehow it didn’t feel like a Sunday.
“Is there something I can help you with instead?” Roger offered.
Dawn’s face immediately flushed red. “No, Dad. It’s okay.”
Slightly embarrassed, Dawn turned back towards her bedroom. But halfway up the stairs, she remembered something. ”A little sister should never be embarrassed or afraid that her big sister won’t support her”
Sure, Dawn couldn’t talk to her dad about this, but…
A moment later, Zoe was woken up by a knock on her bedroom door. She stumbled out of bed and tried to hide the surprise on her face as she was greeted to a slightly taller Dawn than she’d seen the day before. A slightly more-mature Dawn.
The wish was working, Zoe supposed. She wondered what lesson had triggered it.
Dawn immediately felt better upon seeing her older sister. There was something about just being near her that was calming. Zoe would always support her. There was no reason to be embarrassed. So an eleven year-old Dawn simply opened her mouth and made her request without a hint of self-consciousness.
“Zoe, can you help me buy my first training bra?”
