NADJA MARIL
We Bought The Kelly Green Dress
Mother and I roam department stores looking for bargains. We hover over tables of marked-down sweaters in the Girl’s department. Ponder the merits of silk and sequined cocktail attire in Lady’s Better Dresses. As her assistant in the dressing room, I inhale the L’Aimant perfume on her discarded tan sweater as she steps out of her tweed skirt.
“How do I look?” she asks while adjusting the matching satin jacket and chiffon scarf that encircles her neck to complete the ensemble. The emerald shade compliments the gold highlights in her hair.
It’s as if we’ve stepped inside a fairytale. “You look glamorous,” I say, “ You have to buy it.”
We are co-conspirators as she reaches in her purse for her credit card. Elated at our purchase we celebrate with ice cream at the soda counter. Hum and hold hands crossing the parking lot to the car.
Sorting through Mother’s things, a month after her death, I find the dress hanging in the back of her closet and press it close to my face. A trace of scent remains. The fabric caresses my skin. I imagine wearing it while kicking my legs high as I dance. Perhaps with some alterations, it could be my new party dress. The tailor attempts with straight pins to re-configure the size 16 garment to my slender shape. A futile exercise.
The way to remember my mother is to buy a new dress. I will imagine her with me in the dressing room when I decide which one fits me best. In her honor I will treat myself to something extravagant.
Nadja Maril is a former magazine editor and journalist living in Annapolis, Maryland, USA. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast Program at the University of Southern Maine and her short stories and essays have been or will be published in several literary journals and anthologies including Scarlet Leaf Review, Change Seven, Lunch Ticket, Raconteur, Thin Air, Burning Love and Bleeding Hearts, Defunkt Magazine, and Instant Noodles. She blogs weekly about writing and life during Covid-19 at Nadjamaril.com. Additional credits include two reference books on American Antique Lighting as well as two children’s books illustrated by her artist father, the late Herman Maril. Her twitter handle is SNMaril and facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/nadja.maril.