Mary wakes from the loud bang on her door and Mother shouting at her to get ready for school. She pulls herself out of bed, not even remotely prepared for the day ahead of her. A girl's first day of grade school is a huge milestone and one of the scariest moments of her young life. Mary slips on her favorite yellow sun dress and brushes her matching yellow hair with a rubber hairbrush that has most of the bristles missing. She slides her feet into a pair of white Mary Jane's and fastens the Velcro along the top of each foot. 

     Mother would be rather angry with Mary if she didn't tidy her room before the day began. So, Mary made her bed as Mother had shown her and placed her stuffed animals in a neat row, a familiar group to greet her after a day riddled with complete strangers. When her room was near perfection, she grabbed Dollie, threw on her yellow polka dot backpack and headed down the grand staircase, which no longer made her feel like a princess. Mary searched the house for Mother, who was found in her study, thrown into her work as usual. 

"What is that in your hand, Mary?" Mother asks, finally pulling away from her work to acknowledge Mary's presence.

"Well, Mother, it's Dollie. It's her first day of school too." 

"You can't take her to school. She'll be waiting for you when you get home." Mother insists.

"But that's not fair! How else will I get through my first day of school? Dollie is my only friend."

"I told you that you're not taking her to school! Now go put her upstairs before I throw her in the garbage!" Mother yells at Mary, which makes her cringe in fear. Her eyes begin to pool with tears but she wipes them dry before exiting the room. 

Mary heads up the stairs to her room and pushes open the door, causing it to slam into the wall behind it. She can hear Mother's footsteps stomping through the foyer and up the stairs. Quickly, Mary takes off her backpack and puts Dollie inside. Just before Mother comes to the door, she replaces the backpack and turns around to meet her gaze.

"What was that loud bang?!" Mother stood, hands on hips, red in the face.

"I'm sorry Mother. I pushed the door a little bit too hard and it hit the wall. I won't let it happen again."

Mother pivots on her left foot and continues down the stairs once more. Mary follows her contently into the kitchen, relieved that Mother didn't see her shove Dollie in her bag. She takes a seat at the breakfast bar, silently wondering if she was going to eat breakfast this morning. Mary was still a little bit too short to sit comfortably at the counter top but she had too much pride to sit in a booster seat to eat her meal. Mother opens the cupboard and reaches for the cereal on the top shelf. She pours a small bowl and then adds 2% milk. After placing the bowl in front of Mary, Mother turned to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup of steaming Joe. From behind a container on the counter, Mother picked up an orange cylindrical bottle. Mary wasn't quite sure what it was but upon Mother opening it, she noticed dozens of little round tabs. 

     With one quick flick of Mother's wrist, a few were in her mouth, being washed down by a sip of coffee. Mary began to ask Mother what exactly she was doing, but her conscience stopped her. Something didn't seem right. Not even a half an hour later, Mother was in her normal, jovial mood. There was something about those things that she ate, something that changed her. But Mary didn't care much because Mother was better this way.