BEDTIME STORIES

BEDTIME STORIES

I had a big, big book of bedtime stories when I was small, one for each day of the year. I don’t remember any of the stories, but I remember each one had a moral or some lesson about good behavior.

My mother was big on good behavior. And so, as her first child, I got all her ideas about raising the well-behaved child tried out on me. The rules, the bedtime stories, the subtle shake of her head, her black eyes turning even darker—I knew all her signals.

Which is why I’ve always kept Bad Gwendie well hidden.