Ruthie

Ruthie wants to see what her mother is pointing at, but instead she sees a man.

Books are wonderful, Ruthie says, and then she runs her hand over them as if she could read them in Braille.

Ruthie asks, but only a small part of her is talking to her mother; the rest of her is thinking about the surprise.

Ruthie wants to take one home with her, a baby giraffe.

Ruthie's own school is housed in a flat, prefab, trailer-type structure tucked behind the large parking lot of a Korean church.

There is a bigger giraffe on the table, and maybe in five minutes Ruthie will ask if she can put it on her birthday list.

There were many things Ruthie could have been if she wanted to.

Ruthie wants to run and scream; she can't tell if she's happy or the most scared she's ever been.

Little Ruthie told Father everything before Mother could shut her up.

"I'm just dancing! " Ruthie says. "You're hurting my feelings. "

She says to Ruthie, "This is a very special thing. Your one special thing from the Elves' Faire, O. K. ? "

Slowly, Kate stands up and tugs at Ruthie's hand.

Ruthie has been yanked out from under whatever dark cloud she conjured up.

Ruthie looks down at the floor of the barn, which is covered in bits of straw.

But Ruthie knows that neither of them is the leader right now.

"You're making me really angry, " Ruthie tells her.

Ruthie will say. "Welcome to the show! "

But Ruthie isn't even looking at the dolls, because now she has to pee very badly.

"O. K. , " Ruthie says, looking for the first time at the animal that is now hers.

She looks at Ruthie strangely.

She points with the hand that is not holding Ruthie's.

"Mommy, " Ruthie says, "is my birthday before Christmas or after? "

She is asking an imaginary friend who's a grownup standing next to her, not Ruthie.

I like showing Ruthie the books I take out of the library.

Its founder, freelance journalist Ruthie Ackerman wrote in the first post