by Shanan King

Created on: January 23, 2012

Jenny’s closet is overflowing with dresses of all lengths, colors and styles. She doesn’t ever wear pants, skirts, or shorts. Below zero temperatures, high winds, rain, or snow, it makes no difference to her. A dress is what she will wear, has to wear, but never a black one, no… never a little black dress.

Jenny’s compulsion is odd to the few who know her. Her refusals to explain why she must clothe herself this way are frustrating, and most simply think her a little eccentric.

In her custom built walk-in closet there does however hang a beautiful, black, one-shoulder number, crammed in among the other dresses. No one in this city has ever seen her wear it. None of her friends even knows that she has it.

One quiet Sunday afternoon, Jenny’s closest friend Kyla, while riffling through the enormous collection of dresses, came upon this out of place item, out of place in this woman’s closet anyway.

“Jenny, I thought you wouldn’t wear a black dress,” inquired Kyla with a puzzled look.

“I won’t,” tersely replied Jenny, taking the offending material from her friend’s hand. She placed it in exactly the spot reserved for it; between her oldest, ugliest, and never worn anymore dresses.

A moment passed, and then Jenny removed the dress from its hiding place, holding it up in front of herself.

“Bad luck, that’s this dress. No, not bad luck. Horror, terror…death. If only I had been wearing something longer, less revealing, less hot, and not in black,” whispered Jenny as she turned to face her friend, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I was engaged and living in another place and time. We were at a cocktail party. We went outside for some air and decided to walk. We reached a park and sat on the swings talking, me in my hot, little black dress…a gang came out of nowhere it seemed. They attacked us. They wanted to have their way with me. Brad…Brad stopped them…by being stabbed…to death.”

Kyla put her arms around her broken, not eccentric friend, understanding now the odd obsession Jenny has for colored dresses.

Between sobs, Jenny managed to mumble, “If only I hadn’t been wearing that little black dress.”

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