THE IMAGINARIES

It all started when Jenny got a pretty colored card in the mail from the Church nursery class teacher, Virginia Rose. Jenny had only been to this class once when Mother and Daddy went to Church and had left her in the nursery, and she didn’t remember it, but the idea of having her own class appealed to her. Margaret had been to Sunday School and to regular school and knew many people to tell about and Jenny wanted some people of her own that she could tell about too.

Virginia Rose proved to be a loyal friend, available at Jenny’s beck and call. She had an endless number of brothers and sisters. They could be any age Jenny wanted them to be, depending upon her immediate needs. Usually they were named for people she knew, and when she ran out of names, she used the names of her stuffed toys and the dogs and cats and even some of the farm animals. They had parties, went to school and to town. But best of all, they would play anything that Jenny wanted them to play. They had lots of toys and they let Jenny play with all of them. It was a very good arrangement for Jenny.

Mother and Daddy and Margaret knew about the Roses, but they didn’t know them. It was a world into which they could never quite enter. Mother and Daddy would question Jenny about her friends and she would give them a full account. They found it cute and amusing. Margaret would become disgusted and say, “Oh, you know she’s making it all up.” Why do you even listen?”

One cold and rainy day, Jenny announced that she had just been to a party at Virginia Rose’s. She proceeded to tell of the children, the pretty house and the ice cream and cake.

Margaret picked up a newspaper and read aloud, “Bingo Rose, little brother of Virginia Rose, just fell off he top of the house and broke his arm.”

“He didn’t either,” said Jenny, in righteous indignation. “You’re making it all up.”