Hot Water Helps You Clean
by Angela Rasch

I had just finished conditioning the oak woodwork in our twenty-year old home’s basement with Murphy Oil Soap when the doorbell rang. I scanned myself in the wall mirror and wished for the millionth time that my uniform fit me better. There’s only so much you can do to make a maid’s dress look natural on a forty-year old male body that weighs in excess of two hundred pounds, unless you make drastic changes. . .operations and hormones. I sighed . . . Once again considering things that could never happen.

Photo by Wilson Vitorino from Pexels
 

Part 24 of 29

Saturday, October 26, 2013
Dress shopping with Eve and Mary Ann. I'm getting a real kick out of being a bridesmaid, something I never aspired to in my wildest dreams. Some of the girls I know on campus are addicted to something called Say Yes To The Dress and can go on for hours about finding the perfect wedding gown. Hey - I love wearing dresses and enjoy shopping on my rather limited budget, but really! I just can't get into gushing about this neckline or that train or who knows what else.

 

Part 21 of 29

Monday, September 9, 2013
Much food for thought in Psychology today. Only the second class and my head is spinning. The prof dug right in with personality types. The old Greeks decided there were four: choleric, melancholic, sanguine, and phlegmatic. Meyers-Briggs thinks there are sixteen. Other people throw other numbers into the pot. Kind of like a lottery but nobody is a clear winner.

 

Part 18 of 29

Wednesday, September 4, 2013 (continued)
All of my musing on the past is how I started my day. Because of my late enrollment, the only English Literature class with any openings occurred at eight o'clock on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Since Monday was Labor Day, school started on Wednesday. Thus I began my day wandering around campus lost and confused. Over the summer I had gotten used to the library's more civilized hours, opening at ten. I had to get up before the sun in order to shower, dress and ride the bus.

 

Part 17 of 29

Monday, September 2, 2013
Labor day. Time for the big parade.

We were up early to get ready for the parade. The living room was full of boxes and hangers containing the costumes when my fellow workers arrived promptly at 8:00 AM to get dressed. Jenny and Beth from the library were part of the group, as well as Audrey.

 

Part 14 of 29

Saturday, August 10, 2013
The three weeks are up! Well, close enough. This morning I took my starter earrings out of my ears (that turned out to need a pair of pliers, the things seemed to be welded together) and wore a new pair. I had gotten a special pair for the occasion, with a rainbow of small stones dangling from fine silver chains. Outrageous Earrings, Mary Ann calls them. I suppose they are, but I really like them. It's fantastic to feel the little jewels on my neck and I just love seeing them in the mirror. On me!

 

Part 12 of 29

Saturday, July 27, 2013
Today was the day. Mary Ann's parents came to meet Angel the Girl. You wouldn't believe how nervous I was. It was worse than seeing them just after we started going steady.

 

Part 11 of 29

Tuesday, July 23, 2013
My new glasses are in. They look just as cool as I hoped they would, very feminine. I did get one of those hanger things and I get a kick of having my glasses bounce off my breasts when I take them off.

Angel is easily amused, sometimes.

 

Part 9 of 29

Sunday, July 14, 2013
I'm getting better at cooking. Today I did a traditional Sunday dinner, naturally with Mary Ann's help, but I planned the menu, went shopping for the ingredients and found the recipes. We had roast ham with those pineapple slices and cherries pinned all over it - it looks pretty cool that way and isn't any real trouble to do. I think it looked just as good as the picture in the cookbook once I put it on the table.

 

Part 8 of 29

Wednesday, July 10
Who was that idiot that ended the last entry talking about how much fun this summer is going to be? He must have been insane. Well, maybe not insane, but he sure wasn't looking very far ahead. Today has been quite a revelation.

 

Part 7 of 29

Monday, July 8
I could hear the water singing in the pipes as Mary Ann took her shower. I had just gotten out of the shower myself. My body was dry but my crew cut was still a little bit damp. I stood in my bathrobe, eyes still glazed with sleep, a bra dangling from my hand.

MY bra.

 

Part 4 of 29

`Wednesday, June 19
I consorted with the Devil this afternoon. That's the way Dad puts it when he talks about Planned Parenthood. If Satan was present I didn't get to meet him and damn me if I could find any little devils in the building. The more I get to see of the world the more I wonder just how much of what I have been taught is true. It all sounds so real when Dad talks about it, but every time I come across what he would call 'sin' or 'temptation' I get a little less sure of just what is going on.

“Ten!” The assembled women shouted, barely making themselves heard over the roar of the nightclub. “Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!”

“Aw, girlies!” Ellie squeaked excitedly as the countdown neared its conclusion.

 

Part 1 of 29

Author's Note
An earlier version of this story was posted in 2009. A while back my Muse decided I needed to let Angel finish telling her story. After listening to her I have revised and substantially added to her story. As a valued member of the Liar's Club, she is pretty good at telling a tale.

Arctic Fox

Chapter 7

January 7, 2021

“Hi, Darryl,” the girl said when she let him in. “You must be freezing. You want something warm to drink?”

“Sure, Michelle.”

“Why don’t you go on into the living room? There’s a fire going, and I’ll get some coffee for you.”

“Sounds great!” Darryl agreed enthusiastically.

My recent story "Girlyfriend" got a comment from BarbieLee that it was a reverse story. Since Barb is a selfproclaimed Oklahoma cowgirl I responded by threating to write a "Reverse Cowgirl" story in her honour. Here it is.

It all started one morning in Home Room, soon after I had started Sophomore year, when Mrs Black announced that a new foreign boy would be joining our high school. She looked at the paper and said that she thought he was from Germany since he was named Gerd. At that moment the new boy arrived. He conformed to the stereotypical German in that he had blond hair and the most amazing blue eyes. He wasn’t tall, probably some eight inches shorter than me. Overall “Cute” would be an apt description. I also noticed his long gorgeous legs. I was determined to enjoy them as much as I could that day, since there was no way the school would allow him to wear such a ridiculous short skirt more than the first day.