I wanted to revisit some old short stories I wrote back in college. My view is that they aren’t bad, but they could use some more description. These were written in 1989. All copy rights belong to me. For these to show up anywhere else, my permission is needed.

“The Playhouse”

Kristi’s mother transformed the plain refrigerator box into a house. Kristi was able to walk into the playhouse without crouching. The three sides were painted white and the roof was red. The cardboard for the two windows hadn’t been discarded. Instead, they were still attached on one side with a cut through the middle so there were shutters that could be opened and closed. The shutters were painted black.
Today was moving day. Kristi planned to move her round white table with green matching chairs and the metal avocado green refrigerator, stove and sink inside. The refrigerator had a door for the freezer and inside pictures of food were painted on the walls. The brand names were unknown to her. She went to the grocery store with her mother every Saturday and knew exactly what brands of food were available. The sink had two parts and a cabinet below. Water could be put into the small sinks because there were tiny stoppers. She tried to put water in the sink many times, but didn’t anymore because it would leak and make the cabinet wet and cause it to rust. There was a small handle to pretend to turn the water on. The stove had four burners which could be controlled by the knobs at the front. There was an oven door with a window so the food could be seen while it was cooking. She placed the refrigerator and sink next to the wall of the house, and put the stove in the corner next to the refrigerator. She wanted it to look like a real house inside. The table and chairs were put in the center of the left over space to allow room to walk around.
All the dishes and plastic food had to be brought in. The miniature Corning Ware dishes were carefully stacked under the sink in the cabinet. She made sure that the cups wouldn’t fall over and knock the plates out of the cabinet, and the silverware was put in a small tray separating the knives, forks and spoons. The plastic food was put in the refrigerator just like real food. Kristi had made some of the play food out of paper. She had little steaks and even peas. There were small cartons of chocolate milk and colored plastic eggs that could be opened. The eggs had been saved from Easter when Kristi’s mother put candy in the eggs and hid them.
Kristi played in the playhouse every day for hours even if it was warm and sunny outside. Her mother had to yell several times before Kristi heard her and came out of the cardboard house. She had to be careful with the playhouse because it could easily fall over if the walls were pushed or run into. Kristi had promised her mother that she would keep it clean, but if she didn’t, her mother would get rid of the house. Kristi had small brooms and a dustpan so she could sweep the floor in the playhouse. Sometimes the floor inside the house got cluttered with toys she brought in to play with. Doll clothes would lay on the floor when Kristi forgot to pick them up. Her favorite toy, a small piano, would be on the floor when she used the table. Kristi pretended she lived in the house and that everything was real. She liked to play like she was grown up and had a family like her own mommy. She liked to play that in her family there was only herself and her doll. She didn’t always like to play with dolls though. Sometimes she liked to pretend that she lived in the house alone and had friends over. When she pretended to have other people in her house, she would have Kool-Aid in the little coffee pot and cookies on a serving plate. She would pour the Kool-Aid into the cups and place a cookie on each plate. Her favorite cookies were chocolate chip, but she also liked chocolate covered marshmallow cookies. Kristi would talk to the other person as if she was real. Her family didn’t live near any other houses, so she didn’t have anyone to play with except herself.

…to be continued