SHE SECOND-GUESSED herself immediately. Dana had gotten a DVD of The Wizard of Oz from the library and watched half of it that evening. Dorothy’s part was huge! All those lines. All that singing and skipping! What was she getting herself into? Brushing her hair before going to bed, Dana tried putting it in pigtails. The DVD Dorothy had lovely, wavy, brown hair in pigtails that bounced on her shoulders. Dana’s stuck out from the sides of her head like a set of straw pom-poms. She sighed, dropping the brush back down on her dresser, and turned out the light.
Sleep did not come easily. Thoughts whirled around in her head. She dreamed she was skipping down a yellow brick road and leaves were falling from the trees—hundreds of them, thousands. Only they weren’t leaves, they were frog-shaped sticky notes. And they were croaking, “Dana, Dana, is slipping down the lane-a.” And it was true. The notes were slippery, and Dana was having a hard time making her way through them. Every so often she’d fall and completely disappear under an enormous pile of them. It was terrible. Then it started to rain, but the raindrops weren’t drops at all. They were kickballs and volleyballs sailing in from all sides. Dana began to run. Over the rainbow. I’ve got to get over the rainbow to where the skies are blue. She fought her way up the rainbow hill, but the whole time Munchkins were firing elastic bands at her. Ow! Dana woke with a start. She sat up and turned on the lamp on her bedside table. Maybe a glass of milk would help her sleep.
Dana’s mother was standing by the kitchen table, sorting and cutting material into pieces that could be used for quilts. Besides making quilts and pillow covers herself, she also gave away bags of pieces to other quilt-making groups. All kinds of people dropped off bags of their old clothes and fabrics at Dana’s house. They were stored in what Dana called the recycling room. Every so often, Dana’s mother would pull out a bag or two and start separating the contents into items that could still be used and sold in thrift stores, things that could be cut down and used for quilt pieces, and material that could be used for rags.
Dana sat down at the table with her glass of milk. Her mother looked up and smiled.
“Trouble sleeping?” she asked.
“Hmmm.”
“Not a bad dream, I hope.”
Dana didn’t answer. She wouldn’t know where to begin.
“Something on your mind?”
Lots of things. Dana shrugged.
“You know, a patient showed me a really interesting article today from a magazine she’d been reading in the waiting room. It was all about how car makers are using all kinds of recycled materials in the new vehicles they’re putting out. Recycled cotton for dashboards and insulation. Recycled water bottles in seats and armrests. What do you think of that?”
Dana didn’t answer. She hadn’t heard. She sat with her chin cupped in one hand and blinked slowly.
Her mother kept sorting. Dana watched her for a few minutes.
“Mom,” she asked finally, “why do you bother with all this stuff? It’s junk.”
Her mother looked at her for a moment, then back down at the piles of cloth on the table. “You know, honey,” she said, “you’d be surprised at how much worth these things still have left in them. We throw things away so easily because we only look at what’s worn out or not working and forget about what’s left. I like to look at the good these clothes still have in them and the good that can be done because of them.”
“Huh?”
“Dana, it’s like a ripple effect. Sorting these clothes keeps bags and bags of stuff out of the landfill. That’s a good thing in itself. It also gives groups of quilters something to do and other people to be with on quilting days. A lot of those people are lonely. Many of them don’t go out much otherwise, and the quilt-making days are such a highlight for them. For some, their eyes aren’t so good anymore, or their hands shake too much to sew. But they come and sort squares or give advice on colors. And they are just as proud as all the others when the project is done. The quilts turn out so beautifully. Sometimes they are sold and the money is used for a good cause. Sometimes they are given away to young mothers or to homeless shelters. Either way, someone benefits. Someone gets to be warm at night and to know others thought of them, and it’s all because of bags of old clothes.”
Dana thought for a moment. “But it’s just so much work.”
Her mother smiled. “Yes, it is. But it’s always worth it to work hard for something you believe is important. Don’t you think so?”
“I guess.”
Her mother opened a new bag. “How’s volleyball going?”
“Fine.”
“School?”
“Fine.”
“I see you picked up The Wizard of Oz,” said her mother. “Like it?”
“We’re doing it for our school play.”
“Wow. That’s a big project. Are you going to try out for a part?”
“Do you think I’d make a good Dorothy?”
“I think you’d be good in any role, Dana.”
“Even Dorothy?”
“Is there a reason you shouldn’t try for that part?”
“No.”
“It would be a lot of work, but you could do it.” Her mom smiled. “Did your dad ever tell you he was in The Wizard of Oz when he was in high school? He was the Scarecrow.”
“Dad?”
“You should ask him about it.” She paused before asking the next question. “How’s Janelle these days?”
Dana didn’t answer. She stared at her glass of milk.
“Sometimes when something good or bad happens to one person, it can have an effect on a lot of other people. Like the ripples we were just talking about.”
Dana reached across the table and pulled a piece of material from the pile. It was red and gold. One side was frayed, but the other was still in good shape. “This is pretty,” she said.
Her mother smiled. “It is.” She came around the table to where Dana sat and put an arm around her shoulders. Dana leaned in to the hug. Neither of them said a word. After a few minutes, her mom glanced at the clock. “Think you should try to get some sleep now?” she asked softly.
Dana nodded. She rinsed her glass, left it in the sink and went back upstairs.
She punched up her pillows and pulled her blankets up to her chin. She stared at the ceiling. Part of her wanted to throw out her friendship with Janelle. Let it go. Did it have anything good left in it? Anything worth saving? Nothing had been the same since the accident.
She thought about having to turn to the very back page of the school newspaper last month to find a picture of her cross-country team while the big story about Janelle’s accident filled the whole front page. About how the same thing had happened with the volleyball story and the article about the bracelets. She thought about being the only grade-six girl on the volleyball team. And the only grade-six girl not in the bracelet club. She thought about the first time she had met Janelle and how Janelle had told Mickey to stop teasing her friend. She thought about birthday parties and phone calls and sleepovers where they had giggled long into the night. She remembered trips to the library, to the pool, to the ice rink or for ice cream. She remembered the projects they had done together. Grasshoppers. The Great Horned Owl. Dreaming up Adventure Island.
Then she thought about the tropical-rainforest project. She thought about Jason waiting by the gym, and a hard lump formed in her throat. Julia had called her selfish and accused her of taking things away from Janelle. Then why did she feel so empty? Fixing things up with Janelle would be a lot of work. But was it worth it? And even if she thought so, what did Janelle think? Dana closed her eyes and rolled over onto her side, but she couldn’t get comfortable. It was the pigtails. She pulled out the ribbons. That was another thing. What on earth was she going to do about the play?
Dana finally fell asleep. When she woke up, her mother had already left for a shift at the clinic. Her dad and Dale were emptying out the backyard composter. Dana pulled a box of cereal and a bowl out of the cupboard and brought them to the table. Resting against the back of her chair was a small pillow covered with the red-and-gold fabric. Dana smiled. She had an idea. If she couldn’t have things back the way they were before, maybe she could try to recycle them and make them into something new. She thought about this while she ate breakfast. She thought some more while she made her bed and laid the pretty red-and-gold pillow on top of it. She was still thinking while she brushed her teeth and hair. Laying down the brush, she stared hard at herself in the mirror. Suddenly, she knew exactly what she should do. She had her regular Saturday chores to do, and then she was going to finish watching that DVD.