Double Take by Melody Carlson

one was large and flat. She knew from reading books that televisions were operated with things you could pick up and hold in your hand—things that were called remotes —but she had never seen one. She went over to the big black screen and studied it closely. If she could only figure how to turn this thing on, it might be helpful. She could listen to the way the English spoke and see how they acted and do a better job imitating.
    Next to the television, she spied a black object that resembled Madison’s phone. Was that the remote? She read the tiny words by the buttons. Although they made little sense, she tried pressing them: Info, Tools, Return, Menu . . . nothing. Then she pressed Power, and suddenly the black screen came to life. She jumped back as she heard a woman talking. Anna studied her curiously. She was telling about how she lost weight using something called Metaboglycemic and how “for only $19.95, you can too.” Anna stared at two images of the woman—or so the television was telling her—one before, one after.
    Anna blinked and stepped away. The English used pills to lose weight? Perhaps she should tell Aunt Rachel about this. But right now she needed to change her clothes.
    Where did Madison keep her clothes? Certainly not hanging on pegs like at Anna’s house. She opened a door and was surprised to see that it was another bathroom. She remembered the floor plan Madison had drawn. All the bedrooms had their own bathrooms, and this one was much bigger than the powder room. Everything in it was white and sky-blue and beautiful. The bathtub was huge and shiny, and there was a giant glass box that Anna supposed was a shower. She’d heard of such luxuries before, but besides the spray hose in their bathtub, her house did not have one. Unless she counted her father’s cleaning station out by the barn, where he and her brothers sometimes hosed off the mud before coming into the house.
    She opened some of the drawers to see all kinds of curious things, and she opened some cupboard doors to reveal stacks of beautiful linens, but she saw no clothes in here. Then she remembered another door in the big bedroom—perhaps it was a cupboard with clothes. When she opened it, she thought it was yet another room, except that it was filled with shoes and purses and clothes that were hung up with wooden hangers, like the store where she’d purchased the scarf.
    With her mouth open, Anna just stood and stared. This room was obviously Madison’s clothing closet, but it looked bigger than the bedroom Anna shared with her little sister Katie. All this for clothes? Anna just shook her head in wonder.
    Now she needed to pick out something to wear. But where to begin? Anna started by removing her clothes, and it felt good to get out of those blue jeans. Oh, she knew from reading English novels that they weren’t really boys’ pants, but they weren’t all that comfortable either. She missed her loose cotton dresses. As she recalled from books, girls often wore dresses on dates.
    She went to the section of the closet that had dresses—at least she thought they were dresses. They were all quite short. She studied the dresses of every color and every fabric imaginable. Or even unimaginable. She blinked at a red one that glittered like jewels, then put it back where she’d gotten it. Next she pulled out a black one that glistened with hundreds of tiny glass beads. How long it must have taken to sew all those beads on. It was pretty, but how could she wear a dress that was so short? She held one up that seemed longer, but still it would be well above her knee. What would Mamm and Daed say? Well, she couldn’t think about that now.
    Anna heard something like bells chiming in the bedroom. Madison’s phone! She ran to the purse and dug for the phone. “Hello?” she breathlessly answered.
    “I know, I know,” said an unfamiliar female voice. “I wasn’t going to call you—and really you don’t deserve to be