1. Between the ages of nine and 13, Miss L terrified me. She was loomingly tall, skinny and strict and never hesitated to remind me of how rubbish my needlework was. While queuing in the Post Office, I spotted her and realised that I am now taller than she is. And she praised the clerk for his stamp-sticking speed.
2. I inherited my jewelry box from my grandmother. Its red velvet lining is marked with the star imprint of a cut-glass scent bottle that was broken long ago.
3. While tidying my dressing table a plait of intensely bright rainbow strings reminded me of a boy called Hamish Lemmens, who complimented me on it when I was 12 or so. I was at school with him from three to 13 and he was always doing or saying something that made people laugh.
