First Flight Chapter 6 The Hundred Dresses - II

When Miss Mason got the note , she read it several times. She studied it thoughtfully for a while. Then she clapped her hands to gather the attention of the class. She read the note to the class.

Wanda's father, Jan Petronski had written that letter.

Wanda's father informed the teacher that his kids won't come to the school any more. He also said that they were moving to a big city where nobody would point out that their name is funny. 

Miss Mason said thhat she was certain that none of the boys and girls in the classroom had deliberately hurt anyone’s feelings because his or her name was unfamiliar to them. She also said that she would rather settle considering that whatever was said, was said in thoughtlessness. She observed it as an unfortunate and sad thing.

After Miss Mason read the note to the class, Maddie couldn't concentrate on preparing lessons. She had the feeling of repentance for not objecting on Peggy's unacceptable behaviour towards Wanda. She didn't like when Peggy asked Wanda that how many dresses she had in her closet but she never protested. Rather, she stood by silently. She realized that she showed cowardice.

Peggy had no idea that she was being mean to Wanda. Though Maddie realized that what they were doing was mean and wrong, she never objected on Peggy's behaviour towards Wanda. That made her feel like a coward.  

Mr. Jan Petronski, Wanda's father had written in his letter that he would not send his kids Wanda and Jake to school any more because they are moving to a big city. He also mentioned that nobody would tease them by calling them 'Pollack' and nor anybody would ask that why they had a funny name. 

Peggy had no idea that she was being mean to Wanda. Though Maddie realized that what they were doing was mean and wrong, she never objected on Peggy's behaviour towards Wanda. That made her feel like a coward.  

No, MIss Mason is not angry with the class. She is unhappy and upset because she never expected this from her stdents. She wants her students to realize tgheir fault and think about it seriously.

 Mr. Jan Petronski, Wanda's father had written in his letter that he would not send his kids Wanda and Jake to school anymore because they are moving to a big city. He also mentioned that nobody would tease them by calling them 'Pollack' and nor anybody would ask that why they had a funny name.

Miss Mason read Wanda’s father’s letter to the whole class. Considering it as an unfortunate and sad thing to have happened, she wanted her students to think about it. 

Maddie couldn’t concentrate on her lesson preparation because she had the feeling of repentance for not protesting Peggy’s unscrupulous behavior towards Wanda.  She never enjoyed listening to Peggy when she asked Wanda about the number of dresses she had in her closet, but she never objected to it. Rather, she stood by silently.

Considering the seriousness of her fault, Maddie pondered what she must do to console Wanda. She wanted to tell Wanda that she never intended to hurt her feelings. She was determined to find Wanda. She thought that there might be a possibility that Wanda and her family were still at the Boggin Heights. She decided to go with Peggy. She thought that they would tell Wanda that she had won the contest and those hundred dress designs were beautiful. She also thought about telling her that she was smart.

Maddie was surprised to know that Peggy also thought about visiting Boggin Heights to find Wanda. The two girls hurried out of the school towards Boggin Heights.

Peggy said that she never made fun of Wanda’s name or called her a foreigner. She disclosed that she never thought Wanda had the sense to know that they were making fun of her anyway. She just thought Wanda was too dumb. Peggy was very impressed by Wanda’s talent.

Maddie wanted to tell Wanda that they were sorry they had picked on her. She would tell her that the whole school thought that she was wonderful. She would also assure her that everybody would behave nicely with her so she didn’t need to move away.

When they reached Wanda’s house, they were impressed with the cleanliness of the little shabby house. But, there was no sign of life about the house. Nobody lived there. To make sure, Peggy and Maddie knocked at the front and the back door of the house but there was no answer. 

The girls turned slowly and made their way down the hill.

Peggy realized her mistake but she didn’t want to accept it. She was finding excuses to justify her behavior towards Wanda. She said that they could do nothing then as Wanda had left already. Giving an excuse for her irrational conduct, she advocated that by asking Wanda about all her dresses, she had urged her to get good ideas for her drawings. And, it was because of the provocation that Wanda was able to win the contest. 

Maddie could not sleep that night. She thought about Wanda, her faded blue dress and the little house she had lived in. Suddenly, her mind was struck by the glowing picture of those hundred dresses, all lined up in the classroom. Finally, she sat up in bed and ruminated hard on her conduct.  She concluded that if she ever heard anybody hurting somebody’s feelings pointing out their funny look or names, she won’t keep quiet.  She would never let anybody become that unhappy again.

Maddie spent the Saturday afternoon with Peggy writing a letter to Wanda. They wrote a friendly letter telling Wanda about the contest. They told her that she had won and that her drawings were very pretty. They asked her about the place where she was living and her new teacher.

Maddie and Peggy intended to write the letter to say sorry to Wanda but they ended up writing a friendly letter. They would have written such a letter to any good friend.

They sent the letter to Boggin Heights. They wrote ‘Please Forward’ on the envelope.

When there was no response from Wanda for a long time, both the girls were affected, but differently. While Peggy had already begun to forget the whole business, Maddie gathered thoughts to make speeches about defending Wanda from great crowds of girls who always tried to tease her asking the number of dresses that she had got.  She would shout ‘stop’ before Wanda had to say anything to make everybody feel ashamed. 

Miss Mason got a letter from Wanda on the morning of the last day of the school before Christmas holidays.

Wanda requested Miss Mason to tell the girls that they could keep those hundred dresses as she had a hundred new ones lined up in my closet in her new house. She also said that she wanted Peggy to have the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming, and her friend Maddie to have the blue one. She told that she missed the school and her new teacher wasn’t as good as Miss Mason.  She ended the letter wishing a Merry Christmas to everybody.

Maddie felt sad because she knew she would never see the little tight-lipped Polish girl again and couldn’t ever really make things right between them.

Wanda requested Miss Mason that she wanted Peggy to have the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming, and her friend Maddie to have the blue one. This showed that Wanda had cared for Peggy and Maddie. Hence, Peggy thought that Wanda had received their letter and wanted to gift them those drawings as a symbol of their friendship.

After Maddie went home, she pinned her drawing over a torn place in the pink-flowered wallpaper in the bedroom. The shabby room came alive from the brilliancy of the colours.

Maddie observed that the colours in the dress were so vivid that she didn’t notice the face and head of the drawing.  It appeared that the girl in the picture looked like her own self. She realized Wanda had really drawn this for her.

After listening to the note from Wanda’s father, Maddie had a very sick and guilty feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She could not concentrate when she tried to prepare her lessons. She had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet.

Maddie wants to tell Wanda that she didn't want to hurt her feelings. She thinks about going to Boggin Heights to check if Wanda is still there. She wants to tell her that she has won the contest and all the designs were beautiful.

Peggy says bluntly that she never called Wanda a foreigner or made fun of her name. She also says that she never thought Wanda had even the sense to know that they were making fun of her. She thinks Wanda was too dumb to understand that they were making fun of her.

Maddie only hoped to find Wanda. She wanted to tell her that they were sorry they had picked on her. Also, that the whole school thought she was wonderful. She thought she would request her not to move away and everybody would be nice to her since then. She and Peggy would fight anybody who won’t behave nicely with her.

Though Wanda’s house was little and shabby, it was clean. Its cleanliness reminded Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress.

Maddie couldn’t sleep that night. All she thought about was Wanda, her faded blue dress and the little house she had lived in. Her mind was struck by the glowing picture those hundred dresses lined up in the classroom. 

She concluded that If she ever heard anybody pointing out someone because of the funny look or names, she would protest against it. She would never let anybody hurt again.

The girls wrote a friendly letter to Wanda telling her that she had won the contest. They also wrote how pretty her drawings were. They asked her if she liked the place where she was living and if she liked her new teacher. They wanted to say that they were sorry. However, they ended up with just writing a friendly letter. 

No, they didn’t get a reply. They waited for weeks. Maddie was more anxious for reply because she thought a lot about it. She would put herself to sleep at night making speeches about Wanda, defending her from great crowds of girls who always tried to tease her. Peggy had already begun to forget the whole thing.

The girls came to know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her because she had requested Miss Mason to give the green dress with red trimming to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie. Later, Maddie noticed while looked at the drawing very carefully that the girl in the drawing looked like her own self. The girl in the drawing gifted to Peggy resembled her almost. This assured them that Wanda liked them.

Wanda’s family moved to a different city because they were hurt very much by the conduct of the local people. Everybody teased them by calling them ‘Pollack’ or asking them why there name was funny. They were moving to a big city hoping that nobody would tease them because big cities have people from different countries.

Yes, Maddie was right when she thought that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing because Peggy didn’t realize that she was being mean to Wanda. She had no idea that she was doing wrong. But, Maddie kept quiet even though she found it wrong. Her silence encouraged Peggy to do wrong to Wanda.

On being asked about the number of dresses, Wanda always said she had a hundred dresses lined up in her closet. Peggy would get surprised because everybody knew that she was poor. Moreover, she knew everybody was laughing at her. But, she would keep saying stolidly that she had a hundred dresses lined up in her closet. This led Peggy to believe that Wanda was dumb.

She changed her opinion later when she saw the drawings of those hundred dresses Wanda had talked about. The beautiful drawings of hundred different dress designs impressed Peggy. She realized that Wanda was a talented girl.

Maddie decided that she would never stand by and say nothing again. If she ever heard anybody picking on someone because they were funny-looking or because they had strange names, she would speak up. She did not even mind losing Peggy’s friendship over it. She knew she could not make things right with Wanda. However, she had decided that in the future, she would never make anybody else that unhappy again.

Maddie had to think hard to do so because the thoughts of Wanda and her family shook her. Every time Peggy asked Wanda about the number of dresses that she had, Maddie felt embarrassed as she knew Peggy was being mean to Wanda. But, she never objected on Peggy’s behavior and remained quiet. Eventually, her silence encouraged Peggy to do wrong to Wanda. Maddie discerned that Peggy had no idea that she was doing wrong to Wanda but she knew that how deeply Peggy is hurting Wanda’s feelings. She should have protested but she didn’t so she had been a coward.

Wanda requested Miss Mason to give Peggy the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming, and the blue dress to Maddie. It’s quite obvious that she had made the drawings especially for them. She drew Peggy in the picture with the red and the green dress and Maddie in the picture with the blue dress. So, she gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses.

They were surprised because they discerned that Wanda always liked them in spite of their being mean to her. 

Yes, Wanda really thought that the girls were teasing her because she knew that they were making fun of her poverty by asking her the number of dresses she had. To defend her self-respect, she always said that she had a hundred dresses lined up in her closet. She must have been so deeply hurt that her father decided to move to a big city.