THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL : THE DEFINITIVE EDITION ... - Fidele

Dearest Kitty,
Last night before dinner I tucked the letter I'd written into Father's pocket.
According to Margot, he read it and was upset for the rest of the evening. (I was
upstairs doing the dishes!) Poor Pim, I might have known what the effect of such
an epistle would be. He's so sensitive! I immediately told Peter not to ask any
questions or say anything more. Pim's said nothing else to me about the matter. Is
he going to?
Everything here is more or less back to normal. We can hardly believe what Jan,
Mr. Kugler and Mr. Kleiman tell us about the prices and the people on the outside;
half a pound of tea costs 350.00 guilders, half a pound of coffee 80.00 guilders,
a pound of butter 35.00 guilders, one egg 1.45 guilders. People are paying 14.00
guilders an ounce for Bulgarian tobacco! Everyone's trading on the black market;
every errand boy has something to offer. The delivery boy from the bakery has
supplied us with darning thread-90 cents for one measly skein-the milkman can get
hold of ration books, an undertaker delivers cheese. Break-ins, murders and thefts
are daily occurrences. Even the police and night watchmen are getting in on the
act. Everyone wants to put food in their stomachs, and since salaries have been
frozen, people have had to resort to swindling. The police have their hands full
trying to track down the many girls of fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and older who
are reported missing every day.
I want to try to finish my story about Ellen, the fairy. Just for fun, I can give
it to Father on his birthday, together with all the copyrights.
See you later! (Actually, that's not the right phrase. In the German program
broadcast from England they always close with "Aufwiederhoren." So I guess I
should say, "Until we write again.")
Yours, Anne M. Frank
SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 7,1944
Dearest Kitty,
Father and I had a long talk yesterday afternoon. I cried my eyes out, and he
cried too. Do you know what he said to me, Kitty?
"I've received many letters in my lifetime, but none as hurtful as this. You, who
have had so much love from your parents. You, whose parents have always been ready
to help you, who have always defended you, no matter what. You talk of not having
to account to us for your actions! You feel you've been wronged and left to your
own devices. No, Anne, you've done us a great injustice!
"Perhaps you didn't mean it that way, but that's what you wrote. No, Anne, we have
done nothing to deserve such a reproach!"
Oh, I've failed miserably. This is the worst thing I've ever done in my entire
life. I used my tears to show off, to make myself seem important so he'd respect
me. I've certainly had my share of unhappiness, and everything I said about Mother
is true. But to accuse Pim, who's so good and who's done everything for me-no,
that was too cruel for words.
It's good that somebody has finally cut me down to size, has broken my pride,
because I've been far too smug. Not everything Mistress Anne does is good! Any-
one who deliberately causes such pain to someone they say they love is despicable,
the lowest of the low!