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Miss Nane Parely
Outward appearance
Old-fashioned woman in her late 20s. Vanessa Redgrave hair, tan sheepskin coat, Laura Ashley dress. Tends the older woman next to her. Inside information
Graduate student doing a PhD on Dog Latin and Renaissance verse. Born out of wedlock to Josette Parely when Josette was 16. Josette was always affectionate. One day she hugged the wrong man. No one knows who the bastard was. Nane and Josy grew up like sisters in the grandparents' house. Nane assumed that Gran was her mother. Both are now visiting Gran's grave.
What she is doing or thinking
When Nane's girlfriend asks what was it like to grow up with Josette, Nane says that it was fun. Like having a big sister who was just a bit bigger than other people's sisters. They had friends and parties together. They would make paper crowns and sing. It was easy to scare Josy, with ghost stories or summaries of horror films. "You mustn't scare me," Josette would warn. If frightened, she would weep, beg and scrabble at the floor until her fingers bled.Josette loved putting on plays. In 1981, when Gran was dying, Nane was 13. She decided to distract Josy with a production of Grease. They and little Christian rehearsed "You're the One that I Love" between summer visits to the hospital. Their father sat in the garden and wept.
Now he lives in France, with other graves and memories. In her mind, Nane sees him, her girlfriend, her Gran and has a sense of unlikely connections. Time and family. Her sister-mother stands.
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