Now the Special English program American Stories. Our story today is called "Miriam". It was written by Truman Capote. Here is Kay Gallant with the story.

Mrs. Henry Miller had lived alone for several years. Her husband was dead. But he had left her a comfortable amount of money. He also had left her a nice apartment in New York City near the East River. There were three other apartments in the large brown building where Mrs. Miller lived with her bird, a yellow canary named Tommy.

Mrs. Miller was 61 years old. She had no friends and no special interests. One evening in January, Mrs. Miller saw an advertisement for a movie. It looked so interesting that Mrs. Miller decided to go to see it. There was a long line of people waiting to buy tickets for the movie. Mrs. Miller stood at the end of the line. Looking around her, Mrs. Miller noticed a little girl standing near the line. The child's hair was absolutely white, silver white in fact. The child was thin and delicate. She wore a blue silk dress under her red velvet coat. Mrs. Miller felt strangely excited and when the little girl looked at her, Mrs. Miller gave her a warm smile. The little girl walked over to her and said, "Would you do me a favor? Would you buy a ticket for me? They won't let me go into the movies alone." She handed Mrs. Miller the money and they stood together in the line.

Mrs. Miller felt there was something strange about the little girl. Her eyes were grey and very large. But they did not seem like the eyes of a child.

"What's your name, dear?" Mrs. Miller asked.

"Miriam." The child replied.

Mrs. Miller smiled. "Why? Isn't that funny? That's my name, too. I'm Miriam Miller."

The little girl was silent. By this time they had reached the ticket office. Mrs. Miller bought two tickets. She gave one to Miriam and said, "It was nice to have met you but I must go now." Miriam just nodded her head.

The next week, one evening after dinner, Mrs. Miller's doorbell rang. She opened the door, the little girl in the red coat was standing there.

"Hello," said Miriam. Mrs. Miller did not know what to say. Miriam stepped into the apartment. She took off her red velvet coat and dropped it on the chair. The dress made a soft swishing sound as Miriam in walked around the room.

"What do you want?" Mrs. Miller asked, "And how did you know where I live?"

Miriam laughed. "Let's talk about something else." She said. She walked over to the birdcage which was covered by a piece of cloth.

Mrs. Miller raised her voice, "Leave my bird alone."

"All right," Miriam said, "but I'm hungry."

"Look," Mrs. Miller said, "if I prepare something for you to eat, will you be a good girl and go home?"

"I promise." the little girl said.

Mrs. Miller's hands were shaking as she made the sandwich and poured a glass of milk for Miriam. She kept asking herself who this little girl was and why she had come to her house. Mrs. Miller carried the food into the living room. The room was empty. Mrs. Miller began to feel a little frightened. She went into her bedroom. Her jewelry box was open and Miriam was looking at Mrs. Miller's jewels. The child turned to the old woman looking deeply into her eyes.

"I want this pearl necklace." She told her.

"Put that back!" Mrs. Miller ordered, "You can't have it. That necklace was a gift from my husband."

"But I want it!" Miriam insisted, "It's beautiful. Give it to me!"

Mrs. Miller suddenly felt very weak. She felt as if she were going to faint. Miriam put on the pearl necklace and went into the living room. She ate the sandwich and drank the milk quickly.

"That was very nice," she said when she had finished the food, "but I wish I had some cookies or chocolates."

Mrs. Miller sat on a sofa. Her face was very white and her eyes were staring in the space. "You promised to leave if I made the sandwich," she said.

Miriam picked up her coat and put it on, then she walked to Mrs. Miller. "Kiss me good night," she ordered.

Mrs. Miller trembled. "Please!" The old woman whispered, "I … I don't want to."

"All right." Miriam said, lifting in the eyebrow. She walked slowly to the door, turned and looked at Mrs. Miller then she was gone.

Mrs. Miller spent the next day in bed. The day after that Mrs. Miller woke up feeling much better. The sun was shining and when she opened her bedroom window she discovered the weather felt almost like spring. The day was so beautiful she decided to walk along the wide avenues of New York's Eastside. When she came to a bakery shop something strange happened.

Mrs. Miller could not stop her feet from carrying her inside the store. She spent ten dollars for a bag of chocolates and some cookies. The weather had changed again by the time Mrs. Miller came out of the bakery shop. Winter clouds threw grey shadows over the sun. A cold wind blew in the streets. Soon snow began to fall. Mrs. Miller hurried home. As soon as she entered her apartment, she put the chocolates on a plate with the cookies. At exactly five o'clock the doorbell rang.

"It that you?" Mrs. Miller called.

"Of course," answered Miriam, "open the door!"

"Go away!" said Mrs. Miller. She sat down on a sofa. Mrs. Miller did not move for ten minutes. Then she walked quietly to the door and opened it a little bit. Miriam was sitting on a large box outside the door. She was holding a beautiful French doll.

"Really," Miriam said, "I thought you'll never open this door. Help me get this box into your apartment. It's very heavy."

Mrs. Miller felt as if she were in a dream as she carried the heavy box into her living room. Miriam sat on the sofa, watching Mrs. Miller. She picked up a chocolate and put it into her mouth.

"I've come to live with you." she said.

Mrs. Miller's face turned into a mess of ugly red lines. She began to cry and ran out of her apartment. She ran down the steps and began knocking loudly at the first door she came to. A short man with red hair opened the door, a young woman stood behind him.

"Please!" cried Mrs. Miller, "I'm your neighbor. I live upstairs." She covered her face with her hands, "I know I sound crazy, but I'm afraid of a little girl in my apartment. She won't leave. She's already stolen my pearl necklace and I just know she wants to do something terrible to me."

"Calm down," the young woman said, "Harry will go upstairs and take care of her."

Mrs. Miller sat down, "You're very kind," she told the young woman, "and I'm sorry to cause you any trouble."

After a few minutes, they heard Henry coming down the stairs. Harry came into his apartment shaking his head, "nobody is there." He said. Mrs. Miller stood up. "Did you see a large box or a doll?"

"No mam," Henry said slowly.

Mrs. Miller went back to her apartment. The chocolates and cookies were still there but the room was empty. "Where was Miriam? Where was she?"

Mrs. Miller sat down. The room was dark and getting darker. Mrs. Miller closed her eyes and began thinking. Maybe there was no girl named Miriam. Maybe she had imagined everything like in a dream. Mrs. Miller began to feel better. She was Mrs. Henry Miller. She lived in this apartment. She cooked her own meals, she owned the canary. Mrs. Miller knew who she was. She felt safe and relaxed. Then she heard the sounds coming from her bedroom. Someone was opening and closing the drawers of her bureau. Mrs. Miller sat with her eyes closed tightly. She heard the soft swishing sound of a silk dress. The sound grew louder and louder until the walls of the apartment began to shake. Mrs. Miller opened her eyes.

"Hello." said Miriam.

You have just heard the story called "Miriam". It was written by Truman Capote and adapted for Special English by Donald D. It was published by the K. Company in 1967. Your storyteller was Kay Gallant. This is Shep O'Neal.