tuesday, october 20, 1942

dearest kitty,

my hand's still shaking, though it's been two hours since we had the scare. i should explain that there are five fire extinguishers in the building. the office staff stupidly forgot to warn us that the carpenter, or whatever he's called, was coming to fill the extinguishers. as a result, we didn't bother to be quiet until i heard the sound of hammering on the landing (across from the bookcase). i immediately assumed it was the carpenter and went to warn bep, who was eating lunch, that she couldn't go back downstairs. father and i stationed ourselves at the door so we could hear when the man had left. after working for about fifteen minutes, he laid his hammer and some other tools on our bookcase (or so we thought!) and banged on our door. we turned white with fear. had he heard something after all and now wanted to check out this mysterious-looking bookcase? it seemed so, since he kept knocking, pulling, pushing and jerking on it.

i was so scared i nearly fainted at the thought of this total stranger managing to discover our wonderful hiding place. just when i thought my days were numbered, we heard mr. kleiman's voice saying, "open up, it's me." we opened the door at once. what had happened?

the hook fastening the bookcase had gotten stuck, which is why no one had been able to warn us about the carpenter. after the man had left, mr. kleiman came to get bep, but couldn't open the bookcase. i can't tell you how relieved i was. in my imagination, the man i thought was trying to get inside the secret annex had kept growing and growing until he'd become not only a giant but also the cruelest fascist in the world. whew. fortunately, everything worked out all right, at least this time.

we had lots of fun on monday. miep and jan spent the night with us. margot and i slept in father and mother's room for the night so the gieses could have our beds. the menu was drawn up in their honor, and the meal was delicious. the festivities were briefly interrupted when father's lamp caused a short circuit and we were suddenly plunged into darkness. what were we to do? we did have fuses, but the fuse box was at the rear of the dark warehouse, which made this a particularly unpleasant job at night. still, the men ventured forth, and ten minutes later we were able to put away the candles.

i was up early this morning. jan was already dressed. since he had to leave at eight-thirty, he was upstairs eating breakfast by eight. miep was busy getting dressed, and i found her in her undershirt when i came in. she wears the same kind of long underwear i do when she bicycles. margot and i threw on our clothes as well and were upstairs earlier than usual. after a pleasant breakfast, miep headed downstairs. it was pouring outside and she was glad she didn't have to bicycle to work. daddy and i made the beds, and afterward i learned five irregular french verbs. quite industrious, don't you think?

margot and peter were reading in our room, with mouschi curled up beside margot on the divan. after my irregular french verbs, i joined them and read the woods are singingfor all eternity. it's quite a beautiful book, but very unusual. i'm almost finished.

next week it's bep's turn to spend the night.

yours, anne