friday, march 10, 1944

my dearest kitty,

the proverb "misfortunes never come singly" defi- nitely applies to today. peter just got through saying it. let me tell you all the awful things that have happened and that are still hanging over our heads.

first, miep is sick, as a result of henk and aagje's wedding yesterday. she caught cold in the westerkerk, where the service was held. second, mr. kleiman hasn't returned to work since the last time his stomach started bleeding, so bep's been left to hold down the fort alone. third, the police have arrested a man (whose name i won't put in writing). it's terrible not only for him, but for us as well, since he's been supplying us with potatoes, butter and jam. mr. m., as i'll call him, has five children under the age of thirteen, and another on the way.

last night we had another little scare: we were in the middle of dinner when suddenly someone knocked on the wall next door. for the rest of the evening we were nervous and gloomy.

lately i haven't been at all in the mood to write down what's been going on here. i've been more wrapped up in myself. don't get me wrong, i'm terribly upset about what's happened to poor, good-hearted mr. m., but there's not much room for him in my diary.

tuesday, wednesday and thursday i was in peter's room from four-thirty to five-fifteen. we worked on our french and chatted about one thing and another. i really look forward to that hour or so in the afternoon, but best of all is that i think peter's just as pleased to see me.

yours, anne m. frank

the diary of a young girl 213