midday
Her people were `` plain '' and perpetually `` pinched '' in circumstance . And her life , in this small town where she lived , was very narrow . In the mornings , Mary Alice helped her mother with the housework . In the afternoons , after the midday dinner was cleared away , Mary Alice had a good deal of time on her hands . Sometimes she sewed -- made new clothes or remade old ones ; sometimes she read . Once in a while she took some fancy work and went to see a girl friend , or a girl friend brought some fancy work and came to see her . Occasionally she and another girl went for a walk .