Excerpt from my second novel - Heavens Above
(Here is an excerpt from my second novel titled "Heavens Above". Its currently in the draft stage, hopefully to be finished in September '07)
The entryway was small and dark, with heavy wood paneling and a tall ceiling. Straight ahead was a hall with several glass-paned doors each opening into an office. At the end of the hallway was the large gathering room where most people who came to the center got together for various activities. Behind the “big room,” as most people called it, was a kitchen, where the ladies of the center spent long happy hours cooking Moussaka, Souvlakia, Spanakopita or Baklava and milk custard pie for various events.
Alexis stepped into the big room, and saw a group of people about her age at the far end of the room near the small Philco radio. Most days, Alexis knew she could find people here listening to news reports about the war, playing games and listening to the popular music and dancing. Today, several of her friends were sitting in wooden fold-up chairs, playing two up at the long table near the window. A small cardboard box placed on the table was the ring, and most players had a small pile of pennies and half pennies to toss into the middle of the box.
Alexis hurried to the table and sat in an empty chair next to Stella, her best friend.
“Playing?” Stella said by way of a greeting.
Alexis dug unto the pocket of her coat and took out her coin purse. She undid the clasp and dumped a small collection of coins onto the table. “Yes,” she said.
“We’re almost done this round,” Stella said. “You can jump in when we start the new game.”
Alexis was used to this and leaned back in her chair to let the sights and sounds wash over her. The card players were laughing and taking about a funny incident that happened at the Greek bakery where Stella and Chloe worked. Alexis surveyed the room to see who else was there. Over by the radio a few serious-looking men were gathered around the radio, no doubt looking to find the latest updates on the Royal Australian Navy’s participation in the war. Two of the men, Christos and Philip, Alexis had known since her primary school days. The third man was unfamiliar. Tall, light haired and light skinned, he didn’t seem to belong in the Greek center. Alexis found that she was staring, and flushed with embarrassment when the man looked up and eyed her as he talked with Christos.
Alexis hastily turned her head to find the game was ending and Chloe volunteered to be the new ringy, who would oversee the coin tosses into the ring. Several people scowled, as they had to place their losing bets into the kitty in the middle of the table, which Greg promptly swept a small pile of coins from with a smirk. Stella glanced at Alexis and caught her eyeing the mystery man again.
“Handsome, isn’t he?” She whispered.
Alexis found herself feeling extremely flushed. “What?” She asked, “Who?”
“Silly, you know exactly who,” Stella said. “He’s Philip’s English cousin. His name is Winston. Doesn’t that sound properly English? The girls are all crazy about him since he arrived.”
The cards were dealt, and Alexis took her hand and tried to ignore Winston, who did seem to have a fair amount of female attention. Instead of trying to ignore him, all the other girls were actively flirting with him. Alexis paid more attention to sneaking furtive glances at Winston than she did to the game and kept placing losing bets. After several rounds in which Alexis lost all her coins, she stood up to go to the kitchen and make some coffee for everyone. She was reaching on her tiptoes, trying to grab the mugs from the back of the cupboard, when a hand came in to view and easily took hold of the mug.
A deep voice said, “Here, let me help you, miss.”
Alexis turned with a gasp and found that she was staring up at a pair of piercing bright blue eyes. Her heart felt as if it was leaping in her chest, and she had a difficult time catching her breath.
Winston smiled. “Pardon me,” he said. “I did not mean to frighten you.” He stepped back and placed the mug on the counter. “My name is Winston Andrews. I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.”
He held out his right hand, and Alexis placed her shaking fingers into it. “Alexis,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again, attempting to make her voice sound more adult and sophisticated than she felt. “Alexis Diamantopoulos. Uh, it’s Greek. The name, I mean.” Once again her face flamed red, and she felt like a silly schoolgirl.
Winston nodded and smiled. “My cousin is Philip. His uncle married my mother’s sister. They’re all Greek, we’re all English.” He politely glanced down and Alexis looked down and realized she was still clutching his hand with her fingers. She snatched her hand away and said, “Pleased to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must retreat to the washroom.”
Alexis fled past Winston and made a beeline for the door on the opposite end of the room marked ‘Ladies.’ Once inside, she leaned against the sink and allowed herself to feel extremely foolish. You’re a woman of 22, she scolded herself. Behaving like a lovesick child!
Alexis had had boyfriends in the past. In fact, she and Roy had broken up just a few moths ago after dating for over a year. Unfortunately, he joined the Royal Australian Navy to go fight the war and told Alexis he thought it would be better if she didn’t wait for him. She was upset, but recovered much more quickly than she anticipated. That was why she was so surprised about her reaction to Philip’s cousin. What is it about Winston Andrews that makes me feel so smitten? She asked herself.
Soon, she had other things to occupy her mind. Christos brought a war flyer to the center and passed it around to all the members who were congregated in the big room. Alexis read the flyer with great interest. In large type at the top of the flyer, it read, “The spearhead reaches south – Always south!” There was a map with a picture of Japan and several arrows pointing south to Australia. Off to the left was a picture of Prime Minister John Curtin, and a column of information about rules for Australians to obey. Alexis read several with a growing sense of trepidation. Help your local ARP wardens all you can. In an emergency, stay put and sit tight. Don’t waste money, food, and precious petrol.
“What can we do?” Alexis asked aloud as she passed the flyer to Stella. The room, a noisy buzz of voices, quieted as Win put up his hand, motioning everyone to let Alexis speak. “What does this mean for us here at the Greek Centre? There are so many of us. We must be able to organize some way to help the war effort.”
There was a brief silence, as many people cast their eyes down and became seemingly immersed in the floorboards.
A deep male voice spoke. “How many of you have a friend or relative in the war?” Win asked.
Almost all hands in the room went up, with people murmuring about their cousins, brothers and friends who were fighting the war.
“What would they want you to do?” Win asked. He glanced at Alexis, who gave him a small smile. Thank you, she mouthed.
“We could send care packages overseas,” Margaret suggested. “Make homemade treats and send them with a letter. It will help keep spirits up.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Alexis. “We can all get together here in the kitchen and spend a day baking, and then once everything is ready we can pack it and write the letters. How will we get a list of people to send it to?”
Theo said, “My uncle knows the local Air Raid Precautions Warden. I’ll ask him if he can talk to him and get us a list. Also, he might be able to suggest ways we can help.”
Alexis grabbed a pen from a nearby table and started writing down everyone’s suggestions. So far she had written Overseas packages, talk to ARP warden. “Anything else?” she asked.
“What about the hospital?” George asked. “Do they need volunteers for the soldiers who have been sent home?”
“It’s worth checking out,” said Win. “Would you be able to do that?”
George nodded. Alexis added Check with hospital to her list.
“Maybe we should look into having an air raid shelter here,” said. “According to this flyer from Prime Minister Curtin, the Japanese could target Australia. I know other towns nearby are building shelters and having air raid drills.”
Alexis added Air raid shelters to the list and asked Theo, “Could you tell your uncle to ask the warden about shelters?”
Theo nodded, “Will do.”
Soon, Alexis had a sizable list of tasks for the members of the Community Centre to carry out. They agreed to work on the list in the next few days and to meet again before the end of the week to discuss their findings and assign jobs.
Alexis took her list and carefully tacked it to the Centre’s bulletin board next to the kitchen. She felt an odd mixture of pride and foreboding as she thought about the events of the afternoon. Pride in having a hand at organizing the Centre’s members to participate in war efforts, and foreboding about the possibility of air strikes. Suddenly, the world felt a little less safe than it had that morning.
“Oh well,” she whispered. “At least now we’re taking some action rather than sitting around worrying about it.”
“Alexis?”
Alexis started and turned to find Win Andrews standing behind her. Great, she thought, now he has caught me talking to myself. That will help his impression of me.
“That was great how you started the conversation about what we could do to help the war efforts,” Win said. “My cousin is serving over in England, and I know how much the troops need the support from us at home. Thanks to you, the whole centre will be involved.”
“Thank you for your kind words,” Alexis said. “If I hadn’t spoken up, I’m sure someone else would have. It’s just that I’ve been feeling like I should help in some way, and didn’t really know how to do it. One of my housemates volunteers for the Red Cross, and the other sews for the war effort. I’ve felt rather useless so far. I should have known my chance would come here, at the Community Centre.”
Win was nodding thoughtfully. “This is an important place in your community, isn’t it? We have nothing like this back in the town in England where I live.”
“I’ve been coming here with my family since it opened,” Alexis said, slightly aware at her surprise that she was actually able to carry on a normal adult conversation with Win. “It’s like a second home to me. Sometimes more than my own.”
“I look forward to seeing how this all turns out,” said Win. “You can count on my help for anything that the centre needs done.”
“Thank you,” Alexis said as she ducked her head. She hoped Win didn’t notice how her cheeks flamed.
The next several weeks were a busy blur of activity. After the initial discussion, word spread and the whole Community Centre became involved in the war efforts. The Ladies Auxiliary began sewing for the war, several groups decided to volunteer for the Red Cross, Comforts Fund and the hospital. Alexis was in charge of organizing the care packages, and brought together women of all ages to cook treats to send. The war effort in Brunswick was kept alive by the community centre, and Alexis was proud of herself and her friends at the community centre for all they were doing.
Despite her busy schedule, Alexis continued to ask herself what her interest in Win Andrews was as she endured watching the other girls fall over themselves in order to get a moment’s attention from Win. To his credit, Win was polite and friendly, but didn’t seem to be particularly interested in any of the other girls. Alexis and Win spoke only in passing a few times, as Alexis alternated between infatuation and indifference. She didn’t want to risk making a fool out of herself as she had that first day, and took his lack of contact with her to mean that her first impression upon him had been lousy.
One dreary afternoon, as Alexis, Stella and a few other girls sat at the table assembling the care packages and writing letters, Stella said to Alexis in a low voice, “Aren’t you ever going to admit you’re sweet on Win?”
“What?” Alexis asked. “No. What are you talking about? I am no such thing!” She tried to sound indignant, but Stella was having none of it.
“Alexis, please, you’re like a dopey puppy dog,” she whispered. “You obviously have strong feelings for him.”
Alexis sighed. “I think he’s friendly and handsome—but so does everybody else. Plus, he thinks I’m loony because I’m afraid I made a terrible first impression.” She paused. “And a terrible second impression. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want a boyfriend, especially after Roy and I broke up.”
Stella glanced at Alexis for a few moments, a mischievous grin crossing her face. “I don’t believe a word you say,” she said. “But don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret.”
Alexis opened her mouth to defend herself, and then thought better of it and closed it again. Better to let Stella think what she wants rather than make a big deal out of it, she told herself.
Thankfully, Philip, who ran to the Philco and turned the volume up as a new song came on, diverted the conversation. “Has anybody heard this?” he asked. “It’s Jack Davey. It’s called ‘Our Air Raid Shelter.’ Listen.”
The people gathered in the room kept working and listened to the song, and some who had heard it before began humming or whistling.
“There’s no more room now in our air raid shelter,
There’s Aunt ’n Gran ’n Dad ’n Mum ’n me.
And when the sirens sound we all run helter-skelter,
Just Aunt ’n Gran ’n Dad ’n Mum ’n me.”
Prologue Part Two
Brunswick, Australia 1942
Alexis pulled her coat around her and trotted up the wide, flat steps leading to the Greek Community Centre of Brunswick. She pulled open the heavy door and let the wind slam it shut behind her. Then she stood for a moment in the entryway, allowing her body a moment to warm up. She took a deep breath and smiled at the familiar scents of musty books, potluck food and cologne that clung to the walls of the center.
Brunswick, Australia 1942
Alexis pulled her coat around her and trotted up the wide, flat steps leading to the Greek Community Centre of Brunswick. She pulled open the heavy door and let the wind slam it shut behind her. Then she stood for a moment in the entryway, allowing her body a moment to warm up. She took a deep breath and smiled at the familiar scents of musty books, potluck food and cologne that clung to the walls of the center.
The entryway was small and dark, with heavy wood paneling and a tall ceiling. Straight ahead was a hall with several glass-paned doors each opening into an office. At the end of the hallway was the large gathering room where most people who came to the center got together for various activities. Behind the “big room,” as most people called it, was a kitchen, where the ladies of the center spent long happy hours cooking Moussaka, Souvlakia, Spanakopita or Baklava and milk custard pie for various events.
Alexis stepped into the big room, and saw a group of people about her age at the far end of the room near the small Philco radio. Most days, Alexis knew she could find people here listening to news reports about the war, playing games and listening to the popular music and dancing. Today, several of her friends were sitting in wooden fold-up chairs, playing two up at the long table near the window. A small cardboard box placed on the table was the ring, and most players had a small pile of pennies and half pennies to toss into the middle of the box.
Alexis hurried to the table and sat in an empty chair next to Stella, her best friend.
“Playing?” Stella said by way of a greeting.
Alexis dug unto the pocket of her coat and took out her coin purse. She undid the clasp and dumped a small collection of coins onto the table. “Yes,” she said.
“We’re almost done this round,” Stella said. “You can jump in when we start the new game.”
Alexis was used to this and leaned back in her chair to let the sights and sounds wash over her. The card players were laughing and taking about a funny incident that happened at the Greek bakery where Stella and Chloe worked. Alexis surveyed the room to see who else was there. Over by the radio a few serious-looking men were gathered around the radio, no doubt looking to find the latest updates on the Royal Australian Navy’s participation in the war. Two of the men, Christos and Philip, Alexis had known since her primary school days. The third man was unfamiliar. Tall, light haired and light skinned, he didn’t seem to belong in the Greek center. Alexis found that she was staring, and flushed with embarrassment when the man looked up and eyed her as he talked with Christos.
Alexis hastily turned her head to find the game was ending and Chloe volunteered to be the new ringy, who would oversee the coin tosses into the ring. Several people scowled, as they had to place their losing bets into the kitty in the middle of the table, which Greg promptly swept a small pile of coins from with a smirk. Stella glanced at Alexis and caught her eyeing the mystery man again.
“Handsome, isn’t he?” She whispered.
Alexis found herself feeling extremely flushed. “What?” She asked, “Who?”
“Silly, you know exactly who,” Stella said. “He’s Philip’s English cousin. His name is Winston. Doesn’t that sound properly English? The girls are all crazy about him since he arrived.”
The cards were dealt, and Alexis took her hand and tried to ignore Winston, who did seem to have a fair amount of female attention. Instead of trying to ignore him, all the other girls were actively flirting with him. Alexis paid more attention to sneaking furtive glances at Winston than she did to the game and kept placing losing bets. After several rounds in which Alexis lost all her coins, she stood up to go to the kitchen and make some coffee for everyone. She was reaching on her tiptoes, trying to grab the mugs from the back of the cupboard, when a hand came in to view and easily took hold of the mug.
A deep voice said, “Here, let me help you, miss.”
Alexis turned with a gasp and found that she was staring up at a pair of piercing bright blue eyes. Her heart felt as if it was leaping in her chest, and she had a difficult time catching her breath.
Winston smiled. “Pardon me,” he said. “I did not mean to frighten you.” He stepped back and placed the mug on the counter. “My name is Winston Andrews. I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.”
He held out his right hand, and Alexis placed her shaking fingers into it. “Alexis,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again, attempting to make her voice sound more adult and sophisticated than she felt. “Alexis Diamantopoulos. Uh, it’s Greek. The name, I mean.” Once again her face flamed red, and she felt like a silly schoolgirl.
Winston nodded and smiled. “My cousin is Philip. His uncle married my mother’s sister. They’re all Greek, we’re all English.” He politely glanced down and Alexis looked down and realized she was still clutching his hand with her fingers. She snatched her hand away and said, “Pleased to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must retreat to the washroom.”
Alexis fled past Winston and made a beeline for the door on the opposite end of the room marked ‘Ladies.’ Once inside, she leaned against the sink and allowed herself to feel extremely foolish. You’re a woman of 22, she scolded herself. Behaving like a lovesick child!
Alexis had had boyfriends in the past. In fact, she and Roy had broken up just a few moths ago after dating for over a year. Unfortunately, he joined the Royal Australian Navy to go fight the war and told Alexis he thought it would be better if she didn’t wait for him. She was upset, but recovered much more quickly than she anticipated. That was why she was so surprised about her reaction to Philip’s cousin. What is it about Winston Andrews that makes me feel so smitten? She asked herself.
Soon, she had other things to occupy her mind. Christos brought a war flyer to the center and passed it around to all the members who were congregated in the big room. Alexis read the flyer with great interest. In large type at the top of the flyer, it read, “The spearhead reaches south – Always south!” There was a map with a picture of Japan and several arrows pointing south to Australia. Off to the left was a picture of Prime Minister John Curtin, and a column of information about rules for Australians to obey. Alexis read several with a growing sense of trepidation. Help your local ARP wardens all you can. In an emergency, stay put and sit tight. Don’t waste money, food, and precious petrol.
“What can we do?” Alexis asked aloud as she passed the flyer to Stella. The room, a noisy buzz of voices, quieted as Win put up his hand, motioning everyone to let Alexis speak. “What does this mean for us here at the Greek Centre? There are so many of us. We must be able to organize some way to help the war effort.”
There was a brief silence, as many people cast their eyes down and became seemingly immersed in the floorboards.
A deep male voice spoke. “How many of you have a friend or relative in the war?” Win asked.
Almost all hands in the room went up, with people murmuring about their cousins, brothers and friends who were fighting the war.
“What would they want you to do?” Win asked. He glanced at Alexis, who gave him a small smile. Thank you, she mouthed.
“We could send care packages overseas,” Margaret suggested. “Make homemade treats and send them with a letter. It will help keep spirits up.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Alexis. “We can all get together here in the kitchen and spend a day baking, and then once everything is ready we can pack it and write the letters. How will we get a list of people to send it to?”
Theo said, “My uncle knows the local Air Raid Precautions Warden. I’ll ask him if he can talk to him and get us a list. Also, he might be able to suggest ways we can help.”
Alexis grabbed a pen from a nearby table and started writing down everyone’s suggestions. So far she had written Overseas packages, talk to ARP warden. “Anything else?” she asked.
“What about the hospital?” George asked. “Do they need volunteers for the soldiers who have been sent home?”
“It’s worth checking out,” said Win. “Would you be able to do that?”
George nodded. Alexis added Check with hospital to her list.
“Maybe we should look into having an air raid shelter here,” said. “According to this flyer from Prime Minister Curtin, the Japanese could target Australia. I know other towns nearby are building shelters and having air raid drills.”
Alexis added Air raid shelters to the list and asked Theo, “Could you tell your uncle to ask the warden about shelters?”
Theo nodded, “Will do.”
Soon, Alexis had a sizable list of tasks for the members of the Community Centre to carry out. They agreed to work on the list in the next few days and to meet again before the end of the week to discuss their findings and assign jobs.
Alexis took her list and carefully tacked it to the Centre’s bulletin board next to the kitchen. She felt an odd mixture of pride and foreboding as she thought about the events of the afternoon. Pride in having a hand at organizing the Centre’s members to participate in war efforts, and foreboding about the possibility of air strikes. Suddenly, the world felt a little less safe than it had that morning.
“Oh well,” she whispered. “At least now we’re taking some action rather than sitting around worrying about it.”
“Alexis?”
Alexis started and turned to find Win Andrews standing behind her. Great, she thought, now he has caught me talking to myself. That will help his impression of me.
“That was great how you started the conversation about what we could do to help the war efforts,” Win said. “My cousin is serving over in England, and I know how much the troops need the support from us at home. Thanks to you, the whole centre will be involved.”
“Thank you for your kind words,” Alexis said. “If I hadn’t spoken up, I’m sure someone else would have. It’s just that I’ve been feeling like I should help in some way, and didn’t really know how to do it. One of my housemates volunteers for the Red Cross, and the other sews for the war effort. I’ve felt rather useless so far. I should have known my chance would come here, at the Community Centre.”
Win was nodding thoughtfully. “This is an important place in your community, isn’t it? We have nothing like this back in the town in England where I live.”
“I’ve been coming here with my family since it opened,” Alexis said, slightly aware at her surprise that she was actually able to carry on a normal adult conversation with Win. “It’s like a second home to me. Sometimes more than my own.”
“I look forward to seeing how this all turns out,” said Win. “You can count on my help for anything that the centre needs done.”
“Thank you,” Alexis said as she ducked her head. She hoped Win didn’t notice how her cheeks flamed.
The next several weeks were a busy blur of activity. After the initial discussion, word spread and the whole Community Centre became involved in the war efforts. The Ladies Auxiliary began sewing for the war, several groups decided to volunteer for the Red Cross, Comforts Fund and the hospital. Alexis was in charge of organizing the care packages, and brought together women of all ages to cook treats to send. The war effort in Brunswick was kept alive by the community centre, and Alexis was proud of herself and her friends at the community centre for all they were doing.
Despite her busy schedule, Alexis continued to ask herself what her interest in Win Andrews was as she endured watching the other girls fall over themselves in order to get a moment’s attention from Win. To his credit, Win was polite and friendly, but didn’t seem to be particularly interested in any of the other girls. Alexis and Win spoke only in passing a few times, as Alexis alternated between infatuation and indifference. She didn’t want to risk making a fool out of herself as she had that first day, and took his lack of contact with her to mean that her first impression upon him had been lousy.
One dreary afternoon, as Alexis, Stella and a few other girls sat at the table assembling the care packages and writing letters, Stella said to Alexis in a low voice, “Aren’t you ever going to admit you’re sweet on Win?”
“What?” Alexis asked. “No. What are you talking about? I am no such thing!” She tried to sound indignant, but Stella was having none of it.
“Alexis, please, you’re like a dopey puppy dog,” she whispered. “You obviously have strong feelings for him.”
Alexis sighed. “I think he’s friendly and handsome—but so does everybody else. Plus, he thinks I’m loony because I’m afraid I made a terrible first impression.” She paused. “And a terrible second impression. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want a boyfriend, especially after Roy and I broke up.”
Stella glanced at Alexis for a few moments, a mischievous grin crossing her face. “I don’t believe a word you say,” she said. “But don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret.”
Alexis opened her mouth to defend herself, and then thought better of it and closed it again. Better to let Stella think what she wants rather than make a big deal out of it, she told herself.
Thankfully, Philip, who ran to the Philco and turned the volume up as a new song came on, diverted the conversation. “Has anybody heard this?” he asked. “It’s Jack Davey. It’s called ‘Our Air Raid Shelter.’ Listen.”
The people gathered in the room kept working and listened to the song, and some who had heard it before began humming or whistling.
“There’s no more room now in our air raid shelter,
There’s Aunt ’n Gran ’n Dad ’n Mum ’n me.
And when the sirens sound we all run helter-skelter,
Just Aunt ’n Gran ’n Dad ’n Mum ’n me.”
posted by Alan at 11:44 PM
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