"F" is for "False Alarm"
Young Berowne phones home:
Mom, I just heard. They accepted me at UCLA! I’ll be starting in the mid-winter semester.
Yeah, it’s great. It means there’s a lot to do. I haven’t even decided on a major yet.
Oh, I’ve just been out riding my bike. I spotted this phone booth so I thought I’d give you a ring with the good news.
Well, it’s a state university so the tuition shouldn’t be too bad. I hope we’ll be able to handle it. I’m excited; I feel my life is just about to begin. No more of that high school stuff; I’ll be a college man!
What? No, I hadn’t heard. I’ve been out riding my bike. So there was some kind of bombing? Where? I never heard of it.
The whole Pacific fleet of the U S Navy? Oh, that’s just wild talk. They have these incidents and then try to make something big out of them – sells more newspapers. They say things like that to try to encourage Roosevelt to get us into war. It's a false alarm; don’t listen to ‘em. Anyway, I’ve got to concentrate on getting ready for college. Getting ready for college, Mom; isn’t that great?!
35 comments:
A good news over the bad one... :-)
JJRod'z
Wow.....BAM!
Nice!
:)
Good write, clever to put it at the edge of the war...
Sometimes everything changes.
I love how there is so much more to your work than the words on the page. This time you've managed to give us the tragedy of war!
I saw the 40s in every aspect of the image ~ glad you did too.
Your prose reminded me of Shakespeare's 'To Be Or Not To Be' ~ we were at war. (You have me conditioned now)
Just - Wow!
My prose and Shakespeare's are not usually mentioned in the same sentence, Helen - but thanks. :-)
An interesting take.
is this a true story?
meditation station
and life changes in the blink of an eye....
zongrik: "Is this a true story?"
Very close...
Very clever...
Things change in a flash. Nice piece.
You took this one back in time, just a bit...
Wander
My sincere thanks to Wander, Tumblewords, Barbara, robk, Brian M, Karen, Leslie and Rinkly R for the encouraging comments.
Typical Kid! thanks for sharing-
It all turns on a dime, doesn't it?
"/
I wonder how many young lives were changed by that news. Great response to the prompt.
jabblog: "Great response to the prompt."
And a great response to the response - thanks.
A proper sense of what's important, eh?
(On a UK quiz game tonight were two teenagers who thought Charles de Gaulle was prominent during the French Revolution, had never heard of Napoleon and, I daresay, would have likely thought Pearl Harbor was another drug fuelled diva.)
Wow! Now that's getting your quarter's worth! (Or whatever a phone call cost then...a nickle maybe?)
nice !...diggin' the time shift when we get to "Roosevelt"...this leaves me very much in a different state of mind
Peace
Sent a chill down my spine - brilliant write.
Anna :o]
Thanks, Anna, RD and Other Mary. It's great to get comments like yours.
Great write, I wanted to read more:)
Got your priorities right, eh? :)
Dear Berowne: A real life scenario played out in real time...not the best of times, not the worst either~! Love your easy-going dialogue; very skillful~!
Yes, we plan our lives, then life plans us.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Roger O G: "Yes, we plan our lives, and then life plans us."
Well put, Rog; thanks.
Sadly enough it was true what young Berowne's mum said. I was only eight when the Japanese occupied Indonesia, where we lived.
Well written post! Thanks for sharing. Have a great day tomorrow!
Wil, ABC Wednesday Team.
Fine writing to captures a time in history very well with few words. Carver, ABC Wednesday Team
To Reader Wil: Fascinating that you were in a Japanese internment camp. Did you ever see the TV series "Tenko," about a women's prison camp just like yours?
Yes, I'm sure many young people were taken by surprise! And their lives were changed forever.
No, I didn't see the film Tenko, but I saw "A Town like Alice" and "Bridge over the River Kwai". Strangely enough I can watch these movies without feelings of hatred anymore. I cannot, however watch "Sophie's Choice" or "Schindler's List".In March I am going to Jerusalem to stay with Dina who is also on Blogger. She asked if I wanted to see the Holocaust Museum.But I don't like to see that.
Too emotional.
our plans v/s the so called fate:-) and that's life
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