2002 School Magazine

original works

The Dish and The Spoon He was a wog; she was a skip; it was never going to work. He was on holidays when he met her at the Whitsundays where she was working as a tour guide. The wedding was in three months and plans were underway Naturally Mrs Stegalis was disappointed when Dimitri came home with plans to marry Tracy. Dinner that night had an uncomfortable atmosphere. Mrs Stegalis was in that mood she got Into when the family came home and made 00 effort to keep the house tidy, when she had spent all day cleaning. Mr Stegalis silently prodded at his black-eyed beans and spinach. scooping the juice with his bread. Dimitri, sensing the tension, attempted conversation. "So He Ien, how was school today?" "It was all right. This morning I ..." "HeIen, don't talk with Your mouth full, " Mrs Stegalis interrupted abrupt y. "You know You won't be getting good healthy meals like this after You're married, so eat it while you still can, Dimitri. " "Well, it's the truth. You think he is going to come home and get cooked me a 57 No. they will be those frozen boxes You see on W. He is a working man, he needs more than a sandwich, which is all the Australian girls can make ... All brown food they eat meat pies, sausage rolls ~ full of artificial chemicals. You know, Yianni, what about their children? Their mother won't teach them Greek, they won't understand us. Will she send them to Greek schools? mm We can't even talk anymore. Did You see Dimitri storm off like that? I can't say anything?... Oh well, I will just sit here and stay silent. .. This is Your fault You know. You were the one who was too lenient with him. .. What is wrong with The a Froso's goddaughter? She is a pretty girl. She would have made a good wife for our Dimitri. She can cook tojinades and pasticho too. There's plenty of good Greek girls around, can't he see that, Yianni?" And on like this she went until the dishes were wiped and the dining room-combined-kitchen was spotless. Dimitri, outside kicking the daylights out of the old soccer ball. heard every word, and was silent Reluctantly, the wedding was progressing - if You could callit progress. Every detail was being closely inspected "Dimitri, You have Your cousins Con. Theo, toki and Paul as groomsmen, right? What about Thea Koula's daughter for flowergirl? You know how happy she will be to get dressed up'! "No. Tracy wants the bridesmaids from her side so Christin a can't be in it even though I would love her to be. And she only has three bridesmaids from her dancing class. so that means that Laki might have to miss out. " "But what will Your father's side say if they don't have someone from their side in the bridal party? Dimitri, you have to think of these things. .. At least Tracy doesn't still want to get married in a garden with that blue dress of hers. Can You imagine what they would have said? Not that they are not talking now. " Dimitri didn't turn up for dinner that night. The thought of facing his family and defending his decision to marry Tracy for another day was too much for him to handle. Pressures to marry one of his 'own kind' had been drilled into him from an early age. And although he respected his culture and family he couldn't see why they couldn't be satisfied. Perhaps they would get used to it. Maybe they would see that Tracy and other Australian girls were not as bad as they imagined: that she could clean a house, she could go to church. she could raise children who had respect for their elders and were under control. And it just might turn out, just maybe there was a slight chance Dimitri would come home to a hot, cooked meal every night! Could this be possible? In the eyes of the Stegalis family. .. No. They tried very hard to change his mind, to make him see the light, suggesting all the 'good Greek girls' they could name. But Dimitri did not listen. instead he became reserved and very, very quiet. He loved his family, but there were limits. Tomorrow was the engagement The sky was unusually dark on the day of the engagement so it had been agreed to move everything inside for the ceremonies Dimitri had risen earlier than everyone else, presumably to run around for the last minute preparations. People began arriving at five o'clock and the music started as the food was brought out. Mr and Mrs Stegalis had decided to make an effort to get along with their inevitable new family, after they had seen how unhappy Dimitri was the night before. Slowly the line segregating the Australians and Greeks from one side of the room to the other, became harder to distinguish as it became smudged. Everything was going surprising well apart from one little detail: the bride and groom-to-be were not present. This was dismissed as misjudgement of time until it started to get dark. Dimitri and Tracy's parents were so worried that the party stopped before eight o'clock in reality, Mrs Stegalis should not have been surprised that Dimitri was not In his room the next morning. And Mr Stegalis should not have been surprised at the calls that followed, asking about Dinitri's unexplained absences Mrs Stegalis cleaned Dimitri's room which he had always left In a mess. She washed his dirty clothes, cleaning the paper out of his pockets The Internet print out for the confirmation of one-way international flight reservations lay in a neatly folded bulge atop the laundry bin in amongst the tissues and empty toilet rolls He stood up, plate still half full, and left. "Maria, You didn't have to say that, " Mr Stegalis said half patiently Dimtri once again slipped away to the comfort of his soccer ball. Thump. thud, thud, thud. shuffle, shuffle. THUMP

A"ce HUSbond 8 Hirschfe!d Still Lift

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Neole Froser 8 Hitschfe!d Still Life

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Rand Howo 8 Mockoy Still Life

Punoyioto funos 11 Bennlond