Far Rockaway High School - Dolphin Yearbook (Far Rockaway, NY)

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f SUSIE'S DILEMMA x BY ROSLYN CAHN 94 Clad in a short blue and red plaid skirt, a green horizontal striped long-sleeved blouse, an orange vertical-striped cardigan flung over her shoulders, brown loafers with yellow and pink argyle sox, she walked along the street. She had lipstick all over her face, curlers in her hair, and a sign on her back reading, Babies cry for Getsom's pills. Why don't you get some today? Her name was Susie. She was pledging for the Happiness Girls Without Fellows A. C. They were the smart girls around school, who liked poetry. In fact, the A. C. that they added to their name stood for Admirers of Cipling. She was cute, and seventeen. She didnlt look her age. People thought she wasn't older than fourteen. She was walking along swinging her books. Her only care was whether she'd get into the club or not. Besides that, she was very happy, life was wonderful. She had got a picture of Windy, and the girls at school had admired it. Yes, he definitely had oomph.', If only she were four years older, or three years, or two, even if she were eighteen. Why there was a difference in one year. Oh, life was awful. She opened the door and noticed a sailor's cap on the inside hall table. It was probably jimmie's friend's brother's cap. Jimmie was Susie's brother. His friend's brother was home on a forty-eight hour liberty. He wanted to meet that cute little girl, but Susie was too intent on joining the Happiness Girls. She couldn't get away from the corner where she had to stand, dressed up, for her initiation. She walked up the steps, dismissing the thought from her mind, when she heard a click. The third step was probably loose. Opening the door of her room, she threw a kiss to the photograph of Alan Ladd, and put a Frank Sinatra record on the phono- graph. Life was beautiful, she decided as she lay on her bed. But, oh, Windy was coming home soon. If only she were a little more sophisticated. If only she were a few years older she'd really welcome Windy when he'd come home. If only her mother had bought that black dress for her, the one she had seen in a window downtown. Life was disgusting. Perfectly flat. She got up from the bed and sat down in front of her dressing table. She gazed at the Alan Ladd photo. Oh, he was beautiful. She must see his new picture. Yep, he had oomph. She changed the Frank Sinatra record. He was good also. So was life. fCont. on P. 652 54

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HOME OF TODAY BY ADELAIDE SCHIFF What has become of the home that we knew? The boys are of to war, and Dad grows restless, too. I guess I'm not the soldier I promised them I'd be I know the way I'm crying, they would not be proud of me. But, Oh, I miss the banging door, and the laughter on the stairs, And the way they used to go for my special chocolate layers. I even miss the muddy footprints they left on the rug, And the way they had of stealing up and giving me a hug. I keep their pictures close .to me, and save their every letter. Sometimes I read them over and it helps me to feel better. I just ean't help remembering when they were little tots, And we were all together, Oh, it ties my heart in knots. Dad says if he were younger hefd help them fight this war, And though I don't dare say it, I'm glad he's 54. Standing in the boys' room, I try hard not to mind, 'Mid the trophies and the banners, there's comforlt here, I find. For they left this without grulmbling, only a brave, sweet smile, And, Don't worry, Mom, remember, it,s only for a while. So I'll keep right on smiling, and wait for that day when I'll hear the front door banging, and the boys walk through again. THE DECISIVE MOMENT BY EVELYN GOLDMAN His face was torn with anguish, With sorrow and with fear, The time of great deeision Was definitely near. The erowd became impatient Would he cofmmit this sin? He gathered courage, though, Say, Bud, can I cut in? and said, 53

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SOUVENIRS BY EMILIE KLIGIERMAN The author of this essay writes from personal experience. She came to this conu- try from Belgium three years ago, and has attended Far Rockaway for two years.-- Ea'itor's Note English homework . . . how many more words would she have to look up in the well-thumbed dictionary? M. Edmund Burke certainly spoke fancy English! Wearily, she wrote down the meaning of incubus, put away The Landmarks of Liberty and took up a history book. Funny how reading history late at night made you feel drowsy! Impossible to concentrate . . . a few words: General Giraud . . . DeGaulle. How queer these words sound in the mouths of Americans! With a smile, she repeated them easily, in her musical language: DeGaulle, Giraudf' Oh yes, it still seemed like a fantastic dream. She thought of the questions that still made her laugh. Belgium? Oh yes! They speak Belgian there, don't they? And when she had said they spoke French there, the almost spontaneous: Par-r-r-llay vous Francais? Or else the puzzled ones asked, Did you wear wooden shoes? How did it feel to live in a little village, always Wearing a costume? They were still more amazed when they learned she had lived in a big city, worn clothes a la Americainef' and even gone to high school. There were also those with a lot of patriotism who said, Didn't your heart beat when you saw the Statute of Liberty?', Yes, her heart did beat, not because of the majestic chef-d' oeuvre of Bartholdi, but at the thought of finally getting to this new country, far away from the threat of Nazi tyranny. It felt nice, thinking of it all. It gave her a queer sensation at the pit of her stomachg she was relaxed, the way people are after they have sighed deeply. just im- agine! The first few days, she was even afraid to go down to the candy store Camaz- ing place, selling ,many, many things besides candyj and buy stamps. And the first day in high school Uames Munroe High Schoolj . . . it was big, so very big, so very American. That day, she had gone in the elevator with her guide, but afterward she walked through the big halls, trying to find the rooms, after another look at a little white card always clutched in her hand, what they', called program card. Why were the rooms so oddly numbered, 312 or 411, instead of 8 or 9? But everything was big, even numbers. In her classes it was pretty tough to get along, always saying, I do not know any Engleesh! every time people rattled off, speaking so fast, with accents that sounded all alike, and intonations that made a funny little song to her ears so used to the French language. The students, too, were amazin . Bo s wearin om adours, and those funn I 1 , g Y g P P , Y suits, some one said were Zoot suits -no more of those now! As for the girls, they were a pretty sight, wearing gaily-colored clothes, and wearing make-up and oh, such fC0l1f. on p. 665 S5