Central High School - Aglaia Yearbook (Manchester, NH)

Page 12 text:

10 IUNE AGLAIA NUMBER OF THE ORACLE ing they won't fire. CBoth hasten through the window. The plane passes over the vil- lage, dropping two bombs. One hits the house where the two are hidden. It is blown to pieces. As the wreckage and sand settle, one sees the howls and other remnants from the lunch lying where they had been left, un- disturbed. A dim light is shining on them. It becomes brighter and brighter. The firing grows more distant until all is in silencej BEATRICE DUBOIS. II BRAVING THE STORM SCENE ONE: Aboard a large ocean liner shortly after a nationally known ship disas- ter. Mr. and Mrs. George board the ship at ten-thirty in the evening and are shown to their stateroom by the stewardess. A thick fog is hovering over the harbor as they pre- pare to retire. When Mrs. George is sure that her husband is asleep fsnoringj, she crawls quietly out of bcd and places two life pre- servers at its foot. Back under the covers, after much tossing and turning, she finally drops off to sleep. In the middle of the night she is awakened by the loud din of a fog horn. She sits up in bed as the ship rocks to and fro. Mrs. G.: Bill, wake up! I think something has happened. ' Mr. G.: What did you say? Mrs. G.: Wake up, Bill. Please get up, somethings wrong. Mr. G.: Oh, all right. fHe is in the act of standing up when the boat lurches, and he is thrown to the Hoor.j Mrs. G.: Oh, Bill, are you hurt? Answer me, Bill. Oh, dear, what ...... P Mr. G.: I'm all right, Mary, don't baby me so. I just lost my balance-that's all. QHe goes over to the port-hole and opens it wider. A voice is heard from the deckj STRANGER: Yes, sir, it's mighty tough wind. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was trouhle at sea tonight. It was just such a night as this, when the ....., went down. What a calamity that was, I never ..,... fMrs. George gets up, closes the port-hole, and goes over to Mr. George who is sitting upon the edge of his bed, his head in his handsj Mrs. G.: Bill, did you hear that? I told you I didnit want to go to Europe. I'd be just as satisfied in Florida. Let's get off now, I know the boat will go down. Mr. G.: fHalf smilingj All right, Mary, get on your swim suit and we'll start. Mrs. G.: Oh, Bill, do be sensible. Mr. G.: Go to bed, Mary. If anything hap- pens I'1l let you know. CH1: gets into bed and is soon asleep.-Mrs. George has a mind of her own. She puts on her deck costume and sits in a chair close to the doorj SCENE TWO: It is dawn. Mr. George awakens to Hnd Mrs. George fully prepared for any emergency, sitting in the chair sound asleep. He dresses and goes out on deck. A few minutes later he comes back, laughing so hard that Mrs. George awakens and looks around. Mrs. G.: What are you laughing at, Bill? I think you're mean to laugh at me. What if the boat didn't go down last night! That's no sign it wonit tonight. Oh I ........ Mr. G.: lust a minute, Mary. The boat didn't even leave the harbor last night. It was so rough at sea they didn't put out. QHe sits down and rocks with laughtenj IANE CLARK. THE OLD STORY Every student impatiently awaits the com- ing of a vacation. No matter how brief it is to be, everyone has plans and 'mental pic- tures worked out as to how it will be spent. A certain celestial radiance appears on the countenance of those who, like caged pan- thers, await the flinging open of the door to Freedom! The day comes--the First day of vacation.

Page 11 text:

IUNE AGLAIA NUMBER OF THE ORACLE 9 SCENARIO SHORTS I The Last Bomb SCENE: A shell-wrecked Belgium vil- lage during the World War. It is late after- noon, yet the sun is bright, becoming dim- mer, until finally it is twilight. Through- out the play, muffled Firing can be heard. There are three or four small houses and a church clustered together. These have been bombarded with the result that only fragments are left. The miserable little village seems abandoned. Evidently, the Germans have recently passed through here, driving the inhabitants before them. A child crawls from a cellar window of a wreck on the right. The boy, a six-year- old, creeps along the ground and looks about himj CHILD: All right, Granny, come on! QA shrunken old woman in rags crawls out of the window. She sits down, rocks back and forthj GRANNY: Oh, dear! Oh, dear, what are we going to do, now? What are we going to do? CHILD: Granny, I'm hungry. GRANNY: Yes, yes, of course, child, we must look for some food. It won't do us any good to sit here crying. They're all gone now, all gone. QPause-then briskly, Come, we'll look for some berries. fShe goes into the house and brings out some things clutched in her apron, from which she hands the boy a partly brok- en bowl., GRANNY: Go pick some berries, child, while I make the buns. fThe child skips off, humming, while the old woman busies her- self making a Hre and mixing something in a bowl. The child comes running back from the fields with the berries.j CHILD: Granny, oh, Granny, the .,.. the ..., GRANNY: Don't hurry so, child, you might spill the berries. CHILD: fBreathlesslyj Granny, hurry, some men are coming from over there. fPoints toward left of stagej GRANNY: Quick, put the fire out. Q Both throw sand on the fire and stamp on it until it is completely out. The grandmother slides backwards into the cellar windowj Now, hand me those things quickly. Hurry, hurry, child, before they come. CThe child hands the berries, buns, plates, etc. to her. He then starts crawling into the window. A voice is heard commanding the men to search the place, and just as they come into sight, the child disappears. The men begin looking through the houses.j PRIV.: No one is here, Lieutenant. LIEUT.: Is every hovel searched? PRIV.: No, sir. LIEUT.: Well, search them all. fThc private goes into the house on the right, but comes out shortlyj Priv.: No one there, sir. QAII have rc- turned from their search with a negative answer., . Lieut.: Attention, March! fThey march off. Their footsteps sound fainter and faint- er until all is quiet. The old woman and her grandson come out of the window. She sets out two bowls, then divides the berries into them.j CHILD: That was close, Granny, wasn't it? GRANNY: Yes, dear, but we can thank the Lord that grass was there. Even at that, I thought he would find us. Were there many berries left, child? CHILD: No, not many, Granny. GRANNY: We had better save some of these for tonight. fThey finish eating and set the bowls aside. The old woman sits in the shade of the house while the child lies near by. The sounds of firing are heard more clearly, and now, also the sounds of air- planes. One appearsj CHILD: Granny! fShaking her, for she had fallen asleepj Look, what's that? GRANNY: Ah, quick, into the cellar. Itls a plane. If they don't see anything mov-

Page 13 text:

i I IUNE AGLAIA NUMBER or THE ORACLE 11 The sinister and ,even prevalent question come up: What aim I going to do with so much time? We have no answer. The first day goes, the time is whiled away, in waiting, iii expecting and in hoping for something to laappen. The succeeding days are spent in ,like manner. Books are started, but never finished, letters are started but never finishedl previously planned trips never materialize. Then somethingl strange occurs. One actu- ally begins to wish we were back in school. Unbelievable as itl sounds, this is invariably the case, and as tiniie goes on the desire looms large. One hopesi for the clang of the bell calling the flock back to the ancient halls of learning. The clang comers, the flock goes back, but with them goes an age-old question, When do we get out again? l l..,ll-l- A CHILD AND THE SEA One day as I played by the sea Its surging waters rushed to me With gifts of polished stones and shells, And filled the holes I'd dug for wells. But as I played another day Its gentle waters flowed away To leave me pretty shells and more, For me to play' with on the shore. KALEOPE HARTOFELIS. OUR, OPERETTAS In order to make this operetta a success, you must enjoy doing itll' Advice of this kind is often given bylour able teachers while we are putting on dur operettas. We do have fun, we also woiik hard and long. As soon as school is setllled in September, chorus classes begin on fheir project. We learn the lines and music yvell, then a month later try- outs for the soloi parts are held. These try- outs are carried lout in a truly professional manner, and the principals are chosen not only for their voices but for their acting abil- ity. Afternoon and evening rehearsals in singing and speaking are commenced for the principals. Students, called chorus leaders, are coached before hand to help in rehearsing the entire chorus. After the chorus and the principals have rehearsed individually with the orchestra, the whole cast is combined. If the basic and preliminary work has been faithfully done, it is not too difficult to put the production together. Most of the credit for our successful oper- ettas goes to the coaches who spend hours planning and working on scenery, actions, costumes and hundreds of minute details. The pleasure that the entire chorus gets on opening night is ample compensation for the really hard work. OLGA KOUKOS. 1,,l,l1L.l- THAT WHICH IS OLD It was pitifully drab, that little rusty gate. Who would have known that long ago it was brave, new, modern-the pride of Danvers Road. Gaunt gables stretched their weary length from end to end of the weatherbeaten building. What was once a home that was loved and admired, now remained merely a shell hiding ruin and deprivation. While a new democracy was fighting for its very being, famous men gathered in the broad dining room of Davis' Tavern to dis- cuss vital questions of state. Could they speak, these dark hand-hewn walls of the country rendezvous might tell tales of bloody brawls and feverish celebration. Town folk had not been kind to the fan- atic man who had established and been the first teacher in Miller's School. They who had grudgingly sent their children there had unwittingly committed their good, plain names as a witness to posterity. The worn doorsill is a mute reminder of all which has given place to the modern and the new.