SLIGHTLY AJAR
by
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Lena Arno’s dark eyes watched Ruby quietly, taking in Ruby’s predicament. She must be new here,
She wasn’t too disappointed in the rest of herself, just wished she had more of a bosom. Flat as a pancake and only wore a bra because she liked the feel of the straps. It gave her a sense of hope that she still might fill out the A cups soon.
Ruby had quickly taken off her blouse and hurried into the top half of the gym suit, missing the arm holes several times in her rush, not wanting anyone to see the awful bright pink washed out satin hand-me-down bra that had once belonged to her sister. It was too big for her in the cups and just kind of laid there deflated across her rounded chest. It embarrassed her, but her mom said she had to wear it until she had time to take her shopping for a new one.
Looking down for the buttons she was horrified to see that there was only one button where there should have been five. Her shoulders slumped
in defeat as she wished desperately to be anywhere else. Even her gym
shoes were the wrong kind. Her mom had used up the last shoe ration to buy her some brown and white saddle oxfords that pinched her feet and felt like cardboard. At least they had what looked to be rubber soles, you could never be sure nowadays. She was told she would just have to wear them for everything until they got the new ration stamps. Darn the stupid war, and the stupid Germans and the stupid Japanese. Somehow she was always at the low end of the totem pole when it came to needs.
Holding the blouse together with one fist, she looked up to see
Astounded, all Ruby could say as she looked into
“Sorry, no, I just happened to see this on the floor over there, pointing backward over her shoulder, and thought maybe you could use it.”
“That’ll keep some of me together. Did you see any glue or buttons or elastic where the pin was?” Ruby smiled at
“What are you going to do?”
“That’s a really good question,” Ruby said holding the one pant leg out in exaggeration.
Lena laughed out loud, realizing she really liked this girl, even thoug
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Book Details
About the Book
Meeting under hilarious circumstances in
It was a hectic time, World War II was in it’s tenth month and already the pinch of shortages and rationing were being felt. Where they lived, the San Francisco Bay Area, was one of the busiest ports of embarkation on the West Coast, supplying the Pacific Theater of war.
Unburdened by their innocence, the girls at fourteen, could only moon over the courageous servicemen seen everywhere. To them, they were all so dreamy, sentimental and heroic.
During the war years it became a way of life to knit, collect scrap metal and other essential items for the war effort. But for Ruby and
With wide-eyed wonder, and definitely influenced by what they saw at the movies, mostly believing it was all true, Ruby and Lena could hardly wait to grow up.
For each of the girls, taking those awkward zigzag steps towards maturity had a great many pitfalls, but oh, so much laughter!
About the Author
Moving from
Starting late in life, Helen moved from writing stories in rhyme for her great-granddaughter Zoey, to her first book, “The Captive Committee.”
About the Author, cont’d.
Feeling a lot more confident, two more books followed, “Tea Leaves,” and “The Ladies of the Trees.”
Still married for fifty-four years to Wil, her high school sweetheart, they had two children; a daughter Peggy, a son Kelly, three grandchildren; Tiffany, Nick and Amanda, and of course Zoey, all of whom have inspired her along the way.
Along with their Cairn Terrier, “Katie Lu,” the Wilcox’s live in