STORY TIME

Short story written from the perspective of a woman living during the Vietnam War era, 1950's-1970's

Written by me, Grace Mazzarella 
I was asked to write this piece as an assessment extension class for English in Year 9.
The task was to write a perspective piece from a different era in Australian society.

Beep! Beep! The alarm echoed through the silent room.

6:30am:

I wake, entangled in a heap of sheets alone, still confused at what exactly happened between John and I last night. He’s only been home 3 months but nothing is the same as it used to be. I know it’s not him that’s changed after his return from Vietnam, it’s me. It’s like this all over town, husbands leaving wives, wives leaving husbands nothing is the same - I’m surely not. Women were different then. Before the war begun I was raised to believe the concept that a woman was there to cook, clean and watch their children, nothing more, nothing less. This was how woman were treated, we were not intellectually equal to men, now I can see that we also were sex objects and domestic slaves in a man’s world.

6:39am:

I drag myself out of bed just like every other morning since 1965. This was the year John left as a soldier in military to support the United States in the civil war against North Vietnam. Whilst dressing myself in a simple cotton button up dress that sat just below my knee, I rack my memory for the details of the events from last night.

The previous night 9:54pm:

My two eldest were out with friends and little Tony was fast asleep. John and I had never been as distant from each other as were at that very moment. We lay motionless between the covers. I don’t know how it came about but I remember the fight that’s for sure. Twenty years of marriage and I had never gone against his word or disagreed with his ideals. He screamed at me and I screamed back. I could tell that he was a bit shocked by my abruptness and was wondering how I could be so rude. He spoke of how he was unable to fathom the reasons of why and what had changed me. Was there another man? Was I no longer in love with him? He knew nothing and yearned for answers. I laid there for a moment and fiddled with the sheets, wondering what exactly to say. Suddenly John ripped my hands away and demanded I talk. Looking him in the eyes I saw the pain and disloyalty he felt towards me I thought the least he deserved was answers. I explained there was no other man and I still loved him and that I was different, the country was different and I wasn’t no longer going to sacrifice my happiness for the lifestyle he wanted. He didn’t understand and with not even a second glance he dressed and left. As I heard the front door ajar and then slam abruptly tears flooded in my eyes.

2:26am:

A sleepless night lay ahead. Thoughts kept rushing in and out of my mind.

I had changed; I know what I want, I have independence and I have freedom. The 18 year old me that John had married before the war was gone, I no longer agreed with women not being equal to men and being bound to their home as a family housewife. The women of Australia had to adjust to life with the little support we were given whilst our husbands were away fighting for our country and we did it. As a consequence to the struggle we were put through we changed, we grew stronger and adapted to a life lead by women. I don’t know many of us who wanted to go back to the old times.

Present day 7:05am:

I wonder whether John will ever come back. I knew he didn’t believe in any of my new beliefs and my dream to enroll in university and make a name for myself. Through his eyes it was as if I no longer loved him or cared for our family and that I was a completely different person… which I was, I suppose. He still wants to be the one running our family and to have the control over me and my decisions as he used to, but now I know that I’m not ever going to let him.  I am a new woman, Australia is a different place and I’m not going to let any man, even my husband, depict my actions and the way I spend my time. I love my family but I’m now my own person with my own mind.

In a man’s world woman need to take authority and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

- Grace

Discover. Cook. Then just show the world