Wife Away, He Sold Up

 

Flora waved to her mother in the crowd but she didn’t wave back. Flora saw the anxious look on her mother’s face and thought not now. It had been a long uncomfortable train ride and Flora just wanted to get home, have a cup of tea and maybe a long bath after she had fed Ross.

“Flora love, he’s sold up everything, there’s nothing left.”

The trip to the city and the sea air had breathed new life into Flora’s lungs. She had been arguing with her husband Valentine a lot before she left. Flora knew her husband’s faults, but he wasn’t all bad. He had done the right thing marrying her when she fell pregnant four years ago with Ross. She was home now and she was sure they would work it out.

Standing on her front doorstep Flora stared into the emptiness. The house was completely bare, even the linoleum and silk curtains were gone. The blood rushed from her face so fast she felt dizzy. Short of breathe Flora caught herself on the railing. There must be some mistake, she thought.

With trepidation Flora and her sister Doris strode into the accounting office where her husband worked and demanded to know why the furniture had been sold. Val waved his arm saying he had to sell it to pay accounts and he didn’t intend to make another home. Flora felt the rush of blood rise up through her body and she screamed so loud Val slapped her hard across the face and told her to “go live with your people.”

This week's 250 word writing exercise was to write a narrative based on article/s from Trove. I used the non-fiction genre based on the following articles from Trove:

Kalgoorlie Miner 13 March 1933, Auction Handsome Furniture and Household Effects, page 2.

Daily News 17 April 1942, Wife Away, He Sold Up, page 4

Mirror (Perth) 18 April 1942, Kalgoorlie Accountant gave Wife £1 a Week and a Backhander, page 21