Rupert Grech's Blog, page 2

Introduction to the story, “Il-Pupa” (The Doll)

The pretty little girl was often seen sitting on the footpath below the window of a substantial two-storey townhouse in Fleur De Lys, a slightly more affluent neighbourhood than the crowded suburb of Ħamrun[1], where she lived. Clotilde was always sitting there quietly, cross-legged with her back leaning against the limestone wall of the house, between […]

Extract from the story “Grapes”

The skinny boy with fair skin and high cheekbones had been christened Henry Joseph Grech but everyone called him Harry. It was not uncommon for Maltese parents to give their children English sounding names. The British had been the aristocrats and ruling colonialists on the island for almost one and a half centuries and they […]

Extract From the Latest Story- “Reunion and Salvation”

The war dragged on. It became even more miserable and even more desperate. In August 1942, Malta was down to only a week or two of remaining food supplies. People were starving and subsisting on one small meal a day. Regular bombing raids had reduced much of the built-up area around the Harbour and beyond […]

Harry and the Grapes

The physically challenged sacristan of the church was very proud of the luxuriant grapevine he had cultivated and trained over the veranda during recent years. The sacristan had managed to obtain a vine cutting from a famous vineyard and winery on the narrow road to the village of Marsaxlokk where he was from. That particular […]

Adventures of “Pupa”

The visits to Nannu Chupa’s farm were like spending time on another planet for the young Bugeja children; an escape from their poverty, hunger and constant stress of life on the margins of survival. The children would be fed, play in the garden and forget their cares for the day. Sometimes they would be enlisted […]

Still More Harry

A short time after the war and when Harry was around 14 years of age, an uncle gave the boy a couple of driving lessons. This gave Karmenu an idea on how to make some money. The wily old grandfather knew of some men who owned a small boat and who smuggled barrels of wine […]

More Harry

One night, when Harry was about 11 years old, he was awakened by a nightmare. He dreamt that he was crouching on a rooftop watching an air raid when one of the low flying German pilots streaking past turned his head and met his eyes. Harry watched but could not move as the Messerschmitt dipped […]

Harry

*** Nine-year-old Harry Grech was the middle child of five. He was chosen from among his three brothers and sister to live with his grandfather, Karmenu, and his grandmother, Maria, in the large town of Birkirkara. It was Maltese cultural tradition which dictated that one child be chosen to live with elderly grandparents to help […]

ONE

He started his walk around the perimeter of the ancient city he lived in every evening at precisely 6pm., after 7pm in the heat of summer. He knew his walk would take him 56 minutes from the moment he left his small, tidy stone house until he returned and re-entered his bright blue front door. […]

London Falling

“There you go, love. Finished. Those uneven edges will grow out”. She smiled at me sitting in the chair and then turned and smirked at the ladies seated behind her. JJI had just had the worst haircut in all of my life at the hands of a large black woman of West Indian decent. In […]