A Kingdom of Our Own

Chapter Three - Portland

All was bright outside. The sky was cloudless and had a stunning, deep-set, Mediterranean blue colour about it. Summer had finally reached its peak, with the midday temperature spanning as high as 35 degrees in Oregon State. Although many complained, seeing this as “a little too hot”, there was nothing sticky or humid about the air, like you would experience in the weather patterns further south. In fact it was a rather dry heat, quite pleasant conditions to walk in under the chequered shade of the trees. Along with all of this sun came the flowers, blooming, bright and alive with colour, which in turn attracted much wildlife. The birds were the most prominent, nestled in the trees, tweeting joyful tunes to themselves from the comfort of their shaded nests. Everything was in harmony. There wasn’t a grim point to make about the scene, that much is easily said.

It’s needless to say that this was a time of great excitement for the town, the whole country in fact. Portland hadn’t been so busy all year, well not since the holiday’s season, on Christmas Eve’s final shopping surge. The streets were gridlocked, with people buzzing all over the place, dashing here, there and everywhere. The great majority of people about the town were shopping, hastily making their final preparations for the parties that were set to take place later on in the evening. There was a great vibe about the streets for sure, with everyone on an emotional high, excited for what fortune the celebrations would bring. It was something of a second Christmas, where all the loss and misery in the world could be forgotten for a split second and love and compassion for fellow humans could be thought on instead.

Independence Day had always been a significant event in Portland, but given that patriotic enthusiasm for the war effort had reached its height, it now not only served as an event of national unity, but as one of community solidarity as well. Alas, things wouldn’t stay like this for long. Times were changing. Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights Movement had sparked the beginning of an irreversible turn of events and with it a powerful counterculture had emerged, challenging all the morals modern society stood for. Greed and inequality of power. The capitalist system that had spread like a plague, calling all other ways of life criminal and inferior. People were starting to think for themselves and had come to realise that war wasn’t a means of achieving peace, “a better world for us all” as the government put it, but as a means of achieving the primary goals of capitalism.

Elijah and Dalton Hughes were not part of this minority group at the time, they merely conformed to the system and took the world for what it was. And so they like the majority of others found themselves heading into the very thick of it all, right into the centre of Portland. Certainly, as they had anticipated it was rather mad and congested there. There were more cars and much more hustle and bustle than the pair had ever witnessed before in their lives. In their eyes it could have just as easily have been a street in New York City, or at least what they imagined one was like. Never had they actually been fortunate enough to travel out the state, any further than Salem in fact. Music boomed from every street corner, American flags flew proudly, hanging high off buildings above the gridlocked streets and commuters rushed about madly, to and from their destinations.

Neither Elijah nor Dalton had any desire to tackle the hectic scene around them and so they walked on a little further until they came across a Woolworth’s Luncheonette, a few blocks away from the busy centre. The walk into town had taken a good forty minutes and in that time their stomachs had pulled tight, ravenous with hunger. In the light of this new issue, the primary purpose of their visit was set to one side, which like the majority of people was party business.

They entered the department store and it immediately hit them that the place was packed out. Had it not been for the considerable amount of luck that befell them, enhancing the upbeat spirit of the day, the boys would have probably left there and then. All the tables were taken, but a young couple had just vacated, leaving two stools available in the far corner. Dalton pointed eagerly towards his find and quickly, before any rival shoppers spotted the opening, they sat. They each grabbed hold of a grubby laminated menu and after a brief skim, ordered burgers to go from a tiered, worn-down looking waitress. Then they were left to sit there, alone, waiting.