The Shoe-Horn Sonata

As the lights come up on the television studio, Rick asks how long Sheila and Bridie have known each other, and Sheila says they met the night their respective ships sank in February, 1942. Rick then asks why Sheila and her family hadn’t already left Singapore by that point, and before Sheila can properly answer, Bridie says, “The British were a bit thick sometimes.” Frustrated by this remark, Sheila cuts in, saying, “We were patriotic. We didn’t want to leave. I remember mother saying, ‘Sheila, you and I are English women. We do not run away from a few Orientals…’”

Behind Sheila, photographs appear of the evacuation of Singapore on February 13, 1942. As these images of chaos are projected on the screen, Sheila explains that she boarded a boat for Australia while her mother stayed in order to “stop the Japs looting her silver.” A Bridie’s behest, Sheila hesitantly tells Rick what her mother said upon her departure. “You’ll be living with Colonials now, so set a good example,” she told her daughter. “Always wear gloves—wherever you go. Don’t socialize with Catholics—unless they’re French or titled. And never kiss an Australian on the lips.”

Sheila tells Rick that she boarded the escape boat under the impression that she’d return to Singapore several weeks later. Because the boat was so crowded, everyone slept above deck, which is why Sheila awoke to the Japanese military’s harsh spotlights when the ship was found at three in the morning. “For a while nothing happened,” Sheila says, but then the Japanese began shooting at the ship and people started jumping overboard. When a man turned to Sheila and asked if she could swim, Sheila said, “A bit,” and so he threw her into the water. Seconds later, the Japanese bombed the ship, which “rose up from the water” and then “crashed on its side.” Luckily, Sheila found a piece of wood to help her stay afloat, and so she drifted along like that, shouting all the while for help.

“You must have been scared,” Rick says, to which Sheila proudly replies, “Not really,” though Bridie chimes in to say that she was “petrified.” As Sheila continues her story, the sound of waves plays over the speakers. Before long, Sheila explains, her body grew numb from the cold water, at which point she stopped caring whether or not she drowned. As such, she closed her eyes and sang a hymn. At this point in her narration, the voice of Young Sheila sounds over the speaker system as she sings “Jerusalem,” “a very moving and stirring hymn about the greatness of England—God’s chosen Empire.”

Telling her own story, Bridie says that her ship was also bombed by the Japanese. Just when she was about to jump overboard with a lifejacket, a fellow passenger stopped her and urged her to look at the others who had jumped, all of whom had been killed when they hit the water because their lifejackets had broken their necks. Because of this, Bridie climbed down a rope while “trying not to panic,” since she didn’t know how to swim. Once she got in the water, she says, she “tried to say a rosary” but ultimately “dozed off.” It wasn’t until she heard Sheila that she woke up again. “Weather’s turned a bit chilly for this time of year,” Sheila said, adding, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”

Telling Rick about her first conversation with Sheila, Bridie says that she found her new friend rather “stand-offish.” “Cartwright is an Irish name,” Sheila interjects. “Mother wouldn’t have approved.” Similarly, Bridie admits that she thought of Sheila as just “another stuck up Pom,” though she had no choice but to talk to her. In fact, she spoke at length to her because Sheila kept falling asleep and slipping off of her piece of wood. As such, Bridie peppered her with questions about food and movies and music, discovering that she was an avid Frank Sinatra fan, though Bridie herself prefers Bing Crosby. Unfortunately, though, their disagreements aren’t enough to keep Sheila awake, so Bridie starts hitting her on the forehead with her shoe-horn whenever she nods off. “Cut it out, you Catholic cow!” Sheila yelled after a while.

Thinking about how she used her shoe-horn to keep Sheila awake, Bridie notes that she lost the handy tool “later in the war.” Going back to the night their ships sank, though, she tells Rick that she was eventually too exhausted to hit Sheila. As such, Sheila was carried off by a large wave, and when Bridie yelled out for her, there was no response. Assuming Sheila had died, Bridie said a prayer “for her departed soul,” but then she heard her voice sounding out over the waves. Singing “Jerusalem” once again, Sheila appeared, still clinging to her plank of wood. “I was so darn relieved I even joined in,” Bridie says. “My Dad would have killed me—behaving like a Protestant.”

Rick asks how long it took for Sheila and Bridie to find shore, and Bridie says they never “washed up” on land, since a ship saw them and picked them up. Although Sheila was excited at first, the two women soon realized that the boat belonged to the Japanese. “I wanted to cry,” Sheila says. “But I reminded myself I was a Woman of the Empire. And it just wasn’t done to show fear to the natives.” After she says this, the lights go out and the audience hears the end of “Jerusalem” as pictures of the invasion of Singapore appear overhead.