TONY BRIGGS
Hey! The light from the hall was shining through the dining room window. Well, I've shut the door now.

SEFTON BRIGGS
Well, it's only a sort of practice.

TONY
Oh, is it? I got the impression it was a bit more serious than that.

SEFTON
Ah, they'd better declare war, and let's get on with it then.

TONY
(sarcastically)
Well said, Father!

SEFTON
Well, I'm coming to think that that chap, Churchill, might be right.

TONY
Well, well, well. Better late than never.

SEFTON
I made some tea, if you'd like a cup.

TONY
Uh, no thanks. I've imbibed rather freely at other springs.

SEFTON
Yes, I can see that. You seem well able to hold it.

TONY
You're very free with the compliments tonight.

SEFTON
Do you have to talk to me as if I was a distant relative?

TONY
(laughing)
Distant? That's very good. I must remember that.

(He begins to walk away.)

SEFTON
Tony...

TONY
(stopping)
Yes?

SEFTON
I'm trying to talk to you.

TONY
(walking back toward his father)
Yes.

SEFTON
When your mother was ill, those last few days before she left us, we talked a lot about you and our Jo. I'll tell you one of the things she said to me.

TONY
I think I'd rather you didn't.

SEFTON
"I wish you and our Tony could get along a little better," she said.

TONY
Look, Dad, there's no... Look, let's just get to the point, shall we? If I stay on at the works, I'll be standing in Uncle Edwin's way. I'm sure that must have occurred to you.

SEFTON
It's you I'm concerned about.

TONY
Concerned? Oh, my God. You'll have me in tears in a minute.

SEFTON
I've said I'm concerned, and I am.

TONY
I think I'd better get to bed.

(He walks away.)

TONY
You can give me your instructions in the morning.

SEFTON
Instructions?

TONY
Oh, yes. You've won another victory, Father.

 

(from "The Summer Before the War" by John Finch)