Mary s Life. Flávio Monteiro

Mary s Life Flávio Monteiro

2 MARY S LIFE

1 Hello, I m Mary. I m Canadian. I m from Whistler, a nice city in Canada. It is near Vancouver and there are many mountains and parks there. I love my hometown! My last name is Peart and I am 22 years old. I m single and I am a student at a great university. The university s name is University of Calgary. Calgary is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. I live in Calgary. I study English. I want to be a teacher! I like books. My favorite writers are Stephanie Meyer and Nicholas Sparks. The Host and Dear John are fantastic works! I have two brothers and one sister. My brother s names are Alex and Jim, and my sister s name is Kate. Alex is 16 years old. He s a student and his favorite free time activity is drawing. He draws animals, especially dogs. His dogs are very beautiful! Jim is 30 and he is married. His wife s name is Jill. She is 32. Jim is a doctor and Jill is an architect. They have a kid. His name is Michael and he is 4 years old. They are a happy family! My sister Kate is a musician. She s 23. She plays two musical instruments: the guitar and the bass. She likes jazz music. Kate is single. My parents are Robert and Suzy. My father is 58 and my mother is 60. Dad is a police officer and Mom is an actress. 2 It s lunch break at the University now. I am with Julia. She is a good friend. She s 23 and she s Mexican. She s from Mexico City. Julia is an intelligent girl and she s in the English program. We are in the cafeteria. We are happy and tired. It s the end of the semester. Everybody is making plans for the summer now. I m going to travel. I m going to drive up to Whitehorse, in the state of Yukon. Whitehorse is the capital. There are big museums and nice rivers there. In Whitehorse, I m going to visit my boyfriend. His name is Neil. He s 28 and he s a cook. He s a chef at a very famous restaurant. He s a nice man! It s possible that I will live in Whitehorse with Neil in the future and that we will get married. I m so excited! I love him and he loves me! It s one o clock p.m. We ll go to class now. THE BLACK CAT AND OTHER STORIES 1

3 On my way to the classroom, I see Mr. Carson s office. Mr. Carson is an American Literature professor here. He s a nice man. He is reading a book. I look at him and say hi. He is very glad to see me. I m a good student. Mr. Carson says: May I speak to you for a minute, Mary? I stop and listen. Mr. Carson says: There is a literature event downtown tonight. Dan Brown is going to talk about his books and his career. Can you go there and write a report about it? I say yes and go to the classroom. 4 Now I m at home. It s two p.m. and it s a beautiful afternoon. I m in my bedroom. There are nice things here: a computer, a television, a video game system and many books, of course. There is a big photograph too: my boyfriend and I together and very happy. them! I ll play a video game now. I love adventure games! I have a good time when I play After playing, it s time to go to the gym. I m going to work out. 5 Now I m back from the gym. My dad is reading the newspaper and my mom is washing the dishes. My brother Alex is drawing and my sister Kate is playing the guitar. I m very tired and I ll take a shower. After the shower, I get my cell phone and call Neil, my boyfriend. We start our conversation: - Hello, Neil! - Hello, babe, how are you doing? - Fine, dear. What about you? - I m excited! Your visit is coming! 2 MARY S LIFE

- That s right. I m so glad! I m leaving for Whitehorse on the 4th next month. I m going to spend two weeks with you. - I m sure we ll have a ball here, sweetie! - For sure. There s an important event I m going to participate in tonight. I ve got to go now, honey. Bye! - Take care, Mary. 6 After I say goodbye to Neil, the phone rings. It s Julia, my friend from the university: - Hello, Julia. How are you? - I m fine, Mary. Are you going downtown tonight? - Yes, I am. There s a literature event and I ve got to write a report about it. I m going to meet Dan Brown! It s incredible! - Oh, really? Can I go with you? - Of course, Julia. - Are you going on foot? - No, I m not. I m driving. Are you coming to my house so we can go together? - Yeap. I ll be there at 8 p.m. - Ok, Julia. 7 It s evening. I ve got to get ready for the event. I m by my bedroom window and I see the trees in the backyard. They re tall and beautiful, and I remember Neil. He s not here with me. I m sad Julia arrives and tells me about her day. Her life here is very nice. voice! We enter my car and listen to music. Now Adele is singing with her marvelous On our way to the event, we observe Calgary. There are monuments, restaurants, shopping malls and many other things. It s a great place! There are a lot of people downtown. Many of them are here to see Dan Brown. MARY S LIFE 3

He s a very famous celebrity in Canada. Julia and I are thirsty and hungry. Before the event starts, we decide to go to Geddy s, a nice pizza place here! 8 Now we re having pepperoni pizza and chatting. Some of our friends are at Geddy s too. Everybody is having a good time! Julia is telling me about Mexico in Spanish! I m glad I can understand a word here and there. I ve got to practice. Spanish is a beautiful language. Then I see Mr. Carson. He s eating alone. He sees me and smiles. There s a book on his table. Probably one of Dan Brown s works. I think my professor will ask for an autograph. I observe Mr. Carson. He finishes his pizza and starts reading. He s so serious! He reads and reads and then he screams! There s a large mouse under his table! No, in reality there are two mice! The professor is desperate! Julia and I are perplexed and everybody is laughing! I look at my professor and say: Don t panic!, but Mr. Carson ignores me and leaves the place. 9 It s time to meet Dan Brown! We leave Geddy s and go to the auditorium where the famous writer is going to be. There are many people in the auditorium. I can see students, teachers, reporters and dozens of Dan s fans! Everybody is so excited! Dan appears and greets the audience. He is thankful that we re all there to see him. He says that he s going to speak about his books and career, and also that everybody can participate and ask questions. After some time, I see Mr. Carson entering the room. He s serious again. I ask the writer: - Mr. Brown, what is your favorite book in American literature? He stops, thinks for a second and says: - It s a John Steinbeck book. The title is Of Mice and Men. Everybody looks at Mr. Carson and laughs. He s so embarrassed! 4 MARY S LIFE

The event is nice. The audience and the writer have fun. 10 Saturday morning. It s a new day! I get up, take a long shower and have breakfast. The pancakes my mother prepares are delicious! I ve got to write the report for Mr. Carson, but I feel lazy this morning So, I decide to surf the net. First, I check my e-mail. Next, I watch funny videos. I m using a social network now. I m chatting with friends from all over the world. They re Brazilian, Japanese, Italian, American, etc. My boyfriend is a social network friend too. He says hello and we chat for three hours. I tell him all about last night. He loves Mr. Carson s mice episode! He laughs a lot! too After the chat with Neil I call Julia and we talk for some minutes. She feels lazy Today is Julia s mother s birthday. Now I remember it. The party is going to be tonight at Julia s house. I m tired, but I ve got to go! I m sure it will be good. I ll stay home all day long. No reports today 11 At the party, I have soda and nachos. Nachos is a Mexican dish of tortilla chips covered with cheese or cheese-based sauce, served as a snack. It is delicious! We re having a good time, and everybody is happy tonight. Julia introduces me to Gina, her cousin: - This is Gina. - says Julia. - Nice to meet you, Gina! - I say. - Nice to meet you too, Mary! - Gina replies with a smile. We start talking and Gina tells me about her routine: - I m a waitress at a fast food restaurant downtown. I work there in the morning and in the afternoon. I m an actress too. I m in drama school at night. One day, I want to be very famous, like Jennifer Lawrence! On weekends, I go to the cinema with my friends. MARY S LIFE 5

Wow, Gina is an actress, and that is so nice! She goes on: - My dad has a house on the mountains. It s a cabin. I go there to practice for the presentations at the drama school. It s very important to get ready for them. Hey, girls, it s a good idea if we go there right now! I look at Julia. I can see in her eyes that she likes her cousin s suggestion. It s midnight. We decide to go to the cabin. 12 We re in Gina s car. She s driving and the three of us are singing. Lady Gaga is playing on the radio. It s a cold night. We re on the road to Gina s father s cabin. We are going up the mountain. There are no people here. It s very silent. It s so different from the party! After some minutes, we see the cabin. There s a black cat in front of it Gina parks her car and we walk to the cabin s front door. Gina unlocks it and opens it. It s a quiet and dark atmosphere. Gina says there s an electric lamp they use to light the place. Where is the lamp? We can t find it! We hear a sound outside: it s the car. Someone is driving it in circles around the 6 MARY S LIFE

cabin! The door closes. We try to open it, but it is locked! We re all desperate! The sound of the car stops. We have no idea of what s happening 13 It is dark, but the moonlight helps us see parts of the room. Now we re quiet. Then Julia says: - Mary, are you there? - Yes, I am. We re in an insane situation! - That s right, my friend! What are we going to do? - I don t know Wait a second, we can phone our parents! - Oh, yeah! I ll get my cell phone! - Me too! Wait I can t find my cell phone! - And I can t find mine, Mary! Oh, my! - Gina, what about your phone? Is it there with you? Gina? Gina?!? Where are you?!? Gina isn t in the cabin with us! Where is she?!? 14 Julia and I stop. We are quiet now. We sit down and notice it s raining outside. There s thunder and lightning, and it s probably over one a.m. sleep. My friend is sleeping. I think she s very tired. I m anxious and nervous, and I can t After one or two hours, the car is back. It is surrounding the cabin again. This time there s music coming from the car. It s a strange instrumental song. The music is very loud. Wow, it s an incredible guitar sound! Julia wakes up and tells me she s afraid. I m afraid too, but Julia is completely desperate! She s screaming! The car and the music stop. There are footsteps outside. Someone is walking in the cabin s direction, in our direction! Who is that person?!? MARY S LIFE 7

15 The door opens... Julia and I are terrified! A strange man appears at the door. He s wearing a black jacket and his face It s so dark, we can t see it - What are you girls doing here at this time of night? the strange man asks with a peculiar voice. We re afraid and silent. He continues: - It s so dangerous here! You don t understand the risks! I m sure your parents always tell you that. Now I ll teach you a lesson you ll never forget. I will punish you, disobedient girls! The strange man approaches us. He takes an object out of his jacket pocket 16 We look at the object. It isn t large. The man moves it from one hand to the other. Then the object becomes big. It is an umbrella! The music starts to play again. It s jazz now. Is the strange man dancing? Now the lights are on. Julia holds the electric lamp. She is laughing! I look at the strange man. It s Gina, Julia s cousin! Now I remember: she s an actress! Julia and Gina are laughing a lot. They are having a ball! I m furious, and then I see Kate, my sister, entering the cabin. - Hello, sis! - Kate says. I m sorry about the instrumental music. That s a recording of me playing the guitar in my bedroom. I m not ok, and I ask my sister and my two friends: - Why, you stupid girls? - Because we have a surprise for you! they answer in chorus. 8 MARY S LIFE

17 The music is different now. It s a romantic Celine Dion song. She s a Canadian singer who sings the famous song My Heart will Go On from the Titanic movie. Again, there are footsteps outside, but this time we aren t tense. I look at the open door. Can you imagine who enters the cabin? It s Neil! My boyfriend is here to see me! He s got a nice smile on his face! I m so happy! I give him a hug and a big kiss! - What a surprise, dear!- I say to my boyfriend. - It s good to be here, babe. - he replies. Now we re all happy and dancing. The author Flávio Monteiro MARY S LIFE 9

18 It s Sunday and I m with Neil. We re walking hand in hand at a beautiful park here in Calgary. It s a wonderful sunny day! There are many birds singing and lots of tall trees. There s also a river here, and the water is nice and clean. We can see a group of kids playing soccer, and also couples walking together, just like Neil and me. We re making lots of plans; every word we say is a word of affection. The fact that Neil is here is marvelous. It s perfect! I want this day to be eternal! I m daydreaming The author Flávio Monteiro 10 MARY S LIFE