FOURTH GRADE CLASSROOM ANNOUNCEMENT :

"Story 9"

23883_hqdefault.jpg

I live in a small house in London. One day, while I was walking my dog, I accidentally stumbled and fell on the pavement. I hit my head and I lost memory of what happened afterwards. All I can say is that I woke up in my bed and now, I‘m not even sure whether I actually went for that walk with the dog. The day after the accident, I believed I heard someone talking. The tv was off and I live alone with my dog. There couldn’t be anybody else in the house. I was puzzled. I was sure the voice came from the sitting-room. I opened the door slowly; I couldn’t see anybody but the dog. Once in, the voice stopped. My dog came wagging to me. I said softly: “be quiet”. Then I heard that voice. It said: “Ok”. I looked at the dog jaw dropped and said: “WHAT?”. It answered: “I said, OK". (Gabriele G.)
I stood there speechless:" my dog ​​can.... speak?" I couldn't believe it. "I've got to go and get some coffee to wake me up a bit" I thought and I went straight to the kitchen. Afters a few warm, regenerating sips, I came back to the sitting-room and there it was, lying placidly on the sofà. It seemed as if Charlie was sleeping. His little paw covered its his eyes, but as soon he heard my footsteps, it stood up on the pillow wagging with joy. "Here is my boy!" I smiled, "it must have been a figment of my imagination due to that fall". I sat next to him and started to pet him gently. "More up .... aah, yeah! There! Right there .... Aah you're so good! " What? That voice was real! I jumped to my feet, took my dog and looked at him straight in his eyes: " Charlie, YOU can speak? But dogs cannot speak! I can't believe it! It's a dream... I must be sleeping, it cannot be otherwise! " I walked like crazy around the house with the dog still under my arm. At some point I stopped. I stared at my dog's face and said to him: " c'mon, talk!" And he did talk: "look" he said, "it's normal all animals talk". I fell heavily on the sofà: "... eeh now, what shall I do?" (Alice M.)
Still incredulous for what I had just heard I decided to go to a vet to see what my dog had. Charlie should be a simple beagle, how could he SPEAK!? I took a shower in arecord time, put on in a gray jacket, took the keys of my Mercedes and ... "Hey, Sarah, why are you in a hurry!" Charlie exclaimed while I was at the door to take the scarf. I turned, leaned towards him and took him in my arms: "let's go to the vet immediately because YOU are not normal!". After hearing those words Charlie seeme quite annoyed, but after all he was still a dog and could not do anything.
When we arrived at the vet's, Sarah was nervous about what the doctor might say about Charlie. Shee paused for a moment to think, while waiting for her turn and came to a conclusion:her dog could be the only one in the world to talk,so the vet could decide to call the media and maybe Charlie could be taken away from me forever". In the blink of an eye she got up from her chair and left the waiting room.
While he was driving back home, Charlie started talking again: "I did not realize you were so stupid," and Sarah replied, "But Charlie, how long have you been talking ?" And Charlie: " I have been able to speak since I was born , it's you who could not figure out what I said." Sarah stopped at the lights to think how that was possible:"Somehow,I'll have to deal with it."While Charlie was leaning against the half-open window, she saw Nicole crossing the street with her labrador Levis. "Hello Nicole" and jokingly added "Hello, Levis" and both in chorus replied: "Hello, Sarah". The light turned green and Sarah pushed the accelerator with a stunned face. "Did you see?? You did not want to believe it, but in truth all animals speak ... " (Edoardo P.)
When we arrived home I was still shocked,”I still can’t make out why I can understand you, I mean why couldn’t I understand you before,W..what happened?”-I asked-“Ok, let me explain it to you, just chill out mate ok?”. -The dog replied-“So, yesterday night during our walk you accidentally fell, and dude, it was so funny to see you fall! You should have seen your face! Anyway, I was saying that when you fell, your brain has entered a phase of total relaxation that made you understand things, it is as if you had evolved, because now you are able to use a larger percentage of your brain, so you can understand the animal language. Cool, right?”-now I was even more confused than before, but that dog, was a kind of funny; so, I tried to calm down and understand what was going on.”Ok, I hope I’ll get used to hear you talk even if I don’t think so, anyway, are you hungry?”- I asked”-“maan, I’m starving give me some food”. I brought him his favorite crunches and I was cooking some pasta for me when I heard him complain:”I truly can’t understand why you humans give us this crap to eat”-“I thought those where your favorite”-“No they’re not”-the dog replied-“I’m not a beast, I want some real food, give me some pasta, and not overcooked, thanks” (Federico T.)
"Charlie your pasta is ready " and in a moment the little talking dog arrived at the table while continuing to sniff the delicious smell of sauce that came from the plate. "I hope you like it ... Pasta with tomatoes and meatballs" said Sarah. In one fell swoop Charlie had licked all the sauce left on his plate. He must be a gourmet dog, for sure. After lunch Sarah and Charlie decided to go for a walk to the park near the house. Sarah was curious to see if she could really understand the language of all the other animals. As she walked along the sidewalk, Charlie suddenly stopped. "Hey, Charlie! What's wrong with you?" Sarah said, and he replied, "let's take another way, I do not want to go through here." "Why?" asked Sarah, and again Charlie, "do you see that doberman over there?" That 's Riko the nutcracker, the strongest and toughest dog in the whole neighborhood " he said in an annoyed tone, "he wants to go out with Vanessa, the most beautiful poodle of all the poodles" "So what? What has it to do with you?" said Sarah, "well....the point it...... I like Vanessa." In the meanwhile, Rico and his master had arrived right in front of Charlie and Sarah and Riko threw a glare at Charlie and the they went away. "That dog wants me dead," Charlie said.( Edoardo P.)
Don't be scared! I will always protect you" Sarah said to him. "But, he will always find a way to hurt me... and maybe you too!" he repiled. "I'm not afraid of a dog!" While they were talking, Charlie's attention was drawn by Vanessa, that was passing by. "Look! She is Vanessa, she is so pretty, isn't she? " he said. "Come on, go to talk to her" - "Are you mad?" He was shy and he was afraid he wouldn't be be liked by her. "Keep calm, i'm gonna tell you exactly what you have to do: now, go there and tell her 'hey Vanessa, you look pretty, every day you look pretty', trust me!" e went to her and told her " H-Hey V-Vanessa, y-you l-look... mhh... y-you l-look, p-p-pr-rre-e..." - "Pree... What?"she did not understand what he was trying to tell her. "P-p-pre-e-et-t..."- "Preet... Pretty?" - "Yeah, yeah, sooo ( Alessio T.)
Ppp-ree-t-t-tyy..." Charlie's face had turned red like pepper. Then, Vanessa heard him and answered: "Oh, Charlie! You are so kind!" Charlie stood there and could do nothing but blushing. After that, I heard a strong bark from the other side of the road. Charlie was so distracted and bewitched by Vanessa that he didn't hear it. Unfortunately, I understood it was Riko's bark and my poor Charlie would have been so sad about it. Now that Riko was closer to me, I could see him better. He was a big, muscular doberman with fire in his eyes. Vanessa said: "Oh, Riko's calling me. I'm sorry, Charlie, but I have to go now..." Charlie didn't say anything. His face changed from red to purple, but he was still looking at Vanessa very deeply. When my dog and I started to go towards my house, Riko barked again and stared Charlie with a very cruel gaze. Charlie told me Riko had laughed at him and had said: "Remember, stupid little dog, I always get what I want! I'm the best dog of the neighbourhood. The most charming. The strongest. And if you touch my little, sweet Vanessa again, I'll make a fur with your hair!" That dog was a real bastard. My poor Charlie then started to whine. (Mattia A.)


Sarah still couldn't believe she could understand what the animals and especially her dog Charlie could say, but even more she felt sorry because she could understand what her little dog felt for Vanessa. A feeling of love just like humans feel it! They arrived at home that was dinner time so, to cheer up her little friend, Sarah decided to go to the supermarket to buy a couple of those cans of meat that Charlie likes so much ... Once at home Charlie jumped on the couch to rest while Sarah began cooking her own dinner and the food for Charlie. It was clear that Charlie was sad and that something was wrong so Sarah tried to ask him something more about his crush on Vanessa ... "hey Charlie, I think you went great with Vanessa today in the park!" Said Sarah "mh you say so?" Charlie answered unhappy, thinking back to what had happened a few hours earlier in the park "you fool of a dog! Trust me, you impressed her, she also told you that you were very kind!" Sarah replied trying to increase self-esteem in Charlie "well Sarah, you are not wrong, but have you seen how Riko stared at me? Moreover, when he threatened me? Now I have no more chance to talk to Vanessa, that dog will hurt me sooner or then" Charlie said with a sad face "Do you want to know something Charlie? That dog gets big just because he is a Dobermann, you are much smarter and polite than he is, and dogs like Vanessa like this type of dogs, just like you!" Sarah finalized. At this point Charlie could not believe that he, himself, could manage to conquer Vanessa ... "thanks Sarah I love you, and you know what? Tomorrow I will try to go to Vanessa's house to ask her out! And you know what else? I don't care about Riko, he doesn't scare me ..." So, that evening, Charlie who was proud of himself, started thinking about how to ask Vanessa to go to dinner with him, he thought about it so much that he fell asleep on the sofa without noticing it. The next morning, little Charlie was delighted, he prepared himself well, took a flower from the backyard, and without warning Sarah he went out toward Vanessa's house, two blocks ahead. Although very quiet, he looked around to make sure Riko wasn't nearby, so he took a deep breath and knocked on the door with his right paw. “knock knock”... Nothing moved, as if nobody was in home. 5 minutes passed after Charlie knocked again ... He was about to leave, when suddenly the door opened, but it was only Mary, Vanessa's mistress... But, behind her, here she is, the most beautiful poodle of all the poodles, with that curly and snow-white fur, her pink collar with the bow, those eyes shining like the sun in the morning, she was Vanessa. "Wow you are fantastic today!" exclaimed Charlie "well thanks Charlie; you are always so kind to me. Lately there are no more dogs as kind as you are..." said Vanessa, and Charlie more excited than ever did his duty: "You know I was wondering if ... if you would like to come to dinner with me tomorrow night. I had in mind to take pasta with meatballs and eat them on the balcony of my house. What do you think?” and smiling, Vanessa replied "it's not a bad idea ... I'm in! Will you pick me up at 8 pm?" Charlie didn't believe in his eyes, Vanessa had said yes! Almost stammering he replied "yy-yeah, ss-s-so see you tomorrow Vanessa!" So finally, Charlie had managed to have an appointment with Vanessa, he returned home, he told everything to Sarah and she said she was very happy for him because she really loves him. She loves him very much because he is the only thing she has left after she lost her boyfriend in that serious accident, one evening while returning home with the heavy beating rain. That is why she cares a lot about Charlie and vice versa. They love each other so much that they are inseparable. Therefore, the next day, Sarah went out with Charlie to go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients to prepare the delicious dish for her dog, who finally had the opportunity to go out with the dog he loved. It was a day like any other, the sun was shining, Charlie was happy and wagging his tail like never before. Leaving the supermarket, the two walked towards the car, Sarah turned to Charlie and said: "So my little boy, are you happy?" and Charlie replied: "of course Sarah, I dreamed this day for a long time and now my wish would come true, and it is finally here". Nevertheless, as soon as Charlie finished talking, a car skidded to avoid a pedestrian and violently hit Sarah, who hit her head on the ground. Yet, her head hurts a lot, she sees all black. A light, at first dim, then that light becomes more intense. A figure, a black figure, not recognizable because everything she sees is all blurred. A voice, what does it say? Sarah doesn't understand it. "Sarah? Sarah can you hear me? If you can hear me say something" someone said ... but it was as if Sarah could not talk or even move her arms or legs. Then the figure became more recognizable, like... like it was a human, with... with a doctor's coat? How was that possible? Sarah was going toward her car with Charlie, but then, the same voice talked again; it said - "Sarah, you are alive! Can you hear me? I will tell you everything… you have been here in the hospital since the accident with James, your boyfriend, and… emh… yeah you have been in a coma so far”. "Thanks God you are alive ... isn't life beautiful sometimes?” So yeah, it was a doctor. And yeah, it was just a dream...

END

Edoardo Piazzolla




EDOARDO P.