Dear Readers,
We would like to invite you to take part in a new project called "From Stories to Books".
The Stories for Everyone Team have been, for some time, gathering and selecting books that provide some sort of reflection on the fundamental ethical principles of
our society, such as solidarity, courage, honesty, respect for differences and a sense of justice, matters that have deserved the attention of writers from various
nationalities.
Therefore, the Stories for Everyone Team proposes to send, together with the usual weekly stories,and also free of charge, full texts of selected books.
In case you are interested in receiving each week, by email, a chapter of an extensive reading book, all you have to do is send an email to
books@storiesforeveryone.com or stories4ev@gmail.com by writing the following sentence in the subject field:
"Yes, I am interested in participating in the project From Stories to Books."
Hoping that this new proposal will meet your utmost interest, we look forward to your reply.
The Stories for Everyone Team
Regretting My First Kiss
I wish I could take back my first kiss. I wish that it hadn´t been out of spite and jealous revenge. I wish that I hadn´t been stupid and drank that night. I wish for a lot of things, but most of all, I wish that I had dealt with everything differently, so I wouldn´t be stuck with this memory.
A sixteenth birthday party, especially your own, is supposed to be cherished. It´s supposed to be something to look back on with fondness and say, "Wow. That was great." The night started out perfectly. My best friend Katie and I were sharing our party, and she arrived at my house to get ready. We pulled on our dresses and applied our make-up to the blasting tunes of Justin Timberlake and 50 Cent. An hour before our party, Katie pulled out a bottle of vodka.
"It´s our sixteenth!" she said, unscrewing the cap. "Have fun and drink up!" Although it was diluted with cranberry juice, the alcohol still burned my throat and my stomach, and immediately gave me a buzzing sensation in my head. I felt like I wasn´t myself, but that wasn´t such a bad thing. I was usually a wallflower, the shy girl in the back of the classroom who knew the answers but wouldn´t raise her hand. So maybe not being myself was good, especially on the night of my birthday.
That was my first mistake: Not being me.
The second didn´t occur until the guests started arriving. Since Katie and I don´t live in the same state, the coffee shop we had rented was soon packed with teenagers from New York and Connecticut. Katie and I enjoyed ourselves and began making regular trips to the bathroom to finish off the rest of the vodka in doses from the little plastic cups. We never got through the whole thing, and we didn´t need to. I was tipsy from the first sip, and I was probably drunk by the time the party was halfway through. It was that night I found out I was a lightweight.
With the flow of partygoers, my friend Chris finally arrived. I had known him since we were both three, and our relationship had been complicated ever since I started liking him as more than a friend. That summer, though, he had gotten a girlfriend, and when I called him to get together, he was always busy. Maybe I was being immature then, but he was my first real crush, and he was dating a girl who none of his other friends liked, and who hated me.
That was the second mistake: Letting my jealousy get to me.
I was going to make Chris see that I could be fun and beautiful, as well as intelligent. I already felt the part, with my hot pink dress, elegantly curled hair, and boosted confidence, so all I needed was to act like it. I danced and laughed and flirted, but he didn´t notice, or didn´t seem to care. In the middle of it all, I spotted the one who would make Chris experience the heartbreaking envy that I was feeling.
His name was Sam, and I hadn´t seen him in forever. When I still lived in an apartment about eight years ago, he lived in the room below me. Back then, though, he was an innocent boy who used to do everything with me, from skating to seeing movies to going trick-or-treating during Halloween. Now? He smoked, he drank, and he did drugs… He was the complete opposite of me, and the epitome of the guy I was taught to stay away from. Despite that, I felt if anyone could help me, it would be Sam. No one knew him, he didn´t know anyone, and, best of all, he didn´t know the real me.</ p>
We were on the couch before I knew what was happening. I was curled up next to him, his arm around my shoulders, as we yelled to each other above the pounding music. Everyone was stealing glances in our direction, gossiping unbelievingly that I was actually with a boy, while Katie tried to avert their attention. There was some novelty to the moment, something that compelled me to actually start to like it. I had never had a boyfriend, and I had never had a boy pay this much attention to me before. I couldn´t believe it. Sam, who had probably had numerous girlfriends and partied every night, ac tually seemed like he was interested in me… Or, at least, the person he thought I was.
Which brings us to my third mistake: Letting it get too far.
When he leaned in to kiss me, I must have known on some level that it wasn´t really me he wanted to kiss. He wanted to kiss the vision I had created for myself. And I knew that I hadn´t really wanted him to kiss me anyway. I just wanted Chris to look over and see us talking and having a great time in the hopes that he´d realize we were meant to be together. But that´s not how it happened.
I leaned away as he was leaning forward.
(To be continued in the PDF attachment)
Nicollette Alvarez
__________________________________________
"I wish I had a friend," sighed Laura as she gazed out of her bedroom window. "Someone special, to share all my secrets with."
But there was no one listening – only the distant stars that winked and glittered like tiny jewels in the night sky.
Suddenly, something caught Laura´s eye.
A streak of silver came whirling and twisting through the darkness towards her. She gasped as it spun past her window, so close she could almost touch it.
Something wonderful, something magical, was happening!
Laura quickly put on her dressing gown and slippers, and hurried downstairs.
Outside on the shadowy pavement lay a little star, fizzing sparks and colours like a giant sparkler.
"You are so beautiful," Laura whispered, as she tiptoed towards it.
A point of the star had broken, snapped off, when it hit the ground.
"Don´t worry," Laura told it, as she gently carried it back indoors. "I´ll soon make you better."
And up in her bedroom she managed to stick the little star together again.
Later, Laura told the little star all her secrets, and it seemed to sparkle more brightly than ever. As if it were listening. As if it understood.
And, as Laura drifted off to sleep, she knew she´d found a special friend at last.
When Laura woke the next morning, the space on her pillow was empty.
The little star had gone!
Laura was desperate. She searched under the quilt and scrabbled through drawers and cupboards. She climbed high to the top of the wardrobe and crawled low beneath the bed. But it was no good. She couldn´t find the little star anywhere.
Laura felt cold and empty, as if all the light had drained out of her. Surely the wonderful little star hadn´t been only a dream?
When Laura came home from the playground, Mum and Dad tried their best to cheer her up.
"How about your favourite jelly?" said Dad.
"Don´t you like my funny hat?" asked Mum.
Laura couldn´t answer, couldn´t tell them why she was so sad. Her star had gone forever, and she hadn´t even said goodbye.
That night, as Laura climbed wearily up to bed, she saw a strange glow flickering from her room. Hardly daring to hope, she pushed the door open.
The sudden blaze of light was dazzling. The little star was back just where she´d left it, shinning like a thousand diamonds.
At first, Laura could only stand and stare. Suddenly, joyfully, she ran towards it.
(to be continued in the PDF attachment)
Klaus Baumgart
Laura´s Star
London, Little Tiger Press, 2000
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Posted by: Stories for Everyone - AS <sg@storiesforeveryone.com>
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