Saludos mis queridos amigos, vamos a leer hoy una historia de ficción, "El sillón de Miss Brown".
¡Espero que os guste!
MISS BROWN'S ARMCHAIR by Susan Burns.
From: Speak Up magazine.
We went into the bookshop in Horley Street. It had a comfortable and restful lunchroom upstairs. The sort of place where old ladies met their childhood friends. They did very good soup and an excellent chocolate cake. An old lady with a rather large pale blue coat and a dark blue hat was going slowly up the stairs assisted by a stick and a member of staff.
At the foot of the stairs there was an old , dark brown armchair. I was tired after all our shopping and I sat down in it.
"You can't sit in Miss Brown's chair!" said Gwen.
"Miss Brown's chair?" I queried. "Who is Miss Brown?"
"That old lady in blue you saw going up the stairs. This is her personal armchair."
"This is a bookshop! People don't have personal armchairs in bookshops!"
"Miss Brown does!"
"How did she manage that?"
"Well, she's an amazing old lady. A bit batty. Actually, extremely batty. But she's an intelligent woman. A teacher. She taught in Africa for quite a long time."
"How do you know all this?"
"I used to have a boyfriend called Tony who worked here."
"Well, how did she get the armchair?"
"She's been coming here for years. Twice a week she meets someone here for lunch. Usually her niece or a neighbour. She always comes about an hour early. A couple of years ago she was waiting for her niece, and suddenly felt unwell. Tony got her a chair, an ordinary wooden one. She sat down and, when she felt better, she put out her hand and picked up a book. Being there so early, she managed to get through about 20 pages. So you know what she did?"
"What?"
"She didn't buy the book. She came back the next day and looked for Tony. Young man, she said. I've come to finish my book, Can you get the chair please?
Well, Tony was a bit perplexed by the request, but he got the chair and she sat down to read... completely at home. Unfortunately, the manager saw her."
"So, what happened?"
"Well, when he tried to explain to her that his wasn't a library, Miss Brown said quite calmly: "But I'm old and I've been in Africa. Could you please bring me a cup of tea?"
"You must be joking!"
"No, I'm not!"
The manager replied sarcastically: "I suppose you'll want an armchair next."
"So she got her armchair?"
"No, no. She replied: That would be wonderful! The manager just turned and walked away, but he told his staff that when Miss Brown left the shop the chair was to be removed. Well, the staff were sorry because they liked Miss Brown and they supposed she was probably near the end of the book".
"The next day a man told one of the younger staff that there was a lady in the shop who didn't feel well and needed a chair. Out came the chair again and it was taken to the lady..."
"Miss Brown?"
"Miss Brown!" Luckily, it was the manager's day off and he didn't know. The staff thought she would get to be the end of her book, and that would be the end of the story."
"But it wasn't!"
"No, it wasn't. In fact, it went on for months. The manager was exasperated but kept up the battle. But then he got a promotion and moved to a larger branch. The new manager was a Ms Gregg. She asked for an armchair to be put in her office. The brown armchair appeared. The soty with Miss Brown continued and one day Ms Gregg took her into the office to speak to her."
"Was Miss Brown upset?"
"Far from it! She sat in the armchair and listened. All she said was, "I once had a student called Gregg. Antonia Gregg. An awfully nice girl."
Ms Gregg gasped.
"You aren't Miss Brown from Camswell School, are you?
"That's right!"
So twice a week Miss Brown entered the office with her book and sat down to read as if she owned the place while Md Gregg got on with her work.
The day came when Ms Gregg retired. The new manager arranged for the armchair to be taken away. He asked Tony to put it at the foot of the stairs for the men to pick up.
Of course, in came Miss Brown, who sat down, and the armchair was hers! She has always thought they put it there especially for her. When the men came to pick it up she sent them packing!
"Let's go and have lunch", I said. "I want to take a look at this Miss Brown!"
VOCABULARY
-RESTFUL: relajado.
-LUNCHROOM: comedor.
-CHILDHOOD: infancia.
-STICK: bastón.
-TO QUERY: preguntar.
-AMAZING: increíble.
-BATTY: chiflado.
-TO PICK UP: coger.
-TO GET THROUGH: leer.
-LIBRARY: bilbioteca.
-TO REMOVE: quitar.
-DAY OFF: día libre.
-TO KEEP UP: mantener.
-UPSET: molesto.
-AWFULLY NICE: sumamente agradable.
-TO GASP: resoplar.
-TO RETIRE: jubilarse.
-TO ARRANGE FOR: organizar.
-TO TAKE AWAY: retirar.
-SHE SENT THEM PACKING: los mandóa a la porra.
HAVE A NICE DAY!!!
SEE YOU!!!
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