Hola mis queridos amigos, hoy, un cuento corto que tiene por título "Una llamada en la Noche". ¡Espero que os guste!
Info: Speak Up magazine.
Photos: myloview.es / freepick.es (2)
A SHORT STORY - A CALL IN THE NIGHT by Rachel Roberts.
I'm not mad. I can prove it! It's true that I was exhausted when it happened. I'd always suffered from insomnia and after the accident it got much worse. Often I only slept about three hours a night and it began to affect my health and my work. But when it happened I wasn't dreaming, or hallucinating. I was perfectly lucid and very awake.
It was about four in the morning and I was just beginning to relax. So you can imagine how furious I felt when I heard the phone ring. It wasn't my phone. It was an irritating electronic bleep that woke me up in seconds. It had to be the neighbour's mobile. I knew the walls of my flat were very thin.
I pulled the covers over my head and waited for someone to answer. The ringing went on for ages. I was about to bang on the wall, when it stopped. I was so relieved I rolled over and would have fallen asleep immediately, but then the phone started ringing again.
I couldn't believe it! Why didn't they anwer? I sat up, wide awake, and realized I needed to go to the bathroom. I reached out for my own phone and postponed the alarm by a couple of hours, with a reminder to call in sick at work, then I got up and walked into the corridor.
It was then that the first shock hit me. The noise of the phone wasn't coming from the next door flat, but from somewhere in my own home. I could hear it much more clearly from the corridor. It was coming from the living room.
I can't describe how absolutely terrified I felt as I walked towards the living room door. Would I find burglars or something worse?
The door was standing open and I walked in with my heart beating painfully. A bluish glow illuminated one of the bookshelves and there was the phone, still making its horrible noise. But by that time, I wasn't listening.
The second shock of the evening had left me almost senseless. As soon as I saw it, I realised that the phone belonged to my sister and her phone couldn't possibly be ringing. The battery hadn't been charged for over two months, not since her fatal accident!!
My curiosity was stronger than my terror and I reached out and took the phone from the place where she'd left it on the day she died. I only held it for a few seconds before I dropped it with a cry. Just long enough to see my own face -my profile photograph- and my name lighting up the screen. The call was coming from my phone.
I had a sudden vivid memory of the day when I had tried to call my sister, to warn her about the weather alert and the dangerous conditions on the roads. She had forgotten her mobile in my flat and when I called, it had rung on the bookshelf where she'd left it. I had picked it up and seen my own face and name there. Just like now.
The phone stopped ringing as it hit the floor and I ran to switch on the light. Then a sudden thought made me laugh with relief. I had changed the alarm on my phone. In my exhausted and confused state I must have touched some command and accidentally called my sister.
My heart began to beat fast again and with shaking fingers I dialled her number. There were a few clicks and then a metallic recorded voice said: "The number you have dialled does not exist."
Of course. I had cancelled her contract myself!!!
I went back into the living room. It was beginning to get lighter outside but I left the light on. I pressed the on/off button hard on my sister's phone, but the screen remained blank. It was completely dead.
Why had it happened? Was it guilt that I had not been able to reach her on that day of torrential rain, when the river had flooded and overturned her car?
I waited a long time before calling her. I don't know why. Part of me thought she would hear the warning on the radio, Part of me was still angry with her because of the argument we had had just before she left.
Perhaps it wasn't guilt. Perhaps my sister was trying to reach me? Maybe she was angry with me because I hadn't warned her in time. That would be like her. She was always so bossy, always telling me what to do.
These were the thoughts that were running through my head as I lay back down in bed, just before the phone began ringing again. Just before the neighbour started banging on the wall. That's how I know I'm not mad, because he could hear it too.
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VOCABULARY.
-BLEEP: pitido.
-COVERS: sábanas.
-BANG ON THE WALL: aporrear la pared.
-TO ROLL OVER: darse la vuelta.
-TO REACH OUT FOR: estirar el brazo para agarrar algo.
-TO CALL IN SICK: llamar para avisar de que uno está enfermo.
-BURGLAR: ladrón.
-A BLUISH GLOW: un resplandor azulado.
-FATAL ACCIDENT: accidente mortal.
-TO OVERTURN: volcar.
-ARGUMENT: discusión.
-GUILT: culpa.
-BOSSY: mandona.
EXERCISE 1
Write the correct word used in the story in the gaps. The first letter and a description are given to help you.
a) The long journey left her e____________ (extremely tired)
b) The neighbour's alarm was so persistant that she began to b________ (thump) on the wall.
c) Her son looked g_________ (blameworthy) and she knew he'd taken the sweets.
d) I'd rather hide under the c________ (bedclothes) than face Monday morning.
e) Derek isn't here, he r_______(called) in sick this morning.
f) When she s_______(turned) on the light, she found a stranger in her home.
EXERCISE 2
Decide which word doesn't belong in the group.
a) guilt / responsibility / blame
b) bossy / stubborn / officious
c) dazed / confused / blank
d) dialled / called / rang
e) fatal / bad / lethal
f) white / blank / empty
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SOLUTIONS
EXERCISE 1 > a) exhausted / b) bang / c)guilty / d) covers / e) rang/ f) switched
EXERCISE 2 > a) blame / b) stubborn / c) blank / d) dialled / e) bad / f) white.
SEE YOU MY FRIENDS!
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