Hi my dear friends, Venice is one of the best places in the world to spend Carnival !!! So, here you can read a short tale which is taking place in Venice and at Carnival! A fiction story that I hope you'll like it! Enjoy it! and ...be careful!
Hola queridos amigos. Venecia es uno de los mejores sitios del mundo para pasar el Carnaval. así que aquí tenéis un cuento corto que tiene lugar en Venecia y en Carnaval. Una historia de ficción que espero os guste. ¡Que la disfrutéis! y...¡tened cuidado!
From Speak-Up magazine.
NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW by Charlotte Booth
Considering what I was planning to do, I was strangely calm. No sweaty palms, no butterflies in my stomach, no heart palpitations.
No doubts. I was doing the right thing, of that I was sure.
I had decided to travel by train even though it was three hours from Milan. I was in no rush, and by travelling this way, I could guarantee I would be relaxed when I arrived.
When the day finally came I
dressed carefully, all in black. This was normal for me anyway, but it also added to the elegance and the mystery of the occasion. I wore a long black woollen dress with a flared skirt, and my favourite leather boots with a 10 centimetre heel.
This was all I was prepared to wear on the train journey. Anything else would draw attention to me. However, once I arrived at the final station, I popped into the public toilets to finishing dressing. I put on long black satin gloves and adorned my fingers with large sparkling rings.
I covered my blonde hair with a large black
Marie-Antoinette wig, with ringlets falling about my face. The look was almost complete.
The final addition was a full-face plastic mask with small holes for the eyes and nostrils. The mask itself was decorated with feathers and red and silver glitter. To cover the join of my mask and my neck, I wrapped an enormous scarf of black and red tulle around it. I looked perfect.
I put my entire reason for being there into my sleeve and secured it with a ribbon. I left the toilets and started walking through the streets to the main square. Along the way I was continually photographed and looked at, but that was all part of my plan. To be anonymous in public. The closer we got to the square the more crowded it became and the more people stopped me to take a photograph.
At the square it took some time before I saw him, standing by the cathedral with
HER. The woman he had left me for. She was laughing and joking and holding him so tightly, it was as if she couldn't stand unaided. I walked casually towards them, stopping to have my photo taken by dozens more tourists. She spotted me and whispered something to him. He nodded in response as she came towards me and asked if she could be photographed with me.
Perfect!
As we posed for the camera I discreetly pulled my
dagger from my sleeve and quickly
stabbed her in the side. As quickly and discreetly I slipped it back up my sleeve. I had practised this move hundreds of times before getting here and it was perfect. Her blood didn't show on my black clothes. No one seemed to notice anything was wrong as she
stumbled back to him. The crowd quickly swallowed them and me up.
Five minutes later, after a quick adjustment of my outfit, removing the scarf, wig and mask, I was a different person. I was sorry I couldn't stay and watch her die, but it would have been too dangerous, so I continued enjoying the festivities until I was ready to catch the train back to Milan.
Later that evening, while watching the news, I realised my plan had been a successful one. The newsreader announced seriously to the camera:
"Today there was a fatal stabbing at the Venice Carnival. People are holding the victim's boyfriend in connection with the incident. They are not considering any other suspects at this time."
EXERCISE
Choose the word from the list that best fits the gap.
spotted / rush / sweaty / stumbled / newsreader / glitter / outfit / suspect
a) We were running out of petrol when we ________ a petrol station in the distance.
b) I always choose my ______ the night before I have to wear it.
c) The bright sparkles from the coloured _______ on her face dazzled the crowd.
d) When he announced the death of the esteeemed politician, the ______ seemed upset.
e) In his _____ to get to work, Sam forgot to turn off the oven and had to go back.
f) The children always come back to the classroom _____ after gym class.
g) After a very quick glass of champagne during the intermission, I _____ back to my seat.
h) There was no obvious _____ for the murder, as he or she had left no clues at all!
VOCABULARY FROM THE TEXT.
-SWEATY: sudoroso.
-RUSH: prisa.
-WOOLLEN: de lana.
-FLARED SKIRT: falda acampanada.
-HEEL: tacón.
-TO POP INTO: entrar un momento.
-SPARKLING: brillante.
-WIG: peluca.
-RINGLET: rizo, bucle.
-NOSTRIL: orificio nasal.
-GLITTER: purpurina.
-SLEEVE: manga.
-RIBBON: lazo.
-TO SPOT: avistar, divisar.
-TO WHISPER: susurrar.
-TO NOD: asentir.
-DAGGER: puñal.
-TO STAB: apuñalar.
-TO STUMBLE BACK: volver tambaleándose.
-OUTFIT: atuendo, ropa.
-NEWSREADER: presentador del telediario.
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EXERCISE SOLUTION.
a) spotted.
b) outfit.
c) glitter.
d) newsreader.
e) rush.
f) sweaty.
g) stumbled.
h) suspect.
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HAVE A NICE DAY MY FRIENDS!!!!
AND TAKE CARE !!!! Mainly at Carnival!!!
